Customer Reviews

Covet (Fallen Angels, Book 1)

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(62)
3 star:		(38)
2 star:		(31)
1 star:		(29)

 

 

Romance and redemption kick off this first sortie in a winner-takes-all endgame between angels and demons with the final outcome determined by seven battles for seven souls. The only thing that stands between those souls and damnation is Jim Heron - a man whose own soul is gray enough to make him an acceptable advocate for both Heaven and Hell.

The first soul up for grabs is Vin diPietro's. Vin is a rich and powerful man who is never satisfied with what he has even though everything he has is the very best. A man who started with nothing, did whatever it took, and bent whatever rules he could get away with to make it to the top. A man who has `lost' himself in a fog of avarice somewhere along the way, teetering on the edge of damnation, until the night that he catches a glimpse of Marie-Terese across a crowded dance floor. Seeing the beautiful and somehow familiar Marie-Terese is like a wake-up call for the soul Vin doesn't even realize that he's been loosing.

When Vin enters Marie-Terese's life she too is at a crossroads. The job which has meant her survival for Marie-Terese has been eating away her soul bite by bite. The wealthy and handsome Vin is everything Marie-Terese finds attractive in a man, but she's been there done that and paid a steep price for that mistake.

Little do the pair realize that Vin is a playing piece in a cosmic game, with points awarded based on whether or not Vin takes that final step towards damnation. But Vin is not alone on the game board, he has a champion in the form of Jim Heron - the sole person who has been chosen by both sides to help Vin with his choice. But of course Team Hell is cheating and trying to push Vin over the line. Still, even with Jim's help, it is Marie-Terese who is the key to Vin's salvation. But if Vin and Marie-Terese can't break free from the ghosts of their pasts and Jim can't head off the demon working to keep them ensnared by said ghosts, the world will be literally one step closer to Hell.

I really liked the romance between Vin and Marie-Terese and the development of both of these romantic leads. As cold and detached as Vin starts out, author Ward does a good job of transforming him so that it is easy to root for his redemption. Ward also does a great job of fleshing out Marie-Terese, a character that we've glimpsed as the lead prostitute from Zero Sum in the Black Dagger books. The back stories that Ward develops for Marie-Terese and Vin are detailed enough that there is a really good sense of not only who they are but who they were and the choices that lead them to this point. But I really like the way that they are the catalyst for each others redemption and I liked the tenderness which augments the attraction between the pair.

Okay this is the question that all of Ward's fans want answered, "Is this as good as the Black Dagger Brotherhood series?" Ward's style is pretty distinct - which means that the f-bombs, slang, and brand name dropping which irks some readers are present here - but I enjoy her style and it gives Covet the flavor of the BDB books without the fangs. What fans will appreciate - and this is what adds the icing to Ward's other books for me - is that she is already starting to setup for the strong male friendships which will carry through the series. Another plus is that the demon who is Jim's nemesis is a better adversary than the BDB's the pre-Lash-Lessers. Also fun, since this series is set in the the Brothers' home town, it looks like there will be some crossover and future development of some characters from Ward's other books - in addition to Marie-Terese, Trez and Detective De La Cruz appear - and there is a very very brief "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" drive-by cameo which will give fans a chuckle.

So the answer to the question for me is that I think that it will be as good. I say `will be' instead of `is' only because - even though I really enjoyed the romance and what we've learned about Jim so far - the fallen angel angle is not explored much here in this first book which it makes it hard to compete with the fully established series that BDB is after seven books. Personally I would have liked to have seen just a little bit more explained this go round - I was asking myself whether Jim was or wasn't a fallen angel through most of the book. Even with my lack of patience, my only other nit with Covet is I didn't much care for Jim's heavenly pep talks. Still my nits are minor and didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. There is enough promise in what's been laid out for the series so far that I liked everything else about Covet -- there is no doubt that I will be reading the next book.

I guess what bothered me the most about this book is that I simply could not warm up to any of the characters. About half of the book is about Jim, who I did not find intriguing on any level. The other half was evenly split between Vin and Marie-Therese. I felt like they got short-changed. To make it worse, many of the scenes between Vin and M-T were told through Jim's point of view. To me, this created a sense of distance that was disconcerting.

I love the BDB books, and don't mind when significant amount of page space is devoted to other chatacters because they are so engrossing. The BDB books have a momentum and an intensity of emotion that makes me ache for the characters and plow through the book dying to see what happens next. I care about the PEOPLE (ahem, or vamps, as the case may be!) I don't care so much about the intricate vampire or lesser history....although those are interesting too. I'm dying to know when John Matthew figures out who he is, when Phury is going to man up, how Bella is doing keeping Zsadist on track. I buy JR Ward's books because she has me hooked on these beautifully drawn characters.

I just did not get that feeling from COVET. Jim is a standard issue character. Vin and M-T are more interesting, but did not get enough page space together to develop much electricity. I also thought the whole premise of the series is a little gimmicky. I don't think I'll be reading the rest of the series. (I kind of wish Ward would resurrect her Jessica Bird persona.)

I am not disappointed in this book because it is not about the BDB characters, I was ready for a completely new cast to entertain me. Problem was...no entertainment. As a matter of fact I took a deep breath on page 112 and was shocked to realize that I still hadn't met a character yet that I cared about. Shocked because Ward has never before failed to write characters that vividly come off the page. It just didn't happen in this book. I will say I had grown a little more interested before the end but not by much.

So we have lackluster characters, what about plot? The plot was ridiculous at best. The final battle for the fate of the world and the best the good side can come up with is an off-duty government assassin with over 100 kills? This is the good guy? The assassin with the heart of gold? Right, except he didn't have a heart of gold either. But if he doesn't accept his mission then all of creation is going to be wiped out as if it never existed. Since he doesn't care about anything he says that will be just fine with him. But wait, his mother is in Heaven and she is enjoying the only peace she has ever known. Well, in that case he'll accept. But if everything is wiped away how will his mother know she lost Heaven? Um, nevermind, it doesn't make sense but carry on. Now we are involved with a Catholic good and evil plot in the same town the Brotherhood lives in. How does that mix with the Omega and Scribe Virgin? Um, nevermind, just further examples of a nonsensical plot. If none of that makes sense then no surprise that none of the parameters for the Fallen Angels make much sense either.

On a more positive note the book did pick up a little toward the end. But Ward dropped the ball there too. Much of the action happened "off camera" and it wasn't explained how things were accomplished or even what happened. Why would key scenes be left out, especially when they promised to be so interesting? Since those scenes involved the demon's behavior it was as if her imagination failed when it came to describing the evil side's activities. It really left a hole in the book when it came time for the big show-down between Devina and the Fallen Angels and there was no show-down. And she had been one of the more interesting characters so her presence was missed.

Apparently there will be at least six more books in the series. The other reviews are saying that the first book is sometimes slow to get started. She is going to have a lot of room for improvement. Frankly if I want a shot of J. R. Ward I'll just go back to the Brotherhood. This series is going to have to carry on without me.

It was a struggle for me to get through this book, and it's not because it's wildly different from J.R. Ward's other work. It's been said that her "style" is very distinctive, and it is, but I'm wondering why every single person in her world has to sound the same. But that issue is nothing new.

The story just fell flat for me, I wasn't really invested in the growth of any of the characters, I wasn't overly concerned about their survival, and that translated to a pretty boring read. On top of that I wasn't as entertained by the premise of fallen angels as I was by vampires, so the flaws and weaknesses in the writing that made the Black Dagger Brotherhood campy fun just don't work here.

I realize that people have a preconceived notion about what kind of woman becomes a prostitute and that Marie-Therese doesn't fit that mold, but the writing struck a really uncomfortable note for me. I walked away with the feeling that Marie-Therese got her happy ending because she was different from all those other filthy women, who were the real whores, since she's like a diamond nestled in a pile of crap. She's the "good" whore because she never enjoyed the sex, and the others like Gina are "bad" whores because they do. I'm just wondering what it was, exactly, that made her so special. The shade of her lipstick? The kind of fishnet stockings she wore?

I might try to read the book again and see if I get anything out of it, but I think I'm going to stick with Ward's BDB series, because no matter how frustrating the plot is, it's still enjoyable to read.

I'm in the minority here. I bought the book solely because the author was Ward. I'm not sure what I expected but I had to force myself to finish the book. It dragged as far as I was concerned, no humor at all (I at least get a grin or two when reading Black Dagger series) and the characters were not interesting to me and I couldn't find anything to care about. I will not be buying any more of this particular series, I wouldn't even get them from the library.

I really wanted to love this book...i drove 50 plus miles to snag it from a walmart...and sadly the book (to me) wasn't worth the drive. much like "lover enshrined and lover ahvenged" this book didn't have the same resonance as earlier novels...the characters didn't pull me into their world....and it really didn't seem to ring true....i'm sure the book will grow on me with a few more readings...i personally love J. R. Ward's way of writing...her word play and unique style but this book fell just a little flat for me....its not on my list of books that i can't live without.

Loved her BDB series & bought the Kindle edition of Covet as soon as it was available. I have forced myself to read a third of the book and am deleting it off my Kindle. I have no empathy for any of the characters nor do I care what happens to them. If Ms. Ward comes out with a new BDB book, I'll buy it, but not one of this series.

I was so looking forward to a new book from Ward, and a fallen angel series that I thought would contain the angel from the brotherhood books. I liked that character. This is a bad story, bad plot and egually disappointing characters. Her characters in the brotherhood books are easy to like, and I love the romance. But this one???? There are no discriptions of the characters, there is no likability. I don't really care what happens to them. I am very disappointed. Won't be reading this series I'm sorry to say. Maybe she won't wait too long to do a brotherhood book.

...to a new series by JR Ward. Taking place in some classic locations for readers of Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, there's a lot that's familiar in this story and also something new.

For one thing, the paranormal elements are different. We do see cameos of characters from the Brotherhood world, which means vampires, but the story doesn't really hinge on them. So, we're being introduced to a new mythology, containing black magic, angels and demons. She's created a pretty good lore. Some things are left to be explained as we go along, but it's fairly easy to understand and the background left to be filled in isn't missed within the story.

Jim Heron is the main character of the series, although it seems there will be a romantic story line to each book. This one dealt with Vin and Marie-Therese (who was introduced in the BDB book, Lover Avenged). We basically had two main stories woven together with Jim learning his mission/destiny and the lovers finding and falling for each other. The two stories work really well together and the suspense, particularly toward the end, was fairly intense. With Jim still hazy on what expectations are being placed on him as well as trying to learn the tools he can depend on, I anticipate another two-story weave for the next book, as well.

My one complaint is that Ward is beginning to remind me of a singer who has a very strong instrument and a marvelous trill but doesn't know when to let a single note simply carry the moment. She's great at giving inner thoughts, philosophizing and creating analogies for the current action. In fact she's quite strong in that area. But there are moments that might be better served by just telling the story in a straight-forward manner. Just like the singer with the fabulous, skillful trill would better serve the song with a less-is-more approach, simply laying out events as they're happening might better serve the story being told. At times I felt the narrative was cluttered. But not by bad writing. Too much of a good thing that should really be used as a decorative effect. The story is strong enough to survive without the gingerbread.

Now that I've metaphored the heck out of that criticism, I can say that I did really like this book and I recommend it.

ETA: I strongly implore Ms Ward to get a couple of beta readers. Continuity errors are riddled throughout and it's a problem that's also become prevalent in the BDB series. This is exactly the kind of thing that causes an audience not to commit to an author. You never know when a guy is going to drive off in the same car his girlfriend just drove off in an hour or so ago. She's got fans on her site that would do it for free. Either no editor is actually reading this or she's deciding to leave fixable errors in. Either way, she's too big an author to keep getting away with it. I still recommend this book -- none of the blips posed a problem in the actual story line -- but it's not the kind of thing she'd want to be known for, I imagine.

I didn't expect BDB but I did expect JR Ward and her quick, witty and interesting writing. It took me 5 nights to read this - not at all what I expected. Normally J.R.Ward (for me) creates books that take only one night - just can't put them down. This one, sad to say, I had trouble keeping in my hands. Rather than the enjoyable back and forth banter and funny conversations, Covet has taken on a dreary, familiar style of other series I've read. Meaning - I noticed the trend of the characters "remembering" and explaining things from their past. While some would be necessary - most of this was "filler". It seems like Ward was going out of her way to have me questioning the agenda of each character - none of which I could take sides with till the very end. Alot of avenues and none that compelled me to follow. Alot of short stories put together but nothing really cohesive for me. I'm hoping because it's the first - it's just laying out foundations. Though I see nothing going into the next but the bad ass angels and DOG. ;) Wouldn't stop reading her books yet though cuz I really liked DOG - the blurb with John Matthew was the highlight for me....