Deliver Me from Temptation by Tes Hilaire

Deliver Me from Temptation by Tes HilaireAhhh, the second book in a new series is always much anticipated and one hopes that it will be as good and hopefully better than the first.  Unfortunately, Deliver Me from Temptation was a bit of a let down.  Don’t get me wrong, I like the series and the story arc, but it just wasn’t as good as the first book in the Paladin Warriors series, Deliver Me from Darkness

Logan Calhoun is the last full-blooded Paladin, the future leader of a race of immortal warrior angels. The heavy responsibility of continuing the Paladin line falls to him, and the last thing he should do is get involved with a human. Then fate throws Jessica Waters, a homicide detective who doesn’t believe in fate or divine intervention, into his path. Her devotion lies in her Glock and a good set of handcuffs. Like Logan, she’s a warrior for her people, and she awakens within him something he’d never thought he’d feel. But she’s also as human as they come…

I’m torn here.  I do enjoy the series and didn’t dislike Deliver Me from Temptation, but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the debut, Deliver Me from Darkness. Usually once all the world building of a new series is complete (it was all done back w/Deliver Me from Darkness), action and character development is the center of the future books.  This was only partly true for Deliver Me from Temptation, as in, there was character development.

The Paladin Warriors series is PNR, so you have different hero/heroine combos for each book, so you expect character development to be heavy in each book of a PNR series. However, to me, Deliver Me from Temptation was slow. There wasn’t enough action and the pace just felt sluggish. I needed more tension, more “oomph” if you will.  I get bored easily and it’s not uncommon for me to skim through less active portions of a book. I’ve read this way since I was a kid. But with Deliver Me from Temptation, I wasn’t just skimming. I kept getting heavily distracted by outside things…twitter, facebook, music playing in the background.  My ADOS (attention deficit….oooooh…SHINY!) was rampant while reading Deliver Me from TemptationIt’s hard to explain. The writing isn’t bad and didn’t feel forced. I just think there could have been more tension and drama going on.  For instance, the dynamics between Logan and his father.  There’s a big story there…even Logan warns his dad at one point that he (dad) didn’t want to have Logan challenge him…that Logan didn’t want to have to go there yet.  Why? What is the backstory there? We don’t find out really…so is Logan’s dad gonna get a book? If not, then this is Logan’s book…the perfect time to go there with his dad. Time to face that demon and force that issue, especially when daddy dearest scares the living daylights out of Logan’s woman.

Also, I’m not entirely sure what the set up is for upcoming books.  There are some small hints, maybe. But…I’m just not too sure.  Part of this could be from me not knowing how many books the series is set up for. But I’m not entirely sure who the next hero will be.

I just feel that Deliver Me from Temptation could have been soooo much better. There were several subplots that could have been fleshed out more to give more action and create the tension I look for.  As I said, I like Ms. Hilaire’s writing and I do like the concept for the series. But would I move Deliver Me from Temptation up to the #1 spot on your TBR list, no.  Is it worth reading? Yes…but save it for a rainy day when you’re stuck inside and need something to do ;).

About Nicole 146 Articles
Attorney by day, Publicist for Barclay Publicity and reviewer/LE (assistant) editor by night. I'm a huge book nerd and love to read. I have 2 dogs, both Labrador retriever mixed breeds, who are very rotten and think they run the house. Let's not lie, they totally do, I just can't them know it ha ha! My usual genre is romance or urban fantasy. I love all things having to do with paranormal, with the occasional good contemp/BDSM/erotica thrown in to spice it all up.