Three Wishes by Debra Dunbar

Three Wishes by Debra Dunbar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book was actually a lot more interesting than I had expected. And I'm not exactly sure what the TSTL comments about the female lead was about. TSTL normally involves a series of repetitively stupid acts that puts the individual into constant danger of injury and/or death. And while the angel in this story faced a few dangerous moments, they didn't really rise to TSTL status.

She was kind of naive about humans though. And she never did learn how to use a revolving door. But there were reasons, and stuff.

I wasn't really sure how I'd feel seeing a book that starred Dar, as he isn't exactly my favorite character in the Imp universe (I don't dislike him or anything, I just didn't think I'd want to read a book with him in the lead). I can't say that I was 'pleasantly surprised' because I saw Dar and Astra together in a later Imp book, so I knew there were some interesting bits there. Which leads me to note that I found the way I read things to be more satisfying - as in, reading all of the main Imp books, then reading this side book for several reasons - I'm not distracted by whatever is going on in Imp land, nor did I read this then be faced with the very tiny scene in the Imp main line book that saw these two interact further along chronologically than this book. As in, I wasn't disappointed in the tiny snippet extra scene in that later book, because I read it first, and it was something of a prequel, then, to this book.

Right, so - can you read this book on it's own? Can you read it without reading the Imp books first? Not really. You could read this whenever it falls chronologially, but I'd recommend at least reading whatever Imp books occur before this one (just look at the Imp World series list for that).

So if you have read the Imp series before this, then you already know that Dar, the demon and brother to the lead of the Imp series, had decided to go vacation in Chicago. And if you have already read the entire Imp series, currently, published, then you've also already interacted with Dar and Astra in an Imp book.

Well story - Dar's wandering around the streets of Chicago when an Angel swoops down chasing another demon. After losing track of that other demon, she turns her sight on Dar and follows him. He knows she's there, she wasn't exactly subtle, and leads her around, teasing her. Angels normally kill any and all demons encountered on earth (which you, the reader, would have known if you'd been reading the main Imp series), but Dar has immunity - as long as he doesn't do certain things like kills humans. Immunity for being in the household of the Iblis (long story).

Eventually the two meet. Parts of the book are from Dar's point of view, part from Astra, and about 0.5% is form a second demon's point of view. Astra has been on Earth, watching over Chicago, for the last 100 years, but her time is nearly up and she's only days away from returning to her Angel homeland. Other than her flying around (which Angels aren't really be so open about doing), she's been a good little angel - but now she's thinking of trying out some sins in her last week. As it will be her last chance to do so. Before her return. And as luck would have it, so to speak, Dar's there to tempt her (though that isn't what she had meant when she thought of trying out some sins, more like trying food and stuff like that).

Well, during the early stages of chasing, flirting, bantering, Dar and Astra mention this other demon Astra had been initially chasing. A demon that keeps blinking in and out oddly. For reasons, Dar helps with Astra with this investigation. Which includes visiting a cyber security conference - quite important but specifically mentioned so I could note that those who've read the Imp series also might recall that Wyatt, at some point, went to a security conference in Chicago . . . and he does pop up in this book.

For all those wondering who the hell all these people are, Wyatt, Dar, angels and demons, well, I did say that I'd recommend not reading this book as a stand-alone. To read the other Imp books first.

Oh, one final note: Gregory (aka Michael) and Samantha flirt a lot about sex, even have versions of it (mostly the spirit/angel kind), but don't seem to actually get graphic about it. Well, there are a few bits of graphicness in this book. More than in the Imp series books, less than what you'd see in an erotic novel.

Rating: 4.45

July 31 2017



View all my reviews