angels

Score: 4

     I liked the book; the stories, for the most part, were good... but there were at least two that I really, really liked and I'll keep the book for them....   Overall, all five stories were enjoyable to one degree or another ~ certainly more than I had first thought they would be.  The reason that I got this book was because of the Mary Balogh story.  Every one of her stories that I've read has been an amazingly heartwarming story.  Patricia Rice is the only other author in this anthology that I'd previously heard of ~ and her story was the other one that I loved.

A love story that spans from the 1840's to present time. When an Angel gives into vice he falls from grace and becomes a demon.

From the cover:

     Wow!  This story was fairly different ~ mostly because Eve was a ghost and then there was the whole hell thing ~ where the really bad supernaturals went when they died.  'Cause the afterworld for the supernaturals is not the afterworld for humans... good that they kept them apart, because even there the humans don't have any comparable abilities.  And the Nix... hoo boy... that was one nasty demi-demon; good thing that Eve had not only angel help, but Kristofer Nast, Savannah's father and Eve's one love, is also on hand. 
   While there is some romance, these stories are primarily paranormal adventures with a hefty dose of suspense thrown in... then there was the hell for supernatural serial killers... ugh!
  Another excellent story in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series.  If you enjoy taut thrillers, paranormal stories and a host of supernatural beings, this is definitely a story for you... but, really, it's better to read this book in order.  VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

RATING:
Excellence: Excellent ~ 4.0 stars
Steaminess: Romantic to barely Sensual

     When I started the first book in this connected trilogy ~ and OH how I wish that Julie Miller had written at least two other stories... one for each of the other men in Colonel Ramsey's team.... *sigh* ~ I had no idea that they were connected, but I soon discovered this fact and was very pleased to think that I had managed to find all three books.... Nice!
     The three stories are all, indeed, much more along the lines of paranormal, or more exactly, fantasy stories:  Immortality, spirit walkers and angels making mistakes, all definitely different from Julie Miller's later books... but I enjoyed them just as much.  Julie is such a fantastic writer and her characters come to life, so regardless of whether or not they're "real" people is moot... in all the ways that count, her characters are real enough that the reader, or at least this reader, can connect on an emotional level.  And their adventures are thrilling, fast-paced and all-absorbing.  VERY HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

RATING:
Excellence: Excellent ~ 4.0 stars
Steaminess: Sensual

Considering their track record for creating havoc whenever they visit earth, Gabriel is reluctant to send the team of Shirley, Goodness and Mercy to answer the prayer of a hopeless case.  However, the man is SO hopeless, SO far gone, and SO full of doubt that Gabriel decides to teach the three angels a lesson by letting them work on him. 

Shirley, Goodness and Mercy are at it again.  When Gabriel sends the three Prayer facilitators to earth, only the Lord knows how things will turn out!  A delight!  (Even if you haven't read the first one, which I haven't.)

book for the year (3)