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Imp #12
A Crown of Imp and Bone
Once more the fate of mankind rests on Satan’s shoulders.
A stupid misunderstanding has broken a ten-thousand-year old contract between the fae and the angels, and humans are now paying the price. Fairies are crossing through portals and freely kidnapping men, women, and children without fear of reprisal. The humans have no idea what’s happening to these random people, and the angel’s answer is to close the fae portals every couple of days and establish a committee to study the problem.
And nobody has time for that.
It’s up to me to get the Seelie queen to back down, to bring peace to a war-torn realm, and to rescue a bunch of teenage fairy girls—all while planning my wedding. Because the solution to every problem is chaos, and that’s what imps do best.
A stupid misunderstanding has broken a ten-thousand-year old contract between the fae and the angels, and humans are now paying the price. Fairies are crossing through portals and freely kidnapping men, women, and children without fear of reprisal. The humans have no idea what’s happening to these random people, and the angel’s answer is to close the fae portals every couple of days and establish a committee to study the problem.
And nobody has time for that.
It’s up to me to get the Seelie queen to back down, to bring peace to a war-torn realm, and to rescue a bunch of teenage fairy girls—all while planning my wedding. Because the solution to every problem is chaos, and that’s what imps do best.
316 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 9, 2023
57 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Debra Dunbar
101 books1,277 followersDebra lives in a little house in the woods in Maryland with three sons, and a Noah’s ark of four legged family members. She has a corporate job during the day, and writes novels at night, after the kids are tucked in bed.
She drives an Excursion affectionately called The Beast, couldn’t carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground.
Her only known super power is ‘Identify Roadkill’.
She drives an Excursion affectionately called The Beast, couldn’t carry a tune if you duct taped it to her back, and enjoys an occasional cosmopolitan (heavy on the vodka). On a good day, she jogs and horseback rides, hopefully managing to keep the horse between herself and the ground.
Her only known super power is ‘Identify Roadkill’.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 13, 2023
A Crown Of Imp And Bone is book #12 of the original urban fantasy series, but if you've been reading all the side stories too, then this is book #31 of the Imp World.
I recently decided to re-read the first 11 books in the series because I enjoyed them and I am often recommending them. I hadn't been aware of the publication date for book #12, but was delighted to find that it was due out shortly after my re-reading finished.
Total chaos which is Sam through and through. Plenty to make me chuckle and a new place to take the battle to. The Fae have been crossing their borders and taking humans which breaches a long held agreement. It may have been something to do with a ring that baby angle Lux stole, but Sam's on the case.
Add in a kidnapping which might interrupt Sam's wedding and now she's totally going to war. Bring on the chicken wands!
If you enjoy urban fantasy then start with book one, you do need to read these in order to get the most from them.
Looking forward to the next book.
I recently decided to re-read the first 11 books in the series because I enjoyed them and I am often recommending them. I hadn't been aware of the publication date for book #12, but was delighted to find that it was due out shortly after my re-reading finished.
Total chaos which is Sam through and through. Plenty to make me chuckle and a new place to take the battle to. The Fae have been crossing their borders and taking humans which breaches a long held agreement. It may have been something to do with a ring that baby angle Lux stole, but Sam's on the case.
Add in a kidnapping which might interrupt Sam's wedding and now she's totally going to war. Bring on the chicken wands!
If you enjoy urban fantasy then start with book one, you do need to read these in order to get the most from them.
Looking forward to the next book.
January 29, 2024
3.5 ⭐️
Sam is fun as always, buuuut.... I kinda feel cheated out of the wedding of the millennium 👼 😈 And more Gregory, Lux and the OG gang.
Sam is fun as always, buuuut.... I kinda feel cheated out of the wedding of the millennium 👼 😈 And more Gregory, Lux and the OG gang.
January 15, 2024
4.5.
It was so much fun to be in this world again! I think Sam has to be one of my favourite characters ever. She's just so irreverent and hilarious and I love her chaotic ways. There were so many outrageous, laugh out loud moments!
The ending felt a bit rushed, but that's my only gripe, really.
If you're a long term fan of this series, I don't see how you could not like this.
It was so much fun to be in this world again! I think Sam has to be one of my favourite characters ever. She's just so irreverent and hilarious and I love her chaotic ways. There were so many outrageous, laugh out loud moments!
The ending felt a bit rushed, but that's my only gripe, really.
If you're a long term fan of this series, I don't see how you could not like this.
June 15, 2024
I forgot how much I've missed the choas Angel and her world.
Dragons, Faie, Angels, Dolly Parton, Lux, and funny Demons! I do love this series and am looking forward to more. After all, Sam still has to find a way to get the angels back home and not end the world.
4.8 stars
Dragons, Faie, Angels, Dolly Parton, Lux, and funny Demons! I do love this series and am looking forward to more. After all, Sam still has to find a way to get the angels back home and not end the world.
4.8 stars
January 14, 2024
I can never get enough!
Debra Dunbar did it again in the latest imp installment. I’ve been in a reading funk lately but I can always count on Sam and the gang to pull me out of it.
Lux made a major boo boo and accidentally broke a 15000 year old contract between the Ángels and the Seelie fae in Aerie and Sam has to fix it. She’s never been the most graceful diplomat and dealing with the fae is no exception.
This book had laughs, action, heart, and Dolly Parton! What’s not to love?
I really enjoyed the character growth that Ms. Dunbar has developed. After 12 books and tons of spin-offs, most authors get a little redundant in their characters, but Sam has this uncanny ability to mature and be responsible while at the same time staying true to her chaotic nature. I love that she has become enamored with her new family and settled into her parental role without being boring or overly coddling. It leaves a healthy balance between the storyline and the family life that most books struggle to find when a child is introduced.
These books will always hold a special place in my heart and I look forward to the next in the series. I’m so glad she didn’t end it at ten.
Also, Sam and Samael were right. The lions were the only way to go.
Debra Dunbar did it again in the latest imp installment. I’ve been in a reading funk lately but I can always count on Sam and the gang to pull me out of it.
Lux made a major boo boo and accidentally broke a 15000 year old contract between the Ángels and the Seelie fae in Aerie and Sam has to fix it. She’s never been the most graceful diplomat and dealing with the fae is no exception.
This book had laughs, action, heart, and Dolly Parton! What’s not to love?
I really enjoyed the character growth that Ms. Dunbar has developed. After 12 books and tons of spin-offs, most authors get a little redundant in their characters, but Sam has this uncanny ability to mature and be responsible while at the same time staying true to her chaotic nature. I love that she has become enamored with her new family and settled into her parental role without being boring or overly coddling. It leaves a healthy balance between the storyline and the family life that most books struggle to find when a child is introduced.
These books will always hold a special place in my heart and I look forward to the next in the series. I’m so glad she didn’t end it at ten.
Also, Sam and Samael were right. The lions were the only way to go.
February 8, 2024
There was some sort of typo in every single chapter. Stupid stuff. Use of then instead of than. Once she correctly used chute, and later in the same paragraph spelled it shoot. This made it all the more galling that in her acknowledgements at the end of the book, the author complimented her sharp-eyed editor.
...
Anyway, I ended up enjoying this installment okay, but this series is very much a guilty pleasure.
The dialogue was particularly stilted and awkward in the first couple chapters.
The world building really isn't that great. I read the whole series, yet somehow I was thrown when the existence of angels and demons became common knowledge. The author refuses to let characters have a meaningful, scientific interaction with humans. Why doesn't Sam tell a group of scientists that in exchange for five million dollars, she will let them take blood samples, put her through an MRI and EKG, and scan her while she manifests wings or changes forms?
Lux is barely in this story, and mostly just for comic relief. Actually, Gregory is hardly in the book. More than Lux. But, still. This is mostly a story set in fairy, featuring allies and antagonists we had never met before. Sam becomes attached to a girl she just met. ... Again.
It is what it is.
...
Anyway, I ended up enjoying this installment okay, but this series is very much a guilty pleasure.
The dialogue was particularly stilted and awkward in the first couple chapters.
The world building really isn't that great. I read the whole series, yet somehow I was thrown when the existence of angels and demons became common knowledge. The author refuses to let characters have a meaningful, scientific interaction with humans. Why doesn't Sam tell a group of scientists that in exchange for five million dollars, she will let them take blood samples, put her through an MRI and EKG, and scan her while she manifests wings or changes forms?
Lux is barely in this story, and mostly just for comic relief. Actually, Gregory is hardly in the book. More than Lux. But, still. This is mostly a story set in fairy, featuring allies and antagonists we had never met before. Sam becomes attached to a girl she just met. ... Again.
It is what it is.
December 21, 2024
A Crown of Imp and Bone is book 12 in the Imp series. I know it was up in the air for how many books there would be, but I think this is the actual last one. I love this series. I have been reading/listening to these books for years now and each time I revisit these characters and this series, it's like going home again. I liked this book, but I didn't love it. I think for the final book, I was hoping for more. More time with each of the characters, more feelings, and also revisiting more of the characters who were important throughout a big portion of the series. We finally made it to the wedding in this book, but I wished we could have seen more of it.
The narration was good. The narrator doesn’t have a wide range of voices but she does a good job reading the story and making it come alive despite that.
I recommend this book and this series. This is a series in which you need to start at the beginning and read each in order. I am looking forward to when I go back and start the series all over again.
The narration was good. The narrator doesn’t have a wide range of voices but she does a good job reading the story and making it come alive despite that.
I recommend this book and this series. This is a series in which you need to start at the beginning and read each in order. I am looking forward to when I go back and start the series all over again.
September 20, 2024
I was so sad upon hearing this was the last book of the delightful series following the escapades of a lowly Imp from Hel. I had so much fun reading about each new challenge, but it was easy to see the series was winding down. So now I own all 12 books in the Imp series and am happy that Debra Dunbar has several more series in the same genre to delve into. Loved the end of the epilogue where the author inserts some exciting info I won't reveal here. Trust me. If you like rooting for the underdog, enjoy stories where good and evil work together (and win!), find yourself being drawn into the story and fall in love with the exceptional characters, give this series a try. I suggest you start from the beginning (which is always a very good place to start!) with the first book of the Imp series: A Demon Bound. Enjoy!
May 11, 2025
Absolutely Perfect!
This book had me laughing out loud repeatedly. So much so that I’ll probably re-read all of them from the beginning again.
The Iblis/ Ha-Satan/ Sam (Samantha)/ Cockroach is getting married there’s just a few things to handle first like returning all those rings that Lux stole as part of his mission to be the ring bearer.
It should have been easy and it would have been easy if it wasn’t for that cursed ring with the dead things or that other ring that that accidentally broke a treaty between Angels and the Realm of Aerie. The place where faeries come from, now that the treaty’s been broken the faeries are causing mayhem and kidnapping humans. It’s all good though the Iblis has a plan, even if it’s a bit more fluid than your average plan.
This book had me laughing out loud repeatedly. So much so that I’ll probably re-read all of them from the beginning again.
The Iblis/ Ha-Satan/ Sam (Samantha)/ Cockroach is getting married there’s just a few things to handle first like returning all those rings that Lux stole as part of his mission to be the ring bearer.
It should have been easy and it would have been easy if it wasn’t for that cursed ring with the dead things or that other ring that that accidentally broke a treaty between Angels and the Realm of Aerie. The place where faeries come from, now that the treaty’s been broken the faeries are causing mayhem and kidnapping humans. It’s all good though the Iblis has a plan, even if it’s a bit more fluid than your average plan.
October 8, 2023
Sam’s back to her old tricks
I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy series, and with most they seem to tail off and become underwhelming. Not with the imp series, each book is just delightful, entertaining and funny.
A crown of imp and bone sees Sam enter the fairies home world where she becomes the ultimate anti-hero, the soul sucking, devouring Sam of old!… well, Gregory’s not around is he, an imps got to do what an imps got to do.
An hilarious action packed instalment to the imp world….. if you loved Sam from the first few novels, you’ll definitely love this..
I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy series, and with most they seem to tail off and become underwhelming. Not with the imp series, each book is just delightful, entertaining and funny.
A crown of imp and bone sees Sam enter the fairies home world where she becomes the ultimate anti-hero, the soul sucking, devouring Sam of old!… well, Gregory’s not around is he, an imps got to do what an imps got to do.
An hilarious action packed instalment to the imp world….. if you loved Sam from the first few novels, you’ll definitely love this..
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2023
I love this imp!
Sam would totally be my best bud. She' chaos embodied, but things always seem to turn out just lime it should, mostly because of her big heart - which she would deny having. The other characters are a blast, too. Definitely worth the read, but start with the first book. You won't be bored with this one!
Sam would totally be my best bud. She' chaos embodied, but things always seem to turn out just lime it should, mostly because of her big heart - which she would deny having. The other characters are a blast, too. Definitely worth the read, but start with the first book. You won't be bored with this one!
November 16, 2023
I love the Imp series by Debra Dunbar.
Sam, Gregory, and their pantheon, choirs, households, friends blur the lines between Heaven and Hel.
This particular book features irrepressible Sam the Iblis dealing with multiple issues and trying to plan an epic wedding. I do recommend Debra Dunbar's books and especially this series.
Sam, Gregory, and their pantheon, choirs, households, friends blur the lines between Heaven and Hel.
This particular book features irrepressible Sam the Iblis dealing with multiple issues and trying to plan an epic wedding. I do recommend Debra Dunbar's books and especially this series.
October 16, 2023
Yet another amazing instalment
Wow Sam & the gang rock and this time the fairer better watch out. Such fun and laughs. Can’t wait for next and following instalments keep them coming woo hoo
Wow Sam & the gang rock and this time the fairer better watch out. Such fun and laughs. Can’t wait for next and following instalments keep them coming woo hoo
October 11, 2023
Must read this series!!!
Laugh out loud mayhem on crack! Zany characters in such a wacky story it can't be beat. The HEA is a bonus
Laugh out loud mayhem on crack! Zany characters in such a wacky story it can't be beat. The HEA is a bonus
October 11, 2023
Good continuation
Enjoyed very much but this one suffrage in places. enjoyable new characters. Looking forward to next and resolution of the Arua problem.
Enjoyed very much but this one suffrage in places. enjoyable new characters. Looking forward to next and resolution of the Arua problem.
October 22, 2023
like always Sam is the best
Always enjoy the chaos that Sam brings to the table. It’s always fun to follow her impish ways. Hope for next book soon.
Always enjoy the chaos that Sam brings to the table. It’s always fun to follow her impish ways. Hope for next book soon.
December 18, 2023
never a disappointment
Love this series and the characters. Never a dull moment!! Can’t wait for 13 to see what chaos they create next
Love this series and the characters. Never a dull moment!! Can’t wait for 13 to see what chaos they create next
May 3, 2024
As always Sam rocks, I absolutely love her!
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews