In Case You Missed It - The Violet Eden Chapters by Jessica Shirvington

 One of the things I find most frustrating about reading trilogies and series is that you have to wait sooooo long from one book to another.  When I first saw Embrace a few years ago it didn't appeal to me, for whatever reason, and I decided to give it a miss.

Just a couple of months or so ago it happened to pass my desk at work and I thought 'why not!' let's try it and see what it's all about.  Now I am just enormously grateful that I waited so long and I was able to read the entire series in one fell swoop.  It was brilliant and I just loved it.

I'm not sure if I would have fallen so completely under the spell of Violet and Lincoln if I'd had to wait months and months between readings.  This way I only had to wait about a week for the library courier to deposit my next fix.

There is a huge cast of characters in this series, but they all feel like family.   There are fights and disagreements.  They joke and tease, and they are always, always there for each other, no matter what.  The character development is stellar, for principal and secondary characters, and I particularly loved that many of these characters were willing to admit mistakes, however reluctantly that might be.

The following is from the blurb for 'Embrace'

"A centuries-old battle between fallen angels and the protectors of humanity has chosen its new warrior. It’s a fight Violet doesn’t want, but she lives her life by two rules: don’t run and don’t quit. When angels seek vengeance and humans are the warriors, you could do a lot worse than betting on Violet Eden…"

Really, this just about sums up the whole plot.  What is doesn't mention is the world hopping, erupting volcanoes, invisible sky walks, magic and mayhem and romance - oh my, the romance.  It's enough to make your toes curl.

The reader is never really certain if Violet is going to be betrayed, or by whom and this adds an amazing level of tension that is maintained throughout all five books.  People make mistakes, Violet makes many in fact, but I always admired the way the 'family' stuck together.  I would sleep better at night in this world knowing that these Grigori (humans given part of an angel's soul) were out there dispatching the bad guys (fallen or 'exiled' angels).

I realise that I haven't really told you anything about the actual story, and that was deliberate on my part.  I don't want to give anything away.  Let's just say that if you are a fan of soul deep romance, angels and the prevention of the end of the world as we know it, well I'm certain you'll love this series.  Give it a try and find out for yourselves.

On a totally different note, don't you just love these book covers?  I believe they are the US covers, which I much prefer over the original Australian covers, example on the right.  I think the US covers are much edgier and urban fantasy feeling, giving more of a hint of the violence and upheaval to be found in the books. The Australian covers seem much younger.