Awhile on the Pile #9: Last Rite by Lisa Desrochers

Awhile on the Pile/From the Review Pile is a meme hosted by Stepping Out of the Page every Thursday but was also inspired by Rachel at My Reading Pile/Fiktshun. The aim of this meme is to showcase books that you've received for review -- or any book that you own and really want to read/review -- but haven't yet got around to reading in order to give the book some extra publicity.

Here's the book I chose to give some extra love this week:

Title:  Last Rite
Author:  Lisa Desrochers
Series:  Personal Demons, book 3
Publisher:  Tor Teen
Publication Date:  May 8, 2012
Source:  traded ARCs with fellow blogger, also won a signed copy from the author

In this final installment of the thrilling, edgy Personal Demons series, the battle between Heaven and Hell has become critical, and Frannie Cavanaugh is right at the center of it.

With the help of the powerful angel Gabe and demon-turned-mortal Luc, Frannie has been able to stay one step ahead of the forces of Hell. But when the demons killed Frannie's best friend and destroyed her brother, they raised the stakes. If Frannie wants to keep her family and friends safe, she knows she has no choice but to go on the run.

Their best defense is the power Frannie has been struggling to master, but her attempts to hone her skill go horribly awry. If Frannie doesn't learn fast, the consequences could be devastating--even apocalyptic.

What happens when you can't outrun Hell...or trust the ones you love?

I was dying to get my hands on this book before it was released, and then I did and here it is two months after the release and I still haven't had the time to read it.  *sigh*  Review books come in spurts for me.  Seems like it's either all or nothing, though, with physical ARCs.  And that's when I find myself spending way too much time perusing Netgalley's offerings.  :P  Anyway, that's why this one has been left collecting dust...it's definitely not for lack of trying to get to it.

I promised myself in May that June would be the month I caught up on all the books I wanted to read for me, but then June came and went and I'm still trying to catch up on review books, all the while stock-piling more and more books for my personal, when-I-have-time-for-them stash.  It's a never-ending battle. 

I did manage to completely reorganize and alphabetize my bookshelves while I had some time off, so that counts for something, right?  I mean, I even took the time to label them with color-coded stickers distinguishing those that hadn't been read and in what order they needed to be read.  Call me crazy, but I'm well on my way to that library I've always dreamed of.  :D

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Labels: awhile on the pile, lisa desrochers, personal demons, tor teen

Review: Original Sin by Lisa Desrochers

Title:  Original Sin
Author:  Lisa Desrochers
Series:  Personal Demons
Publisher:  Tor Teen
Publication Date:  July 5, 2011
Links: Amazon | Goodreads
Rating: 

From Goodreads:

 Luc Cain was born and raised in Hell, but he isn’t feeling as demonic as usual lately—thanks to Frannie Cavanaugh and the unique power she never realized she had. But you can’t desert Hell without consequences, and suddenly Frannie and Luc find themselves targeted by the same demons who used to be Luc’s allies.

Left with few options, Frannie and Luc accept the protection of Heaven and one of its most powerful angels, Gabe. Unfortunately, Luc isn’t the only one affected by Frannie, and it isn’t long before Gabe realizes that being around her is too…tempting. Rather than risk losing his wings, he leaves Frannie and Luc under the protection of her recently-acquired guardian angel.

Which would be fine, but Gabe is barely out the door before an assortment of demons appears—and they’re not leaving without dragging Luc back to Hell with them. Hell won’t give up and Heaven won’t give in. Frannie’s guardian exercises all the power he has to keep them away, but the demons are willing to hurt anyone close to Frannie in order to get what they want. It will take everything she has and then some to stay out of Hell’s grasp.

And not everyone will get out of it alive.

Review:

First things first, don't do like I did and read all the teasers the author posted on her blog and ruin the first half of the book for yourself. [To avoid temptation, I'm not linking to the author's blog. :)]

That said, once I got past all of the stuff that I'd already figured out based on the teasers, the story really did attain 'un-put-downable' status. The Personal Demons books are light, quick reads with a touch of smuttiness that makes them all the more fun to read, but that's not to say that they don't have an intriguing storyline. There's plenty of action, betrayal, and general lustiness to keep you reading and wishing that the third installment was already out.

The second book in a series is always good for some new characters, and Original Sin definitely delivers in that department. Frannie is still trying to decipher her feelings for Gabe while she's joined at the hip to Luc, but the author has now thrown in Frannie's twin brother Matt as her guardian angel, Rhenorian (Luc's, ahem, friend from the Fiery Pit), and new-to-town Lili to shake things up. If you thought the love triangle was trying before, just wait...it's more like a love PENTAGON now.

However, with these new characters comes another narrator in the form of Matt and yet another reason to have to keep flipping back pages to see who's talking now. It did get confusing at times because the switch in narration happened rather quickly, often within a chapter as opposed to at the start of each new chapter. Just a word of warning to those who dislike narratives told in this fashion.

If you don't like love triangles or flips in the narration, this series might not be for you, but it's one of my guilty pleasures. It's fun and definitely worth a look if you're in the mood for something light and fluffy.  If that doesn't entice you, maybe the trailer will:


 
Next up for review: 

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Labels: book trailers, personal demons, reviews

Friday Five #4

Oy!  I've been a little bit absent from the interwebz lately because the universe decided to throw a couple of curveballs my way.  My husband's truck was stolen last Tuesday night while we slept, and if that's not enough to cope with, the alternator on our surviving car, the one I drive to and fro everyday, decided to crap out on me yesterday on my way in to work.

Needless to say, I haven't been much in the mood to read or review or blog, but I'm rectifying that now.  No more wallowing; now it's time to indulge myself with a good book.  What better way to escape from the harsh realities of my real life than by reading about the fictional lives of my favorite characters, am I right?

I'll be finishing up today, then I'm left to choose between one of the following before my doodled-in copy of  arrives next week!  EEEKKK!!!  You know I'll drop whatever I'm doing to start on that gem as soon as it's in my hands!

1.    by Tessa Gratton
2.    by Moira Young
3.  by Hannah Moskowitz
4.  by Kendare Blake

So, who wants to help me choose which book to pick up next?

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Labels: dustlands, friday five, hannah moskowitz, personal demons, the blood journals, wolves of mercy falls

In My Mailbox #5

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi at The Story Siren.

At this rate, my husband is going to have to add yet another shelf for me!

Reason #1 that my husband should never offer to take me to the flagship Half Price Books here in Dallas:  I end up with a stack of books that make my arms hurt by the time we get to the register.  Reason #2:  so does my daughter.  :)

Behold the titles I picked up over the long weekend:

The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta <--- I have heard the most awesome things about this author!!!
Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly (this was an ARC, which I thought was weird but also cool)
Incarceron & Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

On top of that, I had to pick up Original Sin for my Nook on Tuesday when it came out cause I was in the mood for some teenage smuttiness...I needed a light, fun read with all that's been going on lately in my personal life. 

Oh, and I can't believe I haven't mentioned this earlier, but if you haven't been downloading the free audiobooks from SYNC weekly this summer, you should definitely look into it.  I listen to them while I'm at work or in the car, and they really help pass the time.  It took me a minute to get used to listening to a book instead of music while working, but I don't find it distracting, and hey, it's helping me work on that crazy big TBR list I've got going!

On that note, Audible is also doing a promo, where when you register for the service, you get two free  audiobooks.  Since I picked up the free audiobook of Shiver through SYNC, I used one of my free credits at Audible on Linger so I can be prepared for Forever's release next week.  (Have you pre-ordered your Maggie-doodled copy yet?)

So, all together, here's my haul for the week:


Oh, I almost forgot!  I also received signed bookmarks and a postcard from Kiki Hamilton, author of The Faerie Ring, and a signed bookmark for Daimon, the prequel to Half-Blood, by Jennifer L. Armentrout, courtesy of Mickey at I'm a Book Shark.  (And that reminds me, I need to download that for my Nook, STAT!)

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Labels: audiobooks, freebies, in my mailbox (imm), personal demons, wolves of mercy falls

Friday Five #3

In which I list the five books I *plan* to read next, major emphasis on the word plan because I'm an impulsive/compulsive book buyer, and what I intend to read also changes with my mood.  =D  Whenever I finish a book, I always feel kind of lost, so I think keeping a list like this will help me stay on track and actually remember what I really wanted to read next.  Hopefully...
Okay, so I'm half-way through  (and loving it, by the way) but after that, these are my next five reads....unless of course I buy another book or discover that a book I've been dying for is releasing on Tuesday and I forgot about it...or any other number of circumstances that could cause me to move a book up in my TBR pile. ;)

In no particular order...


1.    by Tessa Gratton
2.    by Moira Young
3.  by Hannah Moskowitz
4.  by Lisa Desrochers
5.  by Kendare Blake

What do you plan to read this week???

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Labels: dustlands, friday five, hannah moskowitz, personal demons, the blood journals