a review by Jade Hounsell
In my last review for this series I gave the backstory as to how the angels came to Earth and their search for their perfect mate so I will not bore you by recapping exactly what I have already said before. If you haven’t read my review for Avenger’s Angel then I recommend you do so that you have a better understanding of some of what I’m about to write about Messenger’s Angel.
This book is based around Gabriel, the Messenger Archangel, and his search to find his Archess. Gabriel has always called Scotland home but due to his immortality he has to take a break every so many years from it so as to not arouse suspicion as to why a fifty or sixty year old man still looks to be thirty. During this book he has decided to return home as he is beginning to despair that since his brother, Uriel, had found his Archess, Eleanore, he may not find his Archess for another two thousand years or more.
Juliette Anderson is a struggling anthropology student working on her thesis for her PhD. When she is given a financial opportunity in Scotland from a rich backer (the angel Samual), Juliette jumps at the chance for two reasons besides working on her thesis: she has dreamed of travelling to Scotland since she was a child and because her parents are Scottish. When presented with the contract outlining her work Juliette is so overjoyed that she signs it without even looking at it. Upon arrival in Scotland, Juliette discovers a strong sense of déjà vu of having been here before and to top things off she has started to come into her powers. All of this makes Juliette think that maybe all the stresses of her work and the sudden changes have made her a little crazy. To calm down one night Juliette decides that a night out to a local pub is in order and that is where she meets silver-eyed Gabriel for the first time. So begins Gabriel’s courting of Juliette and her journey to understanding she is an Archess. (That really is a very brief outline of how it happened, but if you want detail read the book!)
In addition to Gabriel and Juliette’s romance, we have a human Scottish detective who has issues with Gabriel and is determined to find something to hold against him. We also have a rogue fallen angel named Daniel who is attempting to capture Juliette and present her to his superior officer, the leader of the Adarians, Kevin Trenton. The rest of the Adarians try to capture Juliette and, of course, Samael. So throw all that into the mix and you would expect a fairly fast paced and exciting book yeah? Well, like me, you would be wrong. The first book had such potential to grow but I just found this one a little…shall I say, dull.
This actually may not have been anything to do with the plot now I think about it, but may be due to not really liking the coupling of Gabriel and Juliette. Just something about them just didn’t quite gel, not like Uriel and Eleanor from the previous book. Again nothing I can put my finger on as separately the two characters are likeable enough; just I felt there was no real connection between them.
Messenger’s Angel has plenty of action, vivid descriptions of Scotland, magic and sensuality scattered throughout, so it’s not a bad read at all, I am just thinking that in most series of books, there is usually a lull book (one not quite as exciting as the others) and I am hoping that this is that book as I really am looking forward to the Azrael match-up that was made in the epilogue of this book.