Review--The Reaper Rescues the Genie by Kristen Painter

 

Welcome to Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. The tourists think it's all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better.

Living in Nocturne Falls means being yourself. Fangs, fur, and all.

Death is what grim reaper Lucien Dupree knows best. Or rather, he did until his reaping powers became tragically unreliable. Now he’s living in a self-imposed exile to keep humanity safe. Sure, it’s a lonely existence, but it’s the best thing for everyone. Except him.

Retired genie, Imari Zephara, has found her happy place in Nocturne Falls. Well, as happy as she can be considering the alternative returning home would bring her. Then a dark force rears its ugly head and throws her life into turmoil. Suddenly the only way to save herself is to join forces with death, who turns out to be a pretty amazing guy.

But Lucien’s defective powers might not be enough to overcome centuries of jinn tradition, meaning Imari’s life would no longer be her own. All he wants is to give her the chance to choose her own future. Hopefully, one that includes him. What more could a guy a wish for?

 

Diving back into Nocturne Falls was truly like returning home! If ever there was a fictional land I would want to live in, this is it! Kristen Painter's series is truly remarkable, because even after a much long delay in getting back to this series, I was able to pick up The Reaper Rescues the Genie with ease! I saw some familiar faces even if a few were fuzzy, but thankfully this story did not lie with them, but with anew pair!

Lucien is a retired reaper. His powers have gone haywire and have become unreliable which forced him into an early retirement. He lives in a swank underground mansion with his ghostly grandmother, and is pretty much a recluse. Except for the times he goes up to the club he owns and manages things. That's when he sees Imari and becomes deeply intrigued with the woman.

Imari, as it turns out, is a jinn who's trying to stay as far from home as long as she can, for a destiny she wants nothing to do with awaits her. But her life gets complicated when a wish hunter starts stalking her. He's pretty much a genie hunter who will either keep Imari for himself to use for wishes or sell her to the highest bidder. And when she gets attacked outside Lucien's club, he is there to rescue her.

Before Lucien knows it, he's agreeing to help protect Imari until the hunter can be caught and dealt with. It's not long before a connection begins to form between the two. Despite Lucien's attempts to stay closed off, he finds himself opening up to Imari. She too finds herself falling for the ex-reaper. It's a sweet, sort of slow building romance. The heat between them burns hot and fast, but the real feelings take longer to develop which makes it all the sweeter of a love story!

There's more to the story then just this wish hunter problem, but I will leave those details for you to uncover! Just known that the hunter is only the beginning of Lucien and Imari's problems!

The story was one I easily devoured in a short period. It's fast paced, yet there's still plenty of downtime for the characters as they develop and fall for one another. I also see background fodder for future stories and since I am way behind, I see that I am correct on one account at least! 

If you're looking for a fun and quirky paranormal romance, Nocturne Falls is pretty much THE PERFECT series to read! While you don't have to read the books in any particular order, it is one with recurring characters, so if you read "ahead" you'll pretty much know who's with who. From my recollection though there was never any doubt about who the characters wind up with. Pretty much when you read what each book is about, it tells you without telling you who winds up together. THAT kind of spoiler but not really a spoiler. So reading order is totally up to the reader in that regard! However behind I am though, I am still going chronologically because that's who I am! Lol.

So to recap...if you're looking for a fun paranormal romance read, this series is perfect! There's a vast amount of character types, so there's something for every paranormal reader to enjoy!

Overall Rating 5/5 stars