Angel Unbound The Earthbound Series Book 2
Paranormal Romance
The Wild Rose Press
December 12, 2014
268
Earthbound angel Callista McAllister is finally free from over a century of captivity when everyone believed her dead. Now she struggles to adapt to a world that has moved on without her and a man she's never forgotten.
Defensori Luca Fiorelli's icy detachment is legendary; a trait valued by his allies and feared by his enemies. But Luca's cold facade is a disguise he wears to hide his fear of trusting in love. She was once like a sister, but now that Calli is back, Luca realizes his feelings for her are anything but fraternal. Luca believes that love is simply a precursor to loss. Is Callista the woman who can change his mind?
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
I want to begin my review by stating I did not read the first book in the series. Although the author did a wonderful job updating what previously occurred, I still felt that I missed out on a lot. I recommend reading book one first to truly get a feel for what happened to Luca Fiorelli and Callista McAllister leading up to their story now.
Luca is an Earthbound angel and a Defensori warrior. His job, like the other Earthbound angels, is to battle the evil Fallen rebels. For over a century, Callista was held captive by Jacques Rapier (Jack the Ripper) and assumed dead. How could she survive for so long with a serial killer? When Jacques was killed and Callista was found alive, she was returned home to her family. She was taken in the nineteenth century and now has to learn how to deal with the twenty-first century. In addition to all the new technology, she has to come to grips with the new clothing women wear and the sexual freedom. Since she was gone Luca turned into a cold man keeping his feelings locked inside. Now with Callista’s return, his feelings are beginning to come to the forefront.
Callista spent all her time with her jailer reading and thinking of Luca, whom she has always loved. Luca that kept her going, and now he seems to blame her for being captured. She was told not to leave her house, which of course she did. However, it was not something she did out of ignorance, it was something she did to save a friend. Luca can’t seem to accept that she was thoughtless and uncaring when she disregarded the order to stay put. He also can’t come to terms with the fact that she was probably raped repeatedly by the monster holding her prisoner. Luca has a lot to learn about Calli and she intends to show him the error of his ways.
Callista has lost her sense of smell when it comes to detecting evil. In addition, her ability to fade (jumping from one place to another) was bound by a witch using dark magic. Now she is reunited with her brother, Mac, who is now married to Luca’s sister, Kat. Kat was also gone for a long time and her appearance was a shock to Luca who didn’t even realize he had a sister. Kat is also an empath. When she is not bothering her husband, she is bothering her brother. It is hard to keep secrets from someone who can read you like a book.
Everyone is in Rome, the city where Michael the Archangel resides, a city that is supposed to be safe from evil. But times are a-changing and evil is appearing more and more. Luca is worried about Callista because someone is asking about her. A Fallen even approached her home and almost gained access until Luca came. Once again, he was ready to accuse her of not using her head until she explained she can’t smell evil any more. If you live over a century with pure evil, you become numb to the odor.
Someone is looking for a book and a key that control the demon Azakriel, the Demon of the Abyss. Callista is believed to know about them since she was with Jacques. However, Kat realizes her cousin, Miranda, a dark witch probably had those items. Boxes from Miranda’s home were sent to Kat and now Dimitri, another Defensori, is assigned the job of going to check all the boxes in search of the missing items. He is supposed to meet Kat’s best friend, Elle Gates, a woman that she loves and Mac accepts because of his wife. It also doesn’t hurt that she is a bestselling romance author under contract to Mac’s publishing company.
There is a lot going on with the demon, Elle and Dimitri, and especially Luca and Callista, but what happens you will have to find out for yourself. I look forward to book number three since I now know what to expect.