I made it to page 33 in this book until the nasty word popped up and ruined the book for me. This will be my last attempt to read romance genre. I thought maybe a paranormal romance book would be different and you think I would've learned from that wretched vampire book I read a few weeks ago but no I dove right in and got back out before they even had sex. Not my kind of story I like to read so therefore no stars for this one for me.

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Dark, dangerous world that I instantly got sucked into. Characters that are a little too stubborn for their own good. Not my favorite of the series but still a great read.

Opening Sentence: Marna awoke to pain.

The Review:

Avenging Angel is the fourth novel in The Fallen series by Cynthia Eden. She writes such wonderful paranormal romance in which I immediately just fall into her worlds. (I haven’t read any of her non-paranormals at this time.) I love this dark, dangerous yet spiritual world and would love to see more works in this series so I was really excited to see it was a spinoff or at least linked to her Night Watch series. I will definitely have to pick up some copies.

Avenging Angel would at least benefit from having read the other novel in The Fallen series but it really isn’t necessary. Marna and Tanner’s story begin in Angel in Chains and the results of that story are what put them together in Avenging Angel. Marna was a Death Angel but she has since suffered a terrible loss that has forced her to be stuck on earth. Tanner is the sexy, panther shifter who found her and nursed her back to life. He feels responsible for Marna’s predicament and takes it upon himself to keep her safe.

This book starts off with a bang when Tanner confronts Marna with killing a couple of shifters. He is pretty sure she didn’t do it but the police are hot on her trail and he needs to keep her out of jail because angels just don’t do that well in jail. Unfortunately, Marna gets dragged down to the police station anyways and the only way out is to fake her death so she can find out who is setting her up for murder.

Tanner uses his status as a police detective to outwit the law that is after Marna. It doesn’t take long for Tanner to also be targeted by the unknown assailant that is after Marna. Tanner and Marna get a terrible lesson in how bad the supernatural underworld can be when supernaturals get a taste of angel blood so now Marna has a lot more people gunning for her. Tanner doesn’t quite realize that Marna has been having some Angel of Death power problems but when he does they work as hard as they can to figure out how to get those powers back.

Marna is a Death Angel that always had a wariness about her job. She collected souls out of duty only because she didn’t want to fall. She is very sweet but once she is stuck on the earthly plane it doesn’t take her long to grow a backbone. She does try to take revenge on those who hurt her but she feels a bit of remorse. As an angel, Marna has studied humans and she knows what can lead to their downfall but once she acquires a taste for human pleasure, she has no problem indulging in that vice.

Tanner is tough and mean shapeshifter. He only cares for his brother Cody and Marna. Otherwise he really isn’t too friendly. Most of Tanner’s time is taken up by the fact that he doesn’t want to turn out like his father, a murdering psychopath, so he tries to help the humans by being a cop, but also by helping hide supernaturals from being found out by the rest of the world. I felt that Tanner was a little too macho abrasive at times. I thought he was sexy but a little too over the top.

In the end, I had no problem getting sucked into this dark and dangerous world. I would still like to see some of the characters in this series get their own stories. I really did enjoy the supernatural set up with the Angels, Shifters and Demons.

Notable Scene:

“Run,” Marna told the demon. The women’s green eyes had faded to black. “This is your only chance.” She was trying to give her a fair warning.

Instead of heeding that warning, Jillian fired on her.

The bullet never hit.

Because in that same instant, Marna lifted her hands and sent out a wall of fire. The fire circled her and Tanner, closing them in—but keeping the others out. The fire raged so hot that the bullet melted, vanishing in the inferno.

Power, pulsing heat, poured from Marna. “I’m not weak!” she screamed. Too many thought of her that way. All the supernaturals who wanted to cut her open and drain her dry. Even all the angels upstairs, the ones who used to whisper about her. The ones who’d thought she wasn’t strong enough to do the job of a death angel.

FTC Advisory: Kensington Brava provided me with a copy of Avenging Angel. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Tanner Chance is a panther shifter and a cop in New Orleans. He fears that he will turn out like his father and older brother Brandt. Tanner rescues an angel from the swamp has been iinjured by his brother Brandt. Marna is an Angel of Death one touch of her hands is lethal. Marna's wings were cruelly torn from her body with claws. Marna is now among humans feeling all of their emotions and feels overwhelmed by them. Marna wants revenge on those responsible for hurting her so yet discovers that said revenge doesn't happen. She's feeling truly lost in a world that she barely understands. Tanner discovers that Marna is being charged with two murders and sets out to make sure she keeps her freedom. Tanner doesn't understand how he feels when around Marna~it's like his beast wants to run wild over her. Marna feels conflicting emotions around Tanner yet he makes her feel safe. Someone is killing paranormals framing Marna for the crime. Will Tanner or Marna admit how they feel? Will Marna get her wings back? Who is framing Marna? Can this person be stopped? Your answers await you in Avenging Angel.

This is my first experience with Cynthia Eden. I must admit to being impressed with her writing style, characters, character's histories, and backdrop of New Orleans. The world building is excellent. The angel lore is really good and unique works well for this story. I liked Marna. I loved hearing her internal conflicts about what happened to her. Tanner is the strong alpha male you expect but get so much more than that from him. Tanner is a tortured soul that doesn't believe he's good enough for anyone let alone Marna. I will definitely be checking into the rest of this series by this author. ( )

4.5

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Kensington for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Marna is a Death Angel without wings and yet technically she’s not Fallen. A right nasty shifter hybrid cut her wings off and now she’s Earthbound. Tanner Chance, a panther hybrid and his brother Cody, a demon hybrid, found her after the attack and saved her. Tanner only wants to protect her and keep her safe, but she doesn’t want anything to do with a monster. He keeps an eye on her anyway and when she is accused of killing two panther shifters in an alley, Tanner who happens to be a detective for the New Orleans police, finds her first and brings her in for questioning. Marna knows she didn’t kill anyone and when she tells Tanner she didn’t kill anyone he believes her because angels can’t lie. Now, they need to find out why someone set her up and how they managed to look like her because there has to be a reason and it’s not likely to be a good one for Marna.

Oh, how I love Cynthia Eden’s books. The worlds, the characters, the humor, the steamy goodness, the twisty plots are all so lovely to read. I haven’t read a book of hers yet that I didn’t enjoy. There aren’t just shifters, angels, demons, etc. There are hybrids of all kinds and I love seeing what Eden cooks up and pulls out of the genetic oven next. This book is part of The Fallen series yet it could stand alone. Only Sam & Seline make an appearance though a few others are mentioned. I love when past characters are included in the current book and when current characters look like they are going to get their own book. Hello, Bastian. I hope you’re next. Though Riley the vampire sounds interesting, too. All-in-all a most excellent afternoon read. ( )

This was an interesting story of a renegade angel. She thought that she was no longer an angel because her wings were gone. So she did whatever she wanted to do. She fell in love, and even killed someone. She was the Angel of Death and was used to taking lives, but it was their time. I liked this book because it talked about all different angels and there were also shifters. I really liked that angel blood was magical and saved lives. It was a different take on angels and how they lived. I liked it, but I didn't quite understand the ending. I understood why she did what she did, and I understand the consequences. What I do not understand is how they went against something they said earlier in the book. The consequences should not have changed! I am giving this book a 3/5. I was given a copy to review from Library Thing, however all opinions are my own. - See more at: http://dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com/2013/06/avenging-angel-by-cynthia-eden-revie... ( )