The Devil's Playground (Morgan Kingsley, #5)

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The Devil's Playground (Morgan Kingsley #5)

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 1,476 ratings · 94 reviews

Morgan Kingsley, a kick-ass exorcist, can deal with Lugh, the supersexy demon living inside her, but does he have to moan softly during her intimate moments with her mortal lover? Understandably, Brian is reluctant to share the pleasures of Morgan’s flesh with a gorgeous rogue from the Demon Realm.

But personal matters will have to wait when the opportunistic owner of the S...more

Paperback, 384 pages

Published March 23rd 2010 by Dell

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May 28, 2012 The Holy Terror rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: demons, color-blue, color-black, bought-03-10, owned, urban-fantasy, wtf-is-wrong-with-me, hated-this-book, 2010

I wanted to add that I do still read Black's books; I haven't given up on her. In fact, here newest series (my review of the first book, Dark Descendant) is actually really, really good. I also liked her YA series as well (I have a review for the second book only though) and these are both really good examples of why I don't give up on an author completely because of one or two bad books. I think over time she's only gotten better, so if you disliked this one as much as I did, maybe give another...more

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May 14, 2012 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really a 4.25 Rating

I strongly recommend you read the previous books in this series (Devil Inside, The Devil You Know, The Devil's Due and Speak of the Devil) prior to reading this book.

The basis for my review is pure entertainment factor alone. At last the Morgan Kingsley's journey has come to an end. IMO this was the best of book in the series. Morgan had such a huge transformation in this installment. She's gone from pig headed and irritating to only marginally annoying. I'm really going to m...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Kathy Davie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: erotica, fantasy, urban

Fifth and end of the Morgan Kingsley urban-fantasy series set in an alternate Philadelphia.

The Story
Shae, the illegal demon who owns the Seven Deadlies, comes to Morgan with some disturbing news. Seems she's seeing a lot of new demons coming into her club who aren't the usual gorgeous beauties. Instead they seem to be addicts and beggars. Since no demon wants to be in anything less than a gorgeous body, the news is disturbing enough that Lugh's Council realizes they'll have to push Dougal into a...more

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Nov 11, 2010 Tracy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy

~*~*~*~*~* Full of Sound And Fury...Signifying Nothing *~*~*~*~*~

I hate to butcher old Willy S. here, but that's the feeling I was left with upon the conclusion of The Devil's Playground, fifth book of the Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist series. I've been reading this series since the first (The Devil Inside) and have suffered the peaks and valleys along with Morgan and crew ever since. Up through Speak of the Devil (Morgan Kingsley, Exorcist, Book 4) my biggest problem with the series was, in fact, M...more

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May 14, 2010 Kay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: urban-fantasy

This is the last book in the series. When I finished it, I still wanted more, but I've wanted more after every Morgan Kingsley book, and each time I've read the next, I haven't quite been satisfied.

I love the world and Black's take on demon possession. I love the characters, especially Lugh, but plot-wise, these books aren't doing anything for me anymore. I was really looking forward to this one because, at the end of book #4, it sounded like the council was going to stop sitting around and actu...more

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Feb 08, 2010 Athena Berry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Holy Crap this book was good. (I got this as an ARC in a contest so I thought I'd do a brief review) Morgan Kingsley our heroine is an exorcist who kicks ass and takes names and in her latest adventures Morgan is forced to deal with coups, jealous boyfriends, a brooding brother, tension between demon relatives, not to mention murder, mayhem and my favorite; a yummylicious Demon King who knows Morgan from the inside out making amorous advances. Black ups the ante and comes to some startling concl...more

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Mar 22, 2012 Mello ❣ Illium ✮Harry✮ ☀Myrnin☀ Torin Ichimaru rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: demons, paranormal-romance, hawt-heroes, sassy-heroines, supernatural, urban-fantasy

Hmmm, so that wasn't too bad, but of all of the books, it was the least exciting. Mostly because the characters sat around talking and drinking coffee a lot. Don't get me wrong, I was happy they were finally on the offensive with getting Dougal out of the way and the way it worked out wasn't too bad. Still, I'm not sure exactly how I feel. Especially since the author seems to have run out of steam with the series. There are open ends for her to come back to. There are still plenty of issues that...more Hmmm, so that wasn't too bad, but of all of the books, it was the least exciting. Mostly because the characters sat around talking and drinking coffee a lot. Don't get me wrong, I was happy they were finally on the offensive with getting Dougal out of the way and the way it worked out wasn't too bad. Still, I'm not sure exactly how I feel. Especially since the author seems to have run out of steam with the series. There are open ends for her to come back to. There are still plenty of issues that Morgan needs to resolve. Such as her anger issues. Admittedly, she has improved, but she still has serious problems with lashing out. Plus, her relationship with Brian could still use more work since the two of them absolutely refuse to leave each other. And her relationship with Lugh could certainly progress. I had my hopes up during that one scene. It was hot, but disappointing.

The character that had that most growth in the series is obviously Raphael. I've been steadily noticing it through each book, but he really proved himself this time around.

Reading some of the other reviews showed me that a lot of people also noticed the similarities between Morgan and Anita Blake. Glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. Really, Morgan had the worst parts of Anita's personality. Plus, she always had her weapon somewhere she couldn't get to it right away. Not smart.

As others also pointed out, there were a lot of repeated themes. We know Morgan is grumpy about every thing. She didn't need to still be pointing it out in pretty much every chapter. And I hate that we never got to find out why switching control of her body with Lugh makes her so violently ill. I suspected maybe it had something to do with her resistance to demon possession. Since we never got to find out why, I don't really understand why it was included in the series so much. Especially since it never stopped her from giving Lugh control when it was necessary.

So, Dougal is dead and Lugh is still in the mortal realm. He has work to do there, but I doubt he'd be gung-ho to leave Morgan and Brian as Morgan suspects. When it comes down to it, they got rid of the threat, but nothing is still solved. I feel bad for Saul. He sort of got a raw deal in the end because of this situation. I got rather addicted to this series, so I would love to see at least one more book, but even I have no clue as to where things could go from here. So I'm guessing things will simply have to remain open ended.

Oh yeah, I really dislike this cover. It's pretty hideous, really.(less)

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Jun 07, 2011 Starry rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. shae came into morgans office and told morgan about new demons arriving from the demon relm...morgan knows that in order for demons to come to the human world, a host has to say that the demon can posess them.morgan also knows that there are more demons that want to go to the human world than the # of hosts that would willingly accept the posession from the demon.shae thinks that dougal is up to something so she wanted lugh to know the info.morgans life is normal as it can get so far, noones try...more shae came into morgans office and told morgan about new demons arriving from the demon relm...morgan knows that in order for demons to come to the human world, a host has to say that the demon can posess them.morgan also knows that there are more demons that want to go to the human world than the # of hosts that would willingly accept the posession from the demon.shae thinks that dougal is up to something so she wanted lugh to know the info.morgans life is normal as it can get so far, noones trying to kill her and make her life miserable and she has a relationship with the love of her life brian...but why must lugh moan in morgans head when morgan and brian make love.turns out lugh lusts more brian, which makes brian and morgan uncomfortable with their relationship when they find out.adam payed for a restraunt and dom is the owner of it.saul and barbara are either in a relationship or fuck buddies. raphael is not really likeable by anyone still..especially saul.andy is still living with guilt that he let raphael go into an unwillingly host to save himself from staying with raphael.when everyone has a council meeting about what shae said, they think that dougal is up to something and its not good.so after having a chat with an illegal demon, they found out that the illegal demons coming to the mortal plain/human world are prisoners, and were forced to after released to go to the mortal plain.raphael thinks dougal wants to try to become king of not only the demon relm but also the mortal plain.and dougal might also want lugh to go out of hiding to protect the humans.things go wrong when shae is later heard of as dead...and they mean that both the demon shae and her host is dead.things are also.....suspicious that are happening with the secret society.lugh does some more seduction to morgan in this book, but while doing that lugh says that morgan can love brian and want lugh, and lugh can want brian and LOVE morgan.
conflict goes on between brian and morgan because brian comes up with this idea that he wants morgan to give lugh to another host, and morgan will never do that for the protection of lugh.brian and morgan eventually fight over the situation, and lugh cant take it and takes over morgan and confronts brian...and brian in the end relizes that what hes saying is a mistake and yeah morgan and brian are back together!lughs council finds out later on that the reason illegal demons were coming to the mortal plain is because dougal promised alot of people things that he would do for them if they side with them, but things go wrong and now dougals council and allys are either sick or betrayed him because he lied to them, so all dougal has now thats power to help him is his "Fans" and so he letted alot of demons go to the mortal plain illegally so they would think siding with him is a great idea.raphael now knows that the dougal is deserate to be on the throne, so desperate that he might acturally show up on the mortal plain to find lugh and deal with him once and for all.raphael plans to pretend to be lugh.morgan comes up with the idea that in order to make dougal come to the mortal plain/human world, the council(lughs council) has to tell a demon secret that will make dougal mad enough to come to the mortal plain.so they tell the secret about exorcrisms not killing demons.lugh also plans to challenge dougal to a duel if it has to go down to that.later on when lugh was about to go to the duel and risk his life to try and kill dugal, raphael shot lugh with a taser and told lugh raphaels plan that raphael made.raphael plans on going as lugh to the duel and killing himself in the process and killing dougal with raphael also. later on when lugh and morgan can move from the shock of the taser lugh ran all the way to where the duel was taking place but was too late and raphael burned himself along with dougal.later on did morgan and lugh found out from saul that saul shot raphael and that means that raphael might still be alive.morgan and lugh also found out that andy knows raphaels true name because raphael gave it to him.and so andy summoned raphael and turns out raphael is still alive.lugh and raphael have their brother moments after that and morgan learns that people can change and she can et used to her new life.#86(less)

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May 13, 2011 Naomi Clark rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The final installment of the Morgan Kingsley series sees exorcist-turned-demon-host Morgan making lots of coffee, worrying about how defensive she is, and making lots more coffee. And uh... that's pretty much it. Really. This didn't feel like the end of a series. I know Black mentioned on Deadline Dames when the book was released that she'd deliberately left some loose threads in case she got the chance to revisit the world, but really...

Basically, over the past four books, we've been building t...more The final installment of the Morgan Kingsley series sees exorcist-turned-demon-host Morgan making lots of coffee, worrying about how defensive she is, and making lots more coffee. And uh... that's pretty much it. Really. This didn't feel like the end of a series. I know Black mentioned on Deadline Dames when the book was released that she'd deliberately left some loose threads in case she got the chance to revisit the world, but really...

Basically, over the past four books, we've been building to a confrontation between Lugh, the benevolent demon king currently hiding out in Morgan's body, and Dougal (Dougal!), the evil pretender to the throne who wants to kill all humans. I wanted fireworks. I wanted epic battles. I wanted drama. At the very least, I wanted fewer committee meetings, but sadly this book was about 80% committee meetings, 10% coffee making, and 10% other stuff that should have been important but wasn't. I won't lie, I feel let down. The big battle between Lugh and Dougal never happens. Dougal is killed by another character, and it may as well have happened off-page for all the tension involved. The majority of the book is Lugh's council wringing their hands over what to do about stuff that doesn't actually end up being that critical anyway.

So here's the deal. I'm not adverse to ambiguous endings in books, but if you're advertising a book as a showdown between powerful superbeings, with mortals caught in the middle and likely to die ... well, I'd like to read that, you know? Morgan and her cohorts are never in danger. People die, but they're drug addicts, so nobody worries too much. A main character apparently dies, but then comes back, so nobody has to grieve over him. Dougal's earth-based demon army just kinda wanders off at the end, because the good guys decide there's no point doing anything with them for some reason. It's like everyone in the book is just going through the motions to see the plot through to it's lack-lustre climax.

By the end of the book, nothing has changed for anyone. Morgan and Brian still have this dumb relationship dance going on, where whenever one moves forward, the other moves back. Morgan is still possessed because nobody is strong enough to exorcise Lugh, so she's stuck with him until she dies. Nobody really seems to think this is worth more than a passing mention, whereas to me it seems like a really big deal. As long as Lugh's still in Morgan's body, the demon world is in stasis - nobody on the throne, no direction, nothing. So really, they may as well have left Dougal there for all the good killing him did. The only character who shows any kind of growth is Raphael, and nobody likes him, so he may as well not have bothered.

This is a series that started with so much promise. The idea of a demon-hating exorcist forced to share her body with the demon king during a war for the demon throne should have abounded with danger, moral conflict, political intrigue, and angst. Instead we mostly get Morgan making millions of pots of coffee and arguing with people, Morgan seems pretty convinced she's a changed person by the end of The Devil's Playground, but I don't see it. I imagine that if we revisited Morgan a year later, she'd still be arguing with Brian, making coffee, and musing over how defensive she is. And I would probably have to slap her.

(less)

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Jan 14, 2012 Mei rated it 1 of 5 stars

So this was book 5. I haven't read books 1-4; having read 5, I don't think I'll be trying the rest. Perhaps if I had grown with the characters (perhaps!) I may have felt a little more sympathetic towards them - as it was, I thought they were all whiny, self-righteous and uninteresting. So, the sassy (but really self-absorbed and whiny) heroine and the triangle with the noble demon king (but, of course, demon so he keeps trying to seduce her) and her confused human (uninteresting, is he an accoun...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Ailsa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(originally posted by me to The Book Bundle )

5th book in the series, so contains references to earlier plot points.

I've put off buying this book because I didn't want the series to be over - I enjoyed it too much to want to let it go. When I eventually opened it, despite intentions of making it last, savouring this last of the series, I read it the same way I've read all Jenna's books - very fast.
The story starts when Shae, owner of the Seven Deadlies, pays Morgan a visit to tell her about the g...more (originally posted by me to The Book Bundle )

5th book in the series, so contains references to earlier plot points.

I've put off buying this book because I didn't want the series to be over - I enjoyed it too much to want to let it go. When I eventually opened it, despite intentions of making it last, savouring this last of the series, I read it the same way I've read all Jenna's books - very fast.
The story starts when Shae, owner of the Seven Deadlies, pays Morgan a visit to tell her about the growing number of hosts visiting the club. Morgan gets Lugh's council involved, and they start investigating. There's also the conflict in her love life to deal with, though. Lugh expressing his interest in Morgan's long suffering boyfriend, Brian, puts more strain on that particular relationship. I felt like the pacing was a little different in this book to the others. It still picked me up and sucked me in just as much, but the characters have to spend a lot more time waiting for events to unfold than they have in previous books. I think I liked this - it sometimes annoys me when the events of a book take place over just a couple of days.

One of the great things about this book was that you could really see how far the characters have come over the series. The relationship between Morgan & Brian is much steadier than it has been. I've had mixed feeling about Brian in previous books - a lot of the time I felt like, if he couldn't put up with the involvement of the demons, and the way Morgan was, then he should shut up and leave. He is much more willing to accept things now, if still a little reluctantly.

This book is where things finally come to a head with Dougal, and the characters really have to come together and use all their alliances to protect the human and demon worlds from Dougal's plans, and deal with him once and for all.

As a final book in the series, I think it works. It ties up the important plot points, although I still have several questions about where things were going in the personal lives of some of the characters. I think my biggest disappointment with this book is that there aren't enough hot Morgan/Lugh times!

I love this book, and am definitely looking forward to whatever Ms Black produces next. 10 out of 10!(less)

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May 06, 2010 Brandie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book came out a month ago, I got it three days ago and I finished it today. (If you have not read this book stop reading now, I give something away that you do not want to hear.) It was amazing, except for two things. One, Lugh told Morgan that he loved her, and she did not think to much of it...OMG he says I LOVE YOU and you just brush it off as if it is nothing??? He he is not leaving the mortal plane because of you crazy girl. Also, when are Morgan and Lugh going to "DO IT" already. Man...more

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Apr 13, 2010 Lillie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed-for-blog, i-own

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Review
I realized that lately, I have been reading an overabundance of series books. And, I have been loving every single one. The latest is THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND by Jenna Black. She introduced Morgan Kingsley in THE DEVIL INSIDE, and I have followed the series with growing admiration for the author.

She tackles the urban fantasy genre with a new take on demons. (They inhabit the bodies of humans and 'drive them around', with the human consciousness being suppressed.) Morgan Kingsley is an exorc...more

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Oct 05, 2011 Melliane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

J'avais un peu peur de voir ce qu'allait donner ce dernier tome parce que je n'avais pas l'impression que les tomes précédents nous préparaient vraiment à la fin. Mais finalement je suis agréablement surprise et j'ai beaucoup apprécié de suivre les aventures de Morgane. Je n'ai pas trop compris pourquoi Lugh voulait tant montrer à Brian qu'il l'aimait lui aussi... J'ai trouvé que c'était un point assez inutile. L'intrigue principale était bien trouvée, et finalement bien développée, mais c'est v...more

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Feb 06, 2012 mlady_rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre__urban_fantasy, genre_sub__demons_or_angels, author__jenna_black, pov__first_person_female, fiction__speculative, fiction__part_of_a_series, 2012, troupe__mindlink_mates, format__mass_market_pb

I guess I've gotten too many books with cliffhangers lately, because the ending of this one had me looking to see if the series was ending prematurely. I mean it doesn't feel like the series should be over, but there was a resolution of sorts. Better than I hoped for, to tell you the truth.

(Oh, and I have no idea if this is the last book. I didn't see mention of book 6, but I didn't see a mention that this was the final book either.)

Mystery wise, there are a lot of illegal demons showing up in P...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Steph rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: kindle-read

The fifth and final book in the Morgan Kingsely series.
I was so sad when I realised that this was the last book in the series and I did as always enjoy this book. However I will be honest and say that it was my least favourite out of them all. Books one and two were amazing, we were being introduced into this exciting dangerous new world. I loved getting to know all the characters and my face lit up in every book when I would get to read about them all again. With the third and fourth books it...more The fifth and final book in the Morgan Kingsely series.
I was so sad when I realised that this was the last book in the series and I did as always enjoy this book. However I will be honest and say that it was my least favourite out of them all. Books one and two were amazing, we were being introduced into this exciting dangerous new world. I loved getting to know all the characters and my face lit up in every book when I would get to read about them all again. With the third and fourth books it was just wonderfully comfortable to read about them. I loved the darkness and the sexual situations we were seeing with Adam and Dom and also Lugh's interest in Morgan.
I had become so invested in them all and I couldn't wait to see where this final book would take them. But I have to say I was a little dissapointed. I had excpected some major showdown between Lugh and Dougal (that had been building up since book one) but it just didn't happen. There wasn't really any of the great storylines that always come with this series. It was just all of them sitting around talking and drinking enough coffee to sink a battle-ship. For the very first time I was actually bored on more than one occassion.
I felt like the pages in this book were wasted. I was desperate to see more of Lugh and Morgan. He so sweetly confessed his love for her and we all know he only wants to stay in the human realm for her but it was swept under the rug like it never even happened. I just didn't get it!
Brian who I used to love just seemed a little whiney. I would have preferred for him to just to accept Lugh's roll in her life now, hell I would have preferred for him to embrace it, use it to his advantage. What really happened just kind of got on my nerves.
I will say though that finally, after five books I have made up my mind about Raphael. Ok I will admit that I was a little wrong before, Raphael is definately one of the good guys. I have really enjoyed watching him make slow but steady progress into being a better man.
I wished we had got to see more of Saul and Barbie, I was gutted that all we got was "we're separating them so that Lugh can stay here with Morgan. Saul can come back and see Barbie once a month. Oh and by the way, whilst Saul is in the Demon Realm, you are responsible for looking after his host. A whiney little man who has the mind of a child" What the hell was that about. Poor Barbie. I really had a soft spot for Saul and I can't believe that when he finally finds someone to be with he is ripped off by his friends so they can do what they want.
I know I gave this book a very rant like review but overall I absolutely loved this series, I just wished that The Devil's Playground had been a lot different. I will really miss Adam and Dom. I have never read about a relationship quite like theirs and I don't think I will forget them any time soon.(less)

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May 10, 2011 Patrice rated it 3 of 5 stars

After reading all the books in this series, I had the most difficult time finishing The Devil's Playground. I don't know why. I do like the title, makes me recall the Billy Idol CD from several years ago.

The Devil's Playground was well written and the conclusion was neatly 'wrapped up' without any loose ends. I think the excitement I experienced while reading the earlier books was missing. There wasn't a lot of action just mainly dialoge. In fact, the bulk of the book was discussing how to defea...more

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Nov 27, 2010 Shelley aka Gizmo's Reviews rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In this episode of how the world according to Morgan Kingsley turns, Shae, the opportunistic and illegal demon that runs the Seven Deadlies demon club in Philadelphia, contacts Morgan and tries to sell her information about the events that are happening in her club. She tells Morgan that there are new demons showing up at her club, but she can't tell her anymore that that for fear of being killed by those leading the invasion. Of course, Shae gets killed anyway, so what was the point of keeping...more In this episode of how the world according to Morgan Kingsley turns, Shae, the opportunistic and illegal demon that runs the Seven Deadlies demon club in Philadelphia, contacts Morgan and tries to sell her information about the events that are happening in her club. She tells Morgan that there are new demons showing up at her club, but she can't tell her anymore that that for fear of being killed by those leading the invasion. Of course, Shae gets killed anyway, so what was the point of keeping this information secret? Lugh's council knows this is just another maneuver by Dougal, and the time may finally have come for the final showdown between brothers. They spend the first 200 pages talking, and talking, and talking some more...until finally they go to the house of the Spirit Society guru Bradley Cooper, who has been chosen to become a demon vessel. Which leads to William, who is supposed to be some sort of Demon cousin.

Here's what Morgan does throughout the book.....1. Make coffee. 2. Sleep and dream about having nasty sex with Lugh. 3. make coffee and talk....did I say make coffee and talk? There was so much talking in this book, that it nearly put me asleep! Morgan is still an annoyingly irritating character and I'm still not impressed with her.

Dougal, finally, yes, FINALLY, shows up in this book once Adam announces that Demons aren't killed during an exorcism. He comes across as regretful at having to hurt his brother, but won't back down in his attempts at taking Lugh's crown from him. He has made so many promises to demons, that they are all catching up to him now. He has had demons, including royal family members, abandon him for the Mortal Plain. Now, he needs to kill Lugh or face an outright revolt.

Brian learns via Morgan (after Lugh groans), that Lugh has feelings for him as well as Morgan, and gets off when Morgan and Brian have sex. Put off, Brian shuts down since he hates sharing Morgan with anyone. Of course, this particular way of thinking leads to a confrontation with Lugh who basically tells him to get over himself. Brian plays very little in the part of being useful in this book.

The hero of the hour, and this book, is none other than Raphael who sacrifices himself in order to kill Dougal. Andy also comes out ahead in the end, which I'm glad of. He has been nothing but a bump on the log since Raphael entered a new body.

In my humble opinion, this was the best book of the lot and that's not saying much. Of course, there were still parts that I could do without, like the first 200 pages and all the conversational annoyance But the ending action was nicely done. I hear that this is the last book of the series? If so, it's not a bad way to exit, but it still left alot of unanswered questions.

(less)

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Nov 06, 2011 Kelly *that's me* rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am disappointed in the ending of this series. Some things end a bit too easily, other things don't seem to have any resolution at all.

I read this book not knowing that it was the end of the series, and I think had I known-I might of stopped reading this series a lot sooner than this last book.

I think that I will always be holding a part of myself back while reading Jenna's books in the future, because (at least right now) getting vested in the characters of her books and taking the chance th...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Louise rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great book to end the series. From the beginning when I found the first book of these series in a small book shop I've enjoyed it.

Morgan Kingsley our heroine is an exorcist who kicks ass and takes names and in her latest adventures Morgan is forced to deal with coups, jealous boyfriends, a brooding brother, tension between demon relatives, not to mention murder, mayhem and a yummylicious Demon King who knows Morgan from the inside out making amorous advances.

If your unsure about buying the boo...more

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May 11, 2012 Li rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, read-in-2010, series, urban-fantasy

I've had my ups and downs with this series, and I admit I only bought THE DEVIL'S PLAYGROUND because it's the last book and I did want to know how it ended. All in all, quite a satisfying read, with a decent resolution. I did hear that this wasn't meant to be the last book - I don't know if Ms Black could have extended the arc further, but I'm pretty glad this series has ended when it did. Overall, while I was never quite invested in the characters, there were glimpses of something more in this...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 17, 2010 Hali Sowle rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: demon, fantasy, jenna-black, morgan-kingsley, possession

The fifth (and final?) book in the series has so many things going on, not all of them good but they do move the story along. This book really focuses on the fight between Dougal and Lugh and much less on Morgan and Morgan's Issues. That's the good thing because she's very whiny and self centered. She may be the best exorcist in the US but it doesn't mean she's got anything of her act together, not her relationship with Brian nor her friendships. There is also something missing from this book th...more

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Oct 08, 2012 Esther rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, 12-in-2012, 2012, 2012-from-my-own-shelves, usa, 2012-mt-vancouver-tbr-challenge, mooched

It is probably not a great idea to read the last book in a series never having read any of the previous books but although this book wasn’t exactly standalone I didn’t seem to be missing a lot.
The story was pretty average fare with super powers (demons in this case) duking it out with a possible side effect being ‘the end of the world as we know it’ or rather ‘as they know it’ because this is an alternate reality in which Humans are regularly, and for the most willingly, possessed by Demons.
The...more

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Dec 20, 2010 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2010

Please be aware that this is the 5th & final book in the Morgan Kingsley series so although my review won't contain spoilers for The Devil's Playground it may contain spoilers for previous books. If you're new to the series its one I'd recommend reading in order starting with book 1 The Devil Inside.

Things have been going far too well for Morgan and the other members of Lugh's council over the last couple of months - they should have known it was too good to be true. When Shae (the owner of...more Please be aware that this is the 5th & final book in the Morgan Kingsley series so although my review won't contain spoilers for The Devil's Playground it may contain spoilers for previous books. If you're new to the series its one I'd recommend reading in order starting with book 1 The Devil Inside.

Things have been going far too well for Morgan and the other members of Lugh's council over the last couple of months - they should have known it was too good to be true. When Shae (the owner of The Seven Deadlies nightclub) approaches Morgan to warn her about an unusual increase in demons crossing over into the human world the council immediately suspect Dougal is up to something. Dougal has been trying to take over Lugh's throne but why does he feel the need to increase demon presence on earth? They need to find out what he is up to and try to figure out a way to stop him before he can do any more damage.

I have to say that this series has been one that I've had mixed feelings about from the start, it's always felt like a series I should love but there has always been something that kept it from becoming a favorite. Morgan has always been quite an annoying character but I was pleased to see that the changes in her that started in Speak of the Devil have continued in The Devil's Playground. She still isn't perfect but she has come a long way from the first book and I'm liking her a lot more now than I ever did before.

I still love Lugh and was pleased with the amount of time we got to spend with him in this book although I have to confess I'd have liked to have seen things develop further with him & Morgan. I've been routing for him since near the beginning of the series! I've never been Brian's biggest fan and I have to say his attitude this time around didn't help any. Morgan has finally started letting him in and now he is starting to feel jealous of Lugh and pushing her away. While I can see why he is bothered by the fact that Lugh is always there it isn't like this is something new - he has been aware of Lugh's presence for quite a long time now & I found it strange that it suddenly started bothering him quite so much.

We get to see quite a lot of the other main characters so it felt like we know how the future will turn out for each of them which is something I really liked. I'm still a massive fan of Adam and Dominic - Adam really grew on me in the last couple of books & I've liked Dom from the start. Raphael surprised me in the last book but I have to say I was downright shocked by him this time, I'm not going to say what he did for fear of spoilers but my opinion of him is now completely different to what it was at the beginning of the series. It was nice to see Morgan's brother Andy have an attitude adjustment too, he was starting to really irritate me so I'm pleased he has started to turn his life back around.

Although I would have liked more action I do think that this was probably my favorite book in the series and ended things well answering all of the questions I had. I do think it has been left at a point where Jenna Black could re-visit the series again in the future and I find myself hoping that she will do. I'm going to miss Morgan and her group of friends - Lugh, Dom & Adam in particular. While I think this is a series that never quite lived up to it's full potential for me I still think it is worth reading & if you liked the rest of the series then I'm sure you will enjoy this final installment.(less)

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May 06, 2010 Melindeeloo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: demons, urban-fantasy

Stepping into territory outside of my confort times, I am still sad to see this series end. But Black does a bang up job with the big finish to the struggle for the demon throne.

I've come to really like all of the characters in the series (well, Brian irked me at times) even the ones who are a bit on the morally challenged side and most all of them have grown (or grown on me) to some extent over the course of the series.

Next up for Black Glimmerglass which looks to be Fae centric (and maybe YA...more

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May 02, 2010 Susi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-03, demons, urban-fantasy, 2010

Okay so how to start reviewing the fifth and last book in a series with spoiling it? I have to admit I have no idea so I will just go with the flow.

I had high expectations for this book. So many things were left in the dark and I wanted everything to work out the way I planned it in my head. Okay as it seems that were not the same things Ms. Black had planned for her story but this doesn't has to be something bad.

The Devil's Playground is a great ending for this series but I expected a bigger b...more

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Jul 07, 2011 Miranda added it · review of another edition

My Mini Review:

"Exorcist Morgan Kinsley has been living with a demon inside her for months and now he is putting the moves on both her and her boyfriend. Political heat manages the plot but the voyeur triad sexing keeps it steamy. The gay supporting characters add that little bit of spice I like. Oh, yeah... and suggestions of BDSM."

Visit my blog @ Sweet Vernal Zephyr Book Reviews ~ Miranda

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May 26, 2012 Bookworms rated it 5 of 5 stars

I like the stories of Morgan because the author write it in an easy and nice way. You can read this book very fast, without any problems and without a lot of thinking about it after you have finished it. Some books you have to think about a long time but this books from Morgan are very good "entertainment".
In this book a lot happen. "People" are murdered and the council of the demon king Lugh have a lot to do. Morgan and Brian have their problems and topics again because of Lugh, who don't hide...more

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Mar 08, 2011 Ghadeer A rated it 1 of 5 stars

I really hate when the love story already started and we are in the middle of it..Morgan was already in love with Brian so what are we supposed to do? It's like we are supposed to love him or like him based on her feeling for him ,like we dont get to decide for ourselves..wWe dont even know him or know their love story or the begining of it ..It was annoying am sorry but thats the truth..

And I am talking about the whole series here not just the last book

And i feel the author wanted this series t...more

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About Jenna Black

Jenna Black is your typical writer. Which means she's an "experience junkie." She got her BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University.

Once upon a time, she dreamed she would be the next Jane Goodall, camping in the bush making fabulous discoveries about primate behavior. Then, during her senior year at Duke, she did some actual research in the field and made this shocking discovery...more

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