Review: Do YOU believe in angels?
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 3, 2011
When Dayton's parents die and leave her and her sister with no other family, they are sent to live with their aunt, a deeply religious Abbess and the head of a strange religious order. Their lives are strict and structured, and the only way that Dayton knows how to break the monotony is to get into trouble. With a foul mouth and a taste for recklessness, the teenaged Dayton consistently bucks the rules, along with her two best friends Connor and Monroe. When Monroe, a practicing Wiccan sees a vision outside of Dayton's window and begins to have dreams of Dayton in danger, they are at first disregarded by the devil-may-care teen. But when the deep, dark secret of the Abbey, which is really a  cult, is revealed, Dayton's life will never be the same. She finds out that she is a Naphilim, the product of a union between an angel (her father) and a human (her mother). She becomes immersed in a world where the line is blurred between good and evil, and angels and demons are preparing for war. An evil demon, Damon has bound Dayton to his demon brother Marcas in hopes that they will create a child. The blood of this child, half demon and half Naphilim, will bring the demonic forces redemption (or so Damon hopes). On a quest to unbind themselves from each other, Dayton and Marcas set out along with her friends on a thrilling ride. Dayton will learn to use her angelic powers and finds that demons may all not be as evil as we first thought.What I liked about this book:  This type of story has been told before but never with the precision and thought that R.K. put into Redemption. It felt new and fresh, and that is something that is hard to do in the overdone Paranormal genre.What I didn't like about this book: I felt like it took a bit of time for it to get to the point of explaining what was going on. You are almost halfway through the book before the hidden secret finally comes out. This was such a small thing for me, though, because once I stopped shaking my Kindle and screaming "What's the secret???!!!" long enough to get to it, I was NOT disappointed.Let's talk about love scenes: This is YA (young adult), so there are no love scenes. However, there are some very heated moments and some very sweet ones as well (see review below or details).The Review: I don't read alot of Paranormal because the whole "Twilight/Vampire/Werewolf" thing has been done and done so much that I've grown a bit sick of it. When I read the description of this book I thought, hmmm this sounds interesting. I decided to take a chance and I'm glad I did.At first the love story in this book seems pretty basic and typical. Dayton's friend Connor has developed feelings for her and is not shy in expressing them. Dayton is unsure about her own feelings, even though she loves Connor as a friend. There are alot of covert gazes, a little bit of touching and one very sweet kiss. But just when you start to think that Connor may eventually wear Dayton down, there's a bump in the road and its name is Marcas.When you first read that Marcas is a demon, you could never guess that he would become the third corner of a very complicated triangle placing Dayton between him and golden-boy Connor. Dark and brooding, as all good romantic heroes are, Marcas is not as evil as he first lets on. Sure he's got fangs, a surly disposition, and a taste for human blood (eek!), but R.K. developed this character so well that by the end you actually find yourself liking and feeling sorry for him. Having loved and lost a woman (an angel), Marcas' heart is hard as stone. He doesn't soften up much by the end, he is a demon after all, but the writing allows you to see alot of subtle hints at what lies beneath. The fact that he is bound to Dayton also allows them to feel each other's emotions and pain, and through Dayton's eyes you are able to see more deeply in to Marcas' abrasive personality. I found myself actually hoping that Dayton ended up with Marcas! And that is one of the things I loved most about this book. R.K. Ryals caused me to have sympathy for the devil.To sum it all up: The book ends in an epic battle between a religious order called the SOS and the demons, who want Dayton dead. By the end, Marcas and Dayton are off to find a special ring that they hope has the power to unbind them from each other.