Review: Mostly Innocent by J.M. Jinks
Synopsis
Meet Layla James, your typical smart and snarky chick—except for the whole succubus thing. After nearly a millennium on Earth, Layla’s settled down in a boring life in Palm Springs, until a smoking-hot hunter comes to arrest her for murder. But Layla knows the rules—she’d never kill someone and incite the wrath of The Powers That Be.
Elijah Daines is a hunter, maintaining the balance of good and evil in the mortal realm, his power is stronger than any hunter she’s ever encountered. Plus, he’s a seriously sexy distraction. Too bad he’s accused her of a crime she didn’t commit.
As the killer continues a murder spree that not only frames Layla but threatens to expose the existence of supernatural creatures to humans, Layla and Elijah team up to investigate. Hopefully, they can fight off their escalating attraction for each other long enough to exonerate her and stop the murder madness.
***SPOILERFREE REVIEW***
The Writing
Great first chapter – reeled me right in. The first scene wasn’t exactly gluing me to the pages because of the tension, but it was fun and lighthearted. I immediately liked main character Layla.
Editorial notes
The bookcover is gorgeous, though it doesn’t say that this is a part of a series. I’m always a big fan of transparency. As a reader, I want to know what I’m getting into and that I don’t accidently purchase and start reading a second or even a third book in a series.
In the beginning of the story I noticed a few minor errors in lay out. Like thoughts that weren’t written in italic whereas the rest of the story they were. Or the use of abbreviations where I had to stop and find out what that meant before continuing to read. That made it hard for me when I started the book. I had to turn off my inner editor and just enjoy the story.
Also, there were a few questionable scenes, that didn’t feel logical to me. Some tension scenes seemed a bit ‘too easily solved’ and could’ve definitely benefited from a bit more page time.
I also found a few scenes where JM Jinks used Tell, instead of Show and I thought that was too bad because the Show would’ve definitely made those particular scenes more compelling.
But let’s be honest, I am nitpicking here. Except from the very beginning, I actually never thought about this book being one written by an Indie Author. Overall the story was clean.
Point of view
It’s a good fit to just write from Layla’s perspective. Let the reader guess what the other party is thinking, together with Layla.
What did stand out to me was the fact that Layla appeared very feisty and confident, but inside she was pretty insecure – at times down right drama queen. Her actions and thoughts didn’t always resonate with me and some made me roll my eyes.
Characters
Layla is full of assumptions that almost always made her put herself in a bad lighting. Most of those assumptions, to me, weren’t based on anything solid and that gave the impression that she was still very young (which she’s not).
When we meet Elijah, first impression is that he’s stoic, manly and downright hubba da hubba. He does call Layla succubus a lot. Even after he’s called her by her name, Layla. It’s a little irritating and at one point, I was like ‘Dude, it’s LAYLA’. I would’ve liked that coming from Layla, but shen never did say that.
Nash, Elijah’s colleague/partner, is quite a flirt and just like Elijah he’s described as hubba da hubba. Though I found myself more into the character of Elijah than of Nash. I guess that’s just personal though.
There’s also a small part for Archer, the owner of the bar where a murder occurs and Jolene, Layla’s BFF, is a spunky woman, who seems to live vicariously through the stories of Layla. Jolene gives me a bit of a (sad) mom vibe: “YOU have fun and tell me all about it later while I daydream about having that fun myself (but never will).”
In one particular scene we meet Bruk and Callaghan, who are both hunters like Elijah. This scene didn’t add any value to the story, but perhaps it’s just a quick intro and they’ll have bigger roles in the next book(s).
The ending
The reveal at the end of the book, I saw coming from a mile away. Does this make it a bad ending? Definitely not. The book delivered in what I early on expected it to be; a guilty pleasure book where the story itself shouldn’t be given too much thought but the interaction between the characters makes everything worthwhile.
So, is this first book of The Powers That Be series enough for me to continue reading?
This was a fun and easy read. Just a plain good time. It’s the first book I’ve read by J.M. Jinks and it was such a joy, that I rushed through the book; something I hadn’t done for quite some time. Will I continue reading Jinks’ work; most definitely.
Buy Mostly Innocent by J.M. Jinks on Amazon.
Petra is a published Indie author. She’s been writing all her life, but only dared to publish a book when she started writing the Somnia Series. She’s a motivational coach for (Fantasy) writers, offers all kinds of services on her own Dutch platform www.fantasyschrijfcoaching.nl, and uses her author’s website to help other writers achieve their writing goals. She loves using her platform to promote other Indie Authors who have the courage and determination to make their books worth your (reading) time.