Cat Johnson Braves Doll Lil’s Word Association Challenge!

Book: Envy
Author: J.R. Ward
Series: Fallen Angels #3
Release: September 2011
Reviewer: Believer
Source: Personal Library
Purchase: – Barnes & Noble

Seven deadly sins. Seven souls to save. And a man and a woman treading the lines of danger, desire and deliverance …As the son of a serial killer, homicide detective Thomas DelVecchio Jr grew up in the shadow of evil. Now, on the knife-edge between civic duty and blind retribution, he atones for the sins of his father. Hired to monitor Veck is Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly, whose interest in Veck is both professional and arousingly personal. But Veck and Sophia have a common interest. He’s Jim Herron, a mysterious stranger enlisted to save the soul of a killer’s latest victim, one precariously hovering between heaven and hell. Before Herron’s job is done, Veck and Sophia will be inexorably drawn into a battle of good against evil, where the risk is nothing less than total damnation.

Thomas “Veck” DelVecchio, Jr. has a chip on his shoulder.  The newest detective on the Caldwell police force is also the son of a notorious serial killer. Eager to distance himself from his father’s gruesome reputation and firmly establish his own sense of worth, Veck has lived a solitary life of self loathing.  His smoldering good looks have never left him at a loss for company but his insecurities have made it impossible for him  to connect with anyone.

When Veck is found covered in blood at the scene of a vicious attack on a serial killer Veck is immediately pegged as the number one suspect.  Officer Sophia Reilly, a by the book red headed bombshell, is assigned by Internal Affairs to investigate the attack and become Veck’s partner.  Right from the start these two find themselves fighting their attraction to each other.  Can they find the real culprit and exonerate Veck? Who is the mysterious Jim Heron who continues to show up with information about the attack and the serial killings?  Will Veck and Reilly finally allow their passions to take over?

What a ride! Ward’s writing style is direct and aggressive.  Her characters are in your face, challenging you to deny their brash intensity.  ENVY is the third book in Ward’s Fallen Angels series which follows Jim Heron in his fight to save souls on the verge of being eternally damned. Heron is pitted against the demon lord, Devina, an Angelina Jolie look alike who will break all the rules to make sure she wins this contest. Compared to the previous two books in the series, ENVY is simpler and easier to follow.  Both Heron and Devina have gotten the hang of the contest and it is great fun to read the psychological battles between the two.

The mystery surrounding Veck and his role as the chosen soul is fairly clear and doesn’t leave the reader in the dark. The animal attraction between Veck and Reilly comes to life in some super smexy love scenes that may leave you hot and bothered so don’t say I didn’t tell you!  Ward throws in a few doozies but there are two sub plots I could easily have done without (can’t tell you because they are spoilers). And you can always count on Ward to give you  the anti-heroine heroine (her specialty) – Reilly doesn’t wear make-up and is utterly unaware how attractive she is.  A paragon of tighty whitey efficiency - literally – she is brainy but she can’t understand what super hunky Veck even sees in her.  While Veck is so steeped in guilt and repentance for the sins of his father, Reilly’s straight arrow good girl rocks his socks off and leaves him totally inept and hopelessly flummoxed.

Take this PNR to bed with you and don’t be surprised if you find yourself racing through the book to read the smexy parts!

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved to read story books. She devoured them because they were full of magical possibilities with every turn of the page. Then the little girl grew up and school work occupied more and more of her time. Eventually the little girl graduated from school, trading in poets & prose for business management & autobiographies. Magic was left behind in her quest for the top and the world became a place filled with “paradigm shifts”, ROI & financial reports. Before she knew it, the girl was a woman who felt out of touch with the world’s magic until she met Birth and her sister Death. While Birth filled her with wonder & happiness; Death filled her with sadness & loss. And so one day she set aside the management books and instead picked up a paperback story filled with vampires, shifters & telepaths. Lo and behold, her passion for these stories blossomed and the woman became a believer in the magic of reading, again. My name is Believer9200 and I believe in the magic of stories because they give me hope.

Doll Believer

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