Shadows

Shadows (The Rephaim, 1)
by Paula Weston
Rating: 3 Bows!

It's almost a year since Gaby Winters watched her twin brother die. In the sunshine of a new town her body has healed, but her grief is raw and constant. It doesn't help that every night in her dreams she fights and kills hell-beasts. And then Rafa comes to town. Not only does he look exactly like the guy who's been appearing in Gaby's dreams, he tells her things about her brother and her life that cannot be true, things that are dangerous. Who is Rafa? Who are the Rephaim? And who is Gaby? The truth lies in the shadows of her nightmares.

So this book was completely different from any angel book I have read. After finishing the book, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I liked the book, but I felt it was lacking. 

Gaby Winters is grieving for the loss of her brother for over a year. She's trying to move on with her life when Rafa comes in and turns her world upside down. I liked Gaby, she was a strong female character yet she wasn't an emotionless zombie. What made me really like her though was that she didn't trust Rafa right away, you could really see her trust in him build as the story progressed. It was refreshing. 

Rafa was a sexy arrogant jerk. But he was loyal and trust-worthy. Again, it took some time for me to fall for Rafa and I think that's what made it better. Paula Weston let us know the character before giving us the swoon worthy moments.

The side characters were a mix of love and hate. Obviously the ones on team Rafa were awesome and I loved them and the ones on the other side..grrr I wanted to punch them for their stubborn way of thinking. Even then, both sides were equally bad ass and awesome fighters!

My only remark, and this could be because I'm just a sucker for romance, is that there was very little of it. Like extremely little. I absolutely love Rafa and Gaby and I'm hoping that in the next books their relationship will grow and we get to see a little more of it. 

The story of the nephlim and rephaim, is different in this story and although it took a bit to understand, it's a pretty cool concept. I may not have completely loved the story but I will continue to read the next books to see where the story goes. I have a feeling it will get better. 

World After

World After (Penryn & the End of Days, 2)
by Susan Ee
Rating: 4 Bows!

In this sequel to the bestselling fantasy thriller, Angelfall, the survivors of the angel apocalypse begin to scrape back together what's left of the modern world.

When a group of people capture Penryn's sister Paige, thinking she's a monster, the situation ends in a massacre. Paige disappears. Humans are terrified. Mom is heartbroken.

Penryn drives through the streets of San Francisco looking for Paige. Why are the streets so empty? Where is everybody? Her search leads her into the heart of the angels' secret plans where she catches a glimpse of their motivations, and learns the horrifying extent to which the angels are willing to go.

Meanwhile, Raffe hunts for his wings. Without them, he can't rejoin the angels, can't take his rightful place as one of their leaders. When faced with recapturing his wings or helping Penryn survive, which will he choose?

I ABSO-LUTELY love this series!! I am in love with Raffe, I admire Penryn, and I love the concept! 

This book starts where Angelfall left off. Right from the start, there is action, death and angels. There was a moment where I was saying "Can't this girl catch a break?!" 

I have to admire Penryn's strength. She may be a human but she will protect her family from anything...and I mean anything. We learn more about what the angels are up to and let me just say that it's not anything good. 

Now I said that right from the start we have Angels...but we don't have Raffe. We catch small glimpses of him here and there but he doesn't make an appearance until the last 30 pages of the book. 

At first I was mad because Hey! we all want Raffe right? But as I kept reading I loved that we didn't get to see much of Raffe. Crazy huh? But it was a great tactic for Susan Ee because it built this tension for Penryn and Raffe when they finally saw each other. 

I almost cried when Raffe saw Penryn. It was so beautiful and heart-wrenching and I loved it. I'm so fan-girling at the moment. I love him to death but I want to kick him because he still holds back his feelings for Penryn when it's so obvious he cares deeply for her! Ugh!!

I'm hoping that Susan Ee will release the third installment very soon because I have to know what will happen with the world, with the angels, and of course Penryn and Raffe!!! If you liked the first one, you will definitely love the sequel!!! 

AngelFall

Angelfall (Penryn & the End of Days, 1)
by Susan Ee
Rating: 5 Bows!

It's been six weeks since angels of the apocalypse descended to demolish the modern world. Street gangs rule the day while fear and superstition rule the night. When warrior angels fly away with a helpless little girl, her seventeen-year-old sister Penryn will do anything to get her back.

Anything, including making a deal with an enemy angel.

Raffe is a warrior who lies broken and wingless on the street. After eons of fighting his own battles, he finds himself being rescued from a desperate situation by a half-starved teenage girl.

Traveling through a dark and twisted Northern California, they have only each other to rely on for survival. Together, they journey toward the angels' stronghold in San Francisco where she'll risk everything to rescue her sister and he'll put himself at the mercy of his greatest enemies for the chance to be made whole again.

This book took everything I had read about angels in other books and threw it out the window. The concept about angels being the good guys and fallen angels trying to redeem them selves doesn't exist in this novel. But that's not a bad thing!

The book starts off with Penryn and her family trying to survive in a world were Angels have taken over. Hence...Angels are not the good guys in this story. Penryn is the strength of her family since her little sister is in a wheel chair and her mom is a schitzo. When she encounters a group of angels taking the wings of another she can't help but stare. Unfortunately this costs her and the group of angels kidnap Penryn's little sister while her mother flees. Determined to get her sister back, Penryn plans to nurse the wing-less angel back to health and strike a deal to get him to help her find her sister.

Penryn is just a normal girl trying to get her sister back. I had to admire her determination even when all the odds were against her. Her mentality was always "famlily first" and she stuck by it. She was strong, caring, and always did what was right, even if it meant going against your own kind to save an angel. 

Now Raffe...oh my. Carmel skin, black hair, deep blue eyes, and a toned athletic body...swoon! This was one case where I did not mind the attitude at all. Raffe is arrogant, bossy, and hard to read. Raffe agrees to help Penryn and I was pleasantly surprised that given Raffe's attitude, he was shocked and amazed whenever Penryn refused to leave Raffe behind. 

I loved this novel because of its originality. The mere fact that the two main characters are true fighters and will fight until the end for their cause. It was different to see Rafee and Penryn learn to truly care for each other through trust and of course through fighting together!

Angelfall is about a journey with an unexpected ally and discovering secrets that not even the high ranking angels new about. This novel does not have an obvious romance but it is there and we get to see a little bit of it towards the end which leaves me wanting the sequel so badly to see where it takes them. There is plenty of action and drama that will leave you cheering for Penryn and Raffe! 

Hidden Wings

Hidden Wings (Hidden Wings, 1)
by Cameo Renae
Rating: 3.5 Bows!

Seventeen is a life changing age for Emma Wise. As her family's sole survivor in a car crash, she is left with a broken arm and a few scrapes and bruises. But these are only outward marks; inside, her heart is broken and the pieces scattered.

Whisked away to Alaska, to an aunt she’s never met, Emma starts over. Secrets unveil themselves and now…she doesn't even know who or what she is.

A centuries old prophecy places Emma in the heart of danger. Creatures of horrifying and evil proportions are after her, and it will take Emma, her aunt, and six, gorgeously captivating Guardians to keep her safe. But, if she can survive until her eighteenth birthday... things will change.

The summary is very vague but as far as angel books go, this one was pretty good! We have Fallen Angels, prophecies, and hot guardians... what else do you need?

The story line was very good. There was a plot, which is a miracle because I feel like now a days stories just ramble with out there being a point, and the characters were phenomenal. 

My only issue, which made me know off .5 of a bow, is that Emma's personality was hard for me to believe. She either had no emotions or they seemed fake to me. I would have been devastated at the loss of my parents but instead she's swooning over Kade... I mean really? Give it a week at least before falling for the guy. Her feelings for Kade were developed way to quickly for my taste but that's not too big of a problem for me, what is a problem is that it seemed funny instead of swoon-worthy.

Putting that aside, the story had plenty of action and mystery. The side characters were a mix of funny and stoic and of course...HOT! I really ended up like this book to the point of getting the second one in the series right after! This book definitely deserves to be given a chance, ignore the vague summary and pick up a copy!!

Sweet Peril (The Sweet Trilogy, 2)

Sweet Peril (The Sweet Trilogy, 2)
by Wendy Higgins
Rating: 5 Bows!

Anna Whitt, the daughter of a guardian angel and a demon, promised herself she’d never do the work of her father—polluting souls. She’d been naive to make such a vow. She’d been naive about a lot of things.

Haunted by demon whisperers, Anna does whatever she can to survive, even if it means embracing her dark side and earning an unwanted reputation as her school’s party girl. Her life has never looked more bleak. And all the while there’s Kaidan Rowe, son of the Duke of Lust, plaguing her heart and mind.

When an unexpected lost message from the angels surfaces, Anna finds herself traveling the globe with Kopano, son of Wrath, in an attempt to gain support of fellow Nephilim and give them hope for the first time. It soon becomes clear that whatever freedoms Anna and the rest of the Neph are hoping to win will not be gained without a fight. Until then, Anna and Kaidan must put aside the issues between them, overcome the steamiest of temptations yet, and face the ultimate question: is loving someone worth risking their life?

I absolutely loved this book possibly even more than the first!!! It was filled with action, fear, adventure, new places, and ROMANCE! This was the perfect sequel to Sweet Evil!

Anna still sticks to her "job" as the crazy party girl to keep the whispers away but it was good to see that she was torn over that image. Anna does act a little desperate when it came to getting Kai's attention and that just didn't sit well with me. However, when her father shows up and gives Anna her assignments, she was able to pull it together and do what needed to be done! Kopano and Anna become closer as they team up to gather allies and let me just say...there is a whole side of Kopano we didn't know about, and I liked it!

I fell in love with Kaidan in Sweet Evil, but after reading Sweet Peril I am 100% devoted to him. What made me extremely happy and giddy with joy was that Kaidan finally realized that he was tired of trying to please his father and decides to finally do something for himself...can you guess what that is? *I'll give you a clue, it's pretty sexy*

We do see a lot more of Blake, Marna and Ginger and we get to learn a little more about them, plus they're all hilarious! Some new characters are introduced and hopefully we'll see more of them in the final novel.

Kaidan and Anna both grow up a lot in this book and learn that somethings are worth fighting for, and if you want it bad enough, the risks are worth it. Sweet Peril was a fantastic read and will leave you desperate for the final installment of the Sweet Trilogy!

Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy, 1)

Sweet Evil (The Sweet Trilogy, 1)
by Wendy Higgins
Rating: 5 Bows!

Embrace the Forbidden

What if there were teens whose lives literally depended on being bad influences? This is the reality for sons and daughters of fallen angels.

enderhearted Southern girl Anna Whitt was born with the sixth sense to see and feel emotions of other people. She's aware of a struggle within herself, and inexplicable pull toward danger, but Anna, the ultimate good girl, has always had the advantage of her angel side to balance the darkness within. It isn't until she turns sixteen and meets the alluring Kaiden Rowe that she discovers her terrifying heritage and her willpower is put to the test. He's the boy your daddy warned you about. If only someone had warned Anna.

Forced to face her destiny, will Anna embrace her halo or her horns?

Sweet Evil combines the lore of Angels/Demons and Nephilim and gives them a whole new twist. The Dukes, demons in human form that represent the seven deadly sins, are in charge of evil on earth and are the bosses to the Nephilim. The Nephilim, the sons and daughters to the Dukes, have one job: to spread the deadly sin they are born with to the world. Rebelling from this job means one thing...death.

The characters in Sweet Evil are unique and compelling. Their personalities match they're personas and even though I wanted to hate some of them, I had to remember that they are only being the way they were brought: to do their job. Even then, the personalities of all the Nephilims are unique to themselves and they are a blast to watch when they encounter with one another. Anna is a worthy protagonist and a special Nephilim. She is good to her core and even when exposed to the world of the Dukes, she remains true to herself. And Kaidan, my dear beautiful Kaidan Rowe, his personality was ever changing through out the novel. He is a truly a bad boy, being the son of the Duke of Lust, but he isn't all he's made himself to be. Kaidan and Anna embark on a road trip and as he spends more time with Anna he is touched by her innocence and her optimism that there really are good people in the world and it's both exhilarating and terrifying, because feelings are dangerous and not acceptable when your a Nephilim.

At the very core of Sweet Evil is forbidden love, dangerous and terrifying, the Nephilim have one job and love is not part of it. Decisions that the characters have to make and dealing with the consequences are part of Anna's journey of self-discovery that is filled with pain, love, heartache, and finding the courage to have hope when everything is falling apart. Sweet Evil is a novel that you will want to have your best friend read just for the sake of being able to talk about it with someone and it is one that I encourage everyone to read!!