Monday Book Review: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Shawna Romkey, #YA

The Devil You Know, by Shawna Romkey
Speak of the Devil Book Three
Published February 2016

About the Book:

Holy Hell!

After battling her way back from Hell only to discover Luc didn't make it out, Lily must rally the angels to descend back into the Devil's domain. Now she has thirty days to rescue her angelic warrior boyfriend and break the curse to free God before Lucifer and his demon army destroy all of humanity on Earth. Forget passing the eleventh grade. Lily must face the ultimate final exam to give the Devil his due and save the world before the reapers catch up and deliver the death she cheated from them a year ago.

My Take:

I've been a fan of Ms. Romkey's  work since the very first book, and have been anticipating the end of this trilogy for a very long time. Luckily, the book didn't disappoint. The Devil You Know once again takes our heroine to Hell and back again, both physically and emotionally.

Poor Lilly is never going to graduate high school at this rate.

Between acting as an intermediary form of communication between heaven and earth, fighting off demons, and falling in love with an angel, she missed out on prom, exams... and, oh yeah, any kind of normal life. And now she's got the angels of death hot on her trail, eager to correct their earlier mistake when she survived the car accident that started it all. Did I mention that Lucifer is still after her? You know, the Devil himself.

We all hate spoilers in reviews, so I'm really trying not to go there.... except to comment I wasn't at all sure how this series was going to be able to tie up the loose ends or come up with a satisfying ending. I mean, there was a lot at stake by the end of book two and things seemed bleak for our heroes. How could true love triumph against the Devil himself?

With some neat twists and a few sad surprises, the author is surprisingly able to wrap the story into a satisfying conclusion to the series.

If you like angel-versus-demons YA (which might as well be its own sub-genre), I definitely recommend giving this series a try.

Book one is Speak of the Devil, Book two is The Devil Made Me Do It, and then this final one,  The Devil You Know.  The first one? I had to read three times before book two even came out. Kinda like when I read Hunger Games when it first came out and got to that tragic last line "end of book one"... and threw the book across the room. The hardcover library book. You're so lucky as a reader, because this trilogy is complete and waiting for you. As Pokemon would say, Gotta catch 'em all! 

Buy all three on AMAZON:

SPEAK OF THE DEVIL 

THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT

THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

RELEASE DAY for THE DEVIL YOU KNOW by Shawna Romkey!

AVAILABLE TODAY!

Holy Hell!

After battling her way back from Hell only to discover Luc didn't make it out, Lily must rally the angels to descend back into the Devil's domain. Now she has thirty days to rescue her angelic warrior boyfriend and break the curse to free God before Lucifer and his demon army destroy all of humanity on Earth. Forget passing the eleventh grade. Lily must face the ultimate final exam to give the Devil his due and save the world before the reapers catch up and deliver the death she cheated from them a year ago.

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US ~ http://amzn.to/1QNK0uI

Amazon CA ~ http://goo.gl/qLDVA5

Kobo ~ https://goo.gl/PDt97i

BN ~ http://goo.gl/0uyZmk

iBooks ~ https://goo.gl/coFJJs

GIVEAWAY

Purchase a copy of any of the Speak of the Devil books to be entered to win a $25 Giftcard (Open US & Internationally). Just enter the information in the link and a winner will be contacted on February 28th, 2016.

http://goo.gl/forms/UihuUfFQKA  

 

Excerpt

“I can’t see a thing,” Belle said, leaning forward in her seat as if that would help. But I knew how this played out because I’d been here before. I was going to hit the water again, drown again, die again. My heart raced and though I wasn’t in the water yet, I already had trouble breathing.

“Mike!” I yelled, and he reached for me as the car skidded to the edge of the bridge. Belle overcorrected and the car hit the side, bending the rail down, and over we went.

A brief instant passed. The silver sliver of the skinny moon’s reflection glinted in the black water below as we headed straight for it.

“I got ya.” Mike gripped my hand tightly. I closed my eyes and braced for impact.

All I could think was “unbelievable.” Sarcasm. My last thought before dying was sarcastic. Perfect.

Then…impact. Painful, cold, breathtaking impact. This time Mike was ready. He opened the doors easily and pulled me from the car before it filled up and dragged us down to the dredges of the Missouri River. I blacked out.

I woke up lying in the mud on the side of the river. Belle and Mike glowed green as they healed me. I didn’t see Heaven this time. I saw them hovering over me, while I coughed and choked back to consciousness.

“What the hell?” I managed to blurt out before another coughing fit took hold of me.

“We can’t walk to the church,” Belle said. “She’s freezing now.”

“We could try to take her with,” Mike said and gave her a knowing glance.

She looked at me for a second, then shrugged. “We can try.”

Mike helped me into a sitting position. “I’m going to try to take you with me the rest of the way to the church.”

“Wait. What just happened?” I asked as I became more aware.

“I don’t know. We had an accident,” he said.

“Yeah, an accident just like the one that killed us before.”

About the Author:

Shawna Romkey

Shawna grew up around farms in the heart of Missouri but went to the University of Kansas, was raised in the US but now lives on the ocean in Nova Scotia with her husband, two sons, an Irish wolfhound and a rescue mutt she loves to death. She’s a non-conformist who follows her heart.

She has her BA in creative writing from the University of Kansas where one of her plays was chosen by her creative writing professor to be produced locally, and two of her short stories were published in a university creative arts handbook.  She earned her MA in English from Central Missouri State University where she wrote a novel as her thesis.

She’s taught English at the university and secondary levels for close to twenty years and can’t quite fathom how all of her students have grown up, yet she’s managed to stay the same.  She’s a huge geek and fan of Xena, Buffy and all kick ass women, and loves to write stories that have strong female characters.

Website: http://www.shawnaromkey.com/

Twitter: @sromkey  

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Shawna-Romkey-Author-137998326331706/?ref=hl

Pintrest: https://www.pinterest.com/shawnarp/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawna_romkey/

Goodreads: https://goo.gl/cJIoxH