I really enjoy the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series by Julie Kenner. I had started reading the series years ago and just recently had the time to catch up.
The premise is exactly as it sounds: sort of a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" grows up. We first meet Kate Conner in Carpe Demon, in which we find that she is an ordinary soccer mom living in San Diablo, California (every time I see the town's name, I think, "Holy demons, Batman! This means trouble!"). Well, maybe she's not so ordinary. As the story unfolds, we discover she was orphaned as a very young child, raised in an orphanage in Vatican city, and trained to be a Hunter, a member of the elite and secret team of demon-slayers known as the Forza (Forza Scura, I think was the whole name, but I may be wrong). Think Buffy, but more cutting edge and with a whole organization of very devout Catholic demon-slayers standing behind her. Before Kate was out of her teens, she had saved the world from various demon attacks dozens of times.
But Kate and her partner Eric fell in love and married, which is risky in a job where there's no life security, let alone job security. So Kate and Eric retired, moved to sunny California, put their past behind them and started a family. California was great for them; historically there was very little demon presence or activity, and they were able to have a new life. Unfortunately, one last demon attack killed Eric, and Kate struggled along raising their young daughter alone. Kate eventually found another man (Stuart) to love, married him, and they now have an infant son. And then, as the saying goes, all hell breaks loose. How can Kate keep her family and San Diablo safe, keep her demon-slaying a secret, lose the baby weight and still keep up with her PTO activities and church committees?
The sequels California Demon, Demons Are Forever and Deja Demon continue on the same path--over the course of these books, Kate reluctantly but officially comes out of retirement to save the world from demons (and their zombie minions) while getting back in shape and coping with everyday life.
She tells her best friend about her past (and current) activities, deals with free-lance Hunters and Hunters-gone-bad, discovers that her late husband Eric is not quite as "late" as she had thought, goes to Mass and discovers that one of the priests, Father Ben, is assigned to be her new alimentatore (like a secret agent's handler, or like Buffy's Watcher), and copes with all of the "clean-up" chores that Forza's body-disposal teams would normally handle (in locations which are historical hot-beds of demon activity).
An old Hunter (there are very few who survive to middle age, so this one must have been one of the VERY best and luckiest Hunters out there), Eddie, shows up in town, homeless, scruffy, and considered to be insane (because he keeps talking about his past in a dazed/drunken rambling). Kate sees him as a great resource and possible mentor, so she steps up and claims he is her late husband Eric's great-grandfather, takes him home, cleans him up, straightens him out, and he becomes part of her crazy household menage.
Meanwhile, teenage daughter Allie discovers her mom is a "kick-ass demon-hunter" and wants to train to be one too, son Timmy becomes a toddler ("NO! Nononononono."), husband Stuart decides to run for District Attourney, late husband Eric tells her he wants her back, and best friend Laura finds out that her husband has been cheating on her and divorces him. Eventually Allie finds out her dad is still (or again, or something) alive, Kate discovers she is part of a prophecy about killing a big-shot demon (not just sending him back to hell where he would gather strength and eventually come back, which is the usual way), Eddie/Gramps gets a girlfriend (er, old-lady-librarian-friend), Father Ben is killed, and Stuart discovers what Kate has been up to. All while Kate is being the ideal wife, perfect political hostess, great mom, good Catholic, terrific PTO chairwoman and community volunteer, and fabulous researcher--or failing spectacularly and picking up the pieces. (There's only a little angst, surprisingly.) But she can still whup them demons!
I've just now picked up the final book (so far): Demon Ex Machina. I have no doubt it will be as much fun to read as the others. I hope it isn't really the final book, but I'm not sure yet. You can check Julie Kenner's website to find out if another is in the works, though it doesn't look like it at the moment. Watching Kate juggle her home life with her career is more entertaining than any stories about housewives out on tv. [For the record, the "Desperate Housewives" show and the various reality shows about "Real Housewives" just have never interested me. I rather resent the idea that those lazy, aggressive, selfish, slutty, vulgar idiots with more money than brains are supposed to represent anything about actual housewives like me. But then, I don't much care for soap operas, either--at least not since "General Hospital" stopped using international spy-ring storylines in the '80s. So if you are looking for books that will interest fans of those shows, don't look here in this blog! Books or shows about believable, fun, struggling, in-over-their-heads, clever, sexy, faithful housewives, especially in crazy unusual situations, yes.]
Who will like the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom books? Fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" or any humorous vampire-slaying, zombie-killing, or demon-exorcism novels. Maybe the female fans of "Supernatural" and some of the ghost-hunting shows. Folks who like any of Julie Kenner's other novels. Those who appreciate a little bit of romance within marriage with no graphic sex-scenes. Housewives (or mothers of toddlers) who wish they were also super-heroes (that's pretty much all of us). Super-heroes who happen to be not-very-good housewives. Moms struggling to lose the pregnancy-weight and get back into "fighting" shape. Teens who wish their mom was cooler (and moms who wish their teens thought their moms were cooler). Women who like the sometimes-snarky sense of humor on "House" (this is much milder, kinder, gentler, but still kind of snarky sometimes). People who enjoy the occasional slapstick scene where you think nothing more could happen to make this disaster funnier--and then it does. Older teen girls who are moving up from Juv or YA fantasy books where ordinary kids/teens save the world. While this book is unabashedly paranormal chick-lit, men who like the thought of being married to Buffy the Slayer all grown up and dressed in leather may get a kick out of it, too.
Now if I could only lose the pregnancy weight after 17 years... Bye, dear--have a nice time at college while I kick some demon behinds! Ha!
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