Succubus: A Love Story

by Kate Fox

Her touch kills, his saves the dying.

Are they fated, or forbidden?

Tempest Dunlap loves romance novels, but she knows she’ll never have her own happily-ever-after. She is a sweatpants-wearing doula who homeschools her seven-year-old niece in suburban New Jersey. Unfortunately, she’s also a Every man she’s ever kissed has died. But Tempest is a good person who never intended to be a murderer, so she’s sworn off love forever.

Then she meets Joel Tav, a gorgeous, gentle doctor who makes celibacy feel impossible. Tempest knows she can’t touch him—or tell him his brother was the last man she dated and accidentally killed.

Meanwhile, a vigilante is hunting people with dark powers, and Tempest is next. Should she keep hiding in her safe, lonely life, or should she embrace the darkness she fears and risk the ultimate forbidden romance?

Maybe Tempest will get her love story after all . . . or maybe she’ll become its villain.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Romantasy, Fiction, Adult

342 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 20, 2026

About the author

Kate Fox lives in an old house in an old town in the universally admired state of New Jersey with her husband, daughters, and two absurdly fluffy cats. Her favorite trope is enemies-to-lovers, as long as they're really enemies, and she is always looking for magic in mundane places.

Reviews

[BookishKB]

😈🖤 Succubus 🖤😈

📖 Bookish Thoughts

Ooo I really liked this one! The banter was chefs kiss ✨💫

Solid 4 Star Read!

✨ What to Expect
• Paranormal Romance
• Succubus FMC
• Forbidden Romance
• Secret Identity
_ _ _ _

📅 Pub Date: October 20, 2026
Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

[vlm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Succubus was such a fun surprise. It balances paranormal romance, humor, danger, and emotional depth in a way that made it incredibly easy to binge. Kate Fox takes the classic succubus concept and gives it a fresh, heartfelt spin with a heroine who is equal parts relatable, awkward, and genuinely lovable.

Tempest was my favorite part of the book. She’s a romance reader who has completely sworn off romance for very understandable reasons, and I loved how grounded she felt despite the supernatural premise. Her life as a doula and guardian to her niece added so much warmth to the story, and it made her fear of hurting people feel even more heartbreaking. Watching her try to resist her connection with Joel had me fully invested from the start.

Joel was also refreshing as a love interest. He’s kind, patient, and actually communicates, which made the romance feel sweet even when the stakes became darker and more dangerous. The chemistry between them was fantastic, and the tension worked so well because Tempest truly believed getting close to him could destroy everything.

The story also does a great job balancing cozy moments with real danger. The vigilante plot added suspense without taking away from the emotional core of the book, and I appreciated how the novel explored shame, loneliness, and self-acceptance beneath all the paranormal elements.

Funny, romantic, and surprisingly emotional, Succubus felt like the perfect mix of supernatural romance and cozy horror vibes. I’ll definitely be looking forward to more from Kate Fox.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Jess Manners · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly a delight!
Okay, full disclosure: yes, Kate is in my writing group, and yes, I am VERY invested in the success of this book, but I'm also a TERRIBLE liar, so you have to trust me! Kate is a beautiful writer, and she manages to turn a book that has the highest of concepts into something that is lovely and moving while still being super, super fun and legitimately compelling. The writing is confident and funny and charming, and the characters, while not quite so confident, are also super funny and charming, and I'm a little jealous of all the people who get to read this for the first time!

[Margaret Wasielczyk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this from a Goodreads giveaway. I love a good paranormal romance, but that is not what this book is. The characters had absolutely no chemistry and the dialog was dreadful. The MFC was always talking in long stream-of-consciousness rants that really annoyed me. The premise of the novel was good, but the execution was lacking. I honestly cannot understand all of the high ratings that this book has received thus far.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine knowing your touch kills people you become romantically involved with, and now you can’t seem to stop thinking about the new hot doctor at work! The idea of a succubus and a life saving doctor really was the perfect pairing.

I really liked Tempest. I felt like her being a succubus wasn’t her fault, and obviously, she was aware of what she was. She wasn’t out there being a mindless soul sucker. Instead, she worked helping bring babies into the world. And it sounds to me like her attraction to Joel was unavoidable!

I loved how the story unfolded and how we started to learn more about Joel. Add a demon hunter into the mix, along with their chemistry… I mean, their story was complex! I will say I enjoyed their romance, but I didn’t personally connect with their chemistry. I read it, but I didn’t feel it. However, the story itself was very interesting! The ending gave me hope, though. I would have liked to follow their story a little longer to see where their relationship was headed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kate Fox, and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Anwita Verma (IHeartDeanWithersPlatonically) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from St. Martin's Press Group

😱❤️💀😡

Ended really well, good slow-burn (thought it wasn't going to be one at first but ended up being), and really recommend it to my fellow readers when the book comes out!

***SPOILERS FROM HERE AND DOWN***

I couldn't fit it all in the update so here it is (page numbers that were important to me and my feelings/comments):

21: Aww...so cute...but ew he's blonde!?
24: I'm hauling his shirt off his head, and his glasses come off with it, and I'm shoving him back onto the couch Damn that escalated quickly
26: If Jacks was a modern woman
28: Poor baby, Grub (suicidal since he was 7). But NOOO HE'S THE LOVABLE SIDE CHARACTER HE GONNA DIE
29: Girl is like the female version of the MMC from Haunting Adeline (but way less toxic and a much better person)
33: Of course Grub has eyeliner
42: ...imagine his hands on my shoulders, on my back, on my hips,kind and demanding on the same time.”
59: Maybe I didn’t kill Adam
Maybe I didn’t kill Adam
87: “Grub was right. He was so right.”
99: NOO WHY DO ALL THE BEST CHARACTERS ALWAYS DIE T-T…WHY GRUBS
99: I literally started crying in the exam room and my proctor was so concerned
100: HE DID NOT KILL HIMSELF HE’S BETTER THAN THATTTTT!!! HE WAS MURDERED
103: He killed Grub.
“I will kill you motherf[]cker,” I whisper
111: The demon hunter.
The familiar curls. The glasses catching the candlelight…He seems larger than I remember, even though I saw him so recently.
“Joel?” I whisper.
“Tempest,” he says. OF COURSE HE’S THE KILLER, THE MMC!!! Also, I mean, he had good motives and he made it even (Adam was Joel’s brother, and Tempest/the narrator/FMC killed Adam so I guess he made it even by killing Grub/Tempest’s brother, but TEMPEST DIDN’T KNOW!!! SHE DID IT BY ACCIDENT! IT’S A CURSE!)
121: Oh girl...yes, trauma dump to your sister that the man you were crushing on killed your brother and is trying to kill you but DRIVE FIRST
157: An actual enemies to lovers..?! WHERE! I WANT IT

After Grub died, I literally could not get my heart to read more. I needed a pause so I started reading a different book for the rest if that hour.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I picked up Succubus: a Love Story by Kate Fox on a whim expecting a light rom-com with a supernatural twist—and it completely won me over. By about 30% in I was hooked. This book is genuinely funny, clever about its tropes, and way more charming than I expected.

The premise is deliciously messy in the best way: a romance-novel-loving doula who homeschools her niece has sworn off relationships because she’s a succubus and every man she kisses eventually dies. It leans into the absurdity of that situation with a lot of humor and self-awareness, and the voice absolutely carries the story.

What I liked
• Genuinely funny narration—I laughed a lot while reading this.
• A 30-year-old protagonist with a real life (doula, homeschool aunt, chaotic love life).
• The book plays with romance tropes in a clever way, especially the enemies-to-lovers dynamic.
• Even though it’s about a succubus, it never felt like spice for spice’s sake. The humor and character work keep it grounded.
• The heroine reading romance novels to live vicariously was both relatable and hilarious.

I’m also someone who usually doesn’t love insta-love or heavy trope romance, and enemies-to-lovers can feel overdone to me—but here it was handled with enough humor and self-awareness that it actually worked.

What didn’t quite work for me
• Occasionally the formatting made it hard to tell when the protagonist was texting, chatting online, or in her internal monologue. It didn’t ruin the reading experience, but it did pull me out of the story a few times.


This isn’t my usual type of read, but it ended up being a really fun surprise. If you’re looking for a light, funny paranormal rom-com with tropey goodness and a lot of personality, this one is definitely worth picking up

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars for Kate Fox's riveting debut! I couldn't put Succubus down. Tempest (adore her name) is such a quirky, lovable character, and I absolutely fell in love with Joel. This story was so much more than I expected... It's a love story, family drama, fantasy, and thriller all rolled into one, and kept me on the edge of my seat from the very first page until the last. And I would be remiss not to mention Fox's absolutely gorgeous prose and singular voice! For a book that had me whipping though the pages, there was a lot to savor in Fox's beautiful language and interesting turn of phrase. Run to pre-order this one!

[Kamryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve come to the terms dark romance isn’t for me.

While I really enjoyed this book starting out, and was very excited to read it, things took a very sharp turn.

I found myself feeling very uncomfortable during numerous spice scenes. At one point in the book it almost cross the line of non-consensual… the MMC doesn’t see it as SA but as a reader I was very uncomfortable.

I went into this thinking it would be a lighter hearted paranormal romance, but that was not the case. The themes became very dark very quickly. It’s a very messy story, super toxic relationship between our FMC and MMC and honestly just unhealthy. The plot was all over the place, and completely different from what I was expecting.

I can definitely see others enjoying this book but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

[liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story start off strong and intriguing to me. Tempest is a succubus and it is her curse and she hates it and swears off ever sleeping with a man again because she does not want to harm people. Yeah, the writing style feels kind of choppy and almost like a flight of ideas hopping from one thing to the next and then back to finish the thought again. But in the beginning it was fun. She was quirky. I was vibing.

It then started to get a little weird when this woman could not even hold a single conversation with Joel without immediately bombarding us with sex fantasies and then going home and masturbating about it. Very quickly all of the characters all became very unlikeable.

And then it quickly went downhill around the 35% mark. I understand that Tempest is a succubus and her curse is that if she has sex with men they die afterwards and she gets stronger because of that. And that was fine when the entirety of her background story, she was engaging in consensual sex that just happened to end tragically.

But the story abruptly shifts to continual dub-con and frankly, non-con sex and that made me so uncomfortable over and over. The MMC is constantly saying “no” “leave” “don’t” and like I get it he’s attracted to her but he’s literally saying stop and she uses her powers to intentionally coerce him into sex.

It really was the line for me. I scoured the internet to see if there were any trigger warnings or anything anywhere and there are NOT.

SO HERE ARE SOME TRIGGER WARNINGS:
- dub con sex
- non con sex
- death of teenager
- a child gets slapped across the face with no repercussions following that

[Inés Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a LOVE story with a love that shouldn't have happened, a love you would die for, a love between two people on opposite ends of a fight, a love between a succubus and an angel.

As far as love stories go this one took me by the heart. I was sucked in and enjoyed it completely. It was beautiful, funny, full of yearning.

[Get Your Tinsel in a Tangle · Rating 3.5 out of 5]

Tempest Dunlap has killed every man she has ever gotten intimate with, and somehow she is still a romance reader. Ma’am, at some point I would simply unsubscribe from the genre. But no. Tempest is out here reading happily-ever-afters in sweatpants, delivering babies as a doula, homeschooling her seven-year-old niece Ella, and living a carefully celibate little New Jersey life because apparently the responsible response to discovering you are a succubus is not “embrace evil,” it is “focus on the family and maybe bake something.” And I was immediately obsessed with how deeply inconvenient her entire existence is.

Then she meets Dr. Joel Tav, who is gorgeous and gentle and good with Ella and basically designed in a laboratory to destroy this woman’s commitment to abstinence. Worse, Tempest feels this immediate, bizarre pull toward him, and she cannot exactly open with, “You seem great, unfortunately I kill men through physical intimacy and ALSO your dead brother Adam and I used to date.” Because yes. Adam was the one man who survived Tempest for a while, right up until he very much did not. Joel does not know that. Tempest does. I knew that. Every interaction between them therefore had me sitting there like a person who has been handed a live grenade at brunch.

And Tempest is such a weirdly lovable disaster because she genuinely thinks the solution to being dangerous is to make herself as useful and harmless as humanly possible. She takes care of Ella. She helps bring babies into the world. She pours herself into her family. She finds other people online who also have these strange, terrible abilities, including Grub, and starts trying to understand what exactly they are. She has spent years treating herself like a hazardous material that just happens to homeschool. There is something both funny and awful about watching a woman who can literally drain the life out of somebody worry this much about being a good person.

Meanwhile, people like Tempest are being hunted by someone known as the Demon Hunter, which was where I realized "Succubus" had quietly taken my cute paranormal romance expectations, put them in a car, and driven them somewhere MUCH darker. Because this thing gets sad. People die. Tempest starts getting answers about what she is, her biological father enters the situation with enough family baggage to require several therapists, and the whole good-versus-evil question gets increasingly messy because apparently nobody in this supernatural ecosystem received a clean moral assignment. There is even a pain demon named Al wandering around, because at this point why would there not be.

And Joel. JOEL. I have to stay vague because the fun here is realizing exactly how catastrophically complicated these two are, but the sweet doctor situation does not remain remotely simple. What starts with Tempest thinking, “I desperately want this man but touching him could kill him,” eventually becomes the kind of enemies-to-lovers mess where I was no longer worried about whether they should kiss. I was worried somebody might need legal representation. These two do not have a cute little obstacle between them. They have secrets, death, supernatural opposing sides, family history, and enough legitimate reasons to hate each other that when the relationship turns feral, you understand why.

I did wish I had gotten more time to believe in Tempest and Joel together before everything became capital-D Drama. Their attraction arrives ready to move into the house before I had even learned where it kept its toothbrush, and there were moments when I wanted them to just sit down and TALK to each other instead of being magnetically obsessed while withholding information that could ruin several lives. And once the supernatural family tree starts expanding, people and powers begin arriving like somebody opened the side door at a very strange reunion. I occasionally had to mentally check the guest list. The texts, thoughts, and conversations also blurred together for me sometimes, which made Tempest’s already chaotic brain feel like I had accidentally joined six group chats at once.

But underneath all that insanity, Tempest got me. She has spent her entire adult life believing wanting love makes her dangerous. She is starving herself of something completely human because she cannot bear the possibility of hurting another person. Then the more she learns about herself, the harder it becomes to keep dividing the world into good people who deserve love and monsters who do not. Sometimes the thing you hate most about yourself is still part of you. You cannot punish it out of existence.

By the final stretch, Succubus had gone so much darker and stranger than the book I thought I had agreed to that I basically stopped trying to predict anybody’s next move. Tempest is changing, Joel has his own supernatural mess happening, bodies have accumulated, and everyone’s definition of “good person” has taken several direct hits. Some of it moved so fast that I wanted another beat to sit inside the fallout, especially with the romance and the ending, but I cannot accuse these people of boring me. They gave me succubi, angels and demons, forbidden touching, family trauma, murder, an online support group for cursed people, and a romance with an actual body count. Everybody contributed.

This landed at 3.5 stars for me. Succubus is messy, unexpectedly sad, occasionally completely unhinged, and much more interested in making Tempest confront who she is than in giving her a cute supernatural boyfriend and sending everybody home. I wanted a little more breathing room between some of the emotional catastrophes, but I also finished it feeling weirdly protective of Tempest, which seems dangerous considering what happens to people who get too close to her.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC and for apparently deciding my paranormal romance needed a doctor, a succubus, multiple corpses, family trauma, and one woman desperately trying to maintain responsible aunt energy while her demonic awakening kicks down the front door. I was expecting forbidden kissing. Things escalated.

[Shannon · Rating 4.5 out of 5]

I really, REALLY liked this forbidden romance between a succubus doula and the one man who is trying to hunt her down but seems immune to her 'charms'. Suspenseful, original and oddly heartwarming too. It was good on audio and I will definitely be recommending it! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review.

[TheConnieFox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was different and likable! I love the premise of the story, the characters, and the vibes that came with it. I feel like it started off really slow, but picked up at the ending. The plot was clever, addicting, and twisty. The characters change and grew in the story, which I loved. The minor characters even stood out to me! I really enjoyed the dark atmospheric setting in the book. It was dense, descriptive and was beautifully written. It does come with a lot of love and is very spicy. Overall, this was a decent book for me. I give this a 3 out of a 5 star rating!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Kate Fox and St. Martin's Press for this digital advanced reader’s copy, in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

This book is out now!

[MissBecka Gee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the start of this and was excited for the story to unfold.
Unfortunately, right around when she goes to Florida the whole thing unraveled for me.
It became a convoluted mess of moving pieces that didn't feel relevant.
It comes back around a bit in the end, but not enough for me to get back into it.
Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for my ARC.

[Jackie Uhrmacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succubus by Kate Fox was everything I love about urban fantasy. Tempest was dry, mildly self-deprecating, and was willing to do anything for those she loved.

I laughed so hard during her monologues. The bit about werewolf smut had me rolling and messaging the author to sing her praises.

But I also had to read through tears during several passages. Tempest lives a life of trauma, no matter how hard she tries to escape it. She's dealt a shit hand, but she never once lets it break her.

There is romance in Succubus. A beautiful, slow burn between two beings who truly need to kill each other. But more than that, there's a woman struggling with the shadows of perceived mediocrity and the gnashing maw of power set to devour her. There's a sisterly bond stronger than the curse T was born with, a maternal instinct to protect even when her body yearns to destroy.

I loved everything about this book, and I'm so grateful to have received an advanced copy! Thank you, St. Martin's Griffin and Netgalley!! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Nya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recieved e-Arc through Netgalley

4.5 Stars

What can I say besides that this book sucked me in! The writing style is so unique, and oh-so funny. It's quick and terse sometimes, but then a beautifully detailed description comes along. It reads like a conversation. The premise of this type of magic appearing in our reality is a very hard concept to do right, but Kate Fox manages to jump right into it by acknowledging the silliness of situation just as easily as she can address the incredible sadness that comes with being a succubus, and forcing yourself to avoid connection, love, and lust and the other cons of denying your body something so natually human (and succubi) to want. I love Tempest, and, again, the unique writing style really makes you understand her as we follow that stream of conciousness tone. What I found so incredibly fun is that Tempest can "lie" or omit from the reader, but she always comes back to it. It's that little action that really humanizes her, and makes her seem real. Don't we all try and keep some thoughts to ourselves, even from ourselves sometimes? T feels so real I could touch her, and was just a genuinely good person.

I do think the romance was the tiniest bit insta lovey, but it reminded me of the magical realism genre. That unquestionablly normal type of love that appears suddenly and both the characters lean into it really fast. I wish we got to know Joel just a miniscule bit more, but I still didn't mind him. I think he's perfect to Tempest. I also thought it was so funny how neither of them seem to actually work throughout the book, but I guess we needed them to have a open schedule for their shenanigans. I don't think I have ever seen a doctor and a doula have such an easy-going schedule.

I also think that this book could benefit from a trigger warnings blurb, as it does touch on some sensitive topics.

The story itself was pretty well thought-out, but keep in mind that we don't get a big reveal of why this type of magic is out in the world. We know who it comes from, but there are no official names or titles for any information on it. The romance truly takes the center stage, and the magic system is a step back. We just have to trust Tempest and the character's she encounters to give us enough information to follow her story.

I was so sad to end this book! I wish the ending could have been a little longer to wrap myself in it, but the ending itself is just so hopefully cozy that I don't mind it either.

I can't wait to read what Kate Fox does next.

[Ally · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Tempest.
She has that quiet humor that I really enjoy in FMCs. Some of the texts exchanged were hilarious to me!
Joel has the perfect golden boy persona. I love when the FMC is the one corrupting the MMC. I will now be craving this dynamic for a while!

The steam 😈😈
This story was 10 out of 10 for me! I already want to go back and read the best parts.
This will be a pre-order for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

[Tatnai · Rating 3.75 out of 5]

It was my first time reading a book with a theme like that and I had a blast with!!! 😋💜

Succubus was a beautiful but complicated love story. Joel and Tempest were absolutely crazy about each other, and when they discover each others secrets…their relationship gets complicated. They both done things that hurt each other(indirectly) and they still carried that pain with them. Basically, they “hate” each other, but they have sex 😝 and ended up forming this pretty, weird and unusual connection.

Honestly, I took me a little while to connect with the story during the first few chapters (I’m a little impatient 🤭) and while one detail was kind of obvious, the connection between tempest and joel truly surprised me 🤯

As for how their relationship ends, I really liked because it felt realistic given the circumstances. And honestly, it was obvious these two were meant to be 🥹

Joel is such a beautiful soul, full of light and kindness. And he wears slutty glasses🧎🏻‍♀️‍➡️🙂‍↔️ I was melting over the way tempest described him. That girl was so down bad for him😩💜

Tempest powers were so cool and dangerous at the same time. I love her character development throughout the book because, in the beginning, she’s a good person, and even though she knows using her power would make her feel healthier, she suppresses that “need” because she doesn’t want to hurt anyone (not on purpose…well, except Joel, but I assure there’s a reason for that…😅).

When she realizes that her power work differently with Joel, she lets go…and that’s when things start to change, both for better and for worse🥹 Her personality starts to shift and she begins feeling weird because things that never bother her before suddenly start irritating. And well, she starts having some questionable (?) thoughts and wondering why this is happening to her. She feels so bad for having those kinda of thoughts. Still tempest is a good succubus, very different from her father and the other succubus.

So…succubus is a perfect read for the season 😈🙂‍↕️

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Succubus by Kate Fox offers a fun, unusual twist on the paranormal romance genre. Tempest Dunlap is a fascinating heroine who longs for love but fears that her supernatural nature makes a happy ending impossible. Her complicated past, emotional struggles, and unexpected connection with Joel made this a story with plenty of romantic tension and intrigue. I especially love the originality of the premise. The combination of supernatural mystery, humor, forbidden romance, and deeper themes of guilt and self-acceptance gave the story a distinctive personality. Tempest’s journey makes you think about how fear can keep us from the very things we want most. Overall, Succubus was a creative, unconventional read with an intriguing supernatural twist!

I received an ARC copy from NetGalley. Thank you for giving me the chance to read this novel and share my honest review of the novel

[lemmespoilyou.books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cozy with sweetness, danger, real connection, humor, romance, and supernatural horror vibes. I loved Tempest and how real and relatable and lonely she is. Joel is one of the great mmcs we like to see who knows how to actually speak and connect with her instead of just obsess. There was some good self-love focus here too. I enjoyed the dread-y thread throughout and it tied up in such a cute way.

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced reader copy, this review is given voluntarily.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the premise of this book was really unique and unlike anything I'd ever read before. But the actual execution left me a little bored. There's also a part where the FMC slaps her young niece who is a child of 7 and I'm sorry, that's not ok. I don't care what the extenuating circumstances are, I didn't like that scene. Also for a book where the two MCs are having a lot of sex to try and kill each other, the book was remarkably unsexy.

Content Notes: toxic parents, she kills the people she sleeps with, he is trying to avenge his brother's death, other people also die, kidnapping of her young niece

ARC from publisher, review is all mine;

[Tia · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ p161 - I feel like this book just can’t make up its mind on what it wants to be. It’s a really weird mix of like paranormal weird stuff and a bit of silliness but also some kind of complex magic? I was enjoying the start but the plot started to lose me, I have so many questions and I kind of hate all of the characters and I’m just super confused.

Thanks to Pan Macmillan for the review copy!

[Alayna Wiezorek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you St Martin's Press for the free book. RTC

[Ami Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for this ARC of Succubus by Kate Fox.

I really liked the premise of this book and that it what enticed me to read it. A woman that is cursed to kill when she is intimate with someone and a man that is able to heal people. There is an insta love element, but it's not really in the way you would think. This is a true enemies to lovers that gets very messy.

The problem that I had with this book is that it didn't flow for me. I felt like there were events that just happened and plots that didn't make sense.

[Janine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A steamy, messy, funny, enemies-to-lovers paranormal romance is a perfect read for lovers of Jenna Levine or Avery Flynn

Tempest Dunlap is a thirty something doula who is also a succubus. Kissing her may be lethal. Every relationship has failed after that. However when she meet handsome doctor, Joel Tav, there are sparks - only Joel’s brother is the last person Tempest has kissed and killed - an accident, of course. Then if this isn’t a predicament, a vigilante is hunting supernaturals, and Tempest is next on the list. When a murder happens, Tempest realizes she has powers that help.

At its heart, this is indeed a love story but with tinges of dark elements. Tempest and Joel are a cute couple but Joel isn’t everything he seems either. Theirs is literally a magical connection. The cast of characters each have a distinct voice - Ella, Tempest’s niece, was my favorite. Another fun part of the book were the angels, demons and dark powers. There’s also a fine smattering of humor as this book doesn’t take itself too seriously. What I think was missing was more about Joel but that aside this is a fun and sweet romance.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for granting me access to this ARC.

[The One Where Aimee Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin and NetGalley for the ARC.

Succubus was everything I wanted and yet, also so much more! Billed as a paranormal romance and with its gorgeous, bright and cute cover, I expected it to be a fun and sexy rom com. But let me tell you that my fantasy-loving heart was HYPED to discover this book is a whole lot of urban fantasy!! Tempest has settled into a good routine with her doula practice and homeschooling her niece. But she's hiding a major secret: she's a succubus and kills any man that she touches. Swearing off love wasn't such a big deal until she met Dr. Joel Tav. This kicks off an enemies to lovers romance where the main characters truly are enemies. Seriously, capital "E" Enemies. The stakes are high and it's a dangerous game. And if the forbidden love story weren't enough, there's also a demon hunter on the prowl killing off people with dark powers like Tempest. I loved the world building. I loved the casual Jewish representation. I loved the characters. I was hooked from the get-go and binged it in 48 hours. I can't wait to read whatever Kate Fox writes next!

[Cozystephaniereads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, and Kate Fox for the opportunity to read Succubus: A Love Story for free in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

Succubus completely surprised me. I expected a paranormal romance, but what I got was an emotional, character-driven story about sacrifice, identity, and learning to embrace the parts of yourself you've feared your whole life.
Tempest has spent years believing she's cursed. Every man she's ever been intimate with has died. There was only one man she was ever able to be with more than once, but eventually he died, too. Determined to never let anyone else suffer because of her, she resigns herself to a lonely future. Then she unexpectedly meets his brother, Joel, and despite their immediate connection, she refuses to let herself get close enough to risk his life. Through an online community of people experiencing strange curses and supernatural abilities, she communicates with others like her and learns that someone known only as the Demon Hunter is hunting them down.
I absolutely adored Tempest. More than anything, she just wants a normal life. She wants to fall in love, have a family, and experience the future she's always dreamed about, but she's willing to sacrifice all of that if it means protecting the people around her. Instead of allowing herself to become bitter, she pours good back into the world. She's a doula, homeschools her niece, and constantly tries to balance out what she believes is darkness inside her with kindness toward others.
Watching her character evolve was easily my favorite part of the book. As she finally begins embracing her abilities, the physical transformation mirrors her emotional one. Her strength grows, the ailments she's suffered from begin to disappear, and she slowly becomes the person she was always meant to be, rather than the person fear forced her to become. But it isn't always good.
Joel was such a wonderful MMC. He's compassionate, patient, and clearly cares deeply for Tempest even when he doesn't understand everything she's hiding from him. I did find myself wishing for a few chapters from his perspective so I could experience his thoughts throughout the story.
One of my favorite aspects of the book was the online friendship that developed between Tempest and Grub. Their conversations added so much heart to the story, especially as the story unfolded.
The pacing stayed consistently fast, and once the story picked up, I never wanted to stop reading. I honestly don't have any real critiques. If anything, I just wanted more, especially more of Joel's perspective.
If you enjoy paranormal romance with unique supernatural lore, emotional character growth, forbidden love, and heroines who have to learn that their greatest weakness may actually be their greatest strength, I highly recommend this one.

[Katy Allen · Rating 1 out of 5]

I simultaneously read this book very quickly and also disliked it more as I went. I’m usually pretty okay with suspending my disbelief for the story but it was just honestly too much. I just hate the main couple together. I think they could have worked at first but they eventually just became so toxic. I especially can’t get past the glaring consent issues. I know she is a succubus but it felt gross all around to me. I also don’t know how they could even begin to move past what they both did to each other’s brothers. I can kind of see Joel moving past it if he could acknowledge it was accidental but what Joel did was definitely intentional. I also just didn’t like any of the characters. The background characters were flat, it felt like several of them were just thrown in for no reason like Alice, who Tempest claims is her closest friend and then just exists with no purpose for the rest of the book. I found Ella to be irritating for the most part and while the goal was obviously just show her anxiety, she ended up being written as more bratty. I also feel like the inclusion of hitting a child was unnecessary and the same thing could have been accomplished without it. It is also then never brought up again and while I recognize they had bigger things going on, it just reaffirms to me that it didn’t need to be a part of the story.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

I flew through this super engaging, wholly original, hilarious-but-deep debut romantasy by Kate Fox. Beautifully written with literary-fiction level scene renderings and realistic dialogue, Fox (aptly) sucks the reader in to the story of the succubus.

Tender but raw, filled with truths about the drudgery and complexity of human life wrapped in a supernatural tale, Succubus will manage to speak to fans of all genres. I particularly appreciated Fox's treatment of parenting through the eyes of a non-parent character, and her depiction of the background murmur of everyday frustrations that gets massively amplified in times of stress. I also loved that even the child character has her own arc and is treated with dignity and humanity by the author.

Feeling trapped -- by circumstance, by our human bodies, by forces both within and beyond our control -- is universally relatable but, naturally, speaks particularly to women. Fox's treatment of this theme is delicate, asking us to think about where we have agency when it seems we have none, to recognize when we need to summon our powers in a given moment, and when, without shame, we must to turn to others for help. A feminist buzz underlies and inverts the trope of "evil man-trapping seductress," as Fox empowers her female protagonist while still allowing her her full range of flaws, vulnerabilities, and feelings. It turns out those might just be her superpowers after all.

And of course, there's something about the pull between good and evil that's ever-present and eternal, but still feels closer to the surface than usual in our current black-and-white, all-or-nothing, with-me-or-against-me world. Kate Fox manages to bring out the beauty of the healthy but messy middle: the balance and peacefulness in the ordinary, the sustaining life force of the truly terrifying endeavor to love, and the power in laying down soul-sucking defences.

If all this makes this book sound unfunny, my apologies. I laughed out loud from beginning to end. The fact that Fox can wrap these heavy themes in a package that still feels so enjoyable is a wonderful thing.

Even though romantasy isn't my usual genre, I received the ARC of "Succubus" and am so glad I did. I am already looking forward to more from this author.