Customer Reviews

Angel of Darkness (The Fallen)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My review may be biased because I recently read another book about lost or fallen angels which had characters by the same names as in this book and I liked it a lot better than this one. My first complaint would be that this was the most expensive book of this genre that I have purchased for my kindle, so I guess I expected more from it than from the really cheap books I've bought, but not so much. Story wise, it was very repetitive with lots of redundant parts. If I had to read one more time how the female character licked her lips I was going to puke. The entire books is them running from people, mostly being caught up to by the same people over and over and over, halfway through the book I was wishing for the main characters death, that's probably not a good sign. There was just something about the main characters that I didn't like, I thought they might grow on me, but they didn't. To me they came off as way too self- centered, nothing mattered but what they wanted, not a very endearing quality in an "angel". I guess I was expecting some sort of redemption or unselfish act to show that these were good people whose future stories I would want to read more about, but that didn't happen for me.

On her way to pray, mild-mannered Nicole St. James meets with a horrible fate near the steps of a New Orleans Cathedral. Fighting for her life as a vampire is ravaging her body, she pleads with a shadowy figure to save her life. While Keenan hovers over the scene, watching for the appropriate moment to touch Nicole and take her soul to heaven, something about her tugs at his heart. Instead of taking her soul, he touches the vampire instead and faces the awful consequence of immediately losing his angel status in heaven, thrust to earth for his disobedience. Reconciling with his new life, Keenan is determined to find Nicole. When he finds her, will he be prepared for what Nicole has become?

Once again, Cynthia Eden doesn't fail to disappoint her long-time fans with another outstanding supernatural read exposing more of the Other in Angel of Darkness. I immediately felt sympathy for Nicole St. James who one day was a school teacher and the next wound up a vampire. What a gutsy lady having to live off her wits in some dire circumstances looking for her next drink to survive. Six months into her new life, Keenan locates her and he cannot believe what he sees. Gone is the meek woman he was tracking as a death angel. The `new' Nicole is a hard-nosed woman who isn't above trickery to get what she needs to survive. He admires her pluck and cannot help but be sexually aroused by her.

Knowing he's responsible for her transformation, Keenan vows to stay with her when he finds she's being targeted for termination by not only the supernatural but the human community. Can Nicole learn not only to trust but fall in love with this man who seems vaguely familiar to her?

I loved Ms. Eden's superb characterization of Keenan and Nicole as they look deep inside themselves to come to one conclusion--they are redeemable and worthy of love. Both battle their demons in Angel of Darkness and find ultimate joy in themselves. Cynthia Eden's Angel of Darkness is the perfect blend of red-hot sex and supernatural suspense driven by a rockin' plot. Pick up Ms. Eden's book today and be just like me--waiting in breathless anticipation for another story in her highly innovative Other universe.

Keenan the Angel of Death stalks Nicole St. James as he has for weeks waiting to collect her soul as he has done countless times over several millennia. The moment he has anticipated is at hand with a vampire attacking Nicole. She pleads with him to save her life; though he knows he cannot. Keenan kills the vampire instead of the human female he is attracted to.

For failing to complete his mission, Keenan is exiled as a Fallen. He searches for her over the next six months and finally "of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks" (Casablanca) into this dive he drinks away his depression. He remains wanting her though he knows she is now a vampiric fledgling, but Keenan is unaware that Nicole is wanted for murder. Nicole wants her savior, but is unaware that if Keenan completes the kill he regains his former angel essence. Meanwhile besides NYPD, a horde of the paranormal and hunters of the paranormal stalk the pair

The first Fallen urban romantic fantasy is a fast-paced thriller starring a beleaguered pair as seemingly everyone in the Big Apple wants to take a bite out of both them. Fascinatingly, neither of the protagonists acts with typical human morality although Nicole is a recent convert to the other species. With too many adversaries cluttering the overall exciting but dark story line, sub-genre fans still will enjoy Cynthia Eden's opening entry.

Harriet Klausner

I really enjoyed this book by Cynthia, it has enough of a unique twist in the paranormal world to keep you engaged from beginning to end. In this story, we meet Nicole St. James who is a sweet, innocent school teacher who's from New Orleans. Her life is about to change but she doesn't know it yet. She leaves the church one night and she's attacked by a Vampire who taunts her and basically tries to play with his food before killing her.
Keenan is a Death Angel and Nicole is his assignment. He's been watching her the last few weeks and has grown somewhat attached to this female. His mission is at the time of her death to take her and kill her as one touch from him and she'll die. He hesitates in killing her because she can see him and she keeps asking him for help. He's surprised she can actually see him and when he hesitates in killing her he decides instead to kill the Vampire. One touch and the Vampire is dead. Keenan isn't allowed to change his course and kill someone else other than his targets and basically loses his wings as he's thrown from Heaven.
When an angel falls they don't remember everything right away because all they remember is the excruciating pain and fire from their wings being removed. He eventually remembers Nicole and goes to hunt her down to make sure she's safe but what he doesn't realize is that night Nicole was under the vampire, some of his blood got in her blood stream and when he finds her she's a vampire. She's also not innocent anymore and is dressed in a provocative way because a girl has to eat right? She's been chased by demons and humans and shifters and she's been constantly moving, trying to stay alive.
There is other plotlines going along in the story at the same time and I really enjoyed Cynthia's take. I really love when I find a story that keeps my interest and I fall for both characters. A good book to me is when I can be in the heroines place and empathize with her and when I find a Hero who's worthy of the heroine and has redeeming qualities. He can do bad things as long as there's other qualities that make up for what he has done. Cynthia Eden nails this completely in Angel of Darkness and I really enjoyed the trials that Nicole and Keenan face and face together. This is definitely a great Paranormal Romance and if you haven't given Cynthia a try and you like Fallen Angels and strong heroines then you'll enjoy this book immensely. I will continue to follow Cynthia's books and look forward to reading about some other side characters I met in this story; I hope she has plans for them to have their own stories as well.

Reviewed by Paranormal Addicts 5 Stars

3.5 Stars - A little uneven in places, but all in all a very good start to a new series.
This is only the second series I've started that has both Vampire and Angels as primary characters. Although I love Eden's work, I had a bit of a hard time getting into her writing style for this particular book. Sometimes too little info is given out at a particular time that made me think I had missed something. At least she didn't infodump, though; that would have been much worse.

The book starts with Keenan being an Angel of Death, and Nicole the sweet, pretty schoolteacher he is dispatched to collect. She is being attacked by a Vampire; and Keenan makes the fateful to decision to spare her life and tape the Vampire's life instead. For this, he loses his wings, and becomes a Fallen Angel.

Cut to 6 months later, and they meet up again; Keenan has been looking for Nicole all this time. Nicole is now a Vampire, having been changed by her attacker. The book never reveals to the reader exactly what happened to the H and h during the past 6 months, but most of it eventually comes out as the story unfolds. Both leads have toughened up (a lot) with the changed circumstances in their lives. Eden doles the info and action out in `real time' a la the tv series 24. I started going along with the flow, and just let the story play out. The missing pieces finally to come together and slip into place. Then the story was a wild ride, lots of action. During the course of the book, the powers that Keenan lost when he fell start coming back to him. There are Angels, Demons, Shifters, and humans after the couple for various reasons. The Angels either wanted Keenan back in the fold or to kill him (and to get rid of Nicole, since her name is ialready in the book of death), the humans wanted to kill Nicole the Vampire, and the Demons wanted to kill them both, and the Shifters wanted Keenan's angel blood to make a powerful drug that would kill Demons. (Whew!) There were several fun references to Dee and the Night Watch series.

The good - it was an interesting, action-filled story that kept the book moving right along; and made me want to read the next book in the series. (Oh, and a virgin hero. That's always rare and fun)! The bad - the story had so little `down time' that it was difficult to get deep into the lead couple emotionally; and feel a lot of empathy for their situation and developing love story. It's the first book of a new series, however; and they often are a little bumpy reading while the author gets the main plotline and story arc going. I'm really looking forward to the next book, should be about Azrael or Sammael. Azrael fell in this book, and will be a hard sell to redeem, and Sammael had fallen previous to the start of this book.

All in all, recommended to readers of PNR. Eden also writes some great Romantic Suspense, and I think I may like her RS better than her PNR...

Blog Rating: 3.5/5 stars

**********
"I was just in the mood to kick some ass."
She shook her head. "You know, you just don't sound like an angel."
**********

It seems like angels have taken over the paranormal world at the moment, but guys with wings can be so sexy! In the case of ANGEL OF DARKNESS, we have Keenan, a fallen angel who's lost his wings because he didn't take the soul he was supposed to. Nicole was set to die and Keenan was tasked with bringing her soul into the afterlife, but after watching her live prior to an attack by a vampire that was supposed to kill her, Keenan can't stand to end her life when she cries out that she wants to live. Keenan instead lands his death touch on the vampire who is attacking her, ending his life and changing the course of his own existence forever. He's pulled away from Nicole, and faces the consequences of his actions: his wings are burned off and he's basically tossed back down to earth as one of the fallen.

Fast forward 6 months, Keenan is living on earth and when he finally locates Nicole, he finds her not at all the same woman he knew just a few short months ago. She's been turned and is trying to survive as a vampire - only a lot of people seem to want her dead. It's up to Keenan to figure out why and to help protect Nicole through all these attacks by other vampires, demons, shifters and even another angel, who causes all kinds of problems for both Nicole and Keenan.

The story has constant action as Nicole and Keenan are trying to avoid being captured or killed, first by shifters who want revenge for a killing Nicole made as she struggled to not only survive her change into a vampire, but born vampires can control those vampires who were changed over, and the born vampire that she was connected through compelled her to kill, when it was the last thing she wanted to do. Now, she's dealing with the fallout and having shifters and vampire-killing humans on her tail has pretty much run her ragged. Keenan, while having no wings, is slowly remembering all the powers he used to have as an angel, and those did not disappear with his wings - he's able to help keep Nicole safe and ultimately bring them to a final fight between an angel, a shifter, and another fallen angel who might be good...or might be bad, but he ended up being the character I was most drawn to. Love those strong supporting characters! But while Nicole starts out being the hunted, Keenan quickly takes over that role, when the shifters find out an angel is on Earth, one who has a weakness, in Nicole, that they can exploit. They're out for Keenan's blood literally, as his blood is the only way a high level demon can be destroyed. Having access to angel's blood means having a lot of power in this world, and everyone wants it.

With the action being pretty much non-stop from the start of the book, it took a little bit away from the romance between Keenan and Nicole. Don't get me wrong, they have hot chemistry together, but it was either at one end of the spectrum or the other. Their relationship is pretty intense at all times and Keenan having always been an angel of darkness has never known emotions, at all. Being with Nicole is 100% new to him, in every single way and those emotions get the best of him at times and he struggles with controlling everything he's feeling, which includes a lot of jealousy when Sam, the other fallen angel, comes more into the story during the second half.

**********
"Try living with nothing for two thousand years, and then see just how hungry you are for everything."

His mouth took hers in a hot, hard, kiss that she met head-on. She knew about hunger, not just for blood, but for someone to hold you, to kiss you, to want you, no matter what.

Was she just a body for Keenan? Just a temptation? Maybe, but for her, he was becoming so much more.
**********

A quick note on Sam, another fallen angel that ends up helping Keenan, somewhat, but still can't be fully trusted. I guess I just have a soft spot for naughty fallen angels (really, who doesn't?), because I couldn't wait for Sam to come back on page and see what he was up to. Hopefully he'll not only have a book, but it'll the next book and perhaps we may have already met his heroine in this story. There's a woman who certainly intrigues him and I have a feeling he'll stop at nothing to get to know her a lot better.

This was a nice start to a new series by Cynthia Eden. Keenan and Nicole are good together and good for each other, but I found myself getting more into the action that was surrounding them, and not as much their relationship. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes next, and hopefully it'll be bad boy Sam that takes us on the next journey.

Nicole St. James is a schoolteacher on The List and it's not a good list. She's supposed to die one night in a filthy alley when she is attacked by a vampire. Keenan is an Angel of Death who was supposed to touch her and take her from the mortal realm. Instead, while Nicole is fighting to stay alive, he hesitates then touches the vampire, killing him instead of Nicole. Uh, oh...Keenan has broken the rules and must be punished. His sentence is to be a Fallen while Nicole ends up a vampire. Then it gets really interesting.

I have read many books by Cynthia Eden and have yet to be disappointed. 'Angel of Darkness' is not an exception. I loved this story set in the same world as the Night Watch series. If you haven't read the Night Watch series, don't worry. They do not make an appearance and are only briefly mentioned, so if you're anal, *cough* I mean orderly, like me when it comes to reading a series in order, you won't be lost or annoyed if you like to read a series, even other interconnected series, in order. In other words, if you're like me, you'll be fine because this book stands alone as the first in a new series.

There is plenty of action from beginning to end interspersed with humor and a buffet of yummy hot sexiness. Smooth-flowing, no plot holes, excellent dialogue and action scenes and I did mention the yummy hot sexiness, right?

I'm really looking forward to the next book 'Angel Betrayed' due out July 1st, 2012.

*The publisher provided a copy of this book to me for review. Please see disclaimer on my blog.

"Despite popular belief, angels were not the favored ones. They did not have choices like the humans. Angels only had duty."

Well hello, Cynthia Eden. I see I've been missing out by putting off giving your books a try. I can't remember where I got the impression, but for some reason I always assumed that Eden wrote light, fluffy PNR. I'm relieved to be mistaken. I liked the way she kept me guessing through the story. I wasn't sure who was good and who was bad and how everything would resolve. The uncertainty of it added a nice tension to the read.

Keenan was a very interesting character. He was an Angel of Death for years and had no life beyond his duty. He didn't experience emotion the same way humans did so he never had a problem fulfilling his task. Until Nicole. For some reason she got to him in a way that no other person had. He was drawn to her goodness and found that when the time came, he couldn't help but intervene. Of course, it still didn't turn out perfectly, but he was cast down for stepping outside his role and daring to take a life that he wasn't ordered to take. He lost wings and powers and found himself bombarded with human emotions and sensations that he previously lacked.

When Keenan finds Nicole he's shocked to find how much she's changed. She's done some bad things since becoming a vampire and he has a hard time reconciling her with the woman he spared. I liked this aspect of their relationship. Nicole talked a good game, but she didn't always like the person she had become. She was worried about what Keenan would think of her because even she didn't approve of what she had done. Keenan and Nicole both had to learn to love the woman she had become, vampire baggage and all.

I really liked the way this book was setup. It had a bit of a "City of Angels" vibe to it, except without the depressing ending. Speaking of "City of Angels"--Why? Why would you do that to me at the end??? That was so upsetting. I'll hate you for it foreva, I swear! *ahem* I'm back from my little tangent now. Keenan falls and gets to discover the wonder of life and emotion with Nicole. He's never loved, never touched--hear that virgin hero lovers?--before her. But I didn't quite understand why this girl, out of all the girls through time, was the one to reach through and cause him to let her live. It was a small niggle, but I would have appreciated a little stronger of a foundation. Once they were together it was smooth sailing for me. I loved watching them learn to trust and rely on one another and then eventually fall in love.

The uncertainty of who to trust was very well done. Keenan was walking in unfamiliar territory and had no clue of what to expect, let alone who was telling the truth. I found myself bouncing back and forth between believing Sam and believing Az. It helped that they both seemed to have a thread of truth running through whatever they said. I enjoyed being confused about who to believe, right alongside the characters and I'm very curious to see where the next book will take us in this world.

I've heard that this series is lightly tied into the author's Night Watch series, but seeing as how I'm new to this author, I can say that this reads just fine with no outside knowledge of the other series. The only time I felt that I might have been missing something was when Nicole spoke about her past torment at the hands of another vampire. I have no idea if that tied into something else, but I felt that there was more to that story that I was already supposed to know.

Favorite Quote:

"Some things in this world were more important than duty, and some things were even stronger than death."

*Review originally posted on Fiction Vixen*

Angel of Darkness, The Fallen #1, by Cynthia Eden
Grade: C-

"He'd always thought humans got the better end of the deal. Pleasure, passion. Sure, pain was thrown into the mix, too. But you could live through the pain."

As an angel of death Keenan spent centuries watching humans and collecting their souls and he never had a problem with his job until he is sent to collect the soul of Nicole St. James. Keenan spends days watching Nicole and when it comes time to collect her soul he hesitates and it changes both of their lives forever. By failing to do his job and changing fate, Keenan falls from heaven and sets out to find the woman who changed his whole world.

Six months ago Nicole St. James was an twenty nine year old school teacher in New Orleans until one night she was attacked by a vampire in a dark alley. As she was being attacked the vampire suddenly dies and Nicole is turned into the monster that almost killed her. Now on the run from vampire hunters, Nicole meets Keenan, a man claiming to be a fallen angel and her guardian. Keenan and Nicole are now on the run from hunters and the head angel of death who still wants to collect Nicole's soul. Keenan now has ten days to keep alive the woman who has come to mean his entire world and worth giving up his wings.

I was very excited to read this book and I love the idea of an angel falling from heaven for a woman and having the woman turn into a "monster" but sadly the story, characters and romance fell very short for me. Nicole's transformation from human to vampire and Keenan's fall from heaven are very fast paced and well written but then we meet Nicole as a vampire and Keenan as a Fallen and the books starts to go downhill.

I really wanted to know more about Nicole like where she grew up, her family, etc. and because I didn't know anything about her other then she was a school teacher and she was supposed to die made it impossible to connect with her. I had a lot of issues with Nicole especially with her relationship with Keenan. One second she doesn't trust him and is running from him and the next they're partners and in bed together. They went from enemies to lovers so fast I almost got whiplash. That's where I lost a lot of interest in the story and just read to finish the book. I don't have a lot to say about Keenan because I wasn't a big fan of his from the beginning and found he kind of fell into the background and was just there.

The one thing and/or person that I loved was Sam. He is a true bad boy and he saved the book from being horrible. Sam was a breath of fresh air that kept the story alive and exciting. I like how his story was built up and I'm hoping that he gets his own book next because that's the only way I will continue to read this series. I wish that I had enjoyed this book more but sadly I didn't and it was a very hard three hundred pages to get through.

4.5 Stars

As an Angel of Death, it is Keenan's responsibility to bring death to those humans' assigned to him and ferry their soul on with just the touch of his hand. Unaffected by emotions, Keenan has never wavered in his duty until Nicole St. James. But that one second of hesitation cost him everything, including his wings and Nicole's mortal life. Cast from Heaven, Keenan tracks down Nicole's whereabouts, for she is the key, but the woman he finds is vastly different than the one he fell for...
A new vampire on her own, Nicole quickly learns the golden rule of the Otherworld - trust no one. It seems every creature of the Otherworld wants her dead, on the run for her life Nicole winds up in Mexico when a handsome stranger all in black saves her from a group of hunters. Unwilling to trust this champion, Nicole seeks to lose him at every turn, but Keenan quickly catches up. Giving in to his protection, together they seek out why Nicole is being hunted and by whom. But will this Fallen be her savior or her downfall? Nicole will soon learn, there is no escaping Death's touch...

The first in Cynthia Eden's newest series, The Fallen, Angel of Darkness was another delightful read from this talented author. Keenan was an amazing character that I loved right away, everything in the human realm is new to him but especially emotions. Watching him learn to control the most volatile ones was intriguing, and never having touched another before...Well let's just say that the emotions in this story ran high. Full of passion and life, and all for Nicole. *le sigh* Capable, determined and caring, Keenan would go through the fires of Hell again to save Nicole and he will not let anyone take her life, even if that means pitting himself against the most powerful of the Death Angels. Nicole herself was beyond strong, violently thrown into this new dark world she fights for her life with sheer determination - she's not ready to die yet. She and Keenan were paired perfectly and right away Keenan and Nicole's chemistry burst from the pages with a sexy sizzle. A heap of sexual tension will keep readers squirming in their seats and when these two get together, well the heat of Hell ain't got nothing on this pair. Keenan might be inexperienced but he has been watching human's sexual exploits for centuries and has gathered a lot of knowledge in that field. ;-)

A captivating and smooth read, Cynthia Eden's flawless writing style will wow you for sure! Each character was given a thorough background without being long winded, giving the world around the characters real dimension. The secondary characters kept me guessing and the suspense and possibilities for the h/h had me glued to the pages. I also liked how Cynthia Eden tied in a few aspects from her Night Watch series, nothing major that would make new readers feel lost, but it was a nice touch for old readers. I cannot wait to read more about these characters introduced here and am looking forward to the next installment, Angel Betrayed (July 2012) which features a secondary character as the main, Sam.

Angel of Darkness makes a fabulous introduction to The Fallen, where good may be bad and bad is oh so good!