The Trouble With Demons, by Lisa Shearin (Fiction, Urban Fantasy, 10/10E)

This is the book I've been secretly reading on my other blog, Fortunately for me, the online store I bought it from released it a week early. It involved much squealing and literal jumping up and down my end. My mother got the message that it was a big deal. Unfortunately for Lisa, my purchase won't count towards her first week sales. So -GO BUY THE BOOK! It's awesome!!!!

This review is Yuna style. I hope there aren't any spoilers, and that you'll be inspired to read it. I can be prone to lots of !'s.

Raine, and the Saghred, are back. I discovered that I'm more like Raine than I realised from the first paragraph. She has a sense of humour that crops up frequently, at both sane-ish, and insane moments. There are several points which I needed a tissue, most particularly at the end. Once you've read it, you'll see why. Although the point which touched me the most isn't the obvious one. It's during a heart to heart she has with a character, that reveals a brilliant outlook which we can all apply to life.

Pieras is back - and due to his actions and character growth I've become a larger fan of him. Phaelan is as wonderful as ever (if we ignore the questionable side of his character). Mychael - personally Raine deserves him. I know I'm opening up trouble here, but I would rather Tam got out of the picture. I didn't like him that much before, and I certainly don't like him now. His saving grace is that his skills are put to some good use in TWD. Maybe he can die in the next book? I have an obsession with characters dying.

Enemies: existing ones are still evil, and provide light entertainment. Newer ones are worse than the existing ones, and had me almost covering my eyes in places. There were times I didn't think Raine would survive; that's how good this latest book is. The stakes are higher, the sticky situations are worse than ever.

Demons come in all shapes, sizes, and possibly different textures depending how they are squished. None of them are good, but a few can be useful weapons. It's a wonder they haven't appeared much in Mid before now.

Weapons: *happy sigh*. Lots of swords, daggers, and magic to keep this violent book lover happer. You'll find out why I feel sorry for Phaelan in this installment of Raine's life.

Blushable content (aka smush): there is quite a bit. A lot is just implied. There is one section, which will be forever sealed with a paperclip: the Tam and Raine scene. It was a bit too blushable for me to skim read more than once. If you'd like to read it and avoid this scene, let me know and I'll tell you the page numbers.

I didn't put The Trouble With Demons down by choice. I recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy, or even, as a friend of my says, things which go boom. There are explosions here :)

The world Raine inhabits grows more detailed, humourous and dangerous with each book in the series. I'm eagerly awaiting publication of Bewitched and Betrayed, due out next year. After reading The Trouble With Demons, you will be too.

Lisa's blog is here.