Review: Crushed Seraphim

Title: Crushed Seraphim
Author: Debra Anastasia
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating: R
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Release Date: May 17, 2011
Pages: 194 pages
Source: Goodreads Firstreads Copy
My Rating: 4*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

How does a foul-mouthed angel end up as the last hope for all of Heaven and Earth?


When Seraph Emma is maimed and tossed from Heaven by a rogue angel who’s taken charge, she fears she’ll never be allowed to return. Tasked with the impossible job of showing the self-loathing (and not even human!) Jason his worth, Emma is sure she’s doomed to fail.


Meanwhile, having wormed his way into Heaven, the corrupt Everett has trapped God in Hell and has designs on unleashing evil everywhere. Fortunately, if there’s one thing Emma can’t do (in addition to minding her language), it’s give up. Determined to save Jason and get back to Heaven—even if it means going to Hell—Emma’s plan is simple yet impossible: trick the Devil to save God.


What she doesn’t count on is the devotion and, well, humanity she finds in Jason; the spirit, hidden compassion, and raw sex appeal within the Devil; and the vulnerability of her own heart. With the help of two unlikely allies, she’ll wage the battle for Heaven. But will Emma be sidetracked by a new sort of heaven along the way?


What’s truly more dangerous? Falling from Heaven, or falling in love?


Debra Anastasia has twisted a fast-paced tale of intimate relationships with literally universal impact. Rich with humor and electrified by attraction, this novel offers a playfully off-beat take on the good and evil that make up the world.

Quotes

 "There is something about me, doll face. It’s between my legs, and I do believe a few minutes ago you were praying to it."

"I’m Emma. I’m here to make you see the meaning of your life.” Her exalted words were totally conquered by her dragging tone and lack of eye contact."

"Okay, God. I forgive You for trusting me. I promise to trust You in return."

 My Thoughts

Debra Anastasia is crazy, but in a good way, and I love her for it!

Really, I don't have any idea where she got the idea for the book in general, let alone the things that happen in the book, but damn, it was quite impressive.

I have been wanting this book for a while and it was one of my first, if not the first, Waiting on Wednesday picks.  I was lucky enough to win a copy through Debra's Goodreads giveaway, and I am so happy that I did.  I could not stop laughing.  While this book and the situations in it were laugh out loud funny it was also hot as hell.

What I love about this book is that the characters were engaging.  I wanted to be Emma.  She was so awesome and down-to-earth.  I loved that she wasn't some damsel in distress waiting to be saved, but was willing to take the bull by the horns and get it done.  I equally loved Satan Jack.  I wanted to keep him for my own so I can see how much naughty bad fun he can get up to!

All in all, I loved the book.  I found it very easy to read and follow along and can't wait for the sequel!

Review: But I Love Him

Title: But I Love Him
Author: Amanda Grace (Pseudonym), Mandy Hubbard
Genre: YA, Social Issues, Relationships & Abuse
Rating: PG-13
Publisher: Flux Books
Publication Date: May 8, 2011
Pages: 254 pages
Source: Purchased Finished Copy
Rating: 5*

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

Tonight was so much worse than anything before it. Tonight he didn't stop after the first slap.


At the beginning of senior year, Ann was a smiling, straight-A student and track star with friends and a future. Then she met a haunted young man named Connor. Only she can heal his emotional scars; only he could make her feel so loved — and needed. Ann can't recall the pivotal moment it all changed, when she surrendered everything to be with him, but by graduation, her life has become a dangerous high wire act. Just one mistake could trigger Connor's rage, a senseless storm of cruel words and violence damaging everything — and everyone — in its path.


This evocative slideshow of flashbacks reveals a heartbreaking story of love gone terribly wrong.

Quotes

"What do you do when the one person you want comfort from the most is the one who caused your pain? How can I want so desperately for him to wrap me up in his arms but also want so much for him to leave me alone."

"It's not fair. It's not fair that he lets his rage take over, that he lets it rule him. I don't know why he has to let it rule him. I don't know why he has to be two people.   I don't know why he gets to be two people, and I only get to be me, the one who is here to take what he has to give, and who is here to pick up the pieces afterward."

"But even when I stop crying, even when we fall asleep and I'm nestled in his arms, this will leave another scar. No one will see it. No one will know. But it will be there. And eventually all of the scars will have scars, and that's all I'll be--one big scar of a love gone wrong."

 My Thoughts

Wow!

I could just leave my review at that and I would have summed up what I felt when reading But I Love Him by Amanda Grace.  Told in reverse chronological order But I Love Him chronicles the love story between Ann and Conner that was doomed from the very beginning.

I liked this book because it made me feel for the characters; both of them.  It's so easy when writing a story that chronicles abuse of any kind or the demise of a relationship to create at least one character, usually the abuser, that is just so horrible that the reader hates them.  They often come across as having no redeeming qualities and by the end of the book you are waiting and hoping for them to get a dose of their own medicine.  By contrast the victim is usually not really someone that readers can identify with, and spend the entire book shaking their heads wondering why they don't just get out.  That is not the case with this book.

In But I Love Him, Amanda Grace introduces two characters you can't help but feel for.  There is Ann who is the All American good girl who everyone loves and appears to be genuinely good person who wants the best for those around her.  Conner on the other hand is not so much a bad boy, but a broken boy.  He comes from an abusive home himself and seems to want to break the cycle of abuse, but he either doesn't know or posess the skill set to do so.  Ann wants to help Conner and wants him to be better, and it's over this year that she comes to realization that she can't save him, but rather she has to save herself.

Review: Abandon

Title: Abandon
Author: Meg Cabot
Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal Romance
Rating: PG
Publisher: Point
Publication Date: April 26, 2011
My Rating: 3***

[Goodreads | Amazon]

Synopsis

Though she tries returning to the life she knew before the accident, Pierce can't help but feel at once a part of this world, and apart from it. Yet she's never alone . . . because someone is always watching her. Escape from the realm of the dead is impossible when someone there wants you back.

But now she's moved to a new town. Maybe at her new school, she can start fresh. Maybe she can stop feeling so afraid.

Only she can't. Because even here, he finds her. That's how desperately he wants her back. She knows he's no guardian angel, and his dark world isn't exactly heaven, yet she can't stay away . . . especially since he always appears when she least expects it, but exactly when she needs him most.

But if she lets herself fall any further, she may just find herself back in the one place she most fears: the Underworld.


My Thoughts

Abandon was the first book written by Meg Cabot that I have ever read. I honestly had very high expectations for this book – due in part by all the buzz it was receiving on the internet, and because of the author herself. While I did enjoy the book, it didn’t live up to my expectations at all.

The book is about a girl named Pierce and her love interest John. Her story is told in pieces and parts throughout the book as a way of not giving it all away at one time. The story is almost a re-telling of the Greek origin myth of Hades and Persephone, only Pierce is not Persephone and John is not Hades even if he does kind of have his job. Subtract Demeter, Persephone’s mom who helped her escape, and add the furies intent on making John’s existence miserable and there you have the story in a nutshell.

I like that this wasn’t just a re-telling of the same old origin myth, but with different names. It could have just been explained so much better and way earlier than the last 4 chapters of the book. The explanations of what was going on in the book were a big problem for me on a whole. Thing are referenced rather than explained in this book. Pierce refers to the incident that happened back at her old school quite often, but doesn’t get around to explaining it till the middle of the book. When it does come time to explain, it is not done very well and leaves you with more questions than answers. I found myself a bit distracted as the reader is left to infer what happened in this incident, rather than the being told outright. This is pretty much a symptom that is repeated with everything in the book. It leaves more questions than answers, but not in such a way that you find yourself satisfied at the end of the book, but the eagerly anticipating the next book in the series.

While the book does take a while to get going, it is a relatively easy read (I read it in cover to cover in 3 hours). Since this is the first book in a trilogy, I will read the remaining two books when they are released, but I didn’t like this book enough to make me run out and buy them on publication day.

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