"First books" by an author are a hard sell.Books released by a small publisher are also hard to sell.In this day when m/m seems to rule the roost, m/f books are hard sells.Books that aren't wall to wall sex are hard sells.Which is a pity because this is a book that deserves to be read.I may be biased because as editor I was so involved with seeing this book come to fruition, but I still feel justified in rating and reviewing the finished product.My role was more of a guide. All the words are C.H. Scarlett's own, all the thoughts, all the characters.For example, you gotta love a character who starts off by saying:Good evening, my delicious, little darklings of darkness. Wyntress Nyght here, serving up your forbidden dose of supernatural crack. So hook up your IVs, roll up the psychic and toke her, or offer up your shot glass for some ectoplasmic delight. For I have the phantasmal kick you have all been jonzing for. No DTs here, my darklings, only the monster of all dragons for you to chase . . . me!Her characters sparkle with originality and wit. After Wyntress herself, my favorite was Jinx:He's a Zombie. They're sort of like the Hannibal Lectors of the Other World. Usually suppressed Vegans in their former lives, they show up here with a, let's say, acquired taste. Nothing like the Night of the Living Dead or anything . . . that is, as long as they're well fed.Jinx is very mischievous and one of the best kleptomaniacs I know. That night, he was dressed in jeans and a baggy t-shirt. His dirty, blond hair was spiked with blue tint in some places. He's kind of punk, kind of hippie and kind of Goth. He was munching on something from a small bag—probably deep-fried, popcorn-sized, brain chunks or cheese–stuffed, intestinal poppers.*Laughs*"Flint said you were chicken shit," Jinx's Irish accent frolicked across his tongue.The plot is complicated enough to keep the pages turning and the dialogue and inner thought diverting to say the least.For a while now, I've just read m/m books as I was so fed up with normal het romance. The alpha male, the beautiful female, the ring, marriage and the kids.I'm not usually a fan of paranormals with their boring shapeshifters and vampires. Well they are both present, but their usual abilities are almost irrelevant in this book. It's their personalities that move the plot along not their innate paranormal strengths.Of all the books I read in 2010, this has to be one if not "the" favorite. Casey has created a world, characters and a voice that are unique.Given the "other world" setting, you can be sure none of the standard m/f tropes are going to apply.To all out there who have despaired of finding a good het read, try "Wyntress Nyght" it will crack you up.
