Review: Forbidden
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 24, 2014
Rating:  4.5 starsForbidden by Lori Adams is book one in The Soulkeepers series.  I really did fall in love with this book and with Sophia and Michael.  It has a little bit of everything.  I loved watching both Sophia and Michael evolve.  There were plenty of very sweet and heartwarming moments, plenty of humor, and some very gripping scenes.  The only reason I didn’t give it a full five stars is that at times I thought it was a bit wordy.  For the most part, though, I loved the lyrical descriptions by Lori Adams.  She paints a beautiful picture of the little town of Haven Hurst, a town I would love to visit.  I could vividly picture it all in my mind.Ever since Sophia St. James lost her mother, her life was forever changed.  As was her Pastor father.  He is withdrawn, listless.  And he uproots them and moves them, four times in the last two years.  In the last place, though, Sophia got herself mixed up with a bad boyfriend and the relationship ended badly, very badly, so Sophia’s father says they are moving again.  This time to a little town called Haven Hurst, Connecticut.  Maybe this will be the fresh start they need.  Little did she know the way her life would change in Haven Hurst.After being pulled over by the town sheriff for no apparent reason, he sees the camera equipment in the back seat and proclaims that Sophia will work for the town newspaper.  When she later pulls over at the site of a terrible car accident, she sees the most beautiful boy she has ever seen, watching, but, it seems as though she is the ONLY one that sees him.  How can this be?!  Is she imagining him?  And she FEELS something when he is near her.  A stab of pain in her chest and a sort of second heart beat appears.You see, Haven Hurst has a family of Guardian Angels.  Michael and his family guard souls to make sure they are safe from demons.  And if someone dies, they help to guide the soul to heaven.  But when he sees Sophia for the first time, he also experiences the pain in his chest and the second heart beat.  And why is she looking at him?  No human should be able to see him when he is in spirit form.But, someone else is looking for Sophia.  Dante is a Demon Knight.  He believes that Sophia’s soul is the long lost love of his life from lifetimes ago.  He gets special permission for he and his three friends to go “above” ground to take a soul.  But he has other plans.  He wants Sophia.  And he plans to have her.Guardian Angels are not supposed to experience emotions such as desire or jealousy.  But Sophia’s nearness prompts all sorts of feelings Michael has never experienced before.  And Sophia knows she feels something for Michael.  But she wants answers as well.“When Michael looks at me, I feel like someone is brushing up against my soul and filling me with something I’m missing.  The pieces fit together.  I am whole.  I am home.”“For the first time in a long time, I know everything is going to be okay.”This is truly a story of good vs evil.  Of light vs dark.  And, the story of the power of love, both between a father and daughter, and between two young people, both experiencing the power of true love for the first time.  And, it is the story of strength.  Sophia truly discovers her strength and that there might be a purpose for her yet to be discovered.  I can’t wait for the next book, Awaken, to come out in July to see what is next for Sophia and Michael and the town of Haven Hurst.Thank you to Lori Adams, Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book.