(Image from mybookshelf.com)

(Image from Julie Kenner's official website)

Kate Connor's got enough on her plate - she's a SAHM to 2 kids, wife to a lawyer with political ambitions, best friend to a woman who suspects her husband may be cheating, and a homemaker with piles of laundry to sort, dinner to make, and a house to clean. Her schedule is jam-packed; she really doesn't have time to resurrect her early career as a Demon Hunter. Resurrect it she must, however, because Demons have descended on her once safe hometown, and only she can stop them.

The problem with coming out of retirement is that her family doesn't know anything about her Demon-Hunting past. She prefers it to stay that way. Besides, this is a one-time gig - as soon as she rids her town of unwanted presences, she's going right back to being Kate Connor, plain old soccer mom. First, however, she's got a mystery to solve. She must determine why her old enemy - a nasty High Demon named Goramesh - is haunting San Diablo, California. The town boasts a large cathedral housing bones of saints and other relics - such powerful religious items should be keeping Demons far, far away. So, what has drawn Goramesh to sunny Cali? Kate begins a desperate dig through the Church's archives to find the answer. Not that anyone's going to let her focus on her task, however - her husband keeps throwing surprise dinner parties in her lap, Demons are lurking around every corner, her 2-year-old's throwing tantrums to get her attention, and her best friend is starting to get susicious. Kate must find the answer to her dilemma, rid the town of Demons, and get back to her normal life before it all disappears in a puff of smoke. A difficult task, yes, but this Demon-hunting soccer mom is up to the task. Or is she?

Okay, I know the plot of Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner sounds a little hokey. It is, but the book is a lot of fun. There was plenty in it to irritate me (how often does one person really say the word "schlep?" and what toddler can ask his mom, "Do you have holey sheets?"), but I actually enjoyed this one. It's the first urban-fantasy-with-a-domestic-bent that I've read. I know there are plenty of these kind of books out there, so I don't know whether Julie Kenner is an original or a copycat, but still ... this was a fun foray for me.

Grade: B-