Monday, April 1, 2013

Beauty Awakened- Gena Showalter

Koldo- a strong, scarred, powerful warrior who seeks vengeance for the angel who ruthlessly removed his wings.  He fights for the army of good, called Unsent Ones, with the help of his leader Zacharel and several other warriors.  He has never known desire… until he meets Nicola Lane.

Nicola Lane- human with a heart defect, and although her body is weak, her spirit is strong.  Koldo falls hard for Nicola, this fragile human and will do anything to keep her by his side. She is Koldo’s salvation as well as his downfall.  But, just how far will he have to go to ensure that Nicola will stay with him forever? What sacrifices will he have to make to keep her with him? 

 

Okay, let me just be brutally honest here.  What happened to this series?  This is only the second book, and I’m already so disappointed.  This didn’t even read like a Gena Showalter book, AT ALL.  I thought the story itself was good. Very tortured hero, who feels unworthy of love and will do anything to make sure his woman is happy.  He’s also able to overcome his need for vengeance because of his love for his lady, so she heals him in not just body, but mind too.  Nicola was probably my favorite of the couple. I wasn’t sure if she was going to succumb and be the whiney, wimpy female or be “the I’m now a bad ass and can take any of you suckers down” type. I thought she grew into her own person, accepted her issues and fought for what she wanted.  Now, notice I said above that I thought the story itself was just good, not phenomenal because it didn’t blow me away or anything.  I liked it..that was all.

 Now, my real complaint is how preachy the love part is. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s very admirable that Koldo hadn’t succumbed to his desires and bedded every female around unlike his fellow warriors.  Honestly? I loved that quality about him, and how unsure he was when it came to the love part.  But, and it’s a big but, I had a hard time following their “almost” experience and the real thing.  I had a hard time deciphering what they were even doing half the time.  I know the caliber of writing Ms.Showalter can do, and this just wasn’t up to par.  They only had 2 sexy scenes in the whole almost 450 page book.  Some kissing here and there, but that was it. So, I warn you now, don’t go into this book thinking you’re going to get something even close to sexy times, because all you’re going to be left with is confusion.    
I gave it a 2 out of 5.