Tag Archives: Berkley Press

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Book Review: A Terrible Fall of Angels, by Laurell K. Hamilton

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I borrowed a copy of Laurell K. Hamilton‘s A Terrible Fall of Angels from the local library.

a terrible fall of angels

Meet Detective Zaniel Havelock, a man with the special ability to communicate directly with angels. A former trained Angel speaker, he devoted his life to serving both the celestial beings and his fellow humans with his gift, but a terrible betrayal compelled him to leave that life behind. Now he’s a cop who is still working on the side of angels. But where there are angels, there are also demons. There’s no question that there’s evil at work when he’s called in to examine the murder scene of a college student—but is it just the evil that one human being can do to another, or is it something more? When demonic possession is a possibility, even angelic protection can only go so far. The race is on to stop a killer before he finds his next victim, as Zaniel is forced to confront his own very personal demons, and the past he never truly left behind.

my review

I am one of the many readers who adored the Anita Blake series until I didn’t. As a result, I avoided Laurell K. Hamilton books for quite a while. But I saw this one at the library and the synopsis intrigued me. Since borrowing a book from the library requires very little actual commitment, I gave it a go.

Long story short, I really liked this. I did think it dragged in the middle (really more like 2/3 through), with quite a few info drops. But I also realize it’s a first book in a series that needs to do some extra work in world-building. I adored Zaniel and appreciated that the ‘romance’ (if you want to call it that) was him trying to fix a broken marriage. Pretty much all the cops made me laugh and I’m interested in learning more about the College of Angels and the people Zaniel left behind.

I also liked that Hamilton legitimized basically all religions. There were gods, angels, spirit guides, spirit animals, messengers, and more. True, Angels were give prominence in the story, but I didn’t feel that was Hamilton prioritizing one religion over another. If the story (or any future one) was from different characters’ POVs different deities could be the prominent ones. Plus, the cast was as diverse as the pantheons.

All in all, a win for me. I’ll be looking for book two.

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Other Reviews:

Under the Covers Book Blog: A Terrible Fall of Angels

Review: A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Book Review: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels, by India Holton

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I won a book stack from Waves of Fiction and among the books was India Holton‘s The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels.

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A prim and proper lady thief must save her aunt from a crazed pirate and his dangerously charming henchman in this fantastical historical romance.

Cecilia Bassingwaite is the ideal Victorian lady. She’s also a thief. Like the other members of the Wisteria Society crime sorority, she flies around England drinking tea, blackmailing friends, and acquiring treasure by interesting means. Sure, she has a dark and traumatic past and an overbearing aunt, but all things considered, it’s a pleasant existence. Until the men show up.

Ned Lightbourne is a sometimes assassin who is smitten with Cecilia from the moment they meet. Unfortunately, that happens to be while he’s under direct orders to kill her. His employer, Captain Morvath, who possesses a gothic abbey bristling with cannons and an unbridled hate for the world, intends to rid England of all its presumptuous women, starting with the Wisteria Society. Ned has plans of his own. But both men have made one grave mistake. Never underestimate a woman.

When Morvath imperils the Wisteria Society, Cecilia is forced to team up with her handsome would-be assassin to save the women who raised her–hopefully proving, once and for all, that she’s as much of a scoundrel as the rest of them.

my review

I adored this. It was an absolute mad-cap adventure, full of sarcasm and pointed cognitive dissonance. I adored Cecilia and all of her morally ambiguous, but completely proper aunties. I thought Ned was a marvelous love interest. It would be difficult to call him a hero, since Cecilia has so little need of one. But he does try, bless his heart.

As much as I loved the witty repartee and utter lack of seriousness, it did become tedious at times, making the book feel a little like a one-trick pony. But every-time I started to think it, the book would throw some sarcastic aside at me and I’d find myself laughing again. I also disliked how easily Cecilia went from strong, smart, and capable to silly and how often. One sip of alcohol and she’s giggling drunk, for example. But that’s a relatively small complaint in the larger picture.

I’m so glad to see Alex will be the male focus of book two. I’ll be lined up to read it on it’s release.

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Other Reviews:

Review: The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels (Dangerous Damsels #1) by India Holton

THE WISTERIA SOCIETY OF LADY SCOUNDRELS by India Holton – Review

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Book Review: The Awakening, by Christine Feehan

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I wanted a shortish audio book to listen to while I did chores this afternoon. While I have audio books I could have listened to, I decided to see if I could find one to download from the library that was on theme for my March reading challenge, which I have named the Awakening Challenge. I set out to read eight books titled Awakening. But, like with this one, I’ve been adding books. here and there I call them Bonus Awakenings. They may not meet the challenge criteria I set out exactly, or even if they do, I picked them up after I set the initial challenge. Christine Feehan‘s The Awakening is one such book.

the awakening Christine Feehan

Maggie returns to the place of her birth and her world suddenly turns into a sensual, but dangerous delight. The rainforest holds secrets of her birthright and a mysterious man, as predatory as any of the animals, waiting in the very heart of the jungle for her arrival.

Under the blazing heat of the Borneo sun, a beautiful naturalist’s dream comes true – to live among the feral jungle creatures. But an untamed, irresistible beast of another sort forces her to explore her own wild side.

This was fine for what it is. But it should be kept in mind that what it is is a bit of erotic fluff written over a decade ago. The Paranormal Romance genre has come a long way since then, but Feehan’s The Awakening is an example of what it used to be. Heroes were meant to be predatory and virginal heroines swooned and became ‘aware of their femininity’ (code for sexuality) in their presence. It tiptoes awful close to the men-writing-women meme sometimes, even though it’s obviously something else entirely. But the descriptions of all but anthropomorphized breasts can comes close.

There’s not much to this honestly. The plot is just a backdrop to paint the angst and eventual sex on. The relationship is based on sexual attraction and the mythical shifter mate bond. It didn’t light me on fire in any manner. But, again, it is what it is and should be judged accordingly.

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