Beauty Awakened (Review)

Angels of The Dark: Beauty Awakened | Gena Showalter

Published by: Mira Books, February 26th 2013

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Angels

Pages: 447

Format: Ebook

Source: Purchased

His name is Koldo. He is scarred, powerful, his control legendary-and he lives only for vengeance, determined to punish the angel who viciously removed his wings. But if he yields to the forces of hatred, he will be kicked from the heavens, eternally damned. 

She is his last hope. Nicola Lane was born with a defective heart, yet this fragile human shows surprising strength as demons stalk her every move, determined to end her. She is the key to Koldo's deliverance...and his downfall. Though he fights duty, destiny and his first addictive taste of desire, his toughest battle will be the one for Nicola's life-even if he has to sacrifice his own...

Beauty Awakened is awesome. All the gripes I had with the first book weren't present. There was a decent amount of intimacy without being overkill, no use of the word decadent, and everything just felt really balanced.

I love Zacharel more than Koldo, but I enjoyed this book a lot more. The action and romance just fit together better than book one. 

This book is just all kinds of good. Action and demons and kickass angels. A relationship that's passionate and not forced. Women with agency and guts. Men who aren't total alpha males (okay so they're like 90% alpha, but that 10% humanity makes them likeable.) And a war between angels (Sent Ones) and demons that is compelling and cool. Not to mention a hero with a screwed up life, twisted back story, and parents that both want to kill him.

Beauty Awakened is high-octane sequel with pockets of romance, meaning, and humour. Better than the first book by a long shot.

My only issues are superficial - Koldo on the cover is beardless, and the title has absolutely no relevance to this book whatsoever. Beauty Awakened? What's with that?

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

Wicked Nights (Review)

Angels of The Dark: Wicked Nights | Gena Showalter

Published by: Mira Books, July 1st 2012

Genre: Adult, Paranormal Romance, Angels

Pages: 411

Format: Ebook

Source: Purchased

Leader of the most powerful army in the heavens, Zacharel has been deemed nearly too dangerous, too ruthless;and if he isn't careful, he'll lose his wings. But this warrior with a heart of ice will not be deterred from his missions at any cost;until a vulnerable human tempts him with a carnal pleasure he's never known before.

Accused of a crime she did not commit, Annabelle Miller has spent four years in an institution for the criminally insane. Demons track her every move, and their king will stop at nothing to have her. Zacharel is her only hope for survival, but is the brutal angel with a touch as hot as hell her salvation? Or her ultimate damnation?

Wicked Nights went in strong. With a MC attacked by a demon and put in an asylum for the criminally insane, I was drawn into the drama from page one. But it started on a downward slope after halfway, when the romance overtook plot. I liked it a lot less after that.

Annabelle is a great character, strong and feminine and gutsy (and a POC!) and I liked her a lot. I liked Zacharel too, the male main character. I wasn't really impressed with his super macho thing but that's just because I always hope for better characters. I liked how he was fairly naive and clueless in certain aspects, but hated how he got ultra possessive and dickish in parts. I could have done without the you're mine and belong to no one else spiel. Annabelle belongs to herself. Women belong to herself. Men need to understand that, and PNR writers too.

The action was great, and the fighting between demons and angels were the best parts IMHO. I thought it was pretty cool how it went into the hierachy of angels as well. But the sex scenes got tedious. I could have done with two at most, not four. After the second one I just got bored and flipped pages to the actual plot. Not to mention I read the word decadent SIX times.

I liked the action and the angels but the romance was overkill.

Characters ★★★☆☆

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

Smoulder (Review)

Smoulder | Brenna Yovanoff
Also published as The Space Between

Published by: Simon & Schuster UK, January 5th 2012

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Mythology (sorta - it's Biblical lore)

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Gift

Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?

Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped - and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie's whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be. 

I started this book hoping that Brenna Yovanoff wasn't one of those authors where I only love one of their books. I hoped I loved all of her books as much as The Replacement but feared I wouldn't. I shouldn't have worried.

Smoulder - or The Space Between - is a dark and gritty story of recovery and self-discovery. It explores the lengths people will go to for those they love, even if they don't really know what love is. I loved this book. It had a definite spark of the magic that I found in The Replacement, even if I didn't fall as hard for this book as I did that.

I loved the characters the most - Daphne was naive but brave, and I found her obliviousness and ignorance of earth things pretty cute. But Truman - he reminded me so much of Cole St Clair, one of my favourite characters ever. Truman is self destructive, careless with his life, and utterly broken. He's not quite as sharp around the edges as Cole, and has a definite gentleness, but that only made me love him more. The ending almost killed me. The supporting characters were great too - even Moloch (I naturally hate and suspect Molochs but he managed to gain my trust and affection) and a demon child.

This book is a great mix of contemporary issues and paranormal danger. The magic felt so natural, like it belonged in this world, and the threats were pretty horrifying (poor Obie!) but I was much more invested in Truman's recovery. My precious sunshine child. And don't even get me started on the romance, which was just perfect for these characters. Basically I loved everything about this, and it's only not an absolute favourite because I didn't entirely fall in love with it. It's purely an emotional rating.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆