Review: Messenger's Angel by Heather Killough-Walden (Lost Angels #2)

Publisher - Headline
Publication Date - 21st June 2012
Paperback - 416 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 3.5 out of 5: I liked it

Book Info - Juliette Anderson has recently begun to fear for her sanity as inexplicable, and apparently supernatural, powers take hold of her life. Offered the opportunity to work in a beautiful country which has always fascinated her, she accepts, desperate for escape.

Gabriel, the Messenger Archangel, has always called Scotland his true home. Nevertheless, he is stunned when his archess suddenly appears, after centuries of searching, in the land closest to his heart.

Juliette's encounter with the gorgeous silver-eyed stranger changes their worlds forever. But even as they find each other, enemies - old and new - surround them. With danger closing in, they will have one chance to fulfil a destiny written for them in the stars...

My Thoughts - After reading the first book in the series, Avenger's Angel, and absolutely loving it I was very excited to start reading this book. However, although I did enjoy it a lot, it didn't really meet my expectations after such an amazing start to the series.

I loved the main characters, Juliette and Gabriel, and the chemistry between the two of them was off the charts whenever they were together. The interactions between the two of them went from sizzling hot to tender and loving and I just couldn't get enough of this couple. However, they seem to spend quite a bit of time apart as they fight their enemies and I would definitely have liked to have seen more of this couple working together.

Of course, Gabriel's sexy Archangel 'brothers' are around to lend a hand, as well as the archess, Eleanore, from Avenger's Angel. They create a great background cast to support Gabriel and Juliette. Plus the Adarians, a group of bad Archangels who are after Juliette, play a big role too and provide a lot of suspense in the book.

One of the things I loved most about this book was the way that the setting plays such a major role in the story. Scotland is the place that Gabriel has considered his home all his life and is obviously very important to him. The descriptions of Scotland were written beautifully and because of this book alone it is now on my list of places I want to see before I die.

There is a lot of action in Messenger's Angel, making it fast-paced and pretty impossible to put down. However, I would say that for a paranormal romance, the balance between the romance and the action felt just a bit too heavy on the action side. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the development of the romance, even if it meant making the book longer than it already was.

And at the end of the book the reader discovers that the next story to be told is Azrael's, the Angel of Death. He is a character that has intrigued me from the start so I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about the release of Death's Angel at the end of the year!

Summary - A hot and sexy paranormal romance, that will leave you wanting more of Gabriel and Juliette.

Other books in the series:
1. Avenger's Angel
2. Messenger's Angel
3. Death's Angel (released December 2012)

Review: Avenger's Angel by Heather Killough-Walden (Lost Angels #1)

Publisher - Headline
Publication Date - 24th November 2011
Paperback - 432 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Received from publisher for review

Rating - 5 out of 5: It was amazing!

Book Info - Four thousand years ago, four archangels were cast down to Earth in human form. God's favourites, they came to find their mates, the other half of their souls made only for them, without whom they will ever be complete.

Uriel, Gabriel, Azrael and Michael, however, were not alone. They were followed by another, determined to find the archesses for himself, and whose power cannot be underestimated. But after centuries of fruitless searching, the archangels - and their enemy - have all but given up hope.

Until one day beautiful and gifted Eleanore Granger crosses paths with Uriel, the Angel of Vengeance. And as a storm rages, outside forces conspire together, initiating an age old battle of good versus evil to win the first archess.

My Thoughts - I was absolutely thrilled when a copy of this came through my door for review! I had seen it being mentioned on other blogs and was really looking forward to the release date, when all of a sudden I had a copy of this incredibly beautiful book in my hands! I immediately put the other books I was reading to one side and made a start on Avenger's Angel. And I was not disappointed in the slightest.

I loved the two main characters - Uriel and Eleanore. Uriel was possibly the sexiest angel I have read about (and I do have a thing for angels at the moment *swoon*). He was strong and protective and I did fall in love with him just a little bit!

But Eleanore was definitely my favourite character. She has had healing abilities since she was born - this is part of being an archess but she doesn't realise this until Uriel tells her what she is - and has been on the run for her whole life as she knows that some kind of government organisation knows about her abilities and are willing to do anything it takes to get their hands on her. As a result of this she is incredibly strong and independent, having to move around the country at the drop of a hat if she thinks that she has been tracked down. But Eleanore doesn't ignore the powers she has because of this. She will help anybody she can even if she knows there is a risk of being found out and it is this selflessness that really endeared her to me. Rather than see someone suffer she would much rather heal them and deal with the consequences after. And she is obviously very lonely because of having to move around all the time and because she can't trust anybody else in case they find out her secret.

The chemistry between Uriel and Eleanore just jumps off the page at you and there are some very steamy scenes between the two of them. But even though it is insta-lust between them, I loved watching the relationship grow as they learned to look past the fact that they are meant to be together and they took the time to really get to know each other and fall in love for reasons other than the fact that she is his archess.

Quite a lot of this book is written from the point of view of the "bad guy" Samael and this really added more insight into the storyline and the history of the archangels. But I have to say that although Samael is bad, he isn't all bad. The reader gets to see some of his softer moments and I have become very intruiged by him and look forward to reading more about him. I'm not sure if Samael will be getting his own book as he isn't one of the four archangels but I would love to see him get his happy ending too.

The storyline is fast paced and full of romance and once I started reading Avenger's Angel I just couldn't put it down. My only criticism would be that there were a couple of parts of the storyline that just completely came out of nowhere and were almost a bit too strange to be believable. For example (this is a huge spoiler so only highlight if you have read the book - you have been warned!): when Uriel and Eleanore are halfway through a conversation and Uriel just suddenly turned into a vampire! I know that the reason for this is explained later on but when you are reading it you can't help but think "Huh, what the...". But this didn't really spoil my enjoyment of the book - it just threw me for a few pages.

Summary - One of the best paranormal romance novels I have read this year and I am so excited about reading what else is in store for the four sexy archangels! This book really is a must for any fans of the genre.

Other books in the series:
1. Avenger's Angel
2. Messenger's Angel (released June 2012)

Other reviews of this book:
Book Chick City / Book Pushers / Book Savvy Babe / Feeling Fictional
(If you would like your review of Avenger's Angel included here, please leave a link to your review in the comments and I will be sure to add it)