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New Orleans Vampires #3
Demon Can't Help It
A Demon...Not Just In Bed
Practical Josephine "Jo" Burke has no patience for the paranormal;even if she's been having some strange visions lately. But if she is losing her mind, at least it would explain her new attraction to her co-worker, the least suitable man she could ever fall for...
Maksim Kostova has no idea why he's so drawn to feisty mortal Jo, but he does know how she feels about the supernatural. Forget about her accepting him for what he really is, she'd never even believe him in the first place. Or would she? When Jo confesses to him that she's been seeing visions of a dead girl, it seems anything's possible...
Practical Josephine "Jo" Burke has no patience for the paranormal;even if she's been having some strange visions lately. But if she is losing her mind, at least it would explain her new attraction to her co-worker, the least suitable man she could ever fall for...
Maksim Kostova has no idea why he's so drawn to feisty mortal Jo, but he does know how she feels about the supernatural. Forget about her accepting him for what he really is, she'd never even believe him in the first place. Or would she? When Jo confesses to him that she's been seeing visions of a dead girl, it seems anything's possible...
279 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
18 people are currently reading
654 people want to read
About the author
Kathy Love
67 books499 followersKathy Love has been labeled "a character-driven author, who prefers complex subjects that add an emotional, humorous edge" by Romantic Times. Originally from Maine, she now resides in Maryland with her daughter, Emily, their Boston Terrier, and six cats, all black. And five of which came with her boyfriend. So he's the crazy cat guy.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1)romance author
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(1)romance author
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
May 2, 2009
I liked it! "Demon Can't Help It" by Kathy Love was funny. The heroine irked me a bit by being wishy-washy and wimpy at times, but the hero...my, my, my. I want a Maksim of my own.
Jo doesn't believe in the paranormal. Pretty inconvenient now that she's seeing ghosts! Or maybe she's just going wacko? Either way, something's wrong and Jo's move to New Orleans to be near her friends doesn't seem to be helping. Now she's involved (and how the heck did THAT happen) with a smoking hot guy who seems to be perfect...and we all know there's no such thing.
Maksim is a demon. That's right: damned, delicious, and diabolical. He's ruler of the eight level of hell and darn proud of himself. He's selfish (HEY, he's a demon), he's sexy, and he can get any woman he wants, human or other. So why is he suddenly chasing (!) this human woman? And having these...these Feelings! But no matter how hard he tries, he just can't get her out of his head. What's a demon to do?
Funny and fun to read. Although you may want to smack Jo around a bit, Maksim makes the books worthwhile. All the Kathy Love books I've read so far are paranormal, sexy, and humorous--and that's a hard mix to do well! If you've read her previous New Orleans BRAVA imprint books, you'll get to read about some old friends which was just icing for me. Love has some of the funniest banter out there and her heroes are always yummy. That's enough for me!
Jo doesn't believe in the paranormal. Pretty inconvenient now that she's seeing ghosts! Or maybe she's just going wacko? Either way, something's wrong and Jo's move to New Orleans to be near her friends doesn't seem to be helping. Now she's involved (and how the heck did THAT happen) with a smoking hot guy who seems to be perfect...and we all know there's no such thing.
Maksim is a demon. That's right: damned, delicious, and diabolical. He's ruler of the eight level of hell and darn proud of himself. He's selfish (HEY, he's a demon), he's sexy, and he can get any woman he wants, human or other. So why is he suddenly chasing (!) this human woman? And having these...these Feelings! But no matter how hard he tries, he just can't get her out of his head. What's a demon to do?
Funny and fun to read. Although you may want to smack Jo around a bit, Maksim makes the books worthwhile. All the Kathy Love books I've read so far are paranormal, sexy, and humorous--and that's a hard mix to do well! If you've read her previous New Orleans BRAVA imprint books, you'll get to read about some old friends which was just icing for me. Love has some of the funniest banter out there and her heroes are always yummy. That's enough for me!
February 21, 2021
This was a pretty fun little story of a woman who unknowingly falls in love with a demon. The plot is nicely put together, with several different story arcs that often kept me more interested in the romance/sex part. All story arcs resolved nicely! Hurrah, no evey author seems able to do that.
The weakest link in this book was actually the leading lady Jo. She has moved to New Orleans when a bad relationship ended to begin a new life and be closer to her two best friends. She totally fails to spot that those two friends are now vampires (with a funky new name 'lampires' which is never actually explained). I found Jo flaky, dumb and mildly annoying. But Maksim the demon liked her, and I quite liked Maksim so I was willing to forgive her her idiocies which were actually pretty well explained on the whole.
The romance part was as believable as one would expect. Maksim may well be the least convincing demon or supernatural being I have ever read, with his sister Ellina a close second but agin, it was enough of a fun read that I could shrug that off. The sex scenes were well written, pretty hot and well enough spaced so that they were enjoyable.
Did I mention I really liked the ending? The supernatural story arches were all tied off nicely and using the missing sister as a finale was a fresh new way to have a climactic (*ehem, sorry) event at the end of the book without resorting to any of the ones that have been overdone time and time again.
The weakest link in this book was actually the leading lady Jo. She has moved to New Orleans when a bad relationship ended to begin a new life and be closer to her two best friends. She totally fails to spot that those two friends are now vampires (with a funky new name 'lampires' which is never actually explained). I found Jo flaky, dumb and mildly annoying. But Maksim the demon liked her, and I quite liked Maksim so I was willing to forgive her her idiocies which were actually pretty well explained on the whole.
The romance part was as believable as one would expect. Maksim may well be the least convincing demon or supernatural being I have ever read, with his sister Ellina a close second but agin, it was enough of a fun read that I could shrug that off. The sex scenes were well written, pretty hot and well enough spaced so that they were enjoyable.
Did I mention I really liked the ending? The supernatural story arches were all tied off nicely and using the missing sister as a finale was a fresh new way to have a climactic (*ehem, sorry) event at the end of the book without resorting to any of the ones that have been overdone time and time again.
April 19, 2019
Jo Burke leaves her life in DC to start again in New Orleans. She has to deal with being a director of an underfunded community center and she has to fend off the advances of the sinfully attractive bartender Maksim Kostova who happens to be a demon.
They find they are attracted to each other, but both are confused as to why. That becomes clear as the plot progresses.
They find they are attracted to each other, but both are confused as to why. That becomes clear as the plot progresses.
July 3, 2017
I enjoyed it, I absolutely loved how Maksim gets high school diva when Jo won't even acknowledge his hotness.
Though I have to say he was a little bit too vain for me to connect with him, but it was an overall fun read.
Though I have to say he was a little bit too vain for me to connect with him, but it was an overall fun read.
August 29, 2018
I picked this up at a second hand store and can't honestly give it more than one star because of the amount of horribly distracting typos throughout and how anti-climatic the ending was. With as much of a build up as there was to the catalyst of the somewhat lack-luster plot, I expected more and was stunned that it was not only lacking what drama I was thinking it would involve, but also moved in a rush through the ending of the book.
The characters are likable and well developed but that ending...it just kind of killed it for me.
The characters are likable and well developed but that ending...it just kind of killed it for me.
January 7, 2020
3+ stars
November 27, 2020
I really liked this one.
October 6, 2024
יותר טוב ממה שציפיתי.
August 25, 2011
Practical Josephine "Jo" Burke has no patience for the paranormal - even if she's been having some strange visions lately. But if she is losing her mind, at least it would explain her new attraction to her co-worker, the last suitable man she could ever fall for... Maksim Kostova has no idea why he's so drawn to feisty mortal Jo, but he does know how she feels about the supernatural. Forget about her accepting him for what he really is, she'd never even believe him in the first place. Or would she? When Jo confesses to him that she's been seeing visions of a dead girl, it seems anything's possible...
I've been reading Kathy Love for a while, starting back when she was still writing "regular" romances (ie - no vampires or demons as characters). The books are light reading with hot guys and even hotter sex, and almost always have a happy ending. I finally got my hands on this book a few months ago and it's typical Love, although not my favorite.
Maksim is a devil of a demon, good-looking beyond belief but condescending to anyone human. He uses and abuses women of the mortal variety, and right now, he really doesn't have time for even that - he's searching for his lost sister. Enter Jo, the one mortal woman who seems to be completely oblivious to her. Well, you know what will happen next - men hate to be ignored! The story doesn't deviate from the standard format: demon meets human woman, woos human woman, falls in love with human woman, then must find a way to either leave human woman or tell her what he really is and hope for the best. It's still a decent read given the material.
Now having said that, I did have a few problems with this particular work, namely the editing/proofing - or rather, extreme lack thereof. I felt at times as if I was reading a submission, rather than an actual published work, it was so bad! Typos out the wazoo, incorrect words choices (there vs. their), extra words thrown in that made no sense whatsoever. And my biggest beef was the lack of contractions! I'm sorry, but if you're a modern writer, you need to write the way people speak, and I know of hardly anyone that speaks in full, complete, wordy sentences the way Love's characters do. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on Maksim - his being a demon means that English isn't his "native" tongue, and many foreigners learning a new language will speak in those complete sentences. But Americans? When was the last time you heard someone say "I will go to the store. I am willing to go to the store."?
Then there were the sex scenes. I love me some good sex scenes, but maybe I'm starting to get old or something. I found myself skipping over the "hot" stuff more and more, trying to get to the story itself. I know there a lot of readers out there who love the sex and want more of it, so maybe that's the audience Love is writing for.
Finally, there was the "big secret" that Jo had from the very first page, the one she was just sure would drive her friends away, and later on, her new lover. Oh my god, if you have any brains at all, you'll figure it out as quickly as I did, so I'm not sure why it was written as it was. I think the author would have done everyone a favor by just putting it out there right away and getting on with the story.
But I still enjoyed the book enough to review it for all of you! LOL!
I've been reading Kathy Love for a while, starting back when she was still writing "regular" romances (ie - no vampires or demons as characters). The books are light reading with hot guys and even hotter sex, and almost always have a happy ending. I finally got my hands on this book a few months ago and it's typical Love, although not my favorite.
Maksim is a devil of a demon, good-looking beyond belief but condescending to anyone human. He uses and abuses women of the mortal variety, and right now, he really doesn't have time for even that - he's searching for his lost sister. Enter Jo, the one mortal woman who seems to be completely oblivious to her. Well, you know what will happen next - men hate to be ignored! The story doesn't deviate from the standard format: demon meets human woman, woos human woman, falls in love with human woman, then must find a way to either leave human woman or tell her what he really is and hope for the best. It's still a decent read given the material.
Now having said that, I did have a few problems with this particular work, namely the editing/proofing - or rather, extreme lack thereof. I felt at times as if I was reading a submission, rather than an actual published work, it was so bad! Typos out the wazoo, incorrect words choices (there vs. their), extra words thrown in that made no sense whatsoever. And my biggest beef was the lack of contractions! I'm sorry, but if you're a modern writer, you need to write the way people speak, and I know of hardly anyone that speaks in full, complete, wordy sentences the way Love's characters do. I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt on Maksim - his being a demon means that English isn't his "native" tongue, and many foreigners learning a new language will speak in those complete sentences. But Americans? When was the last time you heard someone say "I will go to the store. I am willing to go to the store."?
Then there were the sex scenes. I love me some good sex scenes, but maybe I'm starting to get old or something. I found myself skipping over the "hot" stuff more and more, trying to get to the story itself. I know there a lot of readers out there who love the sex and want more of it, so maybe that's the audience Love is writing for.
Finally, there was the "big secret" that Jo had from the very first page, the one she was just sure would drive her friends away, and later on, her new lover. Oh my god, if you have any brains at all, you'll figure it out as quickly as I did, so I'm not sure why it was written as it was. I think the author would have done everyone a favor by just putting it out there right away and getting on with the story.
But I still enjoyed the book enough to review it for all of you! LOL!
January 25, 2016
Jo has now joined her two friends in New Orleans, but not wanting to intrude on their wedded bliss she get an apartment nearby. Though she moved to be by her friends she also has other more private reasons to leave D.C. and she’s keeping it to herself.
Maksim is still trying to find out what happened to his sister and he can’t let his attraction to Jo get in his way. So since he’s a seduction, deceit and treachery demon he decides to just take what he wants. But Jo isn’t making it easy for him and he realizes she’s the one really in control.
Ellina’s apartment is really colorful, not sure I’d want to live there. I hope we get more of her. I hope we get more of Ellina. I don't feel like we got enough explanation of what happened to her.
Though I thought I knew Jo’s secret and Ellina’s whereabouts, the story kept me guessing and doubting my idea until the very end. Plus there were added details that I wasn't expecting.
Quick Thoughts: 1) I thought these supposed to be about vampires? So why demon is in three of the book titles and the first and second books aren't even about a regular vampires?
2) One of the scenes toward the end reminds me a lot of one in Psycho.
Fave Scenes: 1) Damon’s accident, ‘Chubby Hubby’ ice cream, Jo’s accident and her scary shower.
Maksim is still trying to find out what happened to his sister and he can’t let his attraction to Jo get in his way. So since he’s a seduction, deceit and treachery demon he decides to just take what he wants. But Jo isn’t making it easy for him and he realizes she’s the one really in control.
Ellina’s apartment is really colorful, not sure I’d want to live there. I hope we get more of her. I hope we get more of Ellina. I don't feel like we got enough explanation of what happened to her.
Though I thought I knew Jo’s secret and Ellina’s whereabouts, the story kept me guessing and doubting my idea until the very end. Plus there were added details that I wasn't expecting.
Quick Thoughts: 1) I thought these supposed to be about vampires? So why demon is in three of the book titles and the first and second books aren't even about a regular vampires?
2) One of the scenes toward the end reminds me a lot of one in Psycho.
Fave Scenes: 1) Damon’s accident, ‘Chubby Hubby’ ice cream, Jo’s accident and her scary shower.
March 10, 2014
I was extremely excited to read this book. There have been hints of Jo and Maksim throughout the other books and I just kept hoping I would get to learn more about both of them!
I will admit that I had a few questions about ol' Boris as soon as Erika mentioned getting him in her book...however, I won't spoil anything by saying what happens! Just know that this is one twist that had me smiling and wanting to cry!
This book was good at times and awesome at others. I found Jo's quickly changing mood swings a bit much (however, why she is having them is logical and I totally picked up on that one fast!) but Maksim's determination and utter sexiness totally makes up for it!
I was drug into this story from page one simply because the characters are ones that I already knew and cared for. I greatly enjoy reading Love's books. She writes with such gusto and humor that you can't help but get attached!
While Maksim did come on a bit strong and Jo came across as well a little slow at times (I mean who doesn't believe in paranormal...had premonitions as a kid...is seeing crap now...and then when things are revealed in the end it's just "well okay" lol) but the love connection and watching Maksim deal with the kids is just priceless!!
Can't wait to read the next one!
I will admit that I had a few questions about ol' Boris as soon as Erika mentioned getting him in her book...however, I won't spoil anything by saying what happens! Just know that this is one twist that had me smiling and wanting to cry!
This book was good at times and awesome at others. I found Jo's quickly changing mood swings a bit much (however, why she is having them is logical and I totally picked up on that one fast!) but Maksim's determination and utter sexiness totally makes up for it!
I was drug into this story from page one simply because the characters are ones that I already knew and cared for. I greatly enjoy reading Love's books. She writes with such gusto and humor that you can't help but get attached!
While Maksim did come on a bit strong and Jo came across as well a little slow at times (I mean who doesn't believe in paranormal...had premonitions as a kid...is seeing crap now...and then when things are revealed in the end it's just "well okay" lol) but the love connection and watching Maksim deal with the kids is just priceless!!
Can't wait to read the next one!
May 29, 2011
Jo Burke leaves her life in DC to start again in New Orleans. She has to deal with being a director of an underfunded community center and she has to fend off the advances of the sinfully attractive bartender Maksim Kostova.
I like how uncomplicated these stories are. They are the perfect book to read on a lazy day afternoon.
There's plenty of steamy sex and gorgeous heroes.
I like how uncomplicated these stories are. They are the perfect book to read on a lazy day afternoon.
There's plenty of steamy sex and gorgeous heroes.
August 13, 2015
I would have given this 4 stars but due to the insanely large number of typos, I had to knock off two stars.
On the whole I would say that I liked it but there were a few things that did niggle at me.
If you are interested in reading this series then I would say that you should start at the beginning. (The book gave no indication that it was part of a series and so I assumed that it was a stand alone novel) This book does not give exposition on the world building.
Even though I've finished the book, I did not fully understand the characters, sub-plots or even the terms that the characters used. I mean, what the hell is a lampire? Is it another typo? Is it a vampire that can shape-shift into lamps? For goodness sake, what is it?
They toss these words around without giving a quick explanation as to what it means and it made it very hard to follow what was happening.
This was not a good introduction to Kathy Love. I may give her another try but I am not enthusiastic at the thought.
On the whole I would say that I liked it but there were a few things that did niggle at me.
If you are interested in reading this series then I would say that you should start at the beginning. (The book gave no indication that it was part of a series and so I assumed that it was a stand alone novel) This book does not give exposition on the world building.
Even though I've finished the book, I did not fully understand the characters, sub-plots or even the terms that the characters used. I mean, what the hell is a lampire? Is it another typo? Is it a vampire that can shape-shift into lamps? For goodness sake, what is it?
They toss these words around without giving a quick explanation as to what it means and it made it very hard to follow what was happening.
This was not a good introduction to Kathy Love. I may give her another try but I am not enthusiastic at the thought.
September 11, 2009
This is the perfect end of summer read for me. Great likable characters, hot steamy stuff and a decent plot help make this a really quick read. This could have been just a romance book with a male character that had "demon" slapped on him, but it did build nicely around the fact that Maksim had to overcome his "demonness" to match with Jo. I hope the next book in the series will go more into detail about the details.
January 16, 2010
I like this book, I admit it freaked me out, (seeing dead people especially when the description sounds like the creepy ring girl... scary) But what really kept me from loving it was the fact that this edition had SOOO many typos. I know it seems weird but it took me longer to read because sentences wouldn't make sense because of typos so I would have to re-read them a few times before I realized what was wrong. But I still enjoyed the story, it was very Kathy Love, and I like it.
November 5, 2014
I have it in my head that the writer and proofer/editor started drinking together towards the end of this book. Because in my copy there's this stage where everyone stops using contractions (like when a drunk starts enunciating really clearly) then it goes back to contractions and some unique typos. Which amused me to no end (it probably would have annoyed me if it had been through the whole book, but it really didn't happen until the last bit).
Story itself was fun, recommend.
Story itself was fun, recommend.
July 15, 2009
it was cute and sweet. like most of Love's books it was a nice light read. no real "Taming of the demon" like most demon based books. i hope we see a little glimpse of them here and there in future novels.
June 9, 2011
This was really good until the end when it was really rushed as if she realised she was running out of pages! I was really into it, loved the characters and was intrigued by the story, but it was all spoiled by the rushed ending.
January 4, 2012
What can you say, it was very cute
I don't know, but with all the strange and weird things so did I probably expected a slightly more grand final, but the ending was just cute
But I liked it, it was not as I had thought that it would be
cute cute cute cute
I don't know, but with all the strange and weird things so did I probably expected a slightly more grand final, but the ending was just cute
But I liked it, it was not as I had thought that it would be
cute cute cute cute
April 24, 2013
Sadly I didn't know this was a series and I already read one of the sequels... so I knew already what happened to the missing sister and other spoilers too... I couldn't really enjoy it much if I already knew the answers to many "mysteries" ...
:(
:(
May 4, 2009
Kathy Love's books are fun- Definitely a borrow versus a purchase, but fun
April 26, 2010
Didn't like this one quite as much, but it was still good. Starting the next one tonight.
Currently reading
May 4, 2010so far so gud
April 30, 2014
Littered with typos, there's no real ending for Kara, and the only reason I gave it five stars was because I loved Maksim.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 2, 2011
short book, fun read
January 25, 2011
As usual, I absolutely LOVE Kathy Love's blend of paranormal adventure, romance and humor! A fun, sexy romp and highly recommended!
February 25, 2011
I love the book! It was so sweet and funny to read about a demon falling in love and not even realizing it!
October 8, 2011
3.5 Stars
May 7, 2014
my favorite of the series so far......
March 27, 2013
I love Kathy Love. Very steamy sex..
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews