Review: Not An Angel by Dawn Chartier

Description:

Kira McCoy wants to die. Losing her husband and daughter tragically left her without hope. Now her disturbed brother-in-law will stop at nothing to have her for himself.  All she wants is to find peace, but instead finds herself on top of a bridge ready to end her suffering.

Protector of the Poryria, Trace Stuart is called to defend his race or embrace death. Defending humans is not part of the plan, but he cannot stop himself from saving Kira.

Realizing that he shares a special bond with Kira, Trace defies his Queen and rushes into the heart of darkness in order to rescue the woman he loves. Will Kira be able to reach past her own pain to pull them both into the light?

Amazon

Excerpt from Not An Angel by Dawn Chartier:

As he measured her, his gaze warmed the consuming chill that had invaded her body. She glanced down, holding the material out. Nothing she could ever afford. Standing next to him in his stunning black suit, gave her more confidence than if she wore plain clothing.

“I wouldn’t have picked it out for myself, but you have good taste.”

“I know.” Trace’s gaze traveled down her torso, to her exposed toes and slowly up to her face. “And you take my breath away.” He kissed the inside of her wrist.

Heat shot up her inner arm overpowering any nervousness she may have felt earlier. She leaned into him and whispered, “You breathe?”

Trace half smiled. “Sometimes.”

She blinked. “Oh.” That meant sometimes he didn’t breathe either.

Trace stiffened, then glanced toward the entrance flanked with four massive columns. It took a moment before she heard footsteps in the foyer. Five men entered the parlor. All dressed similar to Trace, except their cold penetrating eyes made her worry. Scared was more like it. One man strode toward her, eyes narrowed, mouth pulled down in a frown. She swallowed, then took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. They will not get to me. I will be strong.

“He won’t hurt you. Will you, Dev?” Trace stepped forward and crossed his arms.

Dev smirked and stared through his long dark lashes. “Depends.”

An eerie rumble vibrated the room. Kira advanced toward Trace. The sound of a wild cat drifted in the air. She tilted her head, glanced at Trace and realized the noise came from him.

“Boys. Boys. Boys. Dev won’t touch her, but I might.” A slender brunette appeared out of thin air and stood directly in front of the other men. Oh hell.

My Review:

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Life hasn’t been easy for Kira.  After loosing her husband and child, and her brother-in-law going psycho-obsessive, she finds herself on the edge of a bridge in an attempt to end her life. 

Trace, a Poryria Vampire Guardian, was not expecting to save a woman, let alone not being able to leave her side.  He struggles with the darkness of his past, and the potential darkness of his future. 

It is only when they both accept their bond with each other and face the darkness together that they can win the battle, but will they figure it out in time?

I think this was a great book.  It wasn’t a hard read, kept up a good pace, and had a good flow.  I, of course, really enjoyed the characters through out this book.  Kira was a great character.  She has always taken care of herself, and has always been strong for herself.  But through out this book, she has to learn how to depend on Trace to be strong for her as well as how to be strong for Trace.  Trace is the big, strong, good looking vampire.  Who doesn’t like that?  But it is more than that.  He wants to protect Kira, even sometimes against her will.  But he isn’t perfect.  He struggles with his own burdens about his past, and his potential of becoming a Vry. 

I found some of the other characters great for additional entertainment.  The Queen (loved the play on Scottish history!  Best use of history in a paranormal novel for me in a while!) was a strong, controlling woman of power.  She didn’t mind men, but the Queen B comes out when women arrive.  Mike, brother dearest, I think is the character with the most potential to grow (a plus for the next book, hint hint).  Mike’s attitude towards humans and towards Poryrias was an interesting blend.

I only had 2 disappointments with this book.  1, it wasn’t long enough.  I could have gone with another 50-70 pages.  I feel like some of the information they gave could have been expanded on (but, maybe this is just the opening for several more books!).  2, I would have loved a glossary of terms/traditions.  There was so much about the Poryria and the Vry that I would have liked to have had a glossary to turn to for additional information. 

On a whole, I really loved this book.  I highly recommend this book to others.

Happy Reading!


Cana