Envy (The Fallen Angels Series) by J. R. Ward

Well, hello Veck! It’s good to see you again…

A brief summary: As the son of a serial killer, homicide detective Thomas “Veck” DelVecchio, Jr., grew up in the shadow of evil. Now, on the knife-edge between civic duty and blind retribution, he atones for the sins of his father- while fighting his inner demons. Assigned to monitor Veck is Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly, whose interest in him is both professional and arousingly personal. And Veck and Sophia have another link: Jim Heron, a mysterious stranger with too many answers… to questions that are deadly. When Veck and Sophia are drawn into the ultimate battle between good and evil, their fallen angel savior is the only thing that stands between them and eternal damnation.

I have been crushing on J.R.Ward‘s writing since I started reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. She knows her good versus evil and seamlessly crosses the thin line between them it makes you respect and empathize with the characters.

Her heroines are strong and her heroes are not afraid to shed a tear or two…(which I kind of like, forget the full on ugly face crying in telenovelas, I am talking about the whisky drinking kind of crying 🙂 )

With Envy, she does not relent in working her way into both the villains and heroes heads, it is a race against time and Jim is out to save a soul from the wickedness of Hell as unleashed by Devina and he goes a step further to strike a deal with the Demon, and this exposes another side of the Archangel, Nigel. A sound and human side; he is remorseful and afraid of how he’ll deal with defeat, and for once I was treated to how helpless Nigel feels in the fight for souls, because whoever holds all cards is the Creator.

I met Veck in Lover Unleashed, but here, he’s got his heart on his sleeve and it made me swoon with envy, I mean he admits to Sophia Reilly, “Scratch what I said before, I think I am falling in love with you. Right here. Right now.”

However, I never knew that 7 words could make me feel like this:

Instead of being a spoilsport I’ll tell you, get the book and when you get to page 227 you’ll understand my sentiments exactly.

In Crave, I was all about Jim Heron, the Savior, but I am not in any mood to fight over him with Devina (lest I end up like Sissy), but there’s this guy, he’s volatile, angry, sweet, sarcastic and quite the warrior…ladies and gentlemen Adrian!

He turns down Devina:

“You know, Adrian, you ever get bored with being a Goody-Two-Shoes, you could come over to my side.”

“Because you have cookies, right.”

Those black eyes turned to his own. “And so much more.”

“Well, I’m on a diet. Sorry- but thanks for the invite.”

Oh, and what about the time he demanded Jim to sober up and keep his head in the game?

“This is war, not a goddamn dating service!”

And better yet, when Colin assists him in battling Devina’s minions by granting him minions of his own, Ad just says

“Can I have them back if I need them again…Like if I have to lay some carpet, or move a piano?”

I’ll sign out on a high, because I have Possession and cannot seem to get my hands on a paperback copy of Rapture.I am a stickler for rules, but waiting and looking for a copy of Rapture is killing me, and especially with Possession calling out to me to read it…what would you advise?