Monster in My Closet

By: R. L. Naquin

Narrated by: Rebecca Gibel

Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's Summary

I stopped believing in monsters long ago. But I knew I wasn't imagining things when I found one in my kitchen baking muffins. I'd seen him before: lurking in my closet, scaring the crap out of my five-year-old self. Turns out that was a misunderstanding, and now Maurice needs a place to stay. How could I say no?

After all, I've always been a magnet for the emotionally needy, and not just in my work as a wedding planner. Being able to sense the feelings of others can be a major pain. Don't get me wrong, I like helping people - and non-people. But this ability has turned me into a gourmet feast for an incubus, a demon that feeds off emotional energy. Now, brides are dropping dead all over town, and my home has become a safe house for the supernatural. I must learn to focus my powers and defeat the demon, before he snacks on another innocent woman and comes looking for the main course.

©2012 R. L. Naquin (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Quirky with Unusual Characters.

Right away I knew this would be a good book. I was engaged with the silliness right from the beginning. I loved finding out what monster was coming next in the story. There are both good monsters and evil monsters, the trick is to figure out who is who. There's also a sexy guy that is all kinds of delish and I think there is promise there. Overall a fluffy story. ***spoiler*** there was a rape scene at the end that was a bit disturbing and then glossed over a little too much. I did think the heroine was a little naïve, not to check on her friends when she knew a monster was targeting them. A fast pasted audio that made the day go by super-fast. Narrator is good and I will be defiantly getting the next book in this series.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Thank you Audible

So this was actually a whim buy for me. Audible had it on a list of recommended books for me. I can not tell you how happy I am to have started this series. I have now read/listened through book 3. I think it is now one of my favorite series. A lot of times when reading/writing reviews we say new and interesting idea. I can actually say that this is one of the most inventive books I have read in years. It is a fun paranormal book that is not the same old vampire/warewolf/kick butt heroines that all the books seem to center around. There is no love triangle either which is also a fantastic change.

How many time are you going to get to read about a lovable closet monster. It is a nice change of pace to read about random and different "monsters". I don't think that they even once mentioned vampires. Maurice the mothering hen closet monster, Iris the quiet flower loving Yeti, Bruce the pygmy dragon, and Milo the fennec fox made this book well worth the read all on their own.

To make it even better the main character kind of reminds me of Stephanie Plum and Jane Jamison. She is funny and quirky and in way over her head most of the time. Through help from new friends and old she seems to find a way to make it through. Plus whats not to love when a line like "what if everything Andrew was saying was a wheelbarrow full of manure from a flying circus elephant" There were a couple lines like that through out the book that not only cracked me up but stuck in my head.

I also like that there is romance in the book but it is not the main story line or even the secondary story line. It is interwoven in the story with out over taking it. Plus Riley's job makes it all even more interesting.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Not all monsters are scary

What made the experience of listening to Monster in My Closet the most enjoyable?

The story itself made the listening experience enjoyable. Narration was very good as there are enough differences in voice inflection and depth of voice plus drawling speech when necessary to make characters distinguished from one another. Characters that needed from the dialogue to sound menacing sounded that way. It was well done and really easy to listen to. I never fought the narration as I have with some narrators. I would listen to this narrator again.

What other book might you compare Monster in My Closet to and why?

Possibly, I would compare it to The Care And Feeding Of Stray Vampires. They are similar in some respects but clearly different story line overall.

Which scene was your favorite?

There were numerous scenes with Maurice, the closet monster that were really memorable but I can't say any one scene was my favorite. Perhaps another listen with my ears attuned for finer points of the book is in order.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I never cried at all but laughed a lot. It is very funny with character interaction from the closet monster and heroine. There were of course some tearful moments too and of course a bad guy but overall it was humorous.

Any additional comments?

I would recommend this book for a very entertaining and light read. It is not one you have to be alone with no outside interference which would cause problems with listening. Some books you need to listen to at home only as outside noises distract you too much. This is not that kind of book.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Entertaining

This was entertaining and enjoyable. It kept and held my imagination throughout the story. The narrator did a good job with reading the book and helping develop the characters and keeping their voices distinct and individual. I would recommend this book for light reading and purely entertainment value.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Loved This Story!

In spite of how scary the idea and description of a Closet Monster sounds, Maurice is charming! The narration of Rebecca Gibel made Maurice sound like a cuddly guy I wanted to hug! I can't WAIT to see where the next book in the series takes us. HIGHLY recommended - Book, Author & Narrator!

4 of 6 people found this review helpful

Did Not Finish

What disappointed you about Monster in My Closet?

Any additional comments?

The actual prose was ok but the heroine is a selfish idiot (which is weird for someone whose life literally revolved around other people) and the plot got ridiculous.

It started out reasonably well but ultimately it turned into a creepy rape-fest with very few redeeming features.

There are authors who are capable of mixing the serious (even the absolutely awful) with the gloriously frivolous, sadly this author is currently not one of them.

6 of 11 people found this review helpful

Cute Story

Very cute story line. Will listen to part 2 if there is one to read.

Humorous, yet dark story

I really enjoyed this book, which is odd for me because I don't have a lot of respect for authors who include rape scenes in their books. I get that sometimes the story goes there, but you don't need to go into details and desensitize people to it. This one was different however, and I can't really explain how. I knocked the book down a star because of it, though I'd normally knock it down much further. I think it was because the bad guy was a demon who used this method to feed, so it was more like he was eating them than raping them and it helped that the women weren't actually aware of what was happening. But, then they died. Ignoring that part of the book, the rest was quirky and fun. The main character was relatable and except for her gift, just a normal person. The side characters were wonderful and you wish that you could be their friend too. I'm going to read the next book in the series and hope for less murky ethics.

You had me at "bag of crap"

Loved the story. I was screaming in my head through most of it...about the obvious, but you'll see.

Don't put credit down for this one, get it on sale

I don't mean to downplay the skill required in authoring a book, but I constantly kept finding myself rewinding, thinking that I had missed something. The main character is a bit of a Mary Sue in that as soon as she has a problem, people show up to solve them for her. I actually caught myself doing the cliche slasher flick, "why are you doing X, if you thought about it for even the least amount of time you would realize that doing X will get you killed." In could be indicative of the time when this book was drafted but it fit all of the classic romantic comedy tropes.

Independent woman who is financially sound and successfully doing what she wants has sudden change occur in her life. Send in the hot guys. Send in the instant gay best friend with literally magic cure-all. Cue obnoxious-ex so we can see how much better the new guy is.

The concept of this book is okay and if your looking for a time killer book that you won't be invested in, go ahead and pick this one up on sale. I'm just going to chalk this one up to difference in taste.

Cheerful fantasy...

Fancy waking up and finding a cupboard monster baking in your kitchen, this is the opening salvo with Zoey brandishing a toilet brush in hand.
I was able to picture this offbeat fantasy throughout, it also made me a little wistful, oh to live in a world with fairies, miniature dragons, brownies and malevolent demons.
Fast paced, a touch of romance and a lot of fun, was definitely diverted.
A little gem if you just want a light read and to escape for a short time.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Monsters and urban myths come alive.

Monster in my closet is similar in vein to authors such as E.J. Copperman and Leigh Perry. Although there are slightly more adult themes at times in this series of books. And without the whodunnit in the mortal world the other books tend to feature.

This is very much based on fairy tales and urban myths, and the fight to protect the normal world from those hidden creatures, and vice versa. Overall this is a book suitable for a few hours escapism, with some gentle humour intermingled within the story.

The narrator does a good job, and this adds to the enjoyment. Nothing worse than looking forward to a good book only to have it ruined by poor narration and/or sound/recording quality.

Oddly the only thing I though detracted was the cover art. Somehow it seemed... tacky is the closest word I can think of, although that seems unduly harsh because it's not quite worthy of the word tacky, yet something about it just seems off to me. However, that's a nitpick, and there is no way I'll give less of a rating for that reason.

This book is the first in a series, and while it can be left as a single read I do urge you to try the rest because they do link up in a story arc where you want to know the ending.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful