selenityjade

This is the first book in the Shadow Unit series I've read.  I was a bit confused on certain couplings that had happened previously, but otherwise it was completely understandable, enjoyable, and worth the read even as a stand alone novel.

Maybe because one type of paranormal creature I love in PNR is angels that I just couldn't put it down.  And of all the angels that sometimes appear in paranormal novels, Gabriel happens to be my favorite.  So I was really excited to read this.  Especially once you glimpse the cover.  Hot right?  Wow!

As for the actually plot of the novel, I rather thought it was amazing.  Not just the romance, but the twists, turns, different bad guys (some of whom I'm still a bit confused on), and even the rest of the team.  Every single character in this novel has a unique and predefined personality that pushes this story along to its inevitable conclusion.  The plot twists - while one of the major ones I completely saw coming - were varied and intense, and with the amount of emotional upheavals and downward spirals, you are left with a very satisfying story.  I loved the plot itself.  

As for the characters, I'm completely in love with Gabe.  I want him.  He can stay in my bed forever and eat powered donuts, cookies or freaking hot wings I wouldn't care.  He's hot.  He's grumpy.  He can be an ass.  But he has emotions and that's great!

Admittedly, was a lot worried about Xee.  The pink hair, tons of piercings and tattooes, and of course attitude...  yeah, okay, attitude is great.  And while I adore tattoos all over my fictional (and non-fictional) men, and there is nothing wrong with tattoos on women, I just prefer less of them on women, I guess.  And piercings are not my thing, for myself or my men (or at least not many.  An ear yes, maybe a nipple or the tongue, but after that, not so much.)  So maybe leery isn't the right term.  Maybe freaking scared I was going to hate the major player in the novel.  I LOVED her.  She had issues but her issues weren't enough to make it so you wanted to give up on her, and that was awesome.

 Honestly, the only thing I found lacking was the jump from lust to love for Gabriel and Xee.  I mean, yeah, they lusted.  They had one night, and yeah, they still want each other so they get jealous, but then suddenly it's love.  It was a bit abrupt for me.  Admittedly, don't do love-at-first-sight in contemporary romance.  In paranormal, if there is a paranormal reason for it, sure, I adore it.  But instant lust?  Heck yeah.  But Gabriel didn't even show that he liked anything about her - her voice, or laugh, or attitude, except the nickname she gave him got him hard.  So it was like... uh, love?  They never even talked.  Outside of that, the chemistry was amazing though!

 And lastly, the dialog was nicely done.  And I want to thank the author for not torturing me with horribly written dialog or scenes that make no sense just to create drama.  I was given an ARC for this review, and it was well-edited enough I couldn't tell it WAS an ARC review copy.

So simply because I felt the actual love part of the story jumping a bit premature (although once they admitted it, it WAS beautiful), I had to go down a star.  I WILL be reading book one as soon as I have a chance.  4 happy coffee-girl stars!