Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Don’t Fear The (Not Really Grim) Reaper 
AUTHOR: Carole Cummings
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 70 Pages
RELEASE DATE: January 11, 2019
BLURB:
When unassuming college student Emery Sutton wakes up in the morgue, it takes him a few minutes to remember he has magic (superpowers, damn it!) and free himself from the refrigerated drawer. And the body bag. (God.) It doesn’t take long, though, for him to remember the hot guy with wings he ran into just before a city bus ran into him.
Junior Reaper John must explain to his supervisor how his first solo assignment went so wrong. All he knows is that he happened upon Emery quite by accident, that Emery saw John when he shouldn’t have been able to, and when they accidentally touched, a bus came out of nowhere and plowed Emery under. (John really does feel bad about that.)
Hot angels, annoying demons, hijinks, absurdity, drunk siblings, a dash of silly romance, an inordinate attachment to wings, and a highly disorganized bid for world domination—Don’t Fear the (Not Really Grim) Reaper follows Emery and John down the rabbit hole where they find that moms are scarier than demons from hell, a goat is not a puppy no matter what Emery’s sister says, and awkward romance can happen anywhere.
REVIEW:
This was a delightful book. It kind of reminded me of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, although I can’t in all honesty suggest it’s in the same class, as good as it is.
John is a brand new Reaper and his first assignment was going so well – until he spots the most beautiful man he has ever seen and touches him. Not a normal touch, you understand, but a touch. Something flares between them and the beautiful man dies.
John’s supervisor is not impressed, especially when they find the man, Emery, hasn’t turned up in the afterlife. John is sent back to investigate. Imagine his surprise when he finds the man alive, and apparently well. They touch again and a fire escape falls on the guy’s head.
By this time, Emery is fed up of dying, not to mention he’s on the run from a demon called Crazy Helen, and is probably in a lot of trouble with his parents. On the whole, neither of them is having a good day.
The problem is, as far as John is concerned, he doesn’t want to stop touching Emery, not only because he’s just so goddam beautiful but every time Emery dies, John regains some of his memories before death.
When they discover the antichrist, John’s supervisor turns up along with an army of reluctant demons who only want to party, Emery’s father’s lawn is in serious danger and his mother is well and truly pissed.
Emery’s mother is my favourite character, next to the boys of course. She’s a typical, strong, caring mother who’ll fight heaven and hell for her son but won’t take any nonsense from him either.
All the characters, including the demons, are endearing, and there are a few sweet twists that made me smile, and an “a-ha” moment that was a surprise but not a shock. To be honest, it’s the humour that really sets this book up for me. The characters are snarky and their story is told in a sharp, insightful way that appealed to me a great deal.
I can’t honestly say that I’d class this as a romance. Yes there’s a spark between John and Emery and a relationship forms, but the romance is not, I would argue, key to the story. You could take the romance out and have John and Emery nothing more than friends and the story would still stand.
If you like humour, puzzles and demons who throw shoes then this is definitely the book for you, especially if you also like hot angels and rebellious little sisters.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
This sounds like a Hoot! I’d love to read this one, for the laughter, what seems like very likable characters, the story development, etc. Great review, Cheryl!