After a deal with loan sharks sours, Darlene’s brother is permanently transformed into a chipmunk. Not one to accept impossibility as a good excuse for failure, she’s determined to rescue her brother and secure revenge against those who’d poisoned him with grade-a transformatives.If she wants to perform a miracle, she’ll need to join forces with a divine, but the man upstairs and his angels … angels refuse to help.
None of the other so-called benevolent divines are willing to help her, either.
Running out of time and options, Darlene prepares to storm the gates of hell for her brother.
She never expected to fall in love with the Devil.
Warning: this novel contains a woman with a chip on her shoulder, humor, and one hell of a hero. Proceed with caution.
more
I love R. J. Blain’s books; the writing style, characters, and plots check all the boxes for me, including snark, sassy dialog, and plenty of laughs. I was really looking forward to this book, since I love Satin (RJ’s version of Satan) and his relationship with his brothers (archangels), and had enjoyed Satan and Darlene in Whatever For Hire (my previous favorite) and wanted to see more of her. Chip on Her Shoulder tells us how Darlene and Satan met, and it exceeded my expectations. RJ writes some strong heroines, and Darlene might be the baddest of the bunch. Her road to revenge isn’t easy, but definitely comes with some side benefits and plenty of fun. Plus lots of spots, a spot counting obsession, and nasty villains who are brought up close and personal with retribution. This a great precursor to Whatever For Hire. I enjoyed it so much I’m going right back to read it again. If you don’t like to laugh stay away from this book, but if you enjoy quirky, snarky, sometimes slightly irreverent humor, give it a try.
I dont know where to start. I loved this book. What does a person do when her brother is unfairly turned into a chipmunk? Vengeance sounds nice! Now how to go about it? I know lets go to hell and take over, so the devil will have to help you. This book is nonstop hilarity and hijinks and I know you’ll enjoy it! Oh, and there are spots, lots of spots!
4 Cranky Stars
Darlene, a hybrid human/animal shifter, seeks revenge for thugs turning her brother, Jonas, into a chipmunk. She goes through the proper channels to seek aid from the angels, but they tell her they do not have the ability to do so, but a favor for a favor and they will tell her who can turn him back into humanoid form. She agrees and discovers that it’s the Devil who can do it; so she decides to take over Hell to get her revenge. The Devil falls in love at first sight of her spots and allows her to rule him and his domain. She is sassy and determined and ends up with 2 angels and the Devil wrapped around her fingers. The banter and pranks are endlessly funny. The only reason I took off a star was the excessive use of the word “spots”, her spots are a source of control over the Devil, but they could have been referred to as “them”, “these”, or anything else….just a constant “my spots” “my spots” “my spots”….it became annoying. If I remember correctly, she said “my spots” 4 times in one sentence. Other than that, it was a great book and still worth reading.
I love all the books by this author. This book was funny and enjoyable to read.
I love all the books in this series. The first one I picked up was simply because of the tag line about a romantic comedy with a body count, turns out it was a good gamble. Glad the series keeps going.
This is the latest entry in Ms. Blain’s series A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count). It tells the story of how Satin met Darlene, and she overcame him by using her spots advantageously. It is a fun story of family: Darlene wants revenge for some goons who turned her brother into a chipmunk. Satin’s brothers get involved. We meet Kanika when she is but a wee babe. This story stands alone, but if you are not familiar with the series it is a good place to start.
Darlene is witty and devious. She is a match for the Devil. It is a funny story even though it is filled with mayhem. I could not put it down. I think you will enjoy it as well.
*I received a free copy of this book which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.
This is my first foray into this authors work but I can guarantee it won’t be the last. Darlene is hilarious and so much fun to follow. We start with her being forced to watch some mafia thugs transform her brother into a chipmunk. This so makes her angry as well as determined to fix it. In this world of angels and demons it just might be possible which is when she becomes a force to be reckoned with. She will not take no for an answer no matter who it is. This is how she ends up dealing with Lucifer who she just loves to torment. Her revenge is perfect I must say. This makes for one hilariously fun read that you won’t want to put down because you just have to know what crazy thing she says it does next. A total must read. I totally loved it so I give it 5/5 stars.
It’s another great read from R. J. Blain who consistently delivers fun, action-based plots filled with great characters and snarky dialogue.
The heroine is Darlene. She has a bit part in ‘Whatever For Hire’ and a supporting role in ‘Grave Humor’ and now, in ‘Chip On Her Shoulder’, she’s the star. And wow, what a part! When her brother is forcefully changed into a chipmunk by very sleazy mafia types – what’s a girl to do? Get him fixed and then take out the low life scum who did it – it may be vengeance but it is also justice as he’s not the only victim of their evil ways… To this end she acquires the assistance of two archangels, takes over the many Hells and totally mesmerizes the previous owner. Anyone who loves Blain’s Satin knows that she is just what he deserves!
Although it is linked to both in ‘Whatever For Hire’ and ‘Grave Humor’, you don’t need to read them first. If, however, you want to read them in chronological order – Chip is first, then Whatever, and lastly Grave.
Several axioms went through my mind as I read this. “Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven” and “hell has no fury like a woman scorned” are two of them and boy, do they fit. This was a hilarious romp replete with mafia, demons and angels facing off a truly outraged woman, carefully disguising a serious consideration of whether doing bad things for good ends is morally defensible. I loved this novel!
Love Darlene.
She is so justifiably ruthless, with hints of softness. Soft that even she didn’t think she had. And her interactions with Satin are hilarious. Here he’s
not quite the instigator that he is in later books, this is definitely Darlene’s show. Of course his brothers get involved too.
From events and clues dropped this is one of the chronologically earlier Rom Coms. But you don’t need to have read others in the Rom Com world to enjoy this. If you have, it does start to fill in some background in several of the other books.
Definitely recommend this book. Read it quickly, with some interruptions, so I’m looking forward to reading it again soon. My next read will be slower, more thorough and then I’ll read some of the related stories.
cross posted goodreads, amazon, book bub
Loved it! Another great entry with some wonderful spoilers to books that already exist. Darlene is everything you would expect for Satin but so much more as well. Can’t wait for more.
Satin has been a love of mine since he first showed up. A Chip On Her Shoulder gives us the irresistible Satin as well as his hilarious and beautiful Darlene. Meeting Lucifer in previous books, I knew his wife HAD to be full of sass and wit. She is and so much more.
I loved getting to see the beginning of them as well as a few characters we know and love. RJ Blain connected so many pieces we didn’t know we needed or wanted.
I laughed so hard I cried at many places in this book and couldn’t have dreamed of anything better for Lucifer and Darlene.
A Chip On Her Shoulder dazzles us with the lives of the divines like we’ve never seen while also delivering sassy and witty characters. I couldn’t put it down and would give it more than 5 stars if I was able!