Reviewed by: Sue Eaton
TITLE: A Beginners Guide to Demonic Possessions
SERIES: A Demonic Disasters and Afterlife
AUTHOR: Shannon Mae
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 147 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2024
BLURB:
The dreaded Valentine’s Day is coming next week, and Trent can’t stomach the thought of another holiday alone. Hiding in the restaurant bathroom from his terrible date, he wishes for a way to skip V-Day all together. Alien abduction? Demonic possession? Coma? Anything else sounds good right about now. When he looks in the bathroom mirror, Trent suddenly realizes he isn’t in charge anymore. Demonic possession it is then.
Paz certainly didn’t expect such a welcome (apparently most hosts spend all their time screaming internally), and he also has quite a bit to say about Trent’s life (who lives in an apartment for six years and doesn’t decorate it?). Trent had no idea his demonic possession was going to look more like a home improvement show than a spring break gone wild special, but Paz manages to break Trent out of his comfort zone and show him what he’s been missing in life (and it isn’t just random hook ups).
Tags: Trent is not a morning person; Paz is way too bright and cheery for a demon; sharing a body is a surefire way to get rid of loneliness; who knew shopping for flatware (whatever that is) could be fun; Paz takes Trent toy shopping (yes, those kinds of toys); demonic friends keep popping up (and sometimes even helping); maybe Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a horrific holiday filled with loneliness and despair; Trent and Paz might just be a match made in heaven… or hell.
REVIEW:
This was a sweet novella in the Demonic Disasters series. This book was a bit different from the others as in the Demon takes possession of Trent and quite a bit of the book is from that dual personality; one body perspective, which was strange and a totally different way of writing two characters.
Trent is dreading another Valentine’s day when he is resolutely single; he is on the date from Hell and wanting it all to end quickly. He would rather be any where than hiding out in the bathroom; his life is chugging along, not doing anything interesting, same old routine, same old dread as Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Seeing a strange shape in the mirror Trent traces it out and before he knows it, he is taking a backseat in his mind and Paz is in control.
Those first interactions were brilliant, Paz is surprised as his hosts generally end up screaming in terror even though they invited him in. His deadpan delivery of the screaming and his subsequent headache from all the noise was funny. Trent is so matter of fact, in fact, he is relishing having a break from his life. He is so chilled out about a demon possessing his body, he isn’t curled up in the corner of his mind, gibbering. Paz has never had a host like Trent and they strike up an unlikely friendship.
Paz shakes up Trent’s boring existence and makes him realise that he is more adventurous than he thought. In effect Trent gets a up close and personal look at his life, from a different point of view than his own and realises that he has been sleepwalking his way through his life.
Paz is sweet, caring and it doesn’t take him long to get used to Trent still being around and talking to him. He embarks upon decorating Trent’s apartment and cooking delicious meals. You only catch glimpses of what Paz’s life is like back in Hell but he shows by the way he cares for and about Trent that he is a nice demon who enjoys his host’s lives and rarely causes them any problems.
I rooted for these two hoping that they could be together despite starting out as a possession; that Trent would find a way to get Paz back either by another summons or some other sort of intervention by the other Demons. It was a sweet romance that I enjoyed.
RATING: 
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