I love the Black Dagger Brotherhood (BDB) series by J.R. Ward. It is my crack, and I will never be able to not read it, even though the latest book in the series, Lover Unleashed, was disappointing. I don’t care. The world she has created sucks me in, and they are my most anticipated releases each year.
When she announced she was starting a new series about fallen angels, I was quite excited. I have read the first two, and will admit I don’t like them nearly as much as her BDB world, but it is Ward, and I’ll continue to read her.
The Fallen Angel series actually takes place in the same world as the BDB. In the first book, Covet, Butch (from BDB) appears very briefly in a church. And in Lover Unleashed, the hero for her next Angel release Envy, has a supporting role. But although these books exist in the same world, there are many differences.
The Angel world is ultimately ruled by the Creator (God), whereas in BDB there is the Scribe Virgin and the Omega. Of course, this IS the same world, so maybe the Creator doesn’t deal with vampires? He must know they exist, though. Maybe he chooses to ignore them.
The Angel world is filled with demons and angels. The demons’s role is to help humans see their inner truth without being clouded by anything else related to humanity, while the angels spout happiness everywhere they go. Now the Creator is tired of this back and forth battle between the demons and the angels. He wants an end-game. So the rules are set forth: There are seven souls that are teetering between good and evil. If the Demons ultimately win, the angels become slaves for eternity. Likewise, if the angels win, it would be happy happy joy joy.
This is so different from the BDB world, because there is no end game there; the jeopardy of the world is not in balance. The conflict in the BDB world is to keep the civilian vampires and humans safe from evil. But (and here is where my brain starts to hurt) since these books take place in the same world, wouldn’t the outcome of this epic battle between demons and angels affect the vampires as well? Don’t they know each other? Of course, there are many different religions in real life on Earth, so I suppose that is the mindset going into this world.
So far in the Fallen Angels series, the score is tied one to one. In Covet, Jim helps Vin diPietro choose the right path. Vin never lets anyone or anything get in his way to make it to the top. But then Marie-Terese comes into his life. Working as a prostitute has stripped Marie-Terese of everything good inside of her, but it is the only way she is able to support her child. Vin ultimately chooses the side of good, and his soul is redeemed.
In book two, Crave, Isaac Rothe has escaped the very secretive XOps organization as a broken man. He meets attorney Grier Childs and finds someone who wants to protect him, a foreign concept to him. Together they find their way, but at the end, it’s a twist as to who is suppose to be saved. Isaac and Grier get their happily ever after, but the demons win this time.
Envy, book three, comes out September 6th. We will see which team will prevail in the fight against good and evil as homicide detective Thomas DelVecchio and Internal Affairs officer Sophia Reilly get drawn into the Fallen Angels’s world.
Mandi Schreiner from Smexy Books.
