Avenger’s Angel – Heather Killough-Walden

Avenger’s Angel
Heather Killough-Walden

The first in Heather Killough-Walden’s new paranormal series, The Lost Angels, features Uriel, the Angel of Vengeance.

Four thousand years ago, four archangels were cast down to Earth in human form. God’s favourites, they came to find their mates, the other half of their souls made only for them, without whom they will ever be complete.

Uriel, Gabriel, Azrael and Michael, however, were not alone. They were followed by another, determined to find the archesses for himself, and whose power cannot be underestimated. But after centuries of fruitless searching, the archangels – and their enemy – have all but given up hope.

Until one day beautiful and gifted Eleanore Granger crosses paths with Uriel, the Angel of Vengeance. And as a storm rages, outside forces conspire together, initiating an age old battle of good versus evil to win the first archess.

I have to admit that I am a fan of paranormal romance. Anything with vampires, werewolves and shape shifters is my guilty pleasure. The Lost Angels: Avenger’s Angel by Heather Killough-Walden is another book in this very popular genre that is tapping in to the new trend in PNR angels. But if you’ve read and enjoyed books by Lauren Kate and Melissa de la Cruz, I have to warn you that Killough-Walden’s book is very adult in comparison. Think Mills and Boon with angels.

The plot was a little slow at first, but once the story gets going I was completely hooked. There are some great twists towards the end that I really didn’t see coming and they have me intrigued about the second book in the series, Messenger’s Angel.

The action centres on four beautiful, powerful men searching for their soulmates on Earth: Uriel, the Angel of Vengeance, who is now a famous actor; Gabriel, the Messenger Angel, who is now a fireman; Michael, the Warrior Angel, now a policeman; and Azrael, the Angel of Death, who is now a vampire and a very famous rock star. Their nemesis is Samael; he’s the jealous one who likes contracts, trickery and spoiling the other four’s fun.

And then we have Ellie, the archess, who I found a little lacking in personality as she gets shuffled between archangels, pondering her feelings while missing out on the obvious. For someone with so much strength and powers she didn’t seem to know her own mind or be able to say no. Ellie is predestined to love Uriel, but I didn’t get a sense of an eternal undying love and the characters barely got to know one another or develop romantically.

Samael, the Fallen One, will do everything in his power to take Ellie from Uriel. He gave the proceedings a bit of spark – I know you’re not supposed to like the bad guy, but he was my favourite.

There’s lots going on in this book, including love, hate, violence, scheming, and a whole lot of sexual tension. The book is really nicely paced, making you want to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next. I’d recommend this book to paranormal romance fans, but I think I’m going to stick with Charlaine Harris.

Rating: ★★★★★