Review: Personal Demons by 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 he has to work fast, because if the infernals are after her, the celestials can’t be far behind. And 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.

I've had my eye on this series for a while now; in fact, all three books have been in my possession for nearly a year. It's obviously taken me a while to get to reading them, but I must say that I'm hooked now. I literally had to resolve to not read any more of book two, Original Sin, until I finished my review of Personal Demons. It may not be the most original concept, but Lisa Desrochers sure does know how to capture a reader's attention.

Mary Francis "Frannie" Cavanaugh comes from a fairly religious Catholic family, but for ten years, she's been clinging to a secret that has slowly caused her faith to waver. Little does she realize that Heaven and Hell do exist--and both soon make their presence known in the forms of Lucifer "Luc" Cain and Gabriel. There's something remarkable about Frannie that has both the angels and the demons after her soul, something so powerful that neither side can truly understand what they're getting into.

Frannie and I have a serious love-hate relationship. On one hand, I adore that she was a bit of a black sheep rather than a complete goody two-shoes. At the same time though, some of the decisions she made were questionable. I also couldn't stand that she let her "best friend" Taylor push her around all the time. In terms of love interests, I'm glad to say that Personal Demons doesn't contain as much of a love triangle as I initially expected. I won't say which way Frannie leans, but I admit that I can't blame her one bit. I still find it practically impossible to choose between Luc and Gabe myself.

Like I said, paranormal YA featuring angels and demons isn't all that unique. However, I did appreciate the tiny twists in abilities and mythology. I'm all but certain that the name choices were intended to be cliché, but in a strange way, I found them to be so appropriate. Aside from a few plot details that I had to read twice in order to fully comprehend, I definitely enjoyed the story. I can't wait to keep reading Original Sin and then Last Rite to find out what happens in the end!

Rating: 4/5 stars