Carpe Demon by Julie Kenner

They say the movie Hook came from an idle comment by some movie executive's wife: "What if Peter Pan grew up?" Julie Kenner's delightful book takes a spin on the idea of "what if Buffy the Vampire Slayer grew up...and became a housewife?" Of course the engaging, spunky and sometimes frazzled Kate isn't actually Buffy Summers, and for this I'm actually grateful. The premise, however, remains that of "if high school was hell" in Joss Whedon's remarkable series then "raising a toddler is actually easier than fighting demons, and raising a teenager is harder."

Carpe Demon introduces readers to the aforementioned Kate, who gets drawn back into the world of demons, vampires, and Vatican licensed Hunters of all things evil after a fourteen year "retirement". Kate struggles between her new (soccer mom) and old (Buffy!) lives. For example, demons attacking her kitchen are only part of the problem when her attorney husband announces a last minute dinner party. The results are hilarious. California Demon continues the tale and the fun. Both are written in the same delightful voice that will reminder readers of Sophie Kinsella orEmily Giffen.

Some of the reviews I read (after happening upon the author at the library) poo-poo Kenner's use of brand names as "product placement." I actually enjoyed the few things she mentions, as it put the character more firmly in my own middle class world of stay at home mom-dom. In fact, there's one scene where Kate is grooving to the Wiggles and realizes her son isn't in the car and she is actually allowed to change the channel. Not only could I hum a few bars of the song mentioned, I've had that happen to me on a regular basis! So let's hear it for name dropping when it has the desired effect.

Go forth. Seize the day...and the demon. You won't regret it.