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Saturday, August 1, 2015

Book Review: Unfinished Muse (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency #1) by R.L. Naquin

Unfinished Muse (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency #1)
by R.L. Naquin

241 pages
Published July 20th 2015
Wynter Greene is a chronic quitter—in work, in life, and in love. When she quits a job, a boyfriend, and a seemingly minor craft project all in one day, the dormant deity blood in her veins triggers a Welcome Package from the gods. A talking—and singing—houseplant named Phyllis bullies Wynter into taking a job at the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency.

Stuck with a job in the Muse department, Wynter discovers that helping others finish what they start isn’t easy, especially for someone who can’t seem to finish anything of her own. And how is Wynter supposed to focus on anything when that guy from the Dreams and Nightmares department keeps distracting her with his rippling muscles and magnetic stare?

Wynter needs to figure her job out soon. Each failure is a tick mark on her record, and if she continues to miss her deadlines, she’ll be reassigned to the Underworld as a dog walker.

And scooping poop for a giant three-headed dog is nobody’s ideal career.


The seeds of creative ideas and story lines must love the fertile brain of R.L. Naquin. Another great work of the 'flight lantastic'. Or is that 'light fantastic'? Either way, I believe she would do well writing script for the "Dr. Who" series (one of my favorites by the way).

Using a normal 'talking' houseplant to usher in the not normal world that is to become Wynter's new life was brilliant on the comic front. As in her "Hidden" series she takes a main character that is quirky but realistic and gives her a paranormal flavor that is easy to digest and tastes good as you take bite after bite until you realize it is gone. It leaves you sorry that you consumed it so fast!

Wynter is a character that just can't find her calling in life and seems to be down and out in her luck and personal life. She finally meets the criteria for her assignment at Mount Olympus Employment Agency. Being given the position of 'muse' her assignment is to motivate her given clients, The last job on earth she thinks she is qualified for. But failure here could land her in the underworld. Many obstacles and disgruntled coworkers seem out to ensure her failure. With the help of her houseplant "Phyllis", she is determined to complete her assignments on time and on her terms. Will that keep her from the underworld? Or will it put her on the fast track to work for Hades himself?

Unlike Naquin's "Hidden" stories, this read was a little more "vanilla", a little slower in the middle and the ending came with fewer neatly tied up answers. It left you knowing (or hoping) more installments will follow and hopefully soon. I am anxious to see where this story goes and would definitely recommend it for a fun, motivational read! As a standalone book my rating would be different but as a series this has a great potential.

I give this 4 a'muse'ing sheep.




Jeanie G

About the Author:
R. L. Naquin is an urban fantasy novelist and short story writer. She writes the Monster Haven series for Carina Press. You can find her on the Web at: www.rlnaquin.com

Rachel’s head is packed with an outrageous amount of useless Disney trivia. She is terrified of thunder, but not of lightning, and often recites the Disneyland dedication speech during storms to keep herself calm. She finds it appalling that nobody from Disney has called yet with her castle move-in date.

Originally from Northern California, she has a tendency to move every few years, resulting in a total of seven different states and a six-year stint in England. Currently, she’s planning her next grand adventure. Rachel has one heroic husband, two genius kids, a crazy-catlady starter kit, and an imaginary dog named Waffles.

She doesn’t have time for a real dog.

2 comments:

  1. Addin this one to my "to read" list. Looks good :)

    ReplyDelete
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