HELLBENT & HEARTFIRST

Author: Kassandra Sims ISBN: 0765358018 4/2008 PARANORMAL Publisher: TOR

When Hurricane Katrina hit, Jacyn Boaz knew it was time to go home to the Gulf Coast. Working with relief organizations, Jacyn pushes herself to exhaustion every day, trying to rid herself of the guilty knowledge that but for a twist of fate, she would be one of the many weary souls she sees every day, people searching for their families, their children, anything of their life before. Jimmy Wayne Broadus looks like the perfect distraction from the endless parade of grief. His beat-up pickup truck has a bumper sticker that says, "Don't Mess With Texas," and he wears his jeans like a down home boy. He likes his beer and BBQ, and his fingers are never far from his guitar. But Jimmy Wayne has hidden depths and dark secrets. He's on the trail of a demon that's been eating the souls of Katrina refugees... and he needs Jacyn's help. As they fight and hunt their way through the storm-wrecked Gulf Coast, thwarting an evil witch here, fighting a course from a necklace there, Jacyn realizes that she and Jimmy Wayne make a good team. Maybe there's more to life than guild and tears... like love.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Let me first say that I like this odd book by Kassandra Sims. This review may not read like I do, but I do. It's weird, fragmented, and full of things that I do not normally like in a romance—casual sex, southern slang that is beyond deciphering unless you speak it, and so on. But, despite my obvious problems with HELLBENT & HEARTFIRST, I cannot stop thinking about it. It is disturbing and gripping, even when I have no idea what I am reading exactly. Honestly, I am still lost, even though I have finished it.

What I like most about HELLBENT & HEARTFIRST is the character of Jimmy Wayne, the hero. He is as redneck as they come, but don't mistake that for slow or stupid. Paired up with his loose heroine, Jacyn, who I have come to have some respect for, and J.W. becomes loveable too. He makes the book with his deceptive naivete and hot cowboy ways. I wish J.W. explained himself a bit better (or perhaps the author could set the scene better so I know what he's talking about?), but I like to imagine his voice anyway.

So, as much as I like the voodoo, magical and just plan weird elements of this one, I cannot give it a Top Pick. Why? Because honestly, I am going to have to read it again because there are parts I simply do not get. Heck, there is a whole section of the book where the hero and heroine are suddenly apart that I think is left out! (Yes, I know about the whole witch hex/mind bender thing, but it still makes no sense to me! Did J.W. just up and go out one night on a hunt and never return? Where did he meet the supposed hexer?? Huh!!??) Also, there is language I do not understand and scenes where I have no idea what is happening. I like to think that though I might be a typical Midwesterner, like J.W. I am not slow or stupid.

Shannon Johnson