When Detective John Stonebrook's friends hire him a male stripper for his fortieth birthday, his life takes a strange turn. For the stripper is Finn, an angel who was accidentally bound as the Guardian Angel of a serial killer, possibly the same killer who murdered John's wife and daughter. As John battles grief over his lost family and his fears over his sexuality and Finn struggles to protect a man who may be a murderer, they are hounded by creatures of the dark who seek to pull them both down to the horror of the Beneath. This is an m/m romance.
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John Stonebrook lost the will to live 3 years, 8 months and 29 days ago when his wife and daughter were found murdered in a back alley by a dumpster, he puts a face on for his colleagues but his one aim in life now is to find the murderer and then end his torment by his own hand. On his 40th birthday his police buddies arrange a get together and order a stripper and so we meet Finn. Expecting a woman, he is instead presented with a beautiful, seductive,redheaded young man with piercing blue eyes - both hair and eyes unusual, almost unreal. He gives his stripper name as " Cherry " and proceeds to give John an extremely sexy and sensual dance, John turns the joke back on his friends by responding to " Cherry " and in doing so starts a chain of events that pushes him together with Finn, a guardian angel sent to do penance on earth, who also has secrets and is himself caught in a terrible situation he can't really escape, one that could in fact link him indirectly to Johns wife's murder.
The two of them are pulled to each other and the attraction is instant. John loved his wife dearly and has never had latent feelings or secret desires for another man, he is as straight as a die so wanting Finn is an enigma to him, but in time he comes to realise that love can't be pigeon holed and that gender becomes irrelevant in the face of true feeling. Finn dresses like a street hustler and even cross dresses and is sexually provocative one moment and almost innocent and childlike the next, bringing out Johns protective nature, so the chemistry between them is electric and the ST is hot! This is one of the most unusual, provocative love stories I've ever come across and it is strangely compelling. I loved it and fell hard for both John and Finn who as different as they are, both need each other to heal and over the course of the story (that like a lot of Tricia Owens books pushes the boundaries on quite controversial subjects such as dub con and rape) we see them both give each other a reason to keep going. One of the clever things about this tale is that even though John knows/suspects that there is something different about Finn, he never finds out what or who Finn is, completely different to the normal paranormal plots that have their human protags finding out about the ' supernaturals ' after a few pages. Johns partner Benji is also a great secondary character and she works well as a balance and voice of reason for him - nice to see a female with a strong part to play in a m/m romance.
The story built around Finn and his earthly charge Jeremy - who carries his own terrible secrets - is clever, thought provoking, frightening and controversial. The introduction of the demons is chilling and gives the story a dark edge that makes the book gripping.
This was the first Tricia Owens story I read and have gone on to read all her Juxtapose City series that I am now totally hooked on. When I finished this one I hoped it was not a one off as she has a way of leaving threads in her stories that aren't always resolved as you would expect, like lots of little cliff hangers, this made the story feel like it had a slightly abrupt ending, so was thrilled today to see the second has been published. Have promptly purchased and can't wait to see what else is in store for these fascinating characters. Great author who isn't frightened of writing sexy, sensual, gritty, out of your comfort zone stories that always deliver. All keepers and rereads on my Kindle.
You know how when someone is telling you about a dream they had, and the details are so abstract and bizarre that you tune out halfway through their story? This book was exactly like that for me. Somewhere in here could be a great story about an older cop falling for a young cross-dresser. Unfortunately, it was buried in so much weirdness that I couldn't get into the story at all.
DNFing at 60%. Can’t stand this silliness anymore. About time, tho, someone (thank you, Hunter) got a firm hold of Finn and set him on a straight (no pun) and narrow; the boy is all over the place, has no idea what is right and what is wrong. Let the dark side show him what’s what if the angels can’t take care of their own.
BTW, The book is not dark, it’s inconsistent and messy.
Little to none about the murder investigation. There is no romance either, and with Finn constantly forcing himself onto John I think the detective should be crying “rape” every time the angel shows up and beg the law enforcement for the restraining order, not just passively hang in there for all the incoming crap, but whatevers. They are both ...weird to put it mildly. Not my cup of tea.
Given the GFY and dubcon, I’m not sure why I kept reading this. In fact, everything sexual in this book is ugly & disturbing in some way. But the writing seemed oddly better than the subject matter so I kept thinking there was going to be some point to all this, some payoff that made it all worthwhile. But turns out nope, it was just an unpleasant mess. Almost no police work and certainly no romance. I can't think of a single reason why anyone should read this book. And be aware that there was no resolution to anything, making book 2 a necessity if you care to know how the hell this all works out. No thanks.
Finn (or Finnian) is/was Consort to Anifiel, the Commander of Heaven's Army. Feeling an affinity for humans Finn ends up bound in human form (how this happens isn't revealed here) to Jeremy, a man with mild retardation in whose mind lives a dark and twisted psychopath known as Jack. Jack who is a serial killer and the most likely culprit in the murders of John Stonebrook's family; and who also happens to have an evil cheering squad in the form of twin demons Sin & Malice (S & M). Demons who were sent to 'taint' Finn by provoking Jeremy's alter/darker ego into committing evil acts that will result in Jeremy going to the Beneath and as a HUGE BONUS Finn.
Finn is an angel who is in way over his head as he was not created to be a Guardian; solely created to be Anifiel's consort he has no idea how to fight against Jack's control of Jeremy, Sin & Malice's pull on Jack, and John's focus on Jeremy as a suspect. His sudden attraction to the detective only seems to complicate things further as John gets too close to figuring out the 'real' truth about the murderer and just who/what else he is up against. But his biggest fear is happening before his very eyes, his wings are graying; every sinful and degrading action is getting him closer to becoming 'Fallen'. His despair is that he will lose Jeremy, John, and himself to the Beneath and that there is nothing he can do to stop it.
John Stonebrook is on a mission with borrowed time; his sole purpose for hanging on is to find his family's killer-until he meets Finn. Hired as a stripper on his b-day, Finn wakes up desires he thought long dead and buried. He fights his attraction to Finn because he struggles with the idea of wanting a man, but it's reinforced by the reality that Finn is in some way involved with their potential killer. Having to deal with his sexual identity, fighting off the unwanted attentions of a friend of his dead wife, and finally coming close to nabbing his suspect, John is waking up to the idea that there might be something or someone worth living for.
Unfortunately the fly lands in the soup BIG TIME just when our couple is finally enjoying a 'happy moment'. FBI Special Agent Wicken makes an appearance-or more like causes a disturbance-stating that his there to assist John in the serial murders. Instinct tells John that there's something off about the agent, especially after he notices Finn's reaction to the cold aloof man. He's not too far off as unlike John, Finn knows exactly who Agent Wicken is-an Angel Hunter-and his real intention is to make Finn his consort.
This is the beginning of a story that is tinged with sadness, yet full of hope. I enjoyed it because while it dealt with some of my uncomfortable themes (humiliation & degradation) there was nothing really explicitly dark or graphic which was a plus for me. There's a part in the story where Wicken, along with S & M are 'toying' with Finn and I was very glad not to read the nasty details. Finn's situation made me feel so helpless. Everything that he has to subjugate himself to in order to keep Jeremy safe from S & M, Wicken, John, but mostly his darker self Jack is so sad. I liked the changes in John, his relationship with Finn and with Benji-his partner. Jack creeps me out, Wicken just scares the crap outta me, and honestly somebody needs to turn S & M to dust-they just annoy me.
It's a good start, as the story ends with a win for the good guys but marks only the beginning of Wicken's schemes. In the latter part of the story John, Finn, and Wicken take center stage and the Jeremy/Jack thread is left dangling so I'm hoping it's picked up in another volume.
Overall a very interesting read, and I hope to see more of Finn and John.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It can also be found at http://juxtaposefantasy.net/ where the story is complete. Angel:Reverse consists of two storylines the Earth Canon which I assume this is a part of and Heaven Canon which details what happens in heaven in Finn's absence. Be aware that it's an online subscription service.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Thanks to Mary for a wonderful review. If I would have rated this book as a stand-alone, I would've rated it a four only because it was left so open and I still had questions, that is until I realized it was part of a bigger story found in full here: http://juxtaposefantasy.net/ where if possible, I was even more captivated and completely snared by a naughty, little Angel named Finn.
I will say that I enjoyed this book. It was dark but gave hope that things would work out for the characters. I'm really not sure how to explain without giving the story away. It was a totally different on guardian angels because of the things Finn had to do with and for his charge.
It was worth the read but is a HFN. Things were not settled and I was disappointed. I believe there is supposed to be a sequel.
This is a great book. The villains are creepy. The Hero (John) a tired detective with a tragic past is my favorite, A hero but a realistic one.He is not a super hero just a human that fights memories, breathes for revenge and still retains a goodness deep down. He deserves a little angel. On to book two
First off, I am not going to put a star for this book. Part of me wants to give this a 1 star, after all I skimmed through a large portion of the book. The parts that I read I loved, so I would give that 5 stars. Looking at the reviews, everyone else loved it, so I just wonder if the book just was not for me.
Basic Plot:
John's wife and daughter were murdered several years ago, and John (a cop) was devastated. His only purpose in life now is to find the murderer and then he will kill himself after it is done. Finn is an angel, who is looking after a man who is a serial killer. Their lives interact and danger ensues.
Problems with this book:
1. On the cover, the sub title is this: "M/M Paranormal Romance." Not sure that we can call this a romance. The men do not have any real sexual interactions (some quick ones), and it is more of a friendship than anything else. It seems extremely misleading to call this a "romance."
2. There is repetitive rape. I generally do not enjoy reading about rape, but there are times when it is needed to advance the plot, explain backstory, or develop a character. However, this book had so much humiliation, pain, self-loathing, and rape that I could not stomach it and had to just skim through those sections. Which to be fair might be about 1/3 to 1/2 of the book. These scenes just became superfluous and it left me to only one conclusion: sometimes it's ok to edit. There is a fine line between making a scene impacting and sensationalizing a violent and horrific violation.
There were parts that were very interesting and moving. But the book was way too dark for me. Maybe it was just not my cup of tea, and that's alright.
I still feel really lost, like I'm not sure I even liked this book as much as the rating might imply.
There was no resolution to the story; in fact, despite the length, it seems more like an installment of a serial than the first book of a series. None of the sex even felt consensual, to be honest, and what there was felt devoid of emotional connection.
I hate cliffhangers but I'm not even sure I can be bothered to continue this series even to find out what happens, let alone learn WTF was going on.
Would have totally been 4 stars if it would not have ended how it did. Or NOT ended is more like it. The story did not wrap up jack shit and forced a sequel. If you want to continue the story, at least wrap up the major plot points. Totally aggravating. Didn't even have the MCs do the smexxin thing.
I absolutely hated this book. I didn't read the description before I started reading it and I should have. I did not like it past about the third or fourth page on. I did not complete the book I could not make myself. I found it to be very disturbing and I am not easily disturbed.
I can't say why, but I thoroughly felt compelled to read this book. I wasn't disappointed, either. It was a pleasure to read and I only wished there had been more of it. I would recommend it highly.
This book was interesting but be warn this book is dark, darker than most books with a lot of violence and non consensual things. I grimace at some of them and trust me I’ve read and author called Quil Carter and his books are just as dark. You meet John who is a 40 year old police who has just lost his wife and daughter a few years back and never found the person responsible so his only motivation in life is to find the killer. John is a straight man and throughout the book your constantly reminded of it but I like that because in any normal circumstances a man would feel that way. John is very dark and broken character which you learn about his growth in here. You also meet Finnian who goes by Finn or cherry. Finn is an angel who became a guardian in earth to a man name Jeremy who has like split personalities. Finn wants nothing more than to go back home to his one true love Anifiel who is a commander of the angels. I found Finn personality questionable like if he’s so strong why does he let all those demons do all those displaceable things to him? I’m sure Finn could’ve gotten many different jobs besides being a stripper so that made no sense. Finn also struggles with his internal love for both John and Anifiel at the same time. Overall I need to read the rest to get a real feedback on this whole series but I love Tricia Owens Juxtapose series so I will give this one a try.
I started reading this author with the juxtapose city series which was very good and very unique. I think it’s very special that people can imagine these different worlds and different stories. Anyway this was a very good book very interesting and very well written.
John's wife and daughter are murdered and this police detective detective has been searching for those that killed them between work and bottles of booze. His guardian angel (Finn) shows up in the form of sexy redhead jumping out of his birthday cake. Straight cop vs male Angel that just wants to loved. Male Angel that wants to make Finn a fallen Angel. Well-developed characterization and well-written but left you hanging . Would recommend you buy book 1 and two before starting. Adult readers due to content.
What a surprise! Before reading I was not sure about the story, I 'm not really into paranormal stuff. However, I absolutely fell in love with Finn . He is so alone, sad and terrorised but still manages to be funny, loving and generous. My heart wept for him.
John is a bit of a loner and in real need of some TLC. Still grieving so much for his family. The growing love between Finn and John is slow but intense. Bit of an abrupt end but I so enjoyed the story.
So I found it an interesting read because I was expecting more of the male male Romance that the author has put into her other books. However I kinda like the idea of not having as much in it because it allowed for more of a character-driven story to develop. The religious undertones of the book I made for an interesting dynamic. I would suggest spoke for anyone that likes Angels vs. Demons, male male romance and crime novels.
This was a very interesting book. The plot is slow and methodical building up the supporting background for this book. The characters Finn and John Stonebrook are so angst filled it gets tedious at times. I pushed through to the end and wasn't disappointed.
This was a pretty good read. I enjoyed all of the supernatural influence that was going on below the surface of the romance story. Finn is definitely an interesting character. The ending was left pretty open, but I guess that works to entice readers to continue to the next book.
Loved this book!!! I loved The characters who were so multifaceted. I loved the idea of Angels who are so earthy. I love Tricia's writing and will always purchase a book of hers. So far I have yet to be disappointed.
I'm a bit conflicted about this one. I think that Finn came across as more dark than intended, and neither character was particularly sympathetic. It was interesting overall.