Reviewed by: Sue Eaton

TITLE: A Beginners Guide to Death, Demons and other Afterlife Disasters

SERIES: Demonic Disasters and Aferlife Adventures

AUTHOR: Shannon Mae

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 170 pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 3, 2023

BLURB:

Adam:
Adam is not having a good day. First, he finds out his very long-time boyfriend has been having an affair. Then, his dramatic exit becomes a little too dramatic when he ends up dead. To top it off, he finds out that the afterlife isn’t at all what he expected (he has no desire to learn to play the harp, thank you very much). Fortunately for him, some afterlife bureaucratic screw up ends him up with the most smoking hot demon he’s ever seen, and he decides he’s keeping him. Maybe the afterlife won’t be so bad after all.

Minos:
As Judge of the Damned, Minos has seen all sorts of human depravity over his endless existence. When a beautiful, shining soul pops into his chamber for judgment, he knows it’s a mistake. The human, however, seems quite content to hang around, and it isn’t long before Minos decides he just might decide to keep this one. Minos isn’t the optimistic or happy sort, but he can’t help but be caught up in the whirlwind that is Adam. When forces beyond his control want to return Adam to his designated afterlife, Minos decides that will not be happening, heaven and hell be damned.

REVIEW:

I had so much fun reading this book and it reinforced my idea that Hell is the place to go to have fun and Heaven is so boring.

Adam finds himself unexpectedly dead after a car accident, arrives in Heaven to be confronted by his worst nightmare, a corporate drone in a white room.  I was already chuckling at the absurdity of the situation.   After passing on, Heaven and who could blame him, Adam finds himself in Hell, standing before Minos, one of the Lords of the Underworld.

Adam is funny, adorable, and quirky and bursts like a whirlwind into Minos life.

Minos has been judging people’s souls forever, since before the start of time.  He takes pride in his inventive judgements but lately he has lost his spark, but he doesn’t know why or what to do about it.  As soon as he lays eyes on Adam, he knows he is a pure brilliant soul that doesn’t belong in the underworld.  Minos is stoic and grumpy but is soon caught up in Adam’s joy and exuberance.

You’d think if you ended up in the underworld in front of a demon you’d be screaming to leave and shaking in your shoes.  Adam is my kind of guy, he reads paranormal so isn’t phased by Mino’s, in fact, he thinks he’s hot.  I loved the reference to a particular m/m sci-fi book.  Adam takes his death by the horns and goes after what he wants, which is Minos.

Minos thinks to grab whatever he can from Adam, he knows there has been a mistake made somewhere but is eager to have as much of Adam as he can before the mistake is noticed and Adam is whisked away.

There are so many great little bits of this book, the corporate references, the in jokes and the instant attraction between them.  Adam is creative in helping Minos punish the souls that come before them.    The dynamic between Minos and his demons and the loyalty they show him.

When Adam is forcibly taken back to Heaven to right the mistake made, Adam is perfect in his response and I laughed so much, it was the perfect response to the bureaucratic machine and fighting bureaucratic nonsense with more double speak bureaucracy was so funny and you could just imagine this happening.

Adam is convinced that Minos will come for him and Minos, despite all the risks involved is determined to get to Adam before it is too late.

A funny romp with quirky, adorable characters which left me wanting more.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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