Angel in Chains by Cynthia Eden

Angel in Chains by Cynthia Eden
My rating: 5 of 5 flames

***I would suggest reading the first 2 books. While you can read this as a stand-alone, Az’s previous status as the enemy doesn’t come across in this, so you might not get why he was so bad.

In the books Angel of Darkness and Angel Betrayed Azrael was the angel in Heaven who was in charge of all the Death Angels. He had the book, the one with the list of names of those who would die. He kept the balance, the order. And he made sure that when one of his angels screwed up and didn’t take the soul he was meant to…well, Az made sure the Punishment Angels were sent out.

This is from Angel of Darkness and it tells a bit about Az:

Keenan jumped out of the truck. He raced for his old mentor. “Stay away from her!” He yelled.
Az didn’t move. Not much had ever moved Asrael. Not pity. Not fear.
No emotion. Ever. He was the perfect Death Angel.

And then Az…fell. He didn’t fall for a woman, or for a noble cause. Az fell because he was…bad.

In Angel Betrayed Az was newly fallen, confused, and still trying to get back into Heaven, to earn redemption, to figure out why he was no longer favored. And he did something noble. And he realized that maybe the angels didn’t know everything.

In this book, he is just angry. And when he sees a woman being assaulted by some shifters, he’s ready to kick ass. Not because it’s the right thing to do, or because he is instantly in love, oh no, it’s because he has rage and these jerks need to be taught that they aren’t the scariest thing in the night. He is.

Once Az actually meets the woman, Jade, he realizes that she could be his ticket back into Heaven. Redemption and pearly gates here he comes! But he also finds out that saving this little human isn’t going to be easy, and her enemy is just as strong as he is.

Jade is on the run from her psycho ex. He’s a shifter and he wants Jade back. He is the alpha of the local panther pack, and he has killed anyone Jade dared to love. Her family, anyone who helped her, her boyfriends. Because Jade is his. It’s time she accepted that.

“Brandt had acted as if he owned her. Az…acted as if he’d die without her.”

Jade and Az aren’t just fighting Brandt, though, they’re fighting for Jade’s life. Az already screwed up the balance he used to care so much for, by keeping Jade alive after Brandt’s claws sliced through her. Now he has to make sure no other death angels come for her.

Az will have to use his brother Sam and any help Sam can give (which isn’t much since Sam is still pissed at Az for centuries of trying to kill him).

Az find out that maybe his fallen brethren didn’t fall because they were being punished, but just maybe, it’s because they were favored.

Once, Sam had told him that angels weren’t always pushed out of heaven because they’d done something wrong. Sometimes, they lost heaven as a reward. Because they were offered something…more. He saw that more in Jade’s eyes.

This is a dark, sexy, suspenseful series, and no one does paranormal suspense better than Cynthia Eden.

***ARC courtesy of Kensington Books

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