Hidden in the shadows of the Infernos, Celeste is surrounded
by the protection of Dante and her brothers. She is a Demon/Reaper a being that
should never have been. An elite fighter, Celeste has honed her fighting skills
and is a deadly weapon for Dante. Her one weakness? A Fallen Angel she has
loved for two centuries.
Marcus a Fallen Angel knew the unconditional love of the
Gods, and Angels. But he fell to the mortal plane in dishonor. Five hundred
years ago he fell for a mortal, but she spurned him. Taking a vow of celibacy
he has dedicated himself to fighting the evils of the world. Believing that he
will one day be worthy of his lost mortals love as well as redemption from the
Angels who turned him away.
One of the First… Calliope has been released onto the mortal
plane. His one and only goal is to destroy Dante and the Reapers. Taking his
rightful place as the ruler of the Infernos.
The only weapon that can kill Calliope is the Black Sword, a
sword so evil only one creature in existence can carry it. Celeste. But she
can’t hunt down Calliope on her own. She is forced to partner with the one
being she wants more than life itself, Marcus.
Can a Reaper/Demon and a Fallen Angel work together to kill
Calliope before he succeeds in taking over the Infernos and releasing hell on
earth?
I'm
Choosing This Because:
I have to admit that I chose this because it was for a blog
tour. The pretty cover and the synopsis really drew me in and I said I'd read
it. I'll tell you more about the cover in the next section so let's focus on
the blurb aspect of this. For me it sounded like a fun adventure with a touch
of romance to keep the main characters occupied and I have to say that idea
appealed to me (well the adventure appealed most of all, I love action.). I
won't lie though, this is not my normal type of book and I definitely wouldn't
have bought it. The thing that I really love about blog tours is the fact that
you have the opportunity to step out of your reading comfort zone and try new
types of books.
Judging
a Book By Its Cover:
I have to say this is the thing that made me 100% decide to
request this. The girl on the cover is so pretty and the violet eye really make
her stand out. The flames surrounding her also make the cover so beautiful to
look at and I have to say the orange is so bright and eye-catching that I just
have to stare (the fact that orange is my favourite colour helps with this
immensely.). The font used for the title also feels like it belongs on the
cover, everything working together to creating beauty. The only thing that detracts is the winged
man in the top corner, I feel that he doesn't work at all and that he looks
really cheap and tacky. Definitely puts me off the cover a bit.
Pricing
the (Possible) Awesomeness:
You can buy this in eBook and physical formats on Amazon.
The Kindle edition is £2.72 and the paperback is £7.70. I personally feel that
those prices are a bit steep considering that this is an indie book (okay, I
get it for the paperback but the Kindle edition?). There are loads of indie
books available for cheaper and if I'd been looking to purchase this based on
price I would've clicked off the page.
Oh wow, I'm so glad this is over. I'm really not sure how
much more I could take. Now you all know I don't DNF but this book has caused a
massive reading slump for me, I'm going to explain why but I want to be
positive to start with, the actual base of the storyline is great. It's an idea
that appeals to me greatly and I'd love to see this refined. I just don't feel
that this really did the idea justice now I'm going to dive into a few of my
issues, then we'll do a character run through and then I'll wrap it up. You don't
want me blithering on for ages.
Editing - Oh my golly gosh! There were so many typos, I
think I spent most of my time reading this banging my head against things. Now
I realise I'm British and that this is written in American English, that isn't
my issue. My problem is that this felt like a draft. A first draft. I have no
words for how frustrated this makes me as a reader. I want to have faith
that what I'm reading meets a certain standard and the editing here just fails.
Epically. Seriously, this book is a lesson in why it's wiser to pay for an
editor. If that means you have to lose out on other aspects do it. The words
should come first. Speaking of editing, the chapters are far too long, there
are times when instead of simply switching POV mid chapter a new one would've
been better. I get that sometimes long chapters need to be there but break it
down for goodness’ sake! I'd like to be able to do things with my life other
than spend half my day searching for the end of a chapter!
Conversations - Now I was in awe, the thing you learn
about writing conversations in stories is to write how you speak. This is not
the case here and the result is a lot of awkward sounding, stilted
conversations that become so awkward to read after a while. Now I get that there's
always the temptation to make your characters speak properly but it never works
in a book, if you have to say every sentence out loud before you write it down
then do it! Just make sure it's readable for us.
Character Chemistry- I actually really felt the chemistry
between Celeste and Marcus, I actually wanted them to get a room, mainly
because I was getting bored waiting, but still I was rooting for them. To be
fair, if I was a regular reader of this genre I'd probably understand the whole
building up the sexual tension, as it is I was like "Can they get it on
and save the world already?"
Marcus
- Marcus is our tortured male lead. He's forced himself into a life of
celibacy and dullness. I kind of liked him but then he'd just go all "woe
is me" and I just couldn't be bothered with him. I get that he what he was
but the author didn't quite pull it off for me. He had moments where he could
have excelled as a character but instead he was middling to meh.
Celeste
- She's our very horny leading lady and a feisty one at that. I actually
liked her. She knew what she was doing and despite sometimes coming across as
selfish and unfeeling I did actually enjoy her. It's not often that a heroine
comes along and kicks more arse than the dude but Celeste does that and more. I
have to say that I'd have liked to have known more of what she was as a Sex
Demon. It's something that was brought up constantly and wasn't really
explained as fully as I'd have liked.
Overall this is a good idea with terrible execution. I
don't want to be harsh or rude but I have to be honest and the truth is this
really isn't good editing wise. Now I know that as an indie author editing can
be expensive but invest in it. I found so many errors that I was considering
copying and pasting into Word, actually changing everything and sending it
back. That's how annoyed I was. For the first half of the book I was adamant
that I was going to be gentle but time wore on and I just couldn't bring myself
to read this. Finishing this was honestly a chore and there was encouragement
involved in getting to the end. I'd very much like the author to go away,
really sit down and edit this and then come back with it.
I
saw potential in this so I'm not going to give it 1 star. The actual story idea
was solid and I'd really like to see it worked on. The writing had it's issues
which I've already pointed out but the characters did their jobs nicely (Well
Celeste did anyway) and I enjoyed reading them. I honestly wouldn't recommend
this in its current state and I most certainly wouldn't pay the prices that are
on Amazon. I can't say the word editor enough. I know I sound like a broken
record but I need to get my point across.
This is an adult book and contains sex, violence,
swearing, you get the gist. Not for younger teens!
I received this book as part of a blog tour, that didn't affect the honesty of my review
in any way shape or form. I'd like to thank Heather and Christie for allowing
me to read this and I'm sorry it wasn't for me.
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