More morsels on The Highwayman & my husband spots a vagina!

I am continuing to enjoy catlike fun of The Highwayman by Michele Hauf. It's the story of Aby, a cat-shifting familiar, and Max, an immortal demon hunter (see my post from a few days ago for the blurb and my thoughts on starting the book.) I'm nearly done with it now. The setting has moved to Paris, always a plus.

Morsel #1: Breed characteristics woven into the heroine
As I said last week, our heroine Aby is an Abyssinian cat shifter. We get a description of the breed early on (Max reads about them) and I love how Hauf stays true to the breed character, almost as a touchstone for the character of Aby.

A few items from Wikipedia on the Abyssinian:
Abyssinians are extroverted, willful and intelligent, but are usually not "lap cats", being too preoccupied with exploring and playing as they would in their natural habitat. Abys need a great deal of contact with the family to keep them happy and can get depressed without daily activity and attention. Abyssinians are known for their curiosity and enjoy exploring their surroundings, including heights, although they are sensible cats that do not take unnecessary risks.

This really fits, but she doesn't hit you over the head with the cat stuff. Hauf has made other entertaining cat extrapolations; for example, Aby loves to soak in baths, but hates the rain or to swim. There is this great scene where she falls in a pool and is SO upset and miserable.

Morsel #2: Intriguing side characters:
I like Aby's bossy werewolf pal Severo, the bossy wolf who is a true friend. The next book in September will be about him, so I'll definitely be reading it. And the thing here is that you never feel like you're being series baited: Severo is an important part of the plot.

Morsel #3 Max and Aby as an opposites pair
Max: The world-weary, deprived fighter. Back in the 1700's when Max was a highwayman, he and his partner Rainer got pulled into a demon raising and Max ended up with a Demon shadow in him. Result: he's immortal, but he can't eat, sleep, or have orgasms, so he has this lonely grinding existence of hunting demons. Max is weary and has lived for centuries, and is on the verge of going crazy from deprivation.

Aby: The fresh and innocent one. Aby is almost the opposite of Max: maybe she wasn't born yesterday, but darn close: she's on her fourth life, but she came back as a teenager and doesn't remember things from her past life. So she's sensual and kind of naive. But not a virgin, due to her paranormal doings.

Max's old partner Rainier: I won't tell! Though most of the book, Max doesn't know what happened to his partner Rainier, but it's fun finding out. It's one of those little inner-book mysteries.

Morsel #4: I still find the prose catlike.
It was delightful to have author Hauf visit on the last post (or just see below.) She noted that she didn't intentionally make the prose catlike. But does that mean it's not there? Did she achieve a catlike style subconsciously and wasn't aware of it? Am I reading things into the prose? Is it a little of both? Does it have anything to do with my own cats currently staring at me, waiting for dinner?

Morsel #5: Best understatement in a book

So there's this witch Grim who has a bit part (so far, at least). As Max tells it, centuries ago, Grim wanted to marry a vampiress, but the vampiress married a werewolf instead, so Grim had her locked in a glass coffin buried beneath the streets of Paris. Worst of all, a spell on her means she stays alive, motionless, and is always aware, presumably insane now. Max's commentary on the subject of Grim: He's an asshole. I thought that was kind of hilarious.

Late-breaking morsel #6 My husband spots a vagina on the cover

Okay, after completing this post, I brought the book to bed to finish, and my husband inspects the cover and he's like, what's that he's holding? And I was like, It's a whip! And my husband goes, That's not what it LOOKS LIKE. And I go, Well, that's what it is, a WHIP--a demon killing whip. And he's like, No, look at it. It's a vagina!

It sort of does look like a vagina. Okay, Silhouette Nocturne cover artist, WHAT is going on? Are you having some naughty fun with the Nocturne readership? Is this subliminal advertising? Am I hallucinating cat-like prose and my husband is seeing vaginas? What IS he holding? Look where he's holding it!!! Meow.
Free books:
•Win a signed copy of The Highwayman! Go read Sci Fi guy's much more proper and intelligent review and win a signed copy of this book! You have until July 10th.

•Or win a copy at Fang-tastic books. You have until July 8th.

•Get a free download of Hauf's Kiss Me Deadly, perfect for fans of the Kiss Me/Kill Me motif, here!

•Or buy the book - this month only. The Highwayman is only out for a month.