UNDER WRAPS is the first installment of Hannah Jayne's Underworld Detective Agency novels. The UDA resembles a supernatural version of the DMV. Sophie Lawson works as an executive assistant for Mr. Sampson, the agency's head, and does her best to make sure all the underworld beings have their paperwork in order. Sophie is known as a norm or a breather because she has no magical abilities, but she's also immune to magic as well. Enter Detective Parker Hayes, a new detective with the San Francisco Police who needs Sophie and her immunity to magic to help with some suspiciously ritualistic—not to mention gruesome--murders up top. With Mr. Sampson's blessing, she agrees to try.

Sophie pictures herself as a kickass heroine, but she's not. She's more timid and ditzy, puking at the first murder scene and nearly passing out, but she has some good one-liners. Jayne's paranormal romance is on the snarky, light-hearted side rather than the dark, more thriller side of urban fantasy. Perhaps it's that I like the darker ones better, but I never warmed up to Sophie as a character or Detective Hayes. And it's clear that Hayes is hiding secrets. There is some mysterious history in Sophie's family, too, but Jayne only touches on this, and I'm assuming it will be fleshed out in future stories.

That said, I loved Nina, her roommate and fashionista extraordinaire and would like to know more about Mr. Sampson. Let's not forget the troll Steve, who has a huge crush on Sophie and always speaks in the third person. Jayne has a flair for fun characters, even if the protagonist didn't come alive for me. The plot reveals itself fairly slowly as does the truth of the enigma Hayes, but he played more games with Sophie's emotions than I cared for. I'll probably check out the second book, Under Attack which is due out in November, out of curiosity.

Book Summary

As a human immune to magic, Sophie Lawson can help everyone from banshee to zombie transition into normal, everyday San Francisco life. With a handsome werewolf as her UDA boss and a fashionista vampire for a roommate, Sophie knows everything there is to know about the undead, the unseen, and the uncanny. Until a rash of gruesome murders has demons and mortals running for cover, and Sophie finds herself playing sidekick to detective Parker Hayes.

Dodging ranging bloodsuckers, bad-tempered faires, and love-struck trolls is one thing. But when Sophie discovers parker isn't what he seems, she's only got one chance to figure out whom to trust. Because an evil hiding in plain sight is closing in...and about to make one wisecracking human it means to ultimate power.