Karma for Hire by Hennessee Andrews was another great find on Reader’s Favorite. This one is listed in humor, but also tells a love story (two actually) while the fate of humankind hangs in the balance.
What I didn’t know before I read it is that Hennessee Andrews is a rather prolific writer of erotica. I began to suspect that was the case during the first ‘love scene’ in the story. While the love scenes in this one don’t go so far as to be erotica, her vivid descriptions of actions that most authors would skim over made it fairly clear.
Here is my review for Reader’s Favorite (page link will follow when available):
Karma is the boss at Karma for Hire, and she has it rough. Not only does she have to work in a stuffy office, where she literally hasn’t had a day off in millennia, but she also has to try to keep the peace between a misfit crew of angels and demons; they can’t dole out the karma if they are constantly fighting among themselves. Her efforts are constantly thwarted by Thadeus, a succubus whose scheming to get her in bed hasn’t wavered in just as long. Worse still, her defenses are waning; it’s tough to fight the advances of an entity that can transform into your every desire whenever you see him. When a chance encounter in The Void causes Karma to break the rules of her contract, all Hell may be unleashed –all Heaven as well. It’s a race against time as Karma and her friends try to prevent Armageddon, save human existence, and keep their vacation days!
In Karma for Hire, Hennessee Andrews explores the day to day grind of the angels and demons responsible for giving people what’s coming to them. With an enjoyable story and a cast of well-defined but wonderfully flawed characters, Karma for Hire had a charm that I found irresistible. Even with Armageddon looming on the horizon, Andrews perfectly captured Karma’s turmoil as she found herself slowly and inexplicably drawn to Thadeus –or perhaps explicably, as he is a succubus. The characters’ struggles all seemed so relatable that I was immediately drawn in and couldn’t stop reading until the story was over. With lines like: ‘I want to save humanity, get the girl and go back to being evil with days off.’ I found myself rooting for angels and demons alike. Equal parts love story, comedy, and race to save humanity, Karma for Hire has something for everyone. If you’re thinking of passing it up, think again!
I rated Karma for Hire ★★★★★, and it deserved every one of the five stars. But, it has many grammatical issues. However, Reader’s Favorite says of grammar in the reviews ‘Please do not mention typos or grammatical mistakes in your review unless it was so extreme it interfered with your enjoyment of the book.’ And while I did have to read some sentences more than once to understand what she meant, I liked the story and characters enough that I didn’t mention the grammatical issues in the review. I did send the author a lengthy note regarding them, though, because I want this book to be successful.
I also included some other notes to the author which were much more flattering. I always include a rather lengthy set of notes to the author (because no one has ever done so in a review of my book and I know how much I would appreciate it), but this time I’m going to post a portion of the notes that didn’t make it into the review:
First off, I’d like to tell you that of the books I have reviewed for Reader’s Favorite, Karma for Hire has the most likable and well defined characters. From Karma to Thadeus, Randall to Barnabus, Aiden to Gretchen, Micah to Christopher, and so many others. The characters all had likable qualities, but were all so wonderfully flawed that is was simply delightful to read as their story unfolded.
The story was also wonderfully done. How you managed to pepper two love stories into a story that starts in an office and ends with Armageddon -in only 260 pages- is a mystery to me. But you did it, and did it well. To that end, please, please, please send this to a copy editor (not a story editor, as the story is great as is) or a proof reader at the very least. I am by no means a grammar nazi, and I won’t allow the issues with grammar and punctuation to keep me from giving this book the 5 stars that the characters and story merit, but I fear other won’t be as kind. I would hate for this book to fall into the hands of someone who is very picky about grammar and have them give it a terrible review based on these issues. I really enjoyed Karma’s story and look forward to reading more about her and her friends!
In case you haven’t noticed by now, I really liked this book. If you haven’t yet read it, you should head on over to amazon and buy it right now
