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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Review: A Touch of Crimson by Sylvia Day


Published Date: October 4th, 2011
Finished Date: October 19th, 2011
Publishers: Signet Books
Format: Paperback
Pages: 344
Series: Renegade Angels #1

My Rating: 4/5


Blurb from Goodreads:
Adrian Mitchell is a powerful angel leading an elite Special Ops unit of Seraphim. His task is to punish the Fallen-angels who have become vampires-and command a restless pack of indentured lycans. But Adrian has suffered his own punishment for becoming involved with mortals- losing the woman he loves again and again. Now, after nearly two hundred years, he has found her-Shadoe-her soul once more inhabiting a new body, with no memory of him. And this time, he won't let her go.

My Review

Wow, what an experience! This book sure is a refreshing take on the whole PNR-UF-angelic novel genre. I thought the whole "she's my soul mate and I wouldn't let her go now that I've found her again" was very YA-ish, and a little cliched, so I took a little time to get past my prejudices and finally picked up the book. I have to say, I was - am - not disappointed.

Lindsay Gibson's mom was killed and sucked dry of blood right in front of her innocent, toddler eyes when she was five, and has been harboring this vengeance ever since. She wants to help people like her, so she trains and hunts paranormals which she can sense when the wind speaks to her. (And if you're wondering, no, she's not crazy. They really do speak to her. Lol, I thought of that too..)

Anyway, she was on her way to resettling in Anaheim for a wonderful new job when she looks up and catches sight of the most gorgeous man she has ever seen in her life - surprise! - and thus tries to catch his attention. Like every other girl/lady/woman in the airport. Thing is, he looked up and when their gazes met, she felt this sense of deja vu, familiarity, and a tingling of arousal. Lol, aroused in an airport.

Adrian Mitchell, head of Mitchell Aeronautics and Captain of the Sentinels, brings Lindsay to his house for dinner, but on the way, things happened and they were both forced to reveal who they were to each other. One an angel Sentinel, the other a mortal who hunts evil paranormals.

But things aren't all carnal sins and happy reunion, Lindsay actually has 2 souls in her - one of Shadoe, and the other is her own mortal one. Shadoe has been reincarnated many times over the past centuries, and she was Adrian's lover in every one of them. Turns out that she was originally the daughter of Syre - antagonist and head of the Fallen (fallen angels a.k.a. vamps). Syre has, for all the past lives Shadoe had, tried to "retrieve" her from Adrian and turn her into a vamp so that they can be reunited and live as a happy family.

Thing is, Adrian would give up his wings before he lets Lindsay be Turned into a bloodsucking fiend...

I'm not sure how to summarise this as this book presents a special case. You see, I pegged Syre as the antagonist, when there isn't really an antagonist in this book. Complicated, right? But let me enlighten you.

*You might not want to continue cause I may reveal some epic spoilers*

Syre is actually a great, loving father who justs wants his daughter back, not the usual bad guy crazies. No ulterior motives, no greed for power, no shit reasons other than to have his family back. And he is a Fallen only because he fell in love with a mortal woman and fornicated with her.

See my dilemma for word choice now? But then you'd be asking, if there isn't a true antagonist, how can there be a story? Well, leave it to Day to come up with such an engrossing, steamy-hot romance that'll leave you with wet dreams and swoon-faced aftershock symptoms, cause I am telling you, this book is good.

Adrian was HOT. H.O.T, hot! He doesn't reveal any sort of emotions, but Lindsay can tell from the howling winds and stormy weathers that seem to be affected by the Captain's reaction (remember the wind talking thing? Yeah, that's the one) what is actually going on inside that hot male husk of an angel. He is possessive of Lindsay, so the lycans know better than to get overtly friendly with her. He takes care of the people Lindsay calls friend, cause he knows that if they get hurt, Lindsay will get hurt, so he goes out of his way to protect them without her knowing. Oh, and the way he leads Lindsay to sin, WOW. Lol, sounds so wrong but I don't care! He's so... wow...

Lindsay's a cool heroine. I adore her. She is the epitome of self-sacrificing selflessness. She loves Adrian with her whole heart, but pushes him away because to bed him would be to cause him his wings, soul and life(a.k.a. forbidden romance). But above all those feminine traits, she's as tough as any Sentinel warrior. She trains under so much pressure and pushes herself to her limit without a single utterance of complaint, and oh god, I just love how she kicks ass.

However, I am giving it a four because it took some time to get into rhythm with this book. It may be because of my lingering prejudices, I don't know, but it may also be because the book wasn't as interesting at the start because of the instant connection thing that annoyed me. But I LOVED the ending. The ending is a total 6 out of 5 stars. I seriously gobbled up the ending (which is the last one-third of the book) in a span of half an hour. Which is record-breaking since I read at a toddler's pace. (I like to savor every word, thank you very much.)

This is a story of true, unconditional love between lovers and a father and his daughter (ok, not much on the familial love, but it's still there), and how they had to overcome obstacles thrown at them from their past. I would say I'm looking forward to the sequel, A HUNGER SO WILD, but it's going to be about Elijah, whom I sorry to say, am not really interested in. Come on, bring us more Lindsay-Adrian love, pretty please?:(

And anyway, Elijah's a wolf. Shouldn't he be in a Renegade Wolfs series, not Renegade Angels series??

P.S. This book reminded me infinitely of the Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh, tho not as great. But if you're a fan of GH, you may want to try this.

P.P.S. Adrian's not a very manly name, in my opinion. Just saying. :)

Random Musing (which you will not understand if you haven't read the book):

Y'know, when Lindsay noticed and pointed out that Adrian doesn't only have 1 pair of wings, but three pairs, I kinda burst out giggling. "You kidding me? He's like a freaking mutated butterfly!"

My Rating
     

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Cyp's Abbreviation Dictionary

DNF = Did Not Finish
HEA = Happily Ever After
PNR = Paranormal Romance
UF = Urban Fantasy
YA = Young Adult

Erotica Reference

BDSM = Bondage/Discipline, Dominant/Submissive, Sadism/Masochism
f/f = female/female
m/f = male/female
m/m = male/male

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