Review of "Bedeviled Angel" by Annette Blair

What's that? Another book with an angel? Yes.. yes it is. Shush it, I am not changing the blog name to "Glow's Angel Addiction." We talked about this. That would be weird. Now hush, we have a review to do.
Disclaimer: This is a book borrowed from my local library. I was not given it or any monetary incentive for a positive review.

Type: Paranormal Romance, Angels!, Guardians, Kids, Agoraphobia, Yellow Brick Road, I want a house like this, Awww puppies

From the back of the book: "   When Queisha Saint-Denis agreed to be a surrogate mother for a jet-setting - but childless - couple, she never dreamed she'd see a return on her gift. Literally. But now she's looking at two adorable orphans, who come with a lot of baggaged: there's a battle brewing over who "inherits" them and their huge fortune, plus an unwanted (and alarmingly attractive) guardian, who she's sure has been hired by the dueling family members to keep and eye on her more than the children. Chance Godricson is keeping an eye on Queisha. In fact, he's her guardian angel. Ever since he gave his life to save hers, Chance has felt an undeniable connection to Queisha. And now that he's back on Earth, in her house, surrounded by two scene-stealing moppets and a woman he finds irresistible, Chance is about to discover that helping Queisha and still staying angelic is not going to be easy... "

Sometimes I feel a little weird when young children are secondary characters. I don't know if it's because they don't seem real, or maybe because they don't act like I expect children that age to act. These children, Lace and Skye, came pretty close, but there was still a few moments where I wasn't sure if they felt too young for their age, or maybe too old. Of course, I'm not a parent, I'm not really around kids this age very much, so maybe they're spot on. I'll admit it, after a while, I started to ignore the kids' part in the story, except when it came to the inevitable fight for custody. Then stuff started to get interesting.

And occasionally, I wasn't sure which character was talking, or what they were talking about. But obviously I was interested enough to keep reading.. and I suppose I could say it paid off in the end. Along these lines, there were a few powers/abilities that just seemed weird to me. I wasn't sure who all had what powers. And the fact that a certain someone could just make a whole trail of bricks pop up and wind itself around the yard? Who has that power? I mean, who's like "Yes... Yes I must have the power to create brick trails for people. Include that in my list of super useful powers.. like the ability to glue pieces of paper together, and have one over-ly rubbery arm." Do you get the picture I'm painting there? Basically I'm saying it's a random, weird power. Obviously not totally useless, but a little weird.

As for the characters. Queisha was quirky, which is totally good, but there were a few times I just wanted her to hush. Or maybe act.. differently. I wanted her to just shut up about the kids being taken away from her and just enjoy it. She told herself so many times to not think about the fact that the kids will probably get taken away, and to just enjoy the time she had with them. That's wonderful... DO IT. As for Chance... Chance is the type of hero that I love - sarcastic and strong. I'm not saying he didn't have his faults - honest to the point of needing a good shaking - but he was someone I'd want to be around, maybe even hang with on occasion. And I did love how he was slowly losing his feathers.

Up until almost the very end, this book was going to be one of those "good, not great, but okay" kind of books. But there was an otherwise not-that-big-a-deal paragraph in the last chapter or two that made me sniffle, and I even had to show a friend. And because of that (Everlasting puppies were involved!), this book was pushed into a different category. So with that, I give you the rating..

So I'm going to give "Bedeviled Angel" by Annette Blair a FOUR out of FIVE (4/5). I did enjoy it, and for the most part, I loved the two main characters. I don't think I could deal with Queisha's neuroses, but I'd definitely want to cuddle up with Chance. And his backstory was a real winner (I LOVED his backstory.. but no spoilers from me).



Have you read the book? Or are you a fan of Annette Blair? Tell me your thoughts in the comments. Want to check this book, or maybe another book by this author, out? Find it at Amazon.com.

And check out my review for "Naked Dragon" here.

Catch ya on the flipside!
~!~ Morning Glow

Review of "Naked Dragon" by Annette Blair

I'll be honest.. I picked this book up because I saw the next book in the series was called "Bedeviled Angel" and I wanted to see if I would like this author. That... and okay, I couldn't wait. No judging.

Disclaimer: This book is on loan from my local library. I was not given this book, nor any sort of monetary incentive, for a review. I am, however, an Amazon.com Affiliate, and will earn an (extremely) small percentage if you buy this book through my Amazon.com link.

Type: Paranormal Romance, Dragons, Certain types of Prehensile Appendages, Magic, Stubborn People, Literal ThinkersFrom the back of the book: "   McKenna Greylock contacts Vivica in desperate need of a jack-of-all-trades handyman to help repair her Victorian bed-and-breakfast. She has a shoestring budget and ninety days to meet the building inspectors approval - or the house will be repossessed and purchased by a duplicitous developer. To McKenna's surprise, Vivica sends the gorgeous Bastian Dragonelli, who not only possesses the speed, strength, and agility to get the job done, but also sets her soul ablaze with a fiery passion she's never experienced before. And if McKenna can accept Bastian's true nature - as a dragon warrior - she'll find her life heating up in more ways than one... "

On a side note, I like book descriptions that end in elipses. It just.. adds a little something extra. Some mystery, some "add in your own thoughts here!" so to speak. And that cover is rather yum-worthy, wouldn't you say? The tattoo is a nice touch, and is actually featured in the story - so not just a randomly added bit of cover image. And I'll admit, I love a man in a tool belt. Especially shirtless. And I know those viewing that small picture can't see it, but Bastian's other tattoo is shown on the cover as well, so kudos to the art designer on this one!

I mentioned earlier that this is my first novel by this author, so I haven't read any of the previous books, which I believe are all set in this world. So that might account for my confusion at the beginning of this book. It wasn't so bad that I didn't want to keep reading, obviously, but I felt like I should know this stuff already, and the quick entrance was more of a refresher course than an explanation. Though now that I've read this one, I do hope to be able to find more by her in the future. And especially read the next one. Because.. well, you know, it says Angel in the title, of course I'm interested.

As for the characters, Bastian was a hoot. English is not his first language (he was a dragon after all), so he takes things extremely literally. And if he doesn't understand a word, his response is "Define [word]." I was amused. And when he finally got a handle on the idea of snark, it was even better. I could generally tell when he was being sarcastic or not, but I did not get the same ease of understanding with McKenna. There were a few times it wasn't until Bastian asked if she was being literal or not that it sunk in that she was being sarcastic. And there were times I was really annoyed with her as a character. I loved that she was strong, and had a goal, and damned if she was going to let a handyman get in the way of her goal... but dang was she stubborn. And there were plenty of times where she would tell herself how much she liked or loved him, and would be biting his head off two seconds later. It was consistant with her type of character, but I think it would have seemed a little more real if her disbelieving comments to him would have softened a little more over time.

And, uh... I think after this book, I'm not sure I will ever look at a "man-lance" the same way again. I won't go into details (because that would be some.. interesting possible spoilers..) but holy cow, it's an interesting read. Seriously people, I suggest picking up this book for the sex scenes alone!! I mean, if you're into that sort of thing.

Well, time for the final verdict! I'm going to rate "Naked Dragon" by Annette Blair a FOUR out of FIVE (4/5). Yes, McKenna drove me nuts to the point of wanting to shake some sense into her, but Bastian more than made up for it. And I liked this author's humor well enough that I do hope to pick up some more books by her in the future.

Have you read "Naked Dragon" or another book by Annette Blair? Tell me your thoughts in the comments. Want to pick up a copy of this book for yourself? Find it at Amazon.com - just follow my link above.

Until next time - Curl up with a good book!
~!~ Morning Glow