FALLEN

Author: Erin McCarthy ISBN: 9780515144628 5/2008 PARANORMAL Publisher: JOVE

New Orleans, 1840s. Sent to watch over the decadent city, the angel Gabriel loses himself in the liquid pleasure of absinthe. So when his mistress, Anne, is murdered—and all evidence points to him— a foggy Gabriel cannot be sure he didn't do it. His penance: to be forever denied love. Should he seek pleasure with a woman, she'll suffer the depths of despair... New Orleans, today. Hoping to unlock that unsolved mystery, forensic scientist Sara Michaels, Anne's great-great-granddaughter, meets the ageless, tormented Gabriel. To work together will mean suppressing their mutual attraction—he can't allow himself to touch Sara, for her own sake. And for Sara, already familiar with the dangers of addiction, Gabriel poses the ultimate threat to her self-control. But will the desire burning between them turn into their salvation—or lead them both to destruction?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

FALLEN, Erin McCarthy's second book in her Seven Deadly Sins series, starts out in mid-1800's New Orleans, but is really more about the present day and how past actions have effected present day relationships.  I kind of wish it had stayed a historical, since much of the detail is lavished upon that time period rather than more mundane things of the current world. 

The Angel Gabriel—I never really pictured this guy as a 'romance hero' type, honestly.  Then again, I wouldn't have thought an angel could become addicted to absinthe and take a mistress to boot, so it was a new experience all around for me. 

At times Gabriel seemed as righteous as you would expect from an Angel—he clearly was okay with passing judgment, but he'd fall into melancholy moods of self-pitying and lamentations.  Not often, just enough times to make it stick out in my mind every time it came up again.  For a guy well-versed in the fact that God gave all his children free will, he seemed to have forgotten what the consequences could (and usually would) be. 

Sara was more interesting in the beginning as a forensic scientist trying to solve the very old murder case of her great-great-grandmother.  Her search leads her to Gabriel, who is being as miserable as possible over his possible involvement in the death of his mistress, her great-great-grandmother.

They of course, are attracted to one another and have to fight their feelings.  Both have very good reasons, but both have had issues with staying away from what is bad for them in the past and continue to struggle.

If it had stayed this way I would have been fine.  Unfortunately, the slow pace of the book soon becomes heavy-handed with their declarations of love and adoration.  In some areas, passage after passage is nothing but their flowery prose about how they love each other and never want to part.  I got bored of it.  I have never been particularly fond of overly gushing lovefests in romance novels, especially when it interrupts an otherwise good character's development.  The Sara from the beginning bears little resemblance to the Sara in the latter third of the book.

I did enjoy the descriptions of old New Orleans.  McCarthy must have done a pretty good bit of research to make it seem so real and vibrant.  I just wish she had shown such regard to the rest of the book

Alexandra Cenni