Review: Personal Demons - Lisa Desrochers

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak.  She has spent years keeping everyone at a distance - even her closest friends - and it seems as if her senior year is going to be more of the same ... until Luc Cain enrolls in her class.  No one knows where he came from, but Frannie can't seem to stay away from him.

What she doesn't know is that Luc is on a mission.  He's been sent from Hell itself to claim Frannie's soul.  It should be easy - all he has to do is get her to sin, and Luc is as tempting as they come.  Frannie doesn't stand a chance.  But sure enough, it's not long before the angel Gabriel shows up, willing to do anything to keep Luc from getting what he came for.  It isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just Frannie's soul.

But if Luc fails, there will be Hell to pay ... for all of them.

Personal Demons Series:
Personal Demons
Original Sin (July 2011)
Hellbent (2012)

The above dates are the US release dates as the UK rights for this series haven't been sold yet.

Check out Lisa Desrochers' website for more information

Review:
Frannie has been brought up in a good Catholic family but since a tragedy when she was younger she has been the black sheep of the family, even getting kicked out of Catholic school for asking too many questions in religious education.  Luc is sent on a mission from hell to tag Frannie's soul and is expecting it to be easy, all he has to do is get her to commit a sin and his job is done.  It shouldn't be hard - especially when he can tell how much Frannie wants him but he wasn't expecting to like her too.  The more he gets to know her the more he starts to have feelings for her, feelings that demons shouldn't be able to feel.  Throw in the complication of angel Gabe who has been sent from heaven to make sure Frannie's soul is tagged for them and things get even more confusing.  Frannie is torn between the gorgeous mysterious bad boy that is Luc and the beautiful, boy next door Gabe but she doesn't realise that the fate of the world depends on her decision.

I read Personal Demons after signing up for a UK book tour and I have to say how surprised I am that this series hasn't been snapped up by any of the UK publishers.  It really is a great book and I'd love to see it released over here and made more accessible to UK readers.  In the meantime I'd definitely recommend getting hold of a US copy of the book, it's one fans of YA paranormal stories won't want to miss.

The story is told in first person from both Frannie and Luc's point of view which allows us to get to know both of them quite well.  The only downside to this is that Gabe never really felt fully fleshed out to me, we learn a little about him from the others but nothing that made me really feel the attraction that Frannie felt for him.  I would have loved to see things from Gabe's point of view and get to know him better but I can understand how it could have been confusing to have 3 different view points.  I did find myself getting a little irritated by the way Frannie was constantly changing her mind about who she wanted but I think that was down to the fact that I loved Luc so much and didn't feel like I knew much about Gabe.

I have to confess that no matter how well I'd got to know Gabe I don't think I'd have been swayed from my position on team Luc - he is so delicious that you can't help but fall for him!  He definitely starts off acting like a jerk but the more you get to know him the nicer he becomes and the sexual chemistry between him and Frannie was off the scale compared to most other YA books I've read.

This is one of those books that I devoured staying up late to find out what happened next.  I loved the chemistry but I also wanted to know why both heaven & hell were so keen to tag Frannie for their cause.  I needed to know how things could possibly work out for Luc - I just couldn't see a happy ending for him no matter what decision he made.  I'm not going to say more for fear of spoilers but I absolutely loved the ending and can't wait to find out what happens next in Original Sin.  Personal Demons is an impressive debut and I'm looking forward to seeing what Lisa Desrochers comes up with next.  If you like YA paranormal romance or urban fantasy this is definitely a series to watch out for.

Source: Received as part of a book tour arranged by UK Book Tours, this book has already been sent on to it's next destination.

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