Selume Proferre by E.E. Ottoman

From the blurb: 

An-An Li-Johnson lives an easy-going, quiet life. She works part time at her friend's bookstore, is active in the local LGBTQ scene, manages to avoid the occasional crazy ex, and does temp work for the big name spell-craft firm Simon and Davidson.

Then she's hired to work with M.C. Anderson, an up and coming exorcist at Simon and Davidson. M.C. is deeply involved in the world of high stakes spell-craft, determined to carve out a place for herself among the extremely hierarchical and old fashioned world of professional exorcists. As they work together on an intense case of demonic possession, An-An finds herself more and more intrigued by her new boss. But just as the relationship looks like it might be deepening into something more, the case suddenly takes a turn for the worse.

Much, much worse.

Review:

It was utterly refreshing to read something different from the traditional m/m and f/f pairings.

This is a story about exorcism, although not quite your run-of-the-mill priest vs demon kind.

The love interest, M.C. Anderson is an exorcism expert.  Initially she is quite a frosty, overworked individual and she rubs most of her colleagues the wrong way.  An-An is brought into the company to see if she can work with M.C.

An-An is a really cool character.  Her sense of humour, her sense of style, and her intelligence made it fun to see this story through her eyes.  I especially liked how she was a fairly well connected member in the LGBTQ+ scene and it makes this work not only a queer romance, but a political queer romance.  I also kinda wish she was a real person so she could design my next tattoo. *sigh*

I loved watching An-An struggle with the complicated and frosty M.C. Anderson.  It was sweet and awkward and I could really relate.

However, I felt that that the climax was underdeveloped.  I kept expecting it to be a rouse and for there to be an even bigger, worse crisis, but then the novel ended.  It didn't quite meet my expectations there. BUT it was still really enjoyable!

This is a fun, short romp with a sizzling ending.  You should read it on a Saturday afternoon with a glass of wine.

More Information:

Title: Selume Proferre
Author: E.E. Ottoman
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Publishing Date: 6 Nov. 2013
Length: Novella (22k)
Genre: Paranormal/romance
Type: f/f, genderqueer, trans