Look, I'll admit it: I started this at 5:47 AM on the Caltrain, running on four hours of sleep after a deployment that went sideways, and by the time I hit Palo Alto I was cackling so hard the guy next to me moved seats.
Bottom Line: Worth your commute. Book twelve in a paranormal romance series is NOT where you start, but if you're already invested in Charley Davidson's chaos, Lorelei King delivers exactly what you need.
When Your Husband Escapes Hell and Won't Stop Breaking Things
So here's the setup: Charley accidentally trapped her husband Reyes (who is, you know, the son of Satan) in a hell dimension, and now he's escaped and is basically feral. Like, "trying to destroy the world his heavenly Brother created" feral. Meanwhile, Charley's juggling a PI startup with two teenagers, the Vatican investigating her daughter, and—oh yeah—covering up a murder instead of solving one.
This is basically Buffy meets Veronica Mars but with way more erotic tension and a protagonist who names her breasts "Danger" and "Will Robinson." (I almost spit out my cold brew when that detail dropped.)
The pacing is FAST. Like, 1.75x-on-a-business-book fast, except I was already listening at 1.5x. Seven hours and sixteen minutes flew by in about three commutes. Jones doesn't waste time on setup—she assumes you know these characters, their history, their weird supernatural baggage. If you're new? You'll be lost. If you're twelve books deep? You're home.
Lorelei King IS Charley Davidson
I've listened to a lot of narrators. Ray Porter is still my spirit animal. King pulled off something similar in Smoke Bitten—different universe entirely, but that same quality of a narrator who's so deep in a character's skin you forget there's a performance happening. But Lorelei King has OWNED this character for so long that I genuinely cannot imagine Charley in anyone else's voice.
Her Charley is all sarcasm and barely-contained panic, flipping from genuine terror to deadpan humor in the space of a sentence. And her Reyes? Low, dangerous, sexy in a way that makes you understand why Charley keeps forgiving him for, you know, the whole "trying to destroy creation" thing. The contrast between those two voices creates immediate tension every time they're in a scene together.
The comedic timing is chef's kiss. There's this thing King does where she'll hit a punchline with just a BEAT of silence before Charley's internal reaction, and it lands every single time. The emotional whiplash—panic to laughter to genuine heartbreak—never feels jarring because she modulates so smoothly.
The ROI Calculation (And One Eye-Roll Moment)
Okay, here's where I have to be honest: the ending felt a bit recycled. Like, if you finished book eleven recently, you might get some déjà vu. I actually checked if I'd accidentally re-downloaded the wrong file. I hadn't. It's just... similar beats.
But the ROI on this audiobook is still solid. You're getting:
- Supernatural mystery with actual stakes
- Sizzling scenes between Charley and Reyes (content warning: explicit)
- Genuinely funny dialogue that works even when you're half-conscious
- A narrator who's been perfecting these characters for over a decade
What you're NOT getting:
- A standalone experience
- Deep worldbuilding (that ship sailed eleven books ago)
- A completely fresh plot structure
Perfect for: train, gym, housework. Skip for: deep work or anything requiring your actual brain.
Who Should Queue This Up (And Who Should Skip)
Grab it immediately if: You're already in the Charley Davidson trenches and need your fix. Lorelei King is the definitive voice, and Jones delivers her signature blend of snark, supernatural chaos, and steam.
Hard skip if: You haven't read the previous books. Seriously. This is not a jumping-on point. You'll have no idea why anyone is doing anything or why you should care that Reyes is acting like a feral demon (I mean, more than usual).
Maybe wait for a sale if: You're a few books behind and want to catch up first. The series momentum matters here.
Final Commit
Is it perfect? No. The ending retreads familiar ground, and Jones is clearly writing for her existing fanbase rather than trying to convert new readers. But King's narration elevates everything—her Charley is so lived-in, so perfectly calibrated between chaos gremlin and competent supernatural investigator, that I'd honestly listen to her read a grocery list in character.
I finished this in three commutes and immediately queued up book thirteen. No regrets. Silver Borne is also in my King-narrated backlog and keeps getting bumped up the queue for exactly this reason—once she locks into a series, I can't stop. Even the guy who moved seats probably would've enjoyed it if he'd given it a chance.
