The Reaper Rescues the Genie: Nocturne Falls, Book 9

Ninth in the Nocturne Falls fantasy magical realism mystery series revolving around Nocturne Falls, the town that celebrates Halloween 365 days a year. The couple focus is on Lucien Dupree and Imari Zephara.My TakeThis is an incredibly sweet story of a very lonely man stricken with grief. And, man, Painter is so good at being intriguing. She very slowly reveals bits and pieces as the story goes along, including the truth about his forgiving grandmother who has her own exciting past, lol.I absolutely love this cozy series with its caring, supportive characters! If only every group of people could be like them!Both protagonists — Painter uses third person dual protagonist points-of-view from Lucien's and Imari's perspectives — have some hefty price tags attached to their being alive. Imari's is particularly nasty and has everything to do with jinn culture. If she must be married, she wants a partnership, not a dictatorship.Lucien's house is pretty amazing, as are those secret passages. Imari's bottle is also secret. In her own hands, it's her freedom. In the hands of others . . . it's not.Imari's entire aim in life is to remain free and make her own decisions, which means protecting her bottle and conserving her allotment of wishes. Talk about rock and hard place! Marrying will come with all sorts of problems.Oh man, guys would pant to have even a small percentage of Lucien's car collection! It is cute that Lucien has all these cars and yet doesn't go out much.Hmm, it's interesting how much Lucien has contributed to Nocturne Falls just to keep his isolation intact.Okay, it is so annoying when characters "interpret" what everyone else is "really" thinking. Oy. Yeah, I'm saying Lucien is beating himself up and yet he's such a hero! Even with his "trashy" taste in magazines, lol.It's a blend of action, character, and culture — of hollow pride and of honor without love.The StoryGrief and guilt strike when grim reaper Lucien Dupree's powers run amuck. Now he’s living in a self-imposed exile to keep humanity safe. Sure, it’s a lonely existence, but it’s the best thing for everyone. Except him.Retired genie, Imari Zephara, has found her happy place in Nocturne Falls.As happy as she can be considering the alternative returning home would bring her. Then a dark force rears its ugly head and throws her life into turmoil. Suddenly the only way to save herself is to join forces with death, who turns out to be a pretty amazing guy.But Lucien’s defective powers might not be enough to overcome centuries of jinn tradition, meaning Imari’s life would no longer be her own. All he wants is to give her the chance to choose her own future. Hopefully, one that includes him. What more could a guy a wish for?The CharactersThe paranoid, thousand-year-old Imari Zephara is a "retired" genie who works as a massage therapist at the Nocturne Falls Spa.The hermit-like Lucien Dupree is a retired grim reaper who now runs Insomnia, the supernaturals-only hotspot located in the derelict Caldwell building. Hattie Dupree, a.k.a. Mémé, is Lucien's ghost of a grandmother who lives with Lucien. Kora is his problem daughter, half-vampire, half-reaper. Pavlina, a vampire, is/was Kora's mother.Nocturne Falls, Georgia, is . . .. . . the small town where the tourists think it's all a show: the vampires, the werewolves, the witches, the occasional gargoyle flying through the sky. But the supernaturals populating the town know better. The Ellinghams, a family of vampires, owns most of the town. Elenora Ellingham is the matriarch of the family. Alice Bishop is Elenora's powerful witch secretary. Sebastian is the oldest grandson and engaged to Tessa Blythe, a valkyrie and librarian ( The Vampire's Fake Fiancée , 5). Greaves is Sebastian's rook. Hugh is the middle of her three grandsons, and he's married to Delaney who runs a sweets shop, Delaney's Delectables ( The Vampire's Mail Order Bride , 1). Stanhill is Hugh's rook, and he's engaged to Corette Williams, the mother of three witches and the owner of the bridal shop ("The Witch's Halloween Hero", 4.5). The Basement is an operational area that runs under most of the town.Greyson Garrett is a daywalking vampire who works for Lucien on an as-needed basis. Hmm, actually Greyson seems to work for anyone on an as-needed basis . . . Willa Iscove, a fae jeweler, owns Illusions and creates the most incredible jewelry. Jasper is her cat. She's engaged to Nick Hardwin, a gargoyle ( The Gargoyle Gets His Girl , 3).Birdie Caruthers, a werewolf and Hank's aunt, works as a receptionist at the sheriff's department. Sheriff Hank Merrow is a werewolf married to Ivy ( The Werewolf Meets His Match , 2).Jayne Frost, niece of Santa Claus, daughter to Jack Frost, and heir to the Winter throne, manages Santa's Workshop. Marigold Williams, a green witch, runs the Enchanted Garden flower shop. Charisma Williams is her sister and a life coach. Pandora Williams, another sister, is a real estate witch who's with Cole Van Zant ( The Professor Woos the Witch , 4). Guillermo's is an Italian restaurant. Trina, a fae, is one of the shift managers at Insomnia. Shelley, a wood nymph, does hair at the spa. The Excelsior is an elite apartment building that caters to supernaturals.The Chaos Realm is . . .. . . the world the jinn call home, where everything must be in order. Imari's betrothed-from-the-cradle is an ifrit, Prince Khalid, who is the captain of the guards who patrol the Well of Wishes as well as the son of the king, Khan Memnat. Imari's parents are Farozza Zephara, vice-minister of Oasis Management, and Zakir, the king's vizara of Strategy, a.k.a. Secretary of Defense. Ravi manages the Zephara home. There is always a marid — Hammad this time — who acts as mediator in disputes.Wish merchants capture genies to use them for their wish-granting abilities. Adira is the genie he holds captive.The reapersLucien had been part of the War Angels division, each member stripped of their ability to see color. Phantom had been Lucien's assigned horse.Sword and Scepter is a TV series about a made-up royal family in a made-up country who experience all sorts of drama. Hattie and Imari both love it! Mr Black, Mrs Crabapple, Ms Simmons, and Mr Franklin are unexpected new clients for Imari.The Cover and TitleThe cover is black and blue — probably what Imari's parents would like to do to her. A black background with sparkling stars in the background that help frame the central oval that is focussed on the sheer blue harem-outfitted Imari with her long black hair, her arms up and bent behind her head, her legs disappearing in a sparkly jeweled cloud that flows into her elaborately jeweled bottle. On the right side of the bottle is the dark-haired Lucien, his reaper blade over his right shoulder, incongruously dressed in a gray shirt and navy sweater vest and trousers. His left hand holds the emerald stopper. The white title covers one-third of the upper part of the cover while an info blurb and the author's name, all in white, are at the bottom. The orange series jack-o-lantern and the brown signboard with the yellow text that announces the series info is on the left and relatively level with the bottom of Imari's bottle.The title is the truth, for it's The Reaper [Who] Rescues the Genie, who turns around and "rescues" the reaper.

Diving back into Nocturne Falls was truly like returning home! If ever there was a fictional land I would want to live in, this is it! Kristen Painter's series is truly remarkable, because even after a much long delay in getting back to this series, I was able to pick up The Reaper Rescues the Genie with ease! I saw some familiar faces even if a few were fuzzy, but thankfully this story did not lie with them, but with anew pair!Lucien is a retired reaper. His powers have gone haywire and have become unreliable which forced him into an early retirement. He lives in a swank underground mansion with his ghostly grandmother, and is pretty much a recluse. Except for the times he goes up to the club he owns and manages things. That's when he sees Imari and becomes deeply intrigued with the woman.Imari, as it turns out, is a jinn who's trying to stay as far from home as long as she can, for a destiny she wants nothing to do with awaits her. But her life gets complicated when a wish hunter starts stalking her. He's pretty much a genie hunter who will either keep Imari for himself to use for wishes or sell her to the highest bidder. And when she gets attacked outside Lucien's club, he is there to rescue her.Before Lucien knows it, he's agreeing to help protect Imari until the hunter can be caught and dealt with. It's not long before a connection begins to form between the two. Despite Lucien's attempts to stay closed off, he finds himself opening up to Imari. She too finds herself falling for the ex-reaper. It's a sweet, sort of slow building romance. The heat between them burns hot and fast, but the real feelings take longer to develop which makes it all the sweeter of a love story!There's more to the story then just this wish hunter problem, but I will leave those details for you to uncover! Just known that the hunter is only the beginning of Lucien and Imari's problems!The story was one I easily devoured in a short period. It's fast paced, yet there's still plenty of downtime for the characters as they develop and fall for one another. I also see background fodder for future stories and since I am way behind, I see that I am correct on one account at least!If you're looking for a fun and quirky paranormal romance, Nocturne Falls is pretty much THE PERFECT series to read! While you don't have to read the books in any particular order, it is one with recurring characters, so if you read "ahead" you'll pretty much know who's with who. From my recollection though there was never any doubt about who the characters wind up with. Pretty much when you read what each book is about, it tells you without telling you who winds up together. THAT kind of spoiler but not really a spoiler. So reading order is totally up to the reader in that regard! However behind I am though, I am still going chronologically because that's who I am! Lol.So to recap...if you're looking for a fun paranormal romance read, this series is perfect! There's a vast amount of character types, so there's something for every paranormal reader to enjoy!Overall Rating 5/5 stars

Ok, so maybe it’s just the “overpowered” nature of her protagonists in this particular volume (because let’s face it Genies and Grim Reapers are not exactly common fair, even in a town like Nocturne Falls), but in this book Painter handles them somewhat more diffidently.The characters insecurities are a bit more blatant. Probably because we might not buy those insecurities as even possible, otherwise, given who the characters are. Also, they are both far more closed off than typical of Painter’s leads, even though the “blocked to love,” motif is one from which all her chapters suffer.No, these two have a much deeper pit from which they must climb and a tremendous amount of baggage to be unpacked on both sides before a happy ending is even remotely possible (Rest assured, it is).True to form Painter keeps us guessing right up to the end, no matter how assured the final outcome, and she even manages to pull out a few MORE surprises just when we think we are coasting to the finale.So out on your seatbelts because it seems that a genie is the driver’s seat!

This is such a great series! If this is your first, stop and start at the beginning. Every one is enjoyable, but they get even better as they world build on each other!

This book was great. Kristen Painter is one of my favorite authors and Nocturne Falls is one of my favorite series. Even with this being the second time ready this series from book 1.

What a fun story. It hit all the right notes and left you wanting more, so much that you can't really wait for the next book.Nocturne Falls is enchanting small town filled with all kinds of supernaturals that find love in all kinds of places.A fun, quirky story filled with old biddies that steal the show. Heartfelt moments that are swoonworthy, and all the right words at the right time, a true fantasy.Highly recommended series

I loved this book. I am glad to see two characters that showed up first in the Jane Frost Books get their own story and take a much larger step forward to show the world more of them. I loved the contrasts of love, life, colour and the worlds around them. I was cheering more than once at a couple of the speeches. I love Hattie and adore her, I really hope she turns up more as she is so much like Birdie in some ways.

I love the Nocturne Falls series, even some of the guest authored books.This book, though, was pure magic. I felt this was a particularly sweet and romantic read. I love Lucien and Imara was pretty special too.This was incredibly well written, the story drew me in and as always the author cleverly weaved a fantastic book. The plot moved quickly but at a satisfying pace that culminated in all loose ends being tied up neatly.Wonderful.

I've recently found your books nocturnal falls this has been my favourite of those I've read I want more of Lucien emiry with Hattie

Utterly fantastic, Kristen as always does not disappoint, loved this book very much and definitely connected with our heroine and hero in many ways,I won't give spoilers but will say this, those who love magic, supernatural beings, love hard won with adventure, joy and heartbreak along the way to a well earned HEA will love this as much as I do.Thank you Kristen for writing it and sharing it with the world.