Author: Joanne Valiukas
Source: Requested Review
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Format: Paperback, 392 pgs
Release Date: January 21, 2010
Author Website
Danann Frost is thousands of years old, yet young for her kind. She is a creature of the Light, an Angel, one of the Seraphim; a race of beings that live beyond our world. She has been cast out of paradise and Fallen from Grace, all for the love of a Dark One - a vampire. The only problem is, Seth did not want her and told her to go and not come back. Danann has made a life for herself amongst the vampires of this world and they protect her fragile nature. She and the vampire Asher live on the fringes of the human world; love and loyalty cannot separate them but trouble and vengeance are on their way. After two hundred years of enduring the crippling punishments of her Fall, Seth walks back into her life but he is bitter and angry and out for revenge. Thank God he is after someone else...or is he? Can Danann escape the dark intentions of her once-beloved for whom she Fell from Grace, or has she put all those that she holds dear in danger? Journey with Danann as she takes the path to taking back her Light and ascending to be Angel once more. Will the Archangel Uriel surrender her Light or will Danann be doomed to walk in darkness forever?
Rating -
Sexual -
My Review:
This is the first in the Danann Frost paranormal romance series. Valiukas has created a world within our world which includes shapeshifting vampires, living vampires, angels and archangels (who are both Seraphim), innocent all consuming love and devastating betrayal.
The female lead, a lovely young naive angel, mistaken for a Goddess swan lady, is discovered by Seth and named Danann. She later gives herself the last name of Frost.
Seth, the male lead, is a very rare born vampire who even though he is 839 years old is still treated as a child by his parents who are only about 200 years older than himself. Even though he is what the Seraphim call a Dark One, Danann can see his soul is full of light except for a very small dark spot.
Their forbidden relationship starts out in such a sweet funny manner. Danann is all "child-like in her innocence" while he is very experienced and perplexed at how to handle her and her continuous questions.
The first 17 chapters read like a fairy tale being told to the reader. In narrative form, we are told the story of Danann and Seth's meeting in Ireland and their young relationship. It is a sweet fairy tale that goes horribly wrong - a cautionary tale to remind us of what happens when we assume. Told this way, I found it hard to continue to read, unable to relate to the characters, but was rewarded when making myself read past page 80.
Chapter 18 skips forward 200 years to present day Australia and is now told in Danann's first person point of view and the story turns into a very good paranormal romance and the characters come alive for the reader. Danann's punishments for Falling are inventive and imaginative and the story has several twists before ending in a kind of a cliffhanger. There isn't a "happily ever after" yet at this point but the potential is there in the sequel, Danann Frost Embraces The Darkness, due out June 12, 2011.
On the sexy scale of 1-4, I rate this as a 3. I would have given this book a 5 star content rating if not for the first 17 chapters being told the way they were - as a sweet tale but in a dry manner like something from Grimm's Fairy Tales or Aesop's Fables. But I am very glad I continued because I would have missed out on a very compelling read. I think fans of the paranormal romance, paranormal angel and vampire genres will enjoy this book.
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