Good Intentions (Good Intentions #1) by Elliott Kay
Synopsis:
He knew it was a dumb stunt when he thought of it. Consigned to the doldrums of community college, though, Alex Carlisle figures he has nothing to lose. A midnight run through a cemetery to impress a couple of girls is hardly the stuff of legend, but Alex is desperate to push back against the crushing mediocrity of life after high school.
Then he stumbles upon the ritual, and the cultists, and two bound and bloodied women. Alex intervenes, but when the ritual blows up in his face, he finds himself mystically bonded to them both: Rachel and Lorelei, an angel and a succubus. Amused by this twist of fate, Rachel leaves Alex to adjust to his new life as the reluctant and very nervous master of a demon seductress. It’s hardly the sort of challenge a guy can face with dignity when he still lives at home with his mom.
Yet after millennia of tempting men to their doom, Lorelei finds herself equally challenged by her morally upright young master. Her mere presence draws all manner of creatures of the night into Alex’s life, turning every night into a battle for survival…but the longer she’s with him, the less she wants to leave. And all the while, Alex is stalked by a guardian angel who is anything but virtuous…
Review:
For a very long time I put off reading this book for a multitude of reasons. One is that I knew it was a very long book and would take me some time to finish, and another is that I knew once I started I’d be tested in my personal beliefs when it comes to religion and relationships as I knew this book is big on pushing those limits. I wanted to make sure I was ready to head into this book before I picked it up. When I finally did get to it, I could barely put it down.
This is the story of every good guy’s secret fantasy. Every male, no matter how noble and decent, would love to be placed in the position that Alex Carlisle has been put into. After saving a Demon and Angel from a ritual, he becomes bonded to both without intending to be. At first he’s apprehensive, unsure of what it means to have a Demon being bonded to him, especially since this is no ordinary Demon, but a Succubus – the temptress from Hell. Her charms are hard to resist, and before he knows it Alex’s life is turned upside down thanks to this passionate yet mischievous Succubus.
Sex was practically non-existent in his life before, but now he has it in spades. Every girl he has ever wanted comes running to his doorstep, and with the encouragement from Lorelei – the Succubus – he attends to them all. Through it all he discovers love in a place he never would have expected to find it, in the form of two women. One from Hell and the other from Heaven.
Rachel – the foul-mouthed Angel who he is also bonded – watches over him and can’t help but fall for him. When Rachel, Alex and Lorelei get together it’s a whirlwind of passion and power unseen in any other novel.
I knew this was not my usual read from the start. I usually don’t read polygamy, or anything of the sorts, but figured that if there was ever a time to do so this was it. But beyond that I enjoyed the unique view upon religion in this novel, The idea that not a single religion is correct per se, but rather the idea is that if you are a devout and good-natured person then you may spend eternity in bliss. Should you be a vile, despicable person you are punished in the Pit. This novel holds strong Christian tones, what with Angels and Hell and all, but it never truly says that Christianity is the “correct” religion. Just because you’re an Atheist doesn’t mean you’re damned.
The theological questions that we ask everyday is alluded to in this novel, but is never truly answered. I liked it very much, leaving room for some personal interpretation. It offers a very reasonable statement about religion, relationships, humanity and morality. And about how vampires such royally.
At the start of this book I didn’t know what to expect, and now that I’m finished I feel much more enlightened having opened myself up to this new genre. I look forward to reading more from this very talented author in the near future.
Five out of Five stars!
