A Fiend In Need-Maureen Child

A Fiend In Need
Maureen Child
Signet, Mar 2008, $14.00
ISBN: 9780451223074

One month ago her mom died, but Cassidy Burke has had little time to grieve her loss as she has become the most powerful demon duster in the world; or at least in California. The thirtyish mother of Thea wonders what next since she began spraying people with her specialized cleaning solution that turns selected people smoking and had to rescue her offspring (see MORE THAN FIENDS). No longer quite shocked by what has happened to her world since she learned about her DNA, Cassidy finds out that someone has posted a reward to the person who kills her on a website; just another day as a duster.

However, Cassidy actually becomes flustered when six feet five inches Brady demands she give him a haven in her home. She figures she would be a light snack for the hunk, but he explains that he is a runaway slave. For the past hundred years, Brady has been a sex slave used and abused by his owner Demon Queen Vanessa. He insists the demon duster is the only one who can keep him safe although that might mean war between her and the Demon horde. As she ponders what to do encouraged by her teenager to keep him, she admits to herself the road to sanctuary is through her stomach as he can cook and through her libido as he is one heck of a hunk.

This amusing chick lit romantic fantasy is an entertaining tale starring a likable save the world from a dusty demons heroine. The story line is fast-paced as Cassidy feels she has enough on her plate between demon dusting and raising a daughter, but to take a runaway slave in means warring with Queen Vanessa and her horde. Her first bite makes up Thea’s mind to keep the hunk who can cook. A FIEND IN NEED is a pest, but a lovable nuisance not quite as weird as having a cheerleader offspring.

Harriet Klausner