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vikingwolf's review
5.0
If Zoey thought the incubus problems were bad, then her new set of problems are going to be worse. Riley is on probation for saving her and Zoey is being investigated and tested to see if she is useful to the Powers that Be. If she is, she will be forced to work for them like her missing mother, if not she will be killed. The Leprechaun Mafia are in town demanding protection money from Zoey and her friends or death will follow, Maurice leaves to try and save his marriage and a bad luck pooka moves in and throws her life into utter chaos.
Zoey is tested by being given bad luck to endure so the arrival of Silas the Pooka multiplies it. Suddenly Zoey can't walk to her car without an accident happening. There is a lot of pure slapstick fun as Zoey becomes the most accident prone person in the world. Her date on the cruise ship with Riley is very funny-spied on by the obnoxious Art and his clicking pen, followed by her bad luck Pooka and ending up in the mess from hell. I don't want to spoil it for readers but the whole scene is funny and totally over the top which appealed to my sense of humour. Sara has to come and stay with Zoey when bad luck starts rubbing off on her which leads to a lot of crazy things happening at the house with Maurice trying to keep things tidy without being seen. Iris of course is a bit more difficult to hide...
Don't panic if you are fans of Maurice because there is plenty of Maurice in the book to enjoy. He is even more concerned about everything that is happening to Zoey and proves himself to be a loyal friend as always. I still don't really feel the chemistry between Zoey and Riley but I do quite like him as a character so it doesn't affect my opinion of the book. I hated Silas to start with but he did grow on me as time went on. I also liked the gremlins who reminded me of Smeagol in Lord of the Rings, and the very cool Frannie. We see plenty of Sara, Andrew, Iris and co as well which is good. The Mafia make good bad guys and there is something that I really hated them for doing, something that made me cry like a blubbering wreck for several pages and curse the author many times . It was HORRIBLE and SAD!!!
There is plenty going on in this book. There are lots of things to laugh at, sad gut wrenching moments, tons of action, Zoey getting into lots of accidents and problems and a mystery to solve. It was interesting to delve into a bit of Zoey's past with a few hints about what happened to her mother, which seems to be explored more in the next full length book.
I'm enjoying this series and I'm now reading book 3 but I do have a slight concern about the next book involving a road trip for Zoey and Riley. If Maurice is missing, half the fun is gone!!!
Zoey is tested by being given bad luck to endure so the arrival of Silas the Pooka multiplies it. Suddenly Zoey can't walk to her car without an accident happening. There is a lot of pure slapstick fun as Zoey becomes the most accident prone person in the world. Her date on the cruise ship with Riley is very funny-spied on by the obnoxious Art and his clicking pen, followed by her bad luck Pooka and ending up in the mess from hell. I don't want to spoil it for readers but the whole scene is funny and totally over the top which appealed to my sense of humour. Sara has to come and stay with Zoey when bad luck starts rubbing off on her which leads to a lot of crazy things happening at the house with Maurice trying to keep things tidy without being seen. Iris of course is a bit more difficult to hide...
Don't panic if you are fans of Maurice because there is plenty of Maurice in the book to enjoy. He is even more concerned about everything that is happening to Zoey and proves himself to be a loyal friend as always. I still don't really feel the chemistry between Zoey and Riley but I do quite like him as a character so it doesn't affect my opinion of the book. I hated Silas to start with but he did grow on me as time went on. I also liked the gremlins who reminded me of Smeagol in Lord of the Rings, and the very cool Frannie. We see plenty of Sara, Andrew, Iris and co as well which is good. The Mafia make good bad guys and there is something that I really hated them for doing, something that made me cry like a blubbering wreck for several pages and curse the author many times . It was HORRIBLE and SAD!!!
There is plenty going on in this book. There are lots of things to laugh at, sad gut wrenching moments, tons of action, Zoey getting into lots of accidents and problems and a mystery to solve. It was interesting to delve into a bit of Zoey's past with a few hints about what happened to her mother, which seems to be explored more in the next full length book.
I'm enjoying this series and I'm now reading book 3 but I do have a slight concern about the next book involving a road trip for Zoey and Riley. If Maurice is missing, half the fun is gone!!!
odomaf's review
2.0
The tone of this second book seemed to be more consistent with the Bad Things that happen in it -- as opposed to the first one that came across all light and fluffy, even though it was full of serial rape and murder.
WHAT I LIKED
-------------
- The leprechaun mafia - I felt they were a really great set of villains
- How bad luck was made deadly - some darkly creative scenarios there
- The pooka - another good "love to hate" character
- The reaper continues to grow on me
- Lucky boogers
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
----------------
- I'm assuming that you've read the first book. If you haven't, you might want to stop, because this is going to be a spoiler for the first book. Zoey's best friend Sara was repeatedly raped by an incubus over many days during the last book. Because it was all supernatural-related, Sara didn't remember anything about what had happened. Zoey decides NOT TO TELL HER. This really threw me for a loop. The book's explanation is that it's better for her to go on as if nothing happened, so she wouldn't be traumatized -- but no one ever covers whether incubus sex has risk of disease or impregnation, and I kind of believe everyone should get to know if someone else has been INSIDE their body.
- This is a spoiler for this book, but I feel like it's close enough to a trigger to include it. Sara finally learns what's really going on with Zoey, and MAURICE tells Sara what happened with the incubus. We know this because Sara approaches Zoey and says "Maurice tells me I slept with an incubus." Zoey agrees/nods or something. What she DOESN'T do is correct Sara and say "Uh, no, you were raped. It was totally nonconsensual".
I was kind of horrified about how the serial rape was handled in the first book. I picked this book up because I wanted to see how the author handled it as the characters developed. I'm still pretty horrified, though I will confess I did read the third book, too, hoping against hope that this situation would be handled better. I've got a review over on that one, too.
WHAT I LIKED
-------------
- The leprechaun mafia - I felt they were a really great set of villains
- How bad luck was made deadly - some darkly creative scenarios there
- The pooka - another good "love to hate" character
- The reaper continues to grow on me
- Lucky boogers
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
----------------
- I'm assuming that you've read the first book. If you haven't, you might want to stop, because this is going to be a spoiler for the first book. Zoey's best friend Sara was repeatedly raped by an incubus over many days during the last book. Because it was all supernatural-related, Sara didn't remember anything about what had happened. Zoey decides NOT TO TELL HER. This really threw me for a loop. The book's explanation is that it's better for her to go on as if nothing happened, so she wouldn't be traumatized -- but no one ever covers whether incubus sex has risk of disease or impregnation, and I kind of believe everyone should get to know if someone else has been INSIDE their body.
- This is a spoiler for this book, but I feel like it's close enough to a trigger to include it. Sara finally learns what's really going on with Zoey, and MAURICE tells Sara what happened with the incubus. We know this because Sara approaches Zoey and says "Maurice tells me I slept with an incubus." Zoey agrees/nods or something. What she DOESN'T do is correct Sara and say "Uh, no, you were raped. It was totally nonconsensual".
I was kind of horrified about how the serial rape was handled in the first book. I picked this book up because I wanted to see how the author handled it as the characters developed. I'm still pretty horrified, though I will confess I did read the third book, too, hoping against hope that this situation would be handled better. I've got a review over on that one, too.
tartbarbie's review
5.0
I received Pooka in My Pantry in return for an honest review as part of the tour hosted by Bewitching Book Tours. Pooka in My Pantry is the next installment in A Monster Haven Story series. After everything that happened in book one you would think Zoey would have a chance to deal with being a monster magnet and being an empath. Maurice has received divorce papers and decides to return home to see if they can try one more time to make it work leaving Zoey alone. As if that’s not enough she’s now being evaluated by the board, and Riley is on probation. Zoey also has a new roommate a very filthy Pooka who has taken up residency in Maurice’s room.
Zoey learns that she has a bad luck curse from the board plus she has bad luck from the pooka so they kind of cancel themselves out. Simple you would think but she’s being harassed like the other hidden by the leprechaun mafia which have given both her and Sara bad luck. Zoey has a full plate filled with monsters, secrets, and a whole lot more. Hopefully she will be able to survive what’s just around the corner.
Pooka in My Pantry is a fantastic novel. I love all the hidden beings that Zoey has to deal with through the story. Each one has a unique personality that enhances the story. The concept behind Zoey is also really interesting plus with the humor added to the book it’s a fun read. I was super excited to be picked for the tour because I loved the first one so much. I didn't have a monster in the closet but I did have a few nights of stuff under the bed and outside the window. Zoey is amazing, she’s smart, strong, fun and overall just a good person. I found the story well written I felt like I was with zoey though the whole story, I spent most of the book cheering her on as she deals with all the craziness that is attracted to her. If you’re into Urban fantasy with a real storyline and some humor this series is for you. I look forward to reading more in the series.
valerie_sam's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
book_whispers's review
4.0
Hello! The wack is back! Falling right back into the swing of things with the birth of a sea serpent, crazy mermaid kissing drunkenness (not the kind of mermaid you're thinking), and some Reaper pining. Ah, I love the smell of a kooky story.
Zoey has to watch it. She was supposed to die in the last book, and The Board of Hidden Affairs wants to fix that. Only Zoey could be bombed bad luck as a test. If she survives to the end of the week, she can live. Yet that means she has to forfeit her normal life. Because if she can out live the bad luck she's a . . . well, something even more important to the Hidden then she could have imagined. Which might be something her mother was and why she vanished so mysteriously.
On top of that the Leprechaun Mafia is in town, spreading even more bad luck. Zoey's loved ones are at risk again and there are some huge scares ahead for many of the beloved friends Andrew, Sara, and our favorite fox. Maurice leaves to try and patch things in his marriage, leaving Zoey with even more bad luck: the Pooka from the title. Don't forget that Riley and Zoey are still trying to get some romance on! The more of the Hidden world that is revealed Zoey unveils a scary secret behind the Board.
Despite the shear awesomeness of Pooka in My Pantry, I still feel the series is lacking the dark side of the emotions. One character finds out that she was incubus raped in the last book, but doesn't really react. She just nods and moves on. Don't get me wrong I think this series has great emotional development and portrayal. It's light heartedness is wonderful, but dark things have—and are—happening. There needs to be a balance.
People, pick this series up! It's a wonderful breath of fresh fun for any reader of Urban Fantasy collection. It's great to have a different kind of strong leading lady, one that I could run into on the street. Come on you know you want to meet the crazy monsters lurking behind these pages.
Sexual Content: Some sexual humor and kissing, overall pretty clean.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it
Originally reviewed on Book Whispers.
Zoey has to watch it. She was supposed to die in the last book, and The Board of Hidden Affairs wants to fix that. Only Zoey could be bombed bad luck as a test. If she survives to the end of the week, she can live. Yet that means she has to forfeit her normal life. Because if she can out live the bad luck she's a . . . well, something even more important to the Hidden then she could have imagined. Which might be something her mother was and why she vanished so mysteriously.
On top of that the Leprechaun Mafia is in town, spreading even more bad luck. Zoey's loved ones are at risk again and there are some huge scares ahead for many of the beloved friends Andrew, Sara, and our favorite fox. Maurice leaves to try and patch things in his marriage, leaving Zoey with even more bad luck: the Pooka from the title. Don't forget that Riley and Zoey are still trying to get some romance on! The more of the Hidden world that is revealed Zoey unveils a scary secret behind the Board.
Despite the shear awesomeness of Pooka in My Pantry, I still feel the series is lacking the dark side of the emotions. One character finds out that she was incubus raped in the last book, but doesn't really react. She just nods and moves on. Don't get me wrong I think this series has great emotional development and portrayal. It's light heartedness is wonderful, but dark things have—and are—happening. There needs to be a balance.
People, pick this series up! It's a wonderful breath of fresh fun for any reader of Urban Fantasy collection. It's great to have a different kind of strong leading lady, one that I could run into on the street. Come on you know you want to meet the crazy monsters lurking behind these pages.
Sexual Content: Some sexual humor and kissing, overall pretty clean.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it
Originally reviewed on Book Whispers.
lalabristow's review
5.0
Pooka In My Pantry starts off a few weeks after the end of Monster In My Closet. Zoey is more comfortable in her own skin around the Hidden and right off the bat, we witness her help a sea serpent give birth in her swimming pool.
What Zoey doesn't know yet is that her life is about to get much more complicated. Her fledgling romance with a reaper was cut short when he stood her up and disappeared. When he comes back with another reaper in tow set on making sure Zoey doesn't escape death again, things go from bad to worse in a second.
In Pooka In My Pantry we meet a lot of new characters and the dangers around Zoey are much more pronounced this time around. From Mobster Leprechauns, to the Board of Hidden Affairs on her back, Zoey's luck might running out.
R.L. Naquin has once again delivered a book full of surprises and delights. Don't get me wrong, Pooka In My Pantry gets its fair share of darkness and death, but the overall feel-good atmosphere I get from the series is much stronger.
The Monster Haven series is a lighter Urban Fantasy than most, but not without its darker moments. I feel R.L. Naquin has found quite a balance between the quirky and the suspenseful and for that I could not be happier.
If you love to get lost in new worlds along with a heroine who is not afraid to use a plunger to protect those she loves, this is the series for you!
Originally Posted at Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life
What Zoey doesn't know yet is that her life is about to get much more complicated. Her fledgling romance with a reaper was cut short when he stood her up and disappeared. When he comes back with another reaper in tow set on making sure Zoey doesn't escape death again, things go from bad to worse in a second.
In Pooka In My Pantry we meet a lot of new characters and the dangers around Zoey are much more pronounced this time around. From Mobster Leprechauns, to the Board of Hidden Affairs on her back, Zoey's luck might running out.
R.L. Naquin has once again delivered a book full of surprises and delights. Don't get me wrong, Pooka In My Pantry gets its fair share of darkness and death, but the overall feel-good atmosphere I get from the series is much stronger.
The Monster Haven series is a lighter Urban Fantasy than most, but not without its darker moments. I feel R.L. Naquin has found quite a balance between the quirky and the suspenseful and for that I could not be happier.
If you love to get lost in new worlds along with a heroine who is not afraid to use a plunger to protect those she loves, this is the series for you!
Originally Posted at Welcome to Larissa's Bookish Life
tien's review
3.0
I had such a fun time reading the first book that I really couldn’t resist when I saw book #2 was on Netgalley.
I still love Zoey’s fun, bold & quirky fashion. She loves to dress to her taste and yet, there were times where she was also self-conscious and that’s really something all women can relate to. Her compassion and empathy was fully played in the first book but now, we get to see her strength and courage as she fought for what she believes.
This book continues on a few months after the first book. Things apparently haven’t been that good with Riley and bad luck has come to town. All over the town, there are “funny” sort of accidents and Zoey has to cope more than her share of it because she not only had to stand against the Leprechaun Mafia but she’s also being tested by the Board of the Hidden.
A fun and easy-going read if you’re after something fluffy to de-stress. It’s sort of like cozy mystery in Monster Haven ;) There were kisses but other than that, a clean (and *sighs* sweet) romance.
Thank you Carina Press & Netgalley for the privilege to read & review galley.
I still love Zoey’s fun, bold & quirky fashion. She loves to dress to her taste and yet, there were times where she was also self-conscious and that’s really something all women can relate to. Her compassion and empathy was fully played in the first book but now, we get to see her strength and courage as she fought for what she believes.
This book continues on a few months after the first book. Things apparently haven’t been that good with Riley and bad luck has come to town. All over the town, there are “funny” sort of accidents and Zoey has to cope more than her share of it because she not only had to stand against the Leprechaun Mafia but she’s also being tested by the Board of the Hidden.
A fun and easy-going read if you’re after something fluffy to de-stress. It’s sort of like cozy mystery in Monster Haven ;) There were kisses but other than that, a clean (and *sighs* sweet) romance.
Thank you Carina Press & Netgalley for the privilege to read & review galley.
annastarlight's review
3.0
I learnt from this book that one truly does not want a pooka in their pantry. Those guys are nasty.
Zoey helps people and monsters alike - and her help is now needed more than ever. The Leprechaun Mafia is killing supernaturals, while Riley's boss is making life very difficult for Zoey. Will she survive the bad luck that seems to follow her everywhere?
The first Monster Haven book was a fun supernatural romp through a wacky urban fantasy world. It had some issues with plotting, not thoroughly mixing the storylines. Luckily, Pooka in My Pantry shows vast improvement in this area. The plotting was more consistent, and tension was sustained for a longer amount of time. I'm always glad to see an author improve, and Ms Naquin did overcome some issues that were prevalent in her debut novel.
Because of the happenings in Pooka in My Pantry, the tone of the novel is slightly more serious than the one in Monster in My Closet. Though it never gets truly dark, the atmosphere in this novel fits the subject matter. The stakes are raised for out main characters, as the people Zoey loves get in plenty of danger. It made for an engaging read, but for me the fun moments were too few and far in between. I was hoping for more laughs from this book, and less sadness.
That said, the Monster Haven world is still crazy, and I always enjoy seeing what kind of monsters the author comes up with now. The world is slowly expanding, more lore is being added, without it being overwhelming. I'm looking forward to see what comes next for Zoey, the reaper she's dating, and her closet monster.
Zoey helps people and monsters alike - and her help is now needed more than ever. The Leprechaun Mafia is killing supernaturals, while Riley's boss is making life very difficult for Zoey. Will she survive the bad luck that seems to follow her everywhere?
The first Monster Haven book was a fun supernatural romp through a wacky urban fantasy world. It had some issues with plotting, not thoroughly mixing the storylines. Luckily, Pooka in My Pantry shows vast improvement in this area. The plotting was more consistent, and tension was sustained for a longer amount of time. I'm always glad to see an author improve, and Ms Naquin did overcome some issues that were prevalent in her debut novel.
Because of the happenings in Pooka in My Pantry, the tone of the novel is slightly more serious than the one in Monster in My Closet. Though it never gets truly dark, the atmosphere in this novel fits the subject matter. The stakes are raised for out main characters, as the people Zoey loves get in plenty of danger. It made for an engaging read, but for me the fun moments were too few and far in between. I was hoping for more laughs from this book, and less sadness.
That said, the Monster Haven world is still crazy, and I always enjoy seeing what kind of monsters the author comes up with now. The world is slowly expanding, more lore is being added, without it being overwhelming. I'm looking forward to see what comes next for Zoey, the reaper she's dating, and her closet monster.