Cambion series by Shannon Dermott

I made some room in my reading schedule to get caught up on some of the series that I had started a while ago but hadn't gotten round to and I decided that rather than just post a review for the last few books in the series I would post all my reviews from the series so far. While Beg for Mercy was provided for free in exchange for an honest review, I enjoyed it so much I purchased the rest of the series myself.
The Cambion series is Young Adult Paranormal... with the exception of the novella No Mercy, which the author has labelled intended for mature audience only.

Beg for Mercy #1

Everyone dreams of that first kiss. Of that magic moment when your lips finally meet those of that special person you’ve waited your whole life for. A little awkward, a little scary, a little hot and every bit amazing. We speculate that the whole world will shake and time will just stop. No one, however, ever imagines that kiss to bring Death himself knocking.

Sixteen year old Mercy Moore's life just got more complicated. The kiss that originally could have meant she would finally have a boyfriend now was the kiss that could have very nearly ended his life. A small detail her mother conveniently never told her will take her life for an abrupt u-turn. Dating, no love, was now completely and utterly impossible. And the boy well, that boy would never be the same.
But life, however cruel, goes on. Far too soon for her taste, Mercy finds herself at a senior party with the elite students of her school and her best friend. And of all things, playing a stupid game that could very well mean the death of someone in that small room. If it were not for her best friend, the hottest guys in school, and a small need to fit in, she may have been able to escape the disaster that was to come. Her worst nightmare, her personal curse, her very life, only gets dangerously worse.

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars (review from April 2013)
When I agreed to read and review this for author Shannon Dermott I figured I would enjoy it, I mean I read the synopsis and I was like “yeah, this is a book I want to read.” What I wasn’t expecting was a book that I couldn’t put down. Do not read this if you are surrounding by small people who rely on you to cook and care for them because one of two things will happen, either your small people will eat all the fruit because you haven’t made lunch or dinner yet or you will be incredibly frustrated that you can’t finish reading that chapter just yet. Yes both things happened to me, when there was no fruit left to tide them over til the end of ‘just one more chapter’ I had no choice but to step away and cook for them. This book had me up late at night reading until I physically couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer, and then it had me up mega early so that I could carry on reading.
This isn’t my first Succubus book, but it is the first time I have read a book about a teenage succubus and I think Dermott has struck gold. The PNR genre is literally riddled with vampire romance books, so to come across Beg for Mercy is like a breath of fresh air. There are several relationship arcs in this book and I think Dermott has worked them perfectly. Mercy is by no means a slut, but she really does have a hard time keeping her lust in check but when you’re an untrained succubus that’s par for the course. Right? Exactly, especially when you have several hot guys thrusting themselves upon you, guys who are fully aware of your nature and inability to control it.

I enjoyed this so much that when I finished the last page in the story and turned the page I actually squealed with delight to realise this is just the first book in the series. So now I’m really looking forward to reading the next instalment.

Waiting for Mercy #2

What do you do when you’ve been to hell and back, literally? For Mercy, it meant the beginning of the end for everything. Love, Happiness, Life.

When the people important to her are thrown into danger and she is forced to choose who to save, what will Mercy do? When the demon within her has its own agenda, going to new lengths to fulfill it, how will she cope? And when a new nemesis arrives, with a sole focus to take what belongs to her, how will she survive?
Some situations make you stronger, some make you weak. She used to run from confrontation but the need to uncover secrets will harden her resolve to make new choices.

In the end, someone else will suffer the consequences. Who will be burned by her very existence? And what will become of everything she holds dear?
Mercy’s life wasn’t easy before and things aren’t getting easier now.

Shona's review 4 of 5 stars.
It has been quite a while since I stepped into Mercy's world, but Dermott has written a world so easy to step into and provides us with little reminders of where we left Mercy that the return to this series is almost flawless.
As I found with Beg for Mercy I was so wrapped up in Mercy's story that I found it difficult to step away from it, this was another book that had me sitting up into the wee small hours (never before have I been so glad for the backlit screen of my kindle paperwhite).
Sometimes I felt there was too much stuff going on at one time and it felt like we were being rushed from one action scene to another without room to process each of them individually.. and at other times I felt that certain things were left a little too late.. but overall the story moves at a great pace.

So lets talk about the elephant in the room.... I'm talking about the love triangle.. although we definitely need a bigger shape with more sides because triangle doesn't quite cut it. On the surface it would be easy to brand Mercy a slut, but I personally think she is doing an amazing job of keeping her admirers at arms length and her slutty demon half under control. I know, I know that's not fair on her demon half.. it's what she does, it's who she is.. And considering that ALL of the guys who are lusting after Mercy (ok so for some lusting isn't an accurate term for their feelings for her) know about her demon side you would think they would give her a little more space and stop harassing her the way they do. And while I can understand Luke would want his girlfriend to be faithful it kind of pisses me off when he doesn't immediately understand that it is the demon side taking control.

No Mercy #2.5

This is a novella in the Cambions series. Even though it is set before Beg for Mercy it should be read after Waiting for Mercy.

Warning - this book is intended for mature audience. Excessive language and sexual situations may not be suitable for younger teens.
Best Friends until the end huh?
Flynn McAllister, bad to the bone, at least that’s what the girls say about him, is heading out of town for the weekend. He’s meeting up with a girl he met last summer. She and her sister will keep him and his best friend busy for the weekend. At least that’s what he thought, until a girl and other things get out of hand.
Luke Bishop isn’t an angel like everyone thinks. Okay, technically, maybe. But when it comes down to it, actions speak louder than words. And his shout that he’s more than what meets the eye. Getting out of town is a welcome idea. He just didn’t plan on meeting her and all the hell came with her.

Shona's review 4 of 5 stars
I love Flynn and (to a lesser extent) Luke.. so to get this novella, which is told from both boys POV is awesome. This book is set before Beg for Mercy, but it does contain spoilers so do NOT read it if you haven't read the first two in the series.

Being a novella it is of course short in pages and is a really quick read, but this is novella is packed. We get rather a lot of back story which takes place over the course of a weekend. Which gives us a great insight into the boys friendship before Mercy came into their lives.

Angel of Mercy #3

Mercy struggles to put the broken pieces of her life back together, including her relationship. With loss that cuts deep, she’s on a mission to make right all the things that have gone wrong. But nothing is ever that easy. And she’s determined not to stay in the dark any longer.
With someone hell bent on coming between her and her heart, her perilous adventures run light speed ahead. She’s forced her to face her own limitations and need to be able to protect herself. But it’s not only her life in jeopardy. Who will ultimately determine her fate and that of her friends?

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars
This has been without a doubt my most favourite book in the series so far. Perhaps it's no coincidence that it was also the most emotionally charged of the series so far. When the book started I had no idea if the events at the end of Waiting for Mercy had fatal consequences or not and so I spent the very first few pages swamped with grief and holding my breath.

As this book progresses we get some answers to the questions we had in previous books... and we find some new questions that need answering. We also find out who was behind the demon attacks on Mercy and why. I'd love to say that Mercy got a better grip on her demon and her feelings for Luke and Flynn straightened out but that would be stretching the truth. She does reach an understanding of sorts with McKayla near the end of the book but her feelings for Luke and Flynn are just as confusing as they ever have been.

Angel of Mercy had everything for me... we get bittersweet romantic moments, OMG fighting moments, stolen moments, break your heart moments and OMFG moments. Then at the end we had an almighty ripped my heart out, chewed it up and spat it all over the battleground moment where I, without word of a lie, totally broke down and sobbed.