Book Review: Where There's Smoke (Good Girl Series #1) by Karen Kelley

The blurb as seen on Goodreads:

Release Date: May 1, 2012
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
297 Pages

Sexy wannabe-demon Destiny Carter is in Ft. Worth, Texas, with one week to corrupt a soul. Or else. She slips into a slinky red dress, and heads straight for the delicious, corruptible looking cowboy at the bar. But Chance Bellew has his own agenda-saving souls. He's not your typical angel-he likes drinking and sex way too much, and not necessarily in that order. And then he meets Destiny...

WARNING: THIS BOOK CONTAINS MATERIAL UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 18. 

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Review:

This book… Dear God, this book. I honestly don't know how I finished it. 

Here's the plot: Destiny is dead. She went to hell, but she's not a demon yet because she didn't bring enough souls with her to hell (or something like that). So they send her back to Earth to convince someone to go to hell, and she'll get to be a demon. She's got a week to do so. Chance (aren't you loving these names?) is a nephilim, half-angel, half-human. It's his job to convince people, especially those who are about to become demons, to join the ranks in heaven. He's got one week to convince Destiny that she should give up her dream of being a demon and find happiness in heaven. Along the way, they have copous amounts of sex, and… That's it. They just have a lot of sex. That's the plot.

The characters are dreadful. I hate Destiny. She's nasty, and not just because she's trying to be a demon or because she has sexual relations in a public place within the first ten percent of the book, but also because she treats everyone around her like crap. I know, I know. Demons aren't nice, but she's not a full demon yet - she still has her soul! There are so many inconsistencies… Like, why, if she's been dead for decades, is she JUST NOW being forced to coerce souls to the dark side? Her past is a jumbled mess that was so unlike the times that she's supposed from (the 50's, I think) that I wanted to scream. And Chance… Oh, Chance, how I don't understand you. In fact, all of the male characters in this book were strange. I thought God preached abstinence, yet these half-angels are sex fiends. THIS IS WHY I HATE PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVELS WITH ANGELS. No more. No, thank you.

The writing is just as awful as the characters. The sex scenes were not, in fact, sexy. They were awkward and constant. The awkwardness ranged from clinical terms for part of female genetila to dirty talk that did nothing but make me cringe. In the first twenty percent alone, there were three sex scenes, the female MC went to a porn shop and the main characters watched a porno together. 

I know this is supposed to be erotica, but really? ...This is a joke, right? Give me something! I skimmed the sex scenes, because even though there were a lot of them, they were written awfully. The characters were awkward. It wasn't like they didn't work well together. They had chemistry, I guess. But they don't even know each other! The first sexual experience they have together is the first time they meet. In a bar. That still has patrons inside. And then Chance just leaves her there. Really?

The book could've been a lot better, if the plot had taken precedence, but no. This book isn't romance. The romance in this doesn't even make sense! The main characters don't even know each other, yet claim to be in love! I can't say it enough: this has the plot of a badly written porn flick. And not even one that gets to the point! This was so drawn out! If you took out the sex scenes and the book probably would've been about a third shorter. I kept looking at the percentage on my kindle and thinking, "REALLY? I'm only that far in? There's so much left! When will this hell end?"

I wasted too much time on this book. I kept hoping it would pull through, but by the end, I was just morbidly curious about how the the story would tie up. It was a cheesefest, of course. I do not recommend this book.

I received and e-copy of this novel from the publisher via Netgalley for my honest opinion and review.