Series Spotlight: Kate Connor, Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Series

Title: The Trouble With Demons Collection
Author: Julie Kenner
Series:  Kate Connor, Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Books 1-5
Publish Date:  November 21, 2014

Amazon | B&N

Kate Connor is your average, everyday mom with two kids, a husband, and one very big secret … she used to be a Demon Hunter. Now retired, she’s more interested in the domestic than the demonic. So when she catches sight of a demon in Wal-Mart, she tells herself it’s some other Hunter’s problem. But when that demon attacks her in her kitchen, retirement is no longer an option…

Warner Brothers Television has optioned the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom (DHSM) series for the CW Network!  To celebrate, for a limited time, you can get the first five books in Julie Kenner’s Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series for only $.99!  The Trouble With Demons collection includes:

• Carpe Demon
• California Demon
• Demons Are Forever
• Deja Demon
• Demon Ex Machina

You’ll also want to pick up The Demon You Know, a novella that takes place between the fourth and fifth books, and the final book in the series, Pax Demonica.

Though I am not a mom, let alone a soccer mom, I really enjoyed this series. The balancing of the mundane with the supernatural and the attempt to keep such a massive secret makes for really good storytelling. The characters are fantastic — I particularly love Laura, the clued-in best friend; Kate’s daughter, Allie; and Eddie, the adopted “grandpa” and retired demon hunter. The cast of characters in this series is really great.

This is another series I could have erroneously dismissed as “fluff,” but it’s really not. Balancing our responsibilities in life — during the good times and the bad — is something everyone can relate to, regardless of what your “demons” may be. This series not only pokes some fun at the life of a stay-at-home mom, but it also deals with divorce and remarriage, divided loyalties, death, and those slow descents into darkness. Do you protect your children from badness, or prepare them for what is inevitable? What happens when you share your darkest secrets with someone you love? How do you survive when doing the right thing brings your world down around you? These are not “fluff” questions at all.

The only thing about this series that makes me sad is that not all of the books come in an audio format. Only two of the books are available on Audible.com; I haven’t checked any of the other audiobook store sites, though. I found the first four on CD at my local library. But the first four are the only ones recorded. The narrator, Laura Hicks, does such a great job with these books that I actually prefer them in audio, to be honest. I’ve spoken to the author twice about this, and she agrees it would be great to get the rest of the books in audio. Now that she’s self-publishing the books, maybe she can chat with Audible Studios and see what can be done? <hint hint> 😉

UPDATE: All the audios have been rerecorded, are narrated by Carly Robins, and are available on Amazon. They sound AMAZING!

I’m very eager to see what this series will look like on television. I started watching I, Zombie on the CW recently and can see the DHSM series looking something like that. I think it will be a fun series to see on the screen.