[amazon_link id=”0765331802″ target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Title : In a Fix (Ciel Hannigan Series)
Author : Linda Grimes
Genre : Fantasy
Publisher : Tor
Pages : 336
Source : Netgalley/Publisher ARC
Rating : 3.5/5

Ciel Halligan is an “aura adaptor”, a person with the very special ability to morph into someone else. She uses this to run a business offering her “adaptor” services for hire. As a facilitator, she can smoothen life’s rough edges by morphing into you and getting the job done, whatever the job maybe. Currently it is snagging a marriage proposal for beautiful and wealthy client Mina Worthington. The job isn’t going too well what with the potential groom being kidnapped and their villa (where Ciel and Mina’s fiance Trey are vacationing) being blown to smithereens.

Ciel is determined to get Trey back, but gets some push-back from two of her over-protective adaptor friends Mark and Billy. They’d rather she stay away from trouble leaving the sleuthing to them but Ciel has a mind of her own and uses to get in and out of sticky situations . . .

I’d elected to read this book because of the interesting “aura adaptor” premise. While that is interesting, this book works because of it’s intrepid heroine Ciel She’s a little impetuous and immature at times, but her sparkly, vivacious personality works in this setting. Ciel is in love with CIA agent Mark (he is the older, abler stereotypical hero type) who looks upon her almost as a younger sibling under his charge. Billy, on the other hand, is the wise-cracking almost-peer who, underneath his joking persona, also has feelings for Ciel. Ciels’s elder brother also features in the book and the three of them monitor Ciel like some errant child. She is understandably rebellious.

So this is a romance all bundled together with a mystery, and there’s a fantasy element thrown in. What was different about Ciel’s love story was that after she got cozy with both Mark and later, Billy, she couldn’t actually decide who she preferred. Of course Mark and Billy are no saints either; Billy is a womanizer and Mark has scads of women swooning in his wake. This is quite different from most of the romantic angles that play out in popular books, because generally the woman is devoted to a single man, never mind how many handsome hunks are in pursuit of her, or the fact that her chosen one doesn’t know she exists. Of course this is only book one of the Ciel Hannigan series, so presumably we shall see further romantic development in one direction.

I found the plot of the book a little weak, and the Nordic villains goofy; their plan to take over the world needed some serious retooling, me thinks. Inspite of Ciel getting into various scrapes it didn’t seem like she was going to come to any major harm, so the book played out like some kind of borderline-dangerous romp. It doesn’t set her up as being a serious sleuthing agent but the shit-spewing stunts might work well in a movie.

Still this was a fun book and a quick, easy read. Characters are consistent enough, and Ciel is plucky and likeable and has a sense of humor to boot. I would read another of Ciel’s adventures because of who she is.