Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom

During her youth, Kate was a badass demon hunter. She was an orphan who was taken in by agents of the Vatican and trained to fight demons when they come to our dimension with their evil schemes.

But eventually she met Eric, her true love, and after years of being a Battle Couple, they decided to retire, marry, and pursue a normal life.

Jump forward fourteen years.

Kate's now on her second husband due to Eric's sudden but tragic death. She has daughter Allie, just about to turn fourteen, and son Timmy, aged two. And her past Buffy type lifestyle is about to come home to roost. Can a mom with two kids and a bunch of housewife responsibilities keep Santa Diablo safe from demonkind's evil machinations?

That's the question Julie Kenner's Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom answers, often hilariously.

So far, the series consists of:

• Carpe Demon
• California Demon
• Demons Are Forever
• Deja Demon
• Demon Ex Machina

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Tropes used in Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom include:

• About the Author: Inside the back cover of the paperback edition.
• Action Mom: Kate.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Kate gets pissed at demonkind for attacking her in her home, leaving mysterious artifacts around, and making her late for the only date her daughter is likely to invite her to.
• Baby Talk: Timmy
• Back from the Dead: Kate's first husband, Eric, who is occupying the body of David Long, Allie's chemistry teacher.
• Badass: Kate, Eddie, David. And Allie in training to become such.
• Badass Family: Kate, Eddie, Allie and Eric.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Allie and her best friend Mindy slide close to this on some occasions.
• The Chosen One: Eric-in-David's-body
• Chekhov's Gun: One per book:
  • Kate herself in the first book
  • The bag full of saints' bones in the second.
  • Eric's ring in the third.
  • David/Eric himself in the fourth.
• Cool Old Guy: Eddie
• Combat Stilettos
• Counting to Three: She does have a toddler.
• Daddy's Girl: Allie, to her biological father, Eric.
• Dead Man Writing: from Eric by way of a secret bank account & safe deposit box
• Disappeared Dad: Eric, Kate's first husband
• Disposable Man: Eric. Kate slips into wangsty reminiscences of him multiple times a book.
• Eye Scream: Stabbing a demon through the eyes is the best way to kill them.
• Family Versus Career: but the career is, in this case, demon hunting.
• Fantastic Catholicism
• Feminine Women Can Cook: Subverted. Kate has a small handful of dishes she can make well, but what she makes best is orders from the local market/caterers.
• Full Name Ultimatum: Mother of two, it's only to be expected, particularly when one is a teenager.
• Hair of Gold: Kate is a blonde, and cute and wholesome, but ...
  • Played straight in that Kate continues to hunt demons because it will keep her family and friends safe -- virtuous!
  • Subverted in that Kate spends a lot of time feeling guilty for all the deception she has to do to keep her friends and family safe.
• Half-Human Hybrid: Eric/David. Apparently he was unaware of his nature until it was exposed in Deja Demon.
• Happily Married: Kate and Eric. Not so much with Laura and her husband. and potentially not so much with Stuart and Kate.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: Nadia.
• Honorary Uncle: Grandfather, actually, in the person of Eddie though Kate has allowed the family to believe there's a blood connection through Eric, Eddie is just another hunter.
• Hot Mom: Considering the comparisons to Buffy...
• Housewife: Kate was one happily before demons came to town. Now she juggles housewifery with demon hunting.
• Improvised Weapon: Kate tends to wear barettes with metal clasps; good for stabbing demon possessed humans in the eye.
• Infant Immortality: Timmy, the youngest kid in the series, is most fiercely protected by Kate. Other kids may or may not survive, but they're usually high school age, and therefore nearly adults.
• Kick Chick
• Love At First Sight: Kate and Eric.
• Love Triangle: Eric/David --> <-- Kate --> <-- Stuart
• Make It Look Like an Accident: Since the world at large doesn't know about or believe in demons, Kate has to do this to avoid going to jail for murder when she takes out a demon.
• Mama Bear: Kate, natch.
• Married to the Job: Stuart has a bit of this problem. And so does Kate.
• Muggles: Stuart, Laura's husband, their daughters, and pretty much everybody but the Forza Scura, the reason Kate lies and the reason she has to Make It Look Like an Accident or self defense when she kills a demon.
• Muggle Best Friend: Laura
• Our Demons Are Different
• Our Souls Are Different
  • Demons can cohabit with people who have been tempted because the soul is willing to permit it.
  • People who are of strong religious faith will, even at the moment of death, stick around and fight; to keep a demon out of their body until the body will no longer accept the presence of a life force.
• Red Herring: one a book.
• Religion Is Magic: Holy Water will hurt/burn demons, even if it's only a couple drops in a glass of water or on a baby wipe.
• Romancing the Widow: Stuart marrying Kate.
• Running Gag: The family cars keep getting destroyed by demons.
• Secret Keeper: Laura
• Seeking Sanctuary: Churches are safe ground from demons, and a lot of the important artifacts belonging to the Church are kept there.
• Senior Sleep Cycle: Eddie.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Kate and Laura both can pull off thirtysomething devastating hotness when they set their minds to it.
• Smitten Teenage Girl: Allie for her chemistry teacher. And pretty much anything male. But it only lasts until she gets in on her mother's secret. Then there are more important things to focus on.
• Standard Female Grab Area
• Stood Up: The captain of the surf team does this to Allie in California Demon.
• Sword Cane: David's cane has a sword in it.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Kate slips some holy water into the glass of a man she suspects to be demon possessed in Deja Demon.
• Tell Me About My Father: Allie, since Eric was her father, not Stuart, and it's been years since his death.
• Theme Naming: All the book titles are PunnyNames that cross over Shout Outs.
• The Vamp: Nadia again.
• With This Ring: Kate and Laura have conversations about Kate's fidelity and whether she's ever taken her wedding ring off since marrying Stuart.
  • Allie wore a ring of her dead father's on a chain around her neck.
• Woman Scorned: Laura.
• Your Cheating Heart: Laura's husband Paul.