Review: Heroine's agoraphobia really held the story back
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 08 7, 2012
-- A Romantic Book Affairs ReviewRating: DNF ... Heat: WarmChloe McCrea was supposed to die. Her vehicle struck head-on by a semi, there wasn't much chance at surviving the accident. That is, if Nathaniel Berwyn hadn't witnessed the crash. Not allowed to interfere in mortal life or death scenarios, Nathaniel finds himself drawn to the scene by Chloe's soul. Bright and shiny and good, it's a refreshing change from the dark and filthy souls he usually sees.Nathaniel is a fallen angel--a soul weaver and harvester. He is charged with collecting corrupted souls and then weaving them into cloth for his and his fellow fallen angels featherless wings.As he stands next to Chloe's body, watching her die, he waits for an angel to come and collect her soul and take it to Heaven. When none show up, he realizes that somehow Chloe has no tethers to her soul--no one who loves her or whom she loves in return. So her heavenly beacon won't work. No angels, no escort to Heaven. Her soul will simply linger.Knowing he shouldn't, Nathaniel takes drastic efforts to keep her soul in her body so that paramedics can arrive and resuscitate her. And from that point on, both Nathaniel and Chloe's lives are going to get messy.I enjoyed the beginning of this book, the world-building and the mythos. It was an interesting take on angel/demon mythology that I've never read before. It reminded me a bit of some sort of Larissa Ione's Demonica series meets Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series combo... while being uniquely it's own thing. It really snagged my attention.And, at first, so did Chloe's agoraphobia. I thought, `A heroine afraid to leave her home? That's new.' Unfortunately, then my thoughts quickly became, `This heroine doesn't leave her home. Not much happens to a person who doesn't leave their home.' It really was about as boring as it sounds and completely bogged the story down.I spent 40% of the book reading about Chloe's day to day activities in her book store or above it in her apartment. Over and over. At one point, seven or more pages are dedicated to Chloe helping her friend's two kids put a movie in the DVD player, order a pizza, eat said pizza, call a cab for her friend and the two kids to get home in... and then go to bed.It was not enough. By the time action and intrigue kicked in again, I had pretty much lost all interest. It took me three days to get to the 83% marker... Where I decided to just give up. Which I hate to do.Soul Weaver has quite a bit going for it. Unique world, appealing characters, sharp writing... but it was missing that something for me. That punch. That panache.Favorite Quote:When she turned, she smiled up at him. "I should have planned this better. Dimmed lights, poured wine, done something to seduce you.""Your every breath seduces me." He cradled her face in his hands, leaned in close enough her tongue could have traced his lips.