Title: Broken Flight
Series: Angels of Punishment
Author: Elle J Rossi
Published: February 2013 Black Poppy Books
Format: ebook provided for review
Tour: Yes, Dark World Book Tours.
Anna James never planned on dying at age nineteen or ending up somewhere other than heaven. Five years later, her heart is still on Earth with her soulmate Grey, while the rest of her struggles to survive in Beyond. Not quite heaven and a lot like hell, Beyond is a proving ground where only the strongest souls are allowed to move on. With no way out, Anna keeps her head down and plays by the rules... Until she learns Grey is about to die.
Grey Wilson would give anything to go back and stop the accident that ripped Anna from his arms. But when Anna appears on Earth again, he quickly realizes things can never be as they were. Death and Beyond have changed her; brought out the dark side and dimmed her inner light. Before they can even revel in this semblance of a miracle, Grey and Anna find themselves in the middle of an angelic civil war where sabotage and danger lurk around every corner.
Anna's dark side is exactly what Azrael - the leader of the Angels of Punishment - craves. When Azrael lays out his demands, Anna will have to make the biggest decision of her life.
Broken Flight is the story of Anna and Grey. Anna died five years ago and she's been in Beyond ever since, which is sort of like a level of Heaven. But it's more like Hell for Anna. She wasn't reunited with any friends or family when she died; but rather, she gets to be a courier for Azrael. Azrael happens to be this angel with blood red wings, and he is pretty badass. She also gets to spend time watching over Grey, back on Earth. At least until the day that he nearly kills himself.
Grey is an adrenalin junkie, putting himself in constant danger, because when he does, he sees Anna. But on this day, he's actually going to die. So Anna steps in and saves him. Now she's got to be punished. This is where you get to meet the AOP - Angels Of Punishment.
See, Anna and Grey were pretty good characters. They rode in the middle of the road for me. I didn't like them nor hate them. When they are reunited, I felt it was a little too quick of an acceptance on Grey's part. I mean, Anna's been dead for five years - and now she's in your arms. I expect a crazy reaction to that. I also just don't really feel the soul-mate type of love between them. They just didn't strike me as one of those couples who I just was going to love because they were so helplessly in love. My heart didn't really bleed for them.
But the Angels of Punishment, ohhhh, there was a group. Lead by Azrael, then you have Zeke, Sarafina, Mickale, and a couple others. They were exciting and dark. They captivated me. They weren't your typical angels where you could just picture them getting good Samaritan awards or saving kittens from trees. Nope, they were a bit different. Thigh high boots, clanging armor, flying steeds, naked rippling muscles... these angels commanded attention - and that's before you get to their egos and mysteriousness. They were large and full of personality. Yep, I definitely liked the angels.
As for the rest of the story, it was pretty good overall. I'm not usually a big fan of angels / fallen angel stories, so admittedly they are often a very hard sell for me. This story wasn't a bad story, it just didn't grab me as much as I had hoped. Elle Rossi is a terrific writer though, and that is clearly evident in this story. I like the concept, because who doesn't love soul mates and true love? I love that Anna was punished oh-so-badly for breaking the rules. And I really adored the AOP, because everything wasn't about being good, rainbows, and roses. That part I really liked. I think if you enjoy angel novels, you will really dig this one. It's different enough to catch your attention, and filled with enough action and mystery to keep you reading.
Elle J Rossi
Elle J Rossi grew up in rural Indiana surrounded by great people, a huge family and more animals than she could count. But the sites and sounds of the world beckoned, so she left her small town to escape into a creative world full of music. As a full time singer she was able to lose herself in a thousand different songs in a hundred different places. After meeting the love of her life and settling down, she yearned to find a new and fulfilling creative outlet. Overly fond of the happily ever after, she wondered what it would be like to have her own characters lead her down dark and twisted paths. The very first word on the very first page sealed her fate. She’d found a new love. She’d found her escape. Now along with weaving haunting tales about the journey to love, she’s creating cover art for authors around the world and loving every second of it. For fun, she cranks country music to take her back to her roots, and sings karaoke anytime she gets a chance. Her husband, two children, and a cat that rules the roost keep her company along the way and guarantee she doesn’t get lost in the enchanted forest. She wouldn’t have it any other way.
Website – Blog – Twitter – Facebook
