Book Review: Personal Demons (Lisa Desrochers)

Frannie Cavanaugh is a good Catholic girl with a bit of a wicked streak. She's spent years keeping everyone at a distance—even her closest friends—and it seems her senior year will 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 works in Acquisitions—for Hell—and she possesses a unique skill set that has the King of Hell tingling with anticipation. All Luc has to do is get her to sin, and he’s as tempting as they come. Frannie doesn’t stand a chance.

Unfortunately for Luc, Heaven has other plans, and the angel, Gabe, is going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Luc doesn’t get what he came for. And it isn't long before they find themselves fighting for more than just her soul.

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

FINALLY - a book with heroine that's far from being goody-two shoes! I have been waiting for one which so blatantly shows a heroine's flaws, without me being actually annoyed by or disliking the aforementioned heroine, and after a long wait, here it is! Personal Demons. Boy do I love it. I think this book might probably be a bad boy on its own, but I love it all the more for being so!

Let me start with the characters - Frannie, Luc and Gabe. Like I mentioned, Frannie is a character I feel I've long waited for, and she is fun to be with - she is easy to admire, but she is also easy to correct. She's unique, surprising, and whether girls out there admit it or not, we're all a bit like Frannie inside! I love her.

Speaking of characters I love, let me start with Gabe and end with a very gushy, explosive sigh over Luc. Gabe is truly heavenly and someone you'd want to devote yourself to. I did not feel he was a major character in the book; his role seem to only develop Luc more. And Luc? Luc is sinful and hotter than hell. He's sizzling both inside and out and really made me blush while reading. Yep, I like this guy.

As much as I love Frannie, I'd have to say I loved every word in Luc's narration. He's hilarious and unlike any demon I ever imagined. Though seven millennia old, he retains his teenage boy mind and sometimes act immaturely that it's difficult to differentiate him from his real, breathing earthly counterpart. He amused me to no end and spiced everything up. Have I mentioned he's hot? Or that I'm definitely, loyally Team Luc?

Now one of my issues about Personal Demons is the slight confusion behind the whole celestials against infernals tug of war. It dips immediately into Luc's perspective and since only he and Frannie alternately narrate the whole book, it is only really Luc who refers to the background and back story. However, he does not explain this quite well enough, which was why I kept wondering who some characters were, what certain words mean and how things generally work out. Perhaps a general prologue about the background of the whole celestial and infernal war and the tagging of souls would have been a better introduction.

I'm not sure how much this flaw affected the plot, but I found the book more romantic than suspenseful - not that I have any complaints about that. While I was not too bothered about Frannie shifting back and forth between Gabe and Luc, I felt the reason behind this was not thoroughly explained. I would have liked a little more elaboration about why Gabe is too irresistible for her (Luc, I can completely understand) - is it part of what he is?, etc. Perhaps this is because only two characters narrate the story, so I'd look out for the sequel in the hopes of discovering more and clearing out some of these issues.

Having said that, there's no reason why this book should be missed. It's sexy, it's hilarious, and IT HAS LUC. Full stop.

Four Stars.

* ARC copy courtesy of UK Book Tours.