Ashes of Eden (Fallen Angel #1)
by J.L. Myers
Genre: Paranormal Romance
The original sinner. The angel he covets. And one unbreakable law…
The second Lucifer saw Gabriel in the flesh, his whole existence changed. Her voice, her touch, the way she looks at him with complete acceptance; Gabriel is his addiction and Lucifer is done for.
But there’s a catch. Don’t fall in love.
Lucifer isn’t free to want more than the immortal life he leads. His body craves her and he hungers for a taste of her blushed lips, but love between angels is a punishable sin…
A sin Lucifer is ready to risk his legacy for…
New Adult/Paranormal Romance/Angel/Demon
Warning – This book contains some language and sexual situations.
Dawn of Reckoning (Fallen Angel #2)
Darkly romantic. A dangerous new paranormal thriller for fans of all things supernatural.
Before Earth, there was Heaven, a place of immortality and subservience, a place where angels existed to watch the world transform…until one angel changed everything.
Gabriel may have been the first of the archangels to feel love and compassion, but teaching Lucifer to feel started the beginning of the end. Angels aren’t free to love, to lust, to want. They are God’s servants, his eyes and ears, his pure beings.
Or at least they were.
After falling for Gabriel with all her beauty and eternal hope, Lucifer refuses to return to his subservient ways. He wants more than the hand he was dealt with all its immortality and reverence. He wants to be free.
But freedom comes at a price…
Struck from Heaven and the one he loves, Lucifer is banished to Earth to live as a mortal…but even without his wings, he’ll never be fully human. And he’ll never let go of his rage against the one who cast him out. When Lucifer discovers the power of his angelic blood, God’s precious humans in all their sins and freedom become the pawns in Lucifer’s unwavering revenge.
A new race is set to emerge. A race to reveal the ugliness of humanity.
Through it all, Gabriel refuses to lose faith in Lucifer and the man she knows he truly is. Now her fellow archangels plan to use her against him…but will she be Lucifer’s downfall or his savior?
A tale of unquenchable rage, deception, and eternal love.
A paranormal angel, vampire novella.
Review:
I am really conflicted about those 2 books, to be honest, and I have no idea why.
When it comes to angels, we all know by now as one of my readers that I am pretty much obsessed and I never pass an opportunity to get my hands on the books when I can.
Here, I was really attracted to the fact that it was a very original retelling of the fall of Lucifer from grace. I also enjoyed that unexpected twist that Archangel Gabriel well here is a girl and Lucifer loves her. So when I read the blurb, I was very excited about it and it was pretty much an early Christmas present for little me.
We start with pretty much the physical birth of the Archangels, and here some have a female form., mainly Gabriel. If you are not familiar with the Archangels, the most famous ones are Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and well Lucifer (we all know what happened to him). When referenced in religious texts, they are usually let us of a masculine form.
Which is why I enjoyed the twist of Gabriel being a girl and Luci (I blame the Lucifer Tv show for that one!) being in love with her. The whole setup of the drama is just perfect, but this is where it started bugging me a little.
Ashes of Eden starts off by setting all this up, but as I was reading I was really not relating much to the characters.
Allow me to explain, when I read a book I mostly concern myself with the characters and with the storyline. If I have good characters I can love, hate or feel something for, then I am quite happy. For the story, you give me some good action, some originality, surprises, and twists, and you got me there. There is a lot I forgive and/or toss aside as long as those two main elements are satisfied for me.
However, here… well… I only kinda liked Lucifer.
Michael is a douche, Gabriel a winy weepy wimp with no spine and God… don’t even get me started!
To think that Lucifer is the lesser evil (all puns intended) is sadly funny!
Just like for the TV show, here once again I side with Lucifer over the supposed “Good Guys”. But honestly, both books feel like dragging on and on and on around the same element of Lucifer is in love with Gabriel, Gabriel loves him back but doesn’t outright say or do anything about it and Michael is angry/jealous etc…
We all know by now that I am not a huge fan of that!
Both books together cover over two millennia and other than Michael and Lucifer going at it, not much of true importance really happens. I hate to say it, but I think it became boring somewhere along the line.
Dawn of Reckoning focused more on Lucifer’s fall and his shenanigans on earth, and even that did bring nothing to the plot. I honestly think both books could have been merged into one if you cut all the dull bore or the same feelings/internal debates that keep cycling back.
I do not want to say more, because I have given a lot way which is not something I usually do. However, as I mentioned this is one of the very rare time I am conflicted about a series.
In terms of the book idea in general, I love it and I think it is so great and out of the box thinking. However, there is something off in the execution of it that was lost on me.
There is a third book coming and I think it is the last one of the series. I will grab it because I am curious to see how this will end up in the end. I do not like having series unfinished.
I would honestly love to see Gabriel come into her own and get some personality and spine but that remains to be seen.
If you are a big fan of books about Angels then you might love this one. Please remember that though I try to be objective as much as possible, my personal preferences will be a large part of how much I enjoy a book or not. In this case, as I mentioned I loved the idea behind the series, but it was too drawn out … I shared above my personal tick boxes to give you a good idea of my thought processes.
There are lots of reviews available and if you are interested, I strongly suggest to read them as well and decide if you want to delve in or not.
About the Author
Jessica L Myers’ vivid imagination and quiet demeanor as a child led her to the imaginary worlds of books. Even at a young age, her love for the supernatural was prevalent, with her first loved books being R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps series. Following that she took an interest in other non-fantasy fiction, including Virginia C. Andrews series Flowers in the Attic.
In her teen years, Jessica spent many school hours writing poetry and dark short stories and took up sketching some of the terrifying things that came from the graphic night terrors she’d grown up with.
As an adult and after meeting the love of her life, Jessica got married and started a small construction business with her husband. With the birth of her son, Jessica suffered PPD and found escape in her books and their fantasy landscapes. It was at this time that her need to write flourished. In 2009 the decision was made and the first words to her New Adult Paranormal Romance novel What Lies Inside were written.
When Jessica isn’t immersed in writing about extraordinary characters with dangerous abilities and deadly obstacles to overcome, she likes to spend time with her two kids and husband, curl up with a good book, or watch anything and everything supernatural.
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Giveaway
Amazon gift card and paperbacks
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