Title: The Reluctant Reaper
Author: Mary Janice Davidson
Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: 11th November 2025
BLURB
What’s a death god to do …
A lot of twentysomethings might look forward to inheriting the family business. Amara Morrigan’s got zero interest in hers. The mantle she stands to assume is currently worn by her father, Death.
Amara’s childhood included helplessly watching as her best friend and her favorite teacher were taken away. She knows her dad didn’t do it on purpose … it was just their time. But Amara refuses to accept the job. It’s bad enough that she can sense when the final moment will be for anybody she meets—including her best (and only) friend, Gray. He knows who she is, and he’s cool with it. And though he’s the funniest, kindest, most understanding guy she’s ever met, she can’t allow him to get any closer (however much she might want to), because his moment is coming all too soon.
But now her father is dying. Ominous portents she can’t ignore pull Amara home to Minot, North Dakota, where Death is comatose—something that shouldn’t be possible. Thank all the gods that Gray refuses to be left behind. Amara’s mother is a mess, and Gray gives her somebody to cook for while the other death gods are gathering.
Alas, there’s not enough lefse in all of North Dakota to fix the situation. With their options waning, Amara agrees to (temporarily!) take up her father’s mantel—but she has to figure things out, and fast, because there is no way she’s doing this forever.
I love the chick-lit, almost comedic cover style, with the female, who we learn is Amara Morrigan, the contrast of the rather dressy, red dress and matching high heels with the black reaper cape and scythe! The cover hints and humour and the book delivers!
Amara is trying to live a “normal” everyday life, she takes temp jobs or jobs that she only sticks at for a week or two. In fact, the book begins where Amora has just been fired by her current boss Billy/William. Amara has sent Billy/William’s financial details to his soon to be ex-wife to aid her in her divorce case.
Amara’s best friend is Graham Gray, or Gray as she calls him, she once saved him from suicide and ever since they have been inseparable friends. Gray constantly teases Amara about her job-hopping antics. When Amara tells him he needs to pay out on their bet she would be fired he quips back that she only lasted as long in the job because her boss wanted to get in her pants!
Amara already has a job she is destined to do, it is expected of her that one day she will take over the family business, one she will inherit when her father dies. Amora is hoping that day will never come, not just because she doesn’t want her father to die but because she really doesn’t want the job. Amara has convinced herself the day will never come as her father is a God, the God of Death! Her family are all Gods and Goddesses.
When Baron La Croix a “family friend” arrives with a message that Amora’s father is seriously ill she packs a bag and heads home with Gray in tow. Gray is introduced to Amara’s mother Hilly or to give her correct, full name Frejya Brunhilde, a Valkyrie and Goddess of love, beauty and fertility. Hilly loves cooking and feeding everyone, Gray has never seen so much food. Slowly Gray meets all the others who have been summoned to Deaths side now he is ill. There’s Penny & Hank (Persephone & Hades), Arawn and his hellhounds, and Amara’s old tutor and friend Skye (Scathach) and lastly Chernobog. Hilly really is in her element cooking the large amounts of food needed to feed all these people!
Whilst Death is incapacitated it is necessary for Amara to finally accept her role and go and reap the souls of those dying. Gray having nothing else to do other than eat all the food Hilly keeps cooking decides to accompany Amara. When Amara visits those dying no one else can see her and she warns Gray that they will be in a bubble so people will not see him, but strangely those that are dying can see both Amara and Gray. Amara just shrugs off this anomaly as she has to work out what is happening with her father whose condition is worsening by the day. Amara soon realises she has been “set up” that Death is faking it to get her to accept her role as reaper. However, things become more complicated when Death’s health doesn’t start improving. It then occurs to Amara that someone is trying to poison her father, she has to work out fast who, why and stop them too.
With everything going on Amara turns more to Gray and their friendship soon becomes more complicated when they realise, they have feelings for each other. Only they had been holding them back for fear of losing their great friendship. The Gods and Goddesses all like Gray and seem to think he would be the perfect love match/partner for Amara. Theres only one problem they all know that Gray is due to die soon, so how can he and Amara have a future together?
I loved the character of Gray who had an awful childhood, attempted suicide but Amara saved him and they became best friends. I thought it was endearing the way Amara had been paying his parents to stay away from him and leave him to live his life in peace, free of them. The other character I adored was Baron La Croix who though he could eat himself could only enjoy food etc through being near others enjoying food etc.
I loved the banter between the characters, It was amusing and in character for Persephone and Hades to keep sneaking off with each other and them not to be able to keep their lust for each other suppressed, it was funny.
The Gods and Goddesses were humanised as well as staying fairly true to mythology. I adored how Arawn answered to Arwen as that is what Amara called him when she was younger. It was also cute how he had hellhound puppies, that Gray became obsessed with feeding tidbits of food to despite Arawn repeatedly telling him not to.
My immediate thoughts were that this book is a quirky mixture, mash-up of humour, mystery with some romance and mythology thrown in and I really enjoyed it. It was a totally different genre and book pace to what I had been reading so initially I found it difficult to relax into and enjoy but as soon as the banter started flowing and the comedy elements, I felt pulled in. Definitely recommend if you want a light hearted read full of wise-cracks. It certainly made you think of “Death” in a totally different light!
Summing up a funny, banter filled book where the characters are true to the Gods and Goddess mythology that are also given human quirks and habits. Great if you want a light read with some romance and mystery and a relatively happy ending.
No comments:
Post a Comment