Review: Hard to connect with the romance
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 08 20, 2012
The premise of this book intrigued me. Our hero is a fallen angel who now harvests the souls of the wicked. Nathaniel is constantly exposed to the very worst of humanity. It was only by chance that he happened upon the car accident destined to take Chloe's life. Even then, he had no inclination to interfere... until he saw the beauty of her soul as it tried to leave her body. A soul so bright should have been bound for heaven, but she had no ties of love to help her pass over. Unable to simply let her spirit fade to nothing, Nathaniel cuts out a piece of his own soul and ties it to hers, tethering her spirit to her body.It's months before he sees her again. Unfortunately, his soul has darkened hers and now she is on his list of the damned. He can't let her suffer for his mistake, though. So he thinks to enter her life as a human, long enough to help her make connections to the people around her. That way, when she does have to die, her spirit can finally go where it deserves. The problem is that Chloe is agoraphobic and that keeps her cut off from other people.When they come face to face, their soul connection kicks in right away. And the story follows their journey to love, while the clock ticks down to Chloe's inevitable death. There is much more to it: complications and secondary characters with supporting storylines. But the love story is the heart of the book. It's also where I was sadly underwhelmed.Agoraphobia is a real mental illness and the concept of a main character with this problem is different. But it's not exciting. It's not sexy. Chloe came across as weak to me as I got to know her character. She needs her hand held constantly and she is utterly naive about the outside world. That makes it even more awkward when her relationship with Nathaniel advances at the speed of light. She loses her virginity to a guy she's known barely more than a week and the I Love You's are right around the corner. There wasn't even much sexual tension to speak of... just an acknowledgement of an attraction and her ever-present anxiety. The relationship fell flat, both in the sexual and the emotional realms.Like I said, I liked the concept. And I thought the resolution was cool. But it wasn't enough to make this one a good read for me. If you want to give Hailey Edwards a try, I definitely recommendA Hint of Frostover this one.