Housewife Blues and Chihuahua Stories

BOOK SYNOPSISThe start of an original new urban fantasy series starring human chameleon Ciel Halligan.Snagging a marriage proposal for her client while on an all-expenses-paid vacation should be a simple job for Ciel Halligan, aura adaptor extraordinaire. A kind of human chameleon, she’s able to take on her clients’ appearances and slip seamlessly into their lives, solving any sticky problems they don’t want to deal with themselves. No fuss, no muss. Big paycheck.This particular assignment is pretty enjoyable... that is, until Ciel’s island resort bungalow is blown to smithereens and her client’s about-to-be-fiancé is snatched by modern-day Vikings. For some reason, Ciel begins to suspect that getting the ring is going to be a tad more difficult than originally anticipated.Going from romance to rescue requires some serious gear-shifting, as well as a little backup. Her best friend, Billy, and Mark, the CIA agent she’s been crushing on for years—both skilled adaptors—step in to help, but their priority is, annoyingly, keeping her safe. Before long, Ciel is dedicating more energy to escaping their watchful eyes than she is to saving her client’s intended.Suddenly, facing down a horde of Vikings feels like the least of her problems.My ThoughtsFor a human chameleon Ciel Halligan does not "blend" very well at times, she does however manage to time and again get herself into situations that would make a less optimistic person lay down and give up!I have to say that this book totally lives up to it's title. I have never seen a character in any book get in more "fixes" than Ciel Halligan and also never met a character who manages to get herself extricated from those situations in such unique ways either.When I came across the first review of this book it peaked my interest, then when the email came in from Netgalley spotlighting the book it made me interested enough to think about grabbing a review copy for myself. After reading the description of the book again, after going through reviews on Goodreads and Amazon I was sold and put in a request and once approved several days later downloaded a copy to my Kindle from Netgalley to read. Read the book over Labor Day weekend and it was so interesting and fun that it made me forget my lower back pain from sitting up in a chair to read, it was hard to put the book down to take a break.The author has created something with this series that has such a wide appeal to urban fantasy readers that her fan base from this one story is amazing! I am one of those new fans. There are many ways to praise the book, one is to tell you that the characters of Ciel, her buddy and step cousin Billy and her older brother Thomas's best friend Mark take the reader on some of the most interesting and at times the most hilarious assignments that I have had the fun to enjoy in a book in quite a while.The way that things work out will at times surprise you, at times have you howling with laughter and at other times have you on the edge of your seat hoping that Ciel manages to survive. Ciel's character is headstrong, tempestuous but she is not exactly athletic. Would not go so far as to call her a klutz but she does have a tendency to get into trouble when attempting anything physical. At the same time you cannot help but cheer her on, she does not give up. If Ciel fails at one thing she tries something else until it works, her heart is huge, she cares and that is something to cheer for. Ciel is a character you feel sympathy for and at the same time you can put yourself in her shoes and feel a connection. Ciel is very easy to connect to and she is a very decent character, not a femme fatale by any means but has her own unique charm. What is funny is that Ciel does not see that about herself.There is an irrepressible sense of humor throughout the story, the sheer silliness of which makes for great tension breakers when situations become serious for the trio. As a matter of fact I was having such a fun time following Ciel and Billy's antics that when they drove off at the end of the book together I was totally bereft of their company.Over the Labor Day weekend needed a light and easy read, In A Fix provided that in spades. The book allowed me to escape real life and just read for the sheer pleasure of the story, it was a bonus that the book was for review because it allowed me to find a new to me author whose work is a sheer joy to share with others who also love Urban Fantasy!For those out there looking for something that is different, something that is going to give you a range of interesting looks into different characters and most of all something that is sheer fun than this is the book you are looking for.Oh yeah, the deal with the "horde" of Vikings you are going to have to read the book to find out what that is all about. Trust me you'll be glad you did![EArc from Netgalley in exchange for honest review]