Review: A Dark Kiss of Rapture by Sylvia Day (Renegade Angels #0.5)

Publisher - Self-published
Publication Date - 6th October 2011
Ebook - 72 pages
Genre - Paranormal Romance

Source - Kindle freebie

Rating - 4 out of 5: I really liked it.


Reviewed by - Chrissie

Book Info - Of all the Fallen, Raze's hungers are some of the darkest and most insatiable. His brazen seductions cost him his wings, leaving him soulless and immortal, the most dangerous of seducers. He has roamed the earth for eons, hunting the rogues of his kind and protecting the humans who provide him with blood and sex. He is content with his life and the transient pleasures that flow through it... until one night and one woman change everything.

Kimberly McAdams is smart, beautiful, and wealthy. She can have any man she wants, but the moment she sets eyes on the lethally stunning Raze she knows he's the man she needs. As one searingly erotic night burns into something deeper and far more vital than either of them expected, an adversary from Raze's past sees a chance for revenge. Twisted by hatred, she will take from Raze what was taken from her—the precious gift of love.

My Thoughts - Although I've heard a lot about this author, with this Renegade Angels series as well as her more popular Crossfire series, I haven't actually read any of her work before. Although I have been wanting to for a while because of all the high praise her writing seems to receive. And now, after reading A Dark Kiss of Rapture I can see why she always comes so highly recommended.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the world created by the author with the Fallen and the Sentinals and vampires and lycans. It was different to the usual vampire stories and I enjoyed the mythology behind it. However, because it was such a short story and an introduction to such a rich and complex world, I did feel that there were certain parts of the background that were glossed over and I would have had a better understanding of the characters and how they all linked together if more information had been given. But I do have the first two novels in the series sitting on my review shelf so I am looking forward to reading them now as I'm hoping it will give me a better insight into the world of the Renegade Angels.
 
There is a good balance between the romantic elements and the suspense in the storyline, and I enjoyed both. The characters are likeable but I did feel as though I didn't get to know them as well as I would have liked, although I think that is more to do with the fact that it is a novella rather than anything else. I got a feeling that the author could have gone a lot deeper into the characters if it had been a full length novel and I would have liked to know more about them.

My one complaint is that this doesn't really come with a Happy Ever After... more a Happy For Now. And although it did work, it also left me with a lot of questions about their future together. As this is the start of a series I'm hoping that the reader will learn more about the relationship between Raze and Kimberly as the series progresses, even if it's just as background characters.

Summary - A great start to the series that left me wanting to know more about the characters and the world they live in. I am now really looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Other books in the series:
0.5. A Dark Kiss of Rapture
1. A Touch of Crimson
1.5. A Caress of Wings
2. A Hunger So Wild
 

Series Spotlight: Crossfire by Sylvia Day

Series Spotlight is a new weekly feature here on Once Upon a Series, where I will be highlighting a series that I would either like to read if I get a chance to, or would like to finish reading at some point. Hopefully it will give you all some ideas for other series to read... or if you've read something similar that you think other fans of the series featured would like, then please do mention it in the comments.

The series I've picked this week is one that I've been wanting to read for a long time but have never got around to. I even have the first book sitting and waiting patiently for me on my bookshelf. Have you read this series? Let me know what you think about it in the comments!

1. Bared to You

Our journey began in fire...

Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness—beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily...

Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private wounds... and desires.

The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart...

2. Reflected in You

Gideon Cross. As beautiful and flawless on the outside as he was damaged and tormented on the inside. He was a bright, scorching flame that singed me with the darkest of pleasures. I couldn't stay away. I didn't want to. He was my addiction... my every desire... mine.

My past was as violent as his, and I was just as broken. We’d never work. It was too hard, too painful... except when it was perfect. Those moments when the driving hunger and desperate love were the most exquisite insanity.

We were bound by our need. And our passion would take us beyond our limits to the sweetest, sharpest edge of obsession...

3. Entwined with You

From the moment I first met Gideon Cross, I recognized something in him that I needed. Something I couldn’t resist. I saw the dangerous and damaged soul inside–so much like my own. I was drawn to it. I needed him as surely as I needed my heart to beat.

No one knows how much he risked for me. How much I’d been threatened, or just how dark and desperate the shadow of our pasts would become.

Entwined by our secrets, we tried to defy the odds. We made our own rules and surrendered completely to the exquisite power of possession…