Angel of Darkness by Cynthia Eden

Looking for another good paranormal romance with angels? Then look no further than the first novel in Cynthia Eden’s new Fallen series, Angel of Darkness.

As an angel of death, Keenan’s job is to collect the souls on his list. He’s carried out his duty for two thousand years and never faltered once. Until he meets Nicole St. James. When the moment of death comes, Keenan hesitates, and instead of taking Nicole, Keenan touches the vampire who’s attacking her.

Cast out of heaven for disobedience, Keenan plummets to earth. Six months later, he finally manages to track Nicole to a bar in Mexico. He’s stunned to discover that the woman he remembers has undergone a dramatic change—she’s become a vampire. And when he realizes that she’s the target of all manner of enemies—other vampires, demons, even shifters—he’ll do whatever it takes to protect her, even if all hell breaks loose…

I’m all about some winged heroes and Eden does not disappoint in Keenan.  Keenan is a model Angel of Death and Keenan is that hero I love…tough and doesn’t give up or give in even when Nicole tries to run him off.  In fact, over and over again, Keenan runs to her rescue even though she insists upon trying to do things on her own.

Nicole and Keenan don’t immediately hit it off.  After several attempts against Nicole’s life, and Keenan saving her…again, she finally realizes she needs to at least trust him.  I wouldn’t say Nicole is one of those whiny “woe is me” type of heroines, but almost kind of the opposite.  She has a chip on her shoulder, but it’s kind of hard to describe. She isn’t arrogant, but more ashamed of how she has behaved since she was turned and so she is reluctant to accept anyone’s help.  Additionally (and this is where I really think having read Eden’s Night Watch series would be helpful) Nicole thinks Keenan is part of the Night Watch…which are like a supernatural police force…and is going to “take care of her”.

I got frustrated with her at times too because she was so caught up in herself and refused to see what was really going on and the very real danger she was in.  No, her very recent past since becoming a vamp isn’t pretty.  She made some mistakes and a lot wasn’t under her control, but I think eventually she comes around.  I don’t feel she’s truly forgiven herself and that will take time. It does seem like she finally gets to a place where she can accept help from Keenan and hey, it’s a romance after all, she does want Keenan and a life together.

The plot seems kind of stagnant and slow at places.  At times, this could be due to world building, but not always.  The Fallen seems to be set in the same world as Eden’s Night Watch series (Immortal Danger), since the Others, the hunters and a few others are mentioned and because of this, I don’t feel Eden did too much additional worldbuilding.  I enjoyed this series and if you haven’t read the Night Watch series, you shouldn’t be too lost, though if you’re like me (I’ve only read the first book, Immortal Danger) you may feel like something is missing.  Through out Angel of Darkness, I kinda felt that something was off, and I’ve had a hard time pinpointing just what it is and I think it may be because there’s a lack of background information in some areas.  Eden does a great job of building in the fallen angels and giving explanations regarding that area of the book but there’s still something more that I want/need.

I felt like most of the action came in the last ~25% of Angel of Darkness, which isn’t necessarily unexpected as that is when most plot points tend to come together and wrap up.  However, I felt somewhat lost as to how all these different people who were after Nicole and/or Keenan all fit together.  Eden certainly keeps you guessing and you end up getting those answers in the end, but I guess I just don’t like feeling all disconnected for so long.  As for the heat factor, Eden can definitely delivered as the chemistry between Nicole and Keenan amps up and she delivers on that crest.

All in all Angel of Darkness is definitely one to pick up.  You will especially enjoy this spinoff if you’re a fan of her other PNR series, Night Watch.