Title: Personal Demon
Series: Women of the Otherworld #8
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: Vintage Canada
Format: Trade Paperpack, 400 pages
Published: February 23, 2010
ISBN #: 9780307358424 / 0307358429
Genre: Urban Fantasy
My Copy: bought
In her acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong has created a scintillating realm where the supernatural and the human coexist on the edge of darkness, romance, and eternity. Now Armstrong tells the captivating tale of a young woman with an insatiable lust for danger. She can’t help it. It’s in her blood.
Tabloid reporter Hope Adams appears to live the life of an ordinary working girl. But in addition to possessing the beauty of a Bollywood princess, Hope has other unique traits. For she is a half demon—a human fathered by a demon. And she’s inherited a hunger for chaos. Naturally, when she’s chosen by a very dangerous group for a very dangerous mission that will take her through Miami’s hot spots, she jumps at the chance. But Hope is a little too good at this job. And soon she’s in a little too deep. To save herself, she’ll have to unleash her most primal instincts—and open herself, mind and body, to everything she most fears . . . and desires.
There’s always been something deliciously sexy about lone werewolf, Karl Marsten, and Personal Demon gives readers a rare peek into his inner beast. And rest assured, it’s beyond sexy! Even though Hope isn’t my favourite Woman of the Otherworld at least her attraction to chaos ensures that there’s never a dull moment when she’s the narrator. The plot line didn’t fully captivate me because I’m not a big fan of the Cabals. They’re like the equivalent of Lex Luthor and his evil empire. Kelley Armstrong may have succeeded in creating bad guys that are just SO wicked that it’s difficult to like a book that revolves around their world even if Lucas is calling the shots. Personal Demon is a pleasant jumble of chaos, magic and hormones.
I enjoyed experiencing this tale from both sides of the coin: there’s Lucas’, the calm, pensive, Cabal heir and then there’s Hope’s, the young chaos half-demon with a love for danger. Together they create an action packed, murder mystery type plot line that’s pure entertainment gold. The only thing that I’m a little sad about is that Hope didn’t get as many chapters from her POV as I would have liked. I felt like Adams didn’t get the attention that she deserved and that her supernatural abilities were trivialized. Also, after a while I began to dislike Lucas as a narrator. He’s much more appealing through Paige’s eyes than his own. It’s harsh but true.
My favourite chapters are the ones staring Hope and Karl. I loved watching them come to terms with their feelings for each other and finally realizing that some things are worth making sacrifices for. Kelley Armstrong also manages to broach a touchy subject like age gaps in relationships and turn it into something healthy and sexy. And then of course there’s Marsten himself; werewolf, jewel thief extraordinaire. It’s damned near impossible not to feel weak in the knees while reading about this scrumptious wolf. He tries to be so civilized but deep down he’s just a raging ball of teeth, claws and passion. When he finally accepts that Hope is his mate well, let’s just say that sparks fly!
I liked the first half of this book way more than the second. I was glued to the pages while reading about Hope infiltrating the gang, working “jobs” and the make-out sessions with Jaz are S-T-E-A-M-Y. However, when the Cabal story line kicks in I found myself losing interest. I honestly just have a hard time caring about what happens to them. Personal Demon isn’t Kelley Armstrong at her best but you still can’t go wrong with the Women of the Otherworld series.
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| Recommendation: | Not your typical Urban Fantasy read; this book has a male narrator, a 20 year old demon dating a 50 year old werewolf and more! |
| Like this, like that: | The Riley Jenson Guardian series by Keri Arthur and the Mercedes Thompson series by Patricia Briggs. |
Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!
I’ve read Bitten but haven’t read any of the other books in this series. I liked Bitten but didn’t love it. People have assured me that this series is incredible. What do you think…worth continuing? Thanks for the review!
Lee @shewolfreads
@49858226-aab9-11e1-8a41-000f20980440 I’m biased because I LOVE all things Kelley Armstrong but if you didn’t enjoy Bitten (which is one of the best books in this series IMO) maybe they aren’t for you… Although, you should probably give Stolen a try just to make sure. 🙂
Their relationship was actually one of my favourites, and I loved the part where she said that, even though he might look like his early 30ies, he was 50, and it was his life-experience that counted, not his appearance.
Definitely agree with your review. I didn’t like Lucas and Paige that much before, but I definitely thought that Paige perceived Lucas as way hotter than he did. And yeah.. the Cabals. Hrm.
Anyways, great review. I do hope that more people will pick this series up, ‘specially now that it’s finished.
@Patricia Exactly! I loved how Armstrong worked the “older man” angle. She nailed it!
I have not yet read one of Kelley Armstrong’s books, but she is on my TBR list. Reading this review, I am going to have to rectify this soon. 🙂
Great review. It is not too often that you get to see a story from the male POV.
Thanks for sharing!
@Tina B Male POVs are definitely few and far between in UF!