From the Stacks: A Soul for Trouble

After enjoying a free book (Tangled Web) from Crista McHugh, I went in search of more of her stuff to read. The giveaway I won came with bookmarks, one of which showed the covers for The Soulbearer Trilogy. So, here I am now, with a review for A Soul for Trouble.

Summary:

"When you're a witch named Trouble, chaos follows.

Arden Lesstymine (known to everyone as Trouble) likes attention as much as the next girl, but this is getting ridiculous. When an insane stranger is murdered at the inn where she works, Trouble becomes the next Soulbearer for the disembodied god of chaos, Loku. Yes, it comes with the ability to channel the god's limitless power, but at the cost of her sanity - literally. Now she has a sexy but cynical knight claiming to be her protector, a prince trying to seduce her to his cause (and his bed), and a snarky chaos god who offers a play-by-play commentary on it all, whether she wants to hear it or not. To make matters worse, a necromancer wants to capture the soul of Loku for his own dark purposes, and the only way he can get it is by killing her first."

My Thoughts:

Trouble is so naive that it's adorable. I almost feel sorry for her, but she does manage to hold herself up against the otherwise male ensemble cast of the novel. I mean you have Dev-her protector, Kell-a womanizing prince, Loku-a disembodied god, and you could even include Cinder, who is a fire-wolf. And the men in her life are all so different that it is really nice. Crista McHugh does a great job bringing all of these people to life. 

Dev is so honorable and tortured by the failures of his past, and tries so hard not to make any move on Arden, which confuses her and makes her think that he isn't interested in her, though Loku tries to tell her otherwise since he has known Dev for quite some time.

Then there is Kell, who seems so completely sure of himself and his ability with women. Also to consider is that Kell is trying to keep Trouble from being executed for using magic because he thinks she will help save them from the necromancer and zombies. Of course, it also seemed like every time something might have happened between Kell and Trouble, Dev would show up or Loku would make some sort of commentary. I would have felt sorry for the guy if it weren't for the fact that I had already fallen for Dev.

Loku, Loku, Loku - I love him as a character. He pops in and makes all sorts of commentary about Trouble's difficult romantic situation and keeps trying to get her to use the immense power she receives by being his Soulbearer. But, at the heart of it all, I think Loku knows that he will never have another Soulbearer like Trouble, that she is the one he has been searching for all along. Through the whole book it doesn't seem that she is going crazy from having Loku in her mind, but I guess there are two more books to go.

This is another great story by Crista McHugh and the second book, A Soul for Chaos, is out now and I need to get it soon. And I can say that I'm very intrigued by the title of the third and final book, A Soul for Vengeance. What horrors await in the second book? I can't wait to read more. Rating: 5/5.

A Soul for Trouble at Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-soul-for-trouble-crista-mchugh/1111985498?ean=9781468158748

A Soul for Trouble at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Soul-For-Trouble-Soulbearer-Trilogy/dp/1468158740/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1356568961&sr=8-1&keywords=Crista+McHugh

Other Readings:

I only have a few more books to finish before I've hit the goal I've already changed about 5 times on Goodreads. I started the year planning to read 50 books, but I finished book 81 last night, so I'm thinking I can hit 85 books by the end of 2012. With any luck I can do the same or better in 2013. I'm looking forward to trying anyway.