Review: Sanctum Angels by Edenmary Black

Edenmary will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour as well as to the host with the most comments on her stop (excluding the author's and the host's). So leave me a comment for your chance to win!

Hi again guys. Today I'm hosting Edenmary Black as part of her tour with Goddess Fish! Sanctum Angels is Book 1 in the Shadow Havens series.

Title: Sanctum Angels

Author: Edenmary Black

Publisher: eBookIt.com

Release Date: 3rd January 2012

Series: Shadow Havens, Book 1

Source: I received a e-copy of this book as part of the Goddess Fish tour in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

Warning: The following work contains descriptive material and scenes of explicit sexual encounters between consenting male and female adults. It is intended for adult readers only. 

When Priana Grey walks into a bank, she isn’t expecting to be taken hostage by a violent thief; nor, is she expecting Detective Joe Cafaris to offer his life for hers. The stepdaughter of fallen angels of the Sanctum, she has concealed her true nature to move among humans for years, but Joe’s courage astounds her. Although she knows that falling in love with a human is a disaster, she just can’t ignore what she feels.

Joe is a tough loner, cool in the most dangerous situations, but he’s not ready for the scorching desire he feels for Priana. He has a million logical reasons to walk away, but his heart wants something else. 

Priana’s stepbrother, Keirc, warns that she’ll find only misery with Joe, yet he guards a perilous secret of his own. His lover, Iridea, is the daughter of Sebastien Galaurus, a ruthless vampire who leads the Demesne, a powerful supernatural haven quite unlike the Sanctum. 

When a stunning crisis forces Priana into the heart of the Demesne, a maelstrom explodes in the shadow of supernatural havens on the brink of war, where fallen angels, vampires, weres and daemons call the shots and humans are viewed as critically frail - a place where men and supernaturals can die.

Review:

First Line: 'Priana Grey’s hands and feet were freezing. Her arms felt like wood and a thin trail of blood was snaking its way down her palm from the fine wire binding her wrists. She wiggled her fingertips but couldn't risk moving more. The man with his fist in her hair would only yank her backward again and the gun at the end of his other hand looked as long as a bowling alley.' 

Sanctum Angels certainly gets off to a fast paced start. We meet Pria when she's been taken hostage by a psychotic bank robber who has a personal grudge against one of the Detectives on the local Police Force. Him taking Pria and 3 others hostage is the way he draws the Detective out into the open with the intent of shooting him. Pria can't let that happen. She can't let harm come to an innocent human so despite her hands being tied with wire and a gun to her head Pria kills the armed robber. How you ask? Well Pria isn't exactly human...she is the daughter of a fallen angel and a pureblood vampire, giving her certain gifts. Gifts she uses to save Detective Joe Cafaris. 

From the moment they lay eyes on each other both Pria and Joe feel an attraction. Heck, Joe even thinks Pria looks pretty in her hospital gown and I'm telling you...you have to work damn hard to make one of those ugly things look good! From there their relationship progresses in a believable manner...they have their hurdles but this couple seem set to overcome anything thrown their way! 

I loved Joe as a character, he's really sweet fumbling his words because he can't quite believe that Pria is talking to him. Joe is one of those steady, reliable guys who is loyal and honest to a fault. A man who also puts his life on the line in Pria's defence. She'd be blind to not notice what's right in front of her. Pria is also a very well written character...at no point did I hate her and I found her independence by living among the humans added to her character. She has the power of life and death in her hands but will only use it when she absolutely has to. Don't get me wrong she can be tough...and you don't want to be in her way if she's angry with you...But I don't think I could ever hate anyone who owns a bakery :)

Pria could easily bet that he’d never known anyone like her and by all the laws of sense, she should run from this, yet she couldn't. She just freaking wouldn’t. It had been years since she’d felt this way about a male, supernatural or not. Still, she needed him to know that she didn't consider relationships lightly. “I’m not casual with men,” she said quietly, hoping he’d get it. “I didn't think you would be,” he said quickly.
“I haven’t been with anyone in a long while, Joe, because sometimes men…look at me and think they see something that’s not there. Or they want to have some kind of relationship without heart and that’s not me.”
“No,” he assured her, seeing that Pria had probably looked like a fantasy to many men. “I don’t find sexual relationships like that easy. “Well, I mean I like sex, but that’s not what I had in mind.”
Fucking idiot…“Well,” Joe said, starting to backpedal. “What I meant to say was that I am not 

looking for a sexually casual relationship with you even though you are one of the 

most beautiful women I’ve ever seen.”

As we journey through the world of Sanctum Angels we also meet a pair of lovers who seem doomed from the very start. Kierc and Iridea are one of the other couples in this novella and their relationship has a very Romeo and Juliet feel to it. Kierc is Pria's stepbrother and son of the founders of Sanctum whereas Iridea is the daughter of the leader of Demesne and his Mate. Sanctum and Demesne are two opposing supernatural havens and it is often referenced as to the undoubtedly negative reactions from their respective parents this relationship would receive...see what I mean? You know how that story ended...well you'll just have to read Sanctum Angels if you want to know more :)

I enjoyed Sanctum Angels from start to finish, Edenmary Black has created a new world full of angels, vampires and daemons that thrilled me from start to finish. Sanctum Angels is crammed full of goodies including a blossoming romance, a political war and naturally a all out battle between the forces of good and evil...all in only 178 pages! I would recommend Sanctum Angels to all lovers of Paranormal Romance who are looking to get stuck into a new authors work!

My Rating 4/5

Excerpt:

Ilea picked up the skirting of her gown and rushed through the richly carpeted halls of the elaborate underground Demesne haven she’d shared with her Mate for centuries. By the time she reached Sebastien’s study, her flaming hair had come undone from its tight chignon and her face had grown hot. Saan was dying and a tiny thought she’d kept buried for the past two nights would find Sebastien’s ear whether he wished to hear or not. Drawing breath, Ilea whipped the black double doors nearly from their hinges to stride to the dark, massive desk in front of her Mate. A small group of the Demesne’s vampire warriors were with him but they stepped swiftly from her path.

“Leave us,” she ordered.

The warriors of the Demesne were unused to taking orders from their leader’s Mate, whom they rarely saw, but left after Sebastien gave them a fast nod. Hearing his Mate’s pounding heart, Sebastien sat quickly, as if the air had been knocked from his lungs. “Has our son passed?” he asked quietly.

“He lives but he may well pass before the morning unless something is done,” Ilea gripped the edge of the desk and leaned over it, into her husband’s perfectly sculpted face.

“Call your brother at the Sanctum and seek his advice,” she commanded. “Ask him to send one of the angelic healers. It is the only thing that can save our son.”

Sebastien had thought this might be requested of him, but he had also expected Saan to recover, having his mother’s daemon blood and his own vampiric blood.

“Andrieu is not my brother. I cannot contact anyone at the Sanctum,” he said.

Ilea pulled her hand back and brought it forward in a mind-numbingly fast arc to connect with Sebastien’s jaw. Her Mate’s head bounced backward against the high back of his carved chair, yet he didn’t lift a hand. “You could not have heard what I asked,” Ilea said. “Call Andrieu and ask…no, Sebastien …beg him to send an angelic healer. Tonight.” Ilea’s eyes were changing to the silver swirls associated with strong emotion among daemons. “Do it,” she hissed.

(From the Prologue) 

About the author:

Edenmary Black has been writing since she could clutch a pencil. She has always been fascinated with the mysteries of the paranormal and loves the question all writers answer when they pen fiction. For her, it's all about that magical, "What if?” When not working her keyboard, she enjoys long walks with her golden retriever, reading and spending time with her family, all of whom are male. She spends far too much on lingerie and is very, very weak for chocolate. Visit her at www.edenmaryblack.com.