He thought he'd never find heaven again . . . until he met her. Matthew Gallow is a fallen angel, cast out of heaven for daring to disbelieve. Furious, frustrated, and empty, he roams the earth, pretending to cast out demons and preserve souls. He doesn't have faith in anything—or anyone—until the night he nearly dies fighting a true fiend. His whole world is shaken. And when he meets Natalia, he isn't sure if he can trust her...or the attraction he feels for her. Natalia works for Cain, a rocker living on the edge, and she invites Matthew to be a part of his wild stage show. It's perfect—an exorcism for a man who says he's sold his soul to the devil. Only Cain really is in league with Lucifer, and all mankind is at risk. Matthew never before cared whether or not the world went to hell. But as his passion for Natalia grows, he'll fight to the death to rescue her from evil's grasp...and realize that love is the one thing that can save a fallen angel.
Margaret Edith Weis is an American fantasy and science fiction author of dozens of novels and short stories. At TSR, Inc., she teamed with Tracy Hickman to create the Dragonlance role-playing game (RPG) world. She is founding CEO and owner of Sovereign Press, Inc and Margaret Weis Productions, licensing several popular television and movie franchises to make RPG series in addition to their own. In 1999, Pyramid magazine named Weis one of The Millennium's Most Influential Persons, saying she and Hickman are "basically responsible for the entire gaming fiction genre". In 2002, she was inducted into the Origins Hall of Fame in part for Dragonlance.
As predicted. It was trash. In the silly way. Fallen angel, Matthew, who goes around doing fake exorcisms, only having to do a real one. Then there's Natalia who works as a manager for Cain, a childish and obnoxious rock star, on the road on a very cringe-y rock'n'roll tour. Natalia hires Matthew to perform fake exorcisms on Cain on stage, all for the act baby, because Cain once claimed he sold his soul to the devil. Only, it turns out he actually DID sell his soul. There's also an old hippie ghost that is Natalia's grandfather. There's also supposed to be a romance between Matthew and Natalia but it was really bland.
Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Nov08
Really like 3.25 or 3.5 stars. Margaret Weis is the majorly successful co-author of over thirty books in the fantasy genre. “Fallen Angel” is her second paranormal romance novel which she co-authored with her daughter Lizz Weis. These books are spicy contemporary romances about the redeeming of angels who have fallen from grace. The stories have a gritty feel and are very reminiscent of urban fantasies, but with a bit stronger relationship overtone.
Matthew is a fallen one, cast out of heaven for his disbelief. His eternal life has been one filled with sorrow and emptiness since his vow to forego love to save himself the pain of loss. His latest ‘gig’ is impersonating a priest at country revivals and, with the help of his shill, casting out a demon. He figures it’s a pretty neat way to thumb his nose at God. But one night he’s outwitted by a reporter, his shill runs out, and he’s presented with a teenager whose mother is sure she’s possessed. To Matthew’s surprise, when he performs his ‘act’, he realizes she really is possessed and although he is almost killed he does rid the teen of the demon. This is a major wake-up call for Matthew because as an eternal being, he shouldn’t be able to die; and he knows something has obviously gone wrong as demons aren’t supposed to be on Earth. Try as he might, this might be one situation he just can’t walk away from.
Natalia is the manager of the newest rock sensation, Cain. His gimmick is claiming to have sold his soul to the devil for his music, but the band’s tour isn’t going so well. Cain seems to have lost his ‘touch’ and Natalia is searching for something to liven up the show. Then she hears about a priest who casts out demons and decides to catch his show. She’s at the revival where Matthew casts out a real demon, but figures it’s just a good scam. She catches Matthew at a low moment and convinces him to join herself and Cain on tour. Matthew will do his ‘act’ and pretend to try and exorcise Cain during the final song of the show. The ‘act’ is a huge success, but weird things are happening and they are all connected to Cain.
As a fantasy fan, I didn’t really have any problems with the plot. Even though there were many ‘missing’ pieces of information or character motivation, it’s something I expect from a fantasy genre book. So this story flows a bit differently from most romance novels. I found it especially interesting that the main focus of the story is, not Natalia. I’m not sure if this was consciously intended or if it’s a result of the strong fantasy background by the author/s. There’s a chance that readers expecting a more romantic, heroine centered story will have difficulty with the plot. In addition, the sexual overtones seemed to be ‘plugged’ in where needed rather than flowing from the story. This was something that did jar for me. A plus was the humor from one of the secondary characters, the ghost of Natalia’s hippie, Deadhead grandfather.
Overall, “Fallen Angel” just seemed a bit ‘off’ to me. It read much more like a fantasy with some sex than like a romance. If you took out the sex, I could see this as a big seller in the teen urban fantasy market. But as the books stands now, it’s neither fish nor fowl but something in between. Those readers looking for a lighter, more adult contemporary fantasy without gore would probably like the latest offering from Margaret and Lizz Weis.
I'm a roleplay geek and even have Margaret Weis' authograph, being a fan of her as she's co-author of the Dragonlance Saga. So I was surprised to see she had ventured into Paranormal Romance. Surprised and curious enough to pick up this book. And I wasn't disappointed. Margaret and Lizz write a convincing story. Matthew might be a fallen angel, he's likeable enough that you want him to get out on top of things. He can be a bit dense at times I must confess and there were times I wanted to kick him, but all in all he's a very cool and believable character. The story is well written and very entertaining, although the romance is a bit slow which might be a problem to those who pick this story up for the romance. There's at least one other book in this series and I will certainly pick that one up too if I run across it.
I just finished Fallen Angel by Margaret Weis, The book was ok , the story was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo PREDICTABLE!! The book was just plain, it did not make me feel any kind of emotions or affection for the characters.This story does not make you jump out of your sit. The fallen angel dude had not personality. you know, when i think about a fallen angel I think about a hot tough guy. But this guy did not do it for me. The relationship with Natalia ...i did not give a crap about it, it did not delivered it to me. The book was predictable, as soon i started to read it and i new the drama , i knew that this fallen angel that made fake exorcisms was going to end up making a real one, and he had to save Cain because he sold his soul to the devil. I think this book should have been shorter, a lot of things in this books was not necessary to read. It was not bad but it was not good. Read it if you want to.
Meh, predictable generic type fallen angel falls in love with human and saves the world stuff. Nothing surprising in this one, but it was good for insomnia!
Das Cover finde ich wirklich, wirklich schrecklich... Und ich frage mich, was man sich dabei gedacht hat, es auszuwählen. Denn es wird in diesem Buch weder mit Schwertern gekämpft, noch laufen die Protagonisten oben ohne herum. Unter anderen Umständen hätte ich das Buch nie in die Hand genommen und ich kann mich wirklich nicht erinnern, wie es überhaupt in mein Regal gekommen ist - aber da mir eben noch ein Engel-Buch gefehlt hat, habe ich es gelesen.
Meine Erwartungen waren - eben aufgrund des Covers - sehr niedrig. Umso überraschter war ich, dass ich zwischen den Buchdeckeln eine wirklich gute, spannende Geschichte verbringt, die mich fesseln und überzeugen konnte.
Im Mittelpunkt steht Matthew, einst ein Engel, nun seit knapp 2000 Jahren aus dem Himmel verstoßen, der sich mehr oder weniger nur herumtreibt, Bourbon liebt und mit gefakten Exorzismen den Menschen das Geld aus der Tasche zieht. Doch auf einmal ist alles nicht mehr nur Show - und die Welt muss gerettet werden.
Die geschieht dann mehr oder weniger mithilfe von Natalia, der Managerin eines Rockstars, dem der Erfolg zu Kopf gestiegen zu sein scheint. Er selbst sagt, er habe seine Seele dem Teufel verkauft, um Erfolg zu haben - aber das ist natürlich nur ein PR-Gag. Oder?
Natürlich wird versucht, während des Buches Spannung aufzubauen und den Leser auf falsche Fährten zu führen, aber das hat bei mir nicht geklappt. Mir war schnell klar, wie alles zusammenhängt - sogar noch vor dem Engel und der Managerin. Aber das ich hier nicht mehr überrascht wurde, hat mich nicht wirklich gestört.
Eher genervt war ich, dass Natalia teilweise schon sehr naiv ist und sich manchmal etwas komisch verhält - gerade in Bezug auf ihre Gefühle. Aber auch das war jetzt nicht so schlimm, dass sie mich als Protagonistin gar nicht überzeugen konnte.
Positiv anzumerken ist auch, dass es zwar eine Liebesgeschichte gibt, diese - oder Sex - aber nicht im Mittelpunkt steht. Vom Cover har hätte ich da wirklich etwas anderes erwartet, war aber froh, dass ich mich letztendlich getäuscht habe.
Insgesamt ist die Geschichte rund, es gibt auch einige witzige Passagen und ich wurde gut unterhalten. Ich muss wirklich aufhören, Bücher nach ihrem Cover zu beurteilen. Von mir gibt es 4 Sterne!
I gave this my customary 50 pages that i give every book. If by 50 pages the story hasn't gripped me I put it away.
These characters are bland. Natalia was stupid and boring. Matthew, for having so much history and being a previous angel, was also uninteresting. And a bit immature.
At 50 pages i decided I didn't care what happened to the story or characters. So, I won't be finishing it.
Another in this YA-like series from Weis and her daughter. Like the first one there is just not much happening in plot-wise. The premise could be interesting enough if it was further explored but I just felt like there were whole stretches of chapters that were rehashes of earlier story beats.
I picked up this book because I like Margaret Weis' work with Dragonlance. I found the plot to be promising, the idea of a rock star being possessed by the devil is always fun. Then of course the wayward angel Matthew Gallow who has been on earth too long and numbs his pain with bourbon is all the more interesting, but since it is nothing but pulp romance philosophy goes no deeper than a few properly placed Grateful Dead and Beatles lyrics. To avoid spoilers I will not go into detail of the main plot. I found the relationship that was the focus of the story seemed forced, and a lot of suspended belief needed to be taken. The plot could have gone into much greater depths of character turmoil and just plain questions about faith and religion. Instead of tiredly quoting the Beatles "Love is all We Need" for the moral of the story. It feels more like a starting point for our cultural moment than a finished product of thought.
I loved the imagery of a wayward angel acting as a priest exorcising a rock star who sold his soul to the devil. This is a great image and idea, but it does not live up to the Faustian catalog I do so love. It does not stand up in execution and craft to the likes of Goethe, Thomas Mann, or Washington Irving. This is where I garner my biggest disappointment with the book personally. The Faustian motif when I was a German student one of my favorites. To see it watered down and botched so thoroughly in the philosophical aspects bothers me the most. It saddens me to see such a rich literary theme condensed to paranormal romance, among the the depths of Twilight and off-shot vampire diaries.
I am disappointed to a lesser extent that the author Weis let her daughter piggy back on her successes and put her name on this rather pale and bland romance novel. I love the Dragons of Autumn twilight trilogy and world of Krynn. Not to mention the chronicles of Raistlin and his pursuits of power. I found him more scary in those books than the depiction of Satan and his minions of darkness in this urban fantasy. So much lacking in delivery is my final note on this book considering Weis' past work. If you buy into this current paranormal romance stuff of the moment, then this may hold your attention long enough. (Dragonlance had its own songs and poems, you could have at least wrote out the lyrics of the constantly referenced song Possession the rock star Cain sings through the book.)
After being a bad Angel, Matthew was evicted from heaven and forced to live an immortal life amongst the humans. Bitter and resentful of his existence, he casts his anger to God and does everything he can to spite him and those of faith by playing the role as a priest. Casting fake demons from those who can pay the price. And though he is selfish and blasphemous, he is hopefully that God will realize His mistake and welcome Matthew back.
Natalia is a battle ram of a woman. Managing the career of a popular Rock Star isn't easy but she is strong and capable of handling every issue that comes her way. The problem is, Cain is behaving more and more like a traditional rock star then she is used to. Trashing hotel rooms, drugs and sex. And it’s causing a lot of problems for concert goers. So, she comes to the solution of hiring a 'Priest' to exorcise the demon and the handsome priest from the television is the perfect option.
Unfortunately, it turns out that Cain needs a real priest as he's possessed by a true demon. Having sold his soul for fame and for the ownership of Natalia. Mathew realizes that he needs to help of the heavens to save her and he needs to cast aside his own problems to do so.
This book was promising at the start but it very quickly lost steam. There was little to no romance between the hero and heroine, in fact, it was almost half way through the book before they had any real interactions. Matthew was the most idiotic angel I've ever read about. Ignorant and absolutely inept in dealing with anything going on in the tour bus, he might as well be a lump. He had no character to him beside his childishness and his alcoholism and i became very frustrated with his lack of growth. Natalia was no better and i am very disappointed that she wasn't the badass portrayed in the beginning. The story was boring. The whole plotline flawed at best, horrific at the worst.
Matthew Gallow is a fallen angel; he was thrown out of heaven for not believing in god and all things good. He was sent back to earth without his wings 2000 thousand years ago, he is still immortal, but has become Jaded with life. Matthew's existence weighs heavily upon him; he goes through life with no feelings and no empathy for anyone. Presently he makes his living as a con-man performing fake exorcisms. Everything changes for him when his con takes a turn for real and he actually exorcises a real demon, only barely managing to survive.
The exoricism is a turning point for Matthew in more ways than one, not only does the brush with death bring Matthew back to 'life' with feelings, tastes and colors reappearing, but the exorcism is witnessed by Natalia Ashley, who is the manager of Cain a new sensation on the pop scene. She sees Matthew's act as just the thing to pump up the ending to her rocker Cain's stage show. Even though Matthew finds himself attracted to Natalia he is reluctant to take on this job – Cain has said that he has traded his soul with the devil.
The story is supposed to a fantasy romance, but it does not have a lot of romance in it. The relationship between Natalia and Matthew seems rather lukewarm actually. There is a bit of a fun element to the story with Natalia's ghost hippie grandfather “Woof”, who speaks to Matthew often. The story was easy to read though.
Though darker than the Weis's Warrior Angel, this is a much more challenging read Matthew is an immortal angel, refusing to go to heaven. He's currently making a living. As a fake priest doing fake exorcisms. But one night, things turn real and he encounters a real demon. This in turn leads him to Natalia, manager of mega rock star Cain, who just may have sold his soul for rock and roll. Matthew goes on tour with Cain and his entourage. What he finds is more than mere sex and drugs and rock and roll. And as he falls for Natalia, his own soul becomes imperiled.
I loved this book. I liked Warrior Angel,but this was even better. I loved how the Weis mother daughter team captured the energy of live rock and roll, the joys and pitfalls of touring. All of the characters are so fleshed out, you come to feel deep!y for them I especially loved Woof, Natalia's deceased hippie grandfather, who acts as a sort of guardian angel. William, the angel from the first book is back, and he has a new friend, Arthur the dormouse. If you like exciting paranormal romance, if you love stories of rock and music and if you believe good can best evil, this is the book for you.
The details listed on goodreads are not correct, but you only need to read the other reviews to find out what those details are.
This isn't a book I finished...I'm sad. I was prepared to like it, but unfortunately, it was another case of just not connecting with the characters. I wish I could pin point why I didn't connect.
This is a new book at the library, and there was a waiting list for it, so I decided to just take it back. Besides, I've got a few handfuls of books waiting for me on my bookcase that I need to read and return.
Silly paranormal romance about an angel who got chucked out of heaven for disobedience so travels around pretending to be an exorcist. He is recruited to join the act of a rock star by the manager, stumbling into a plot by the devil to take over the earth... Yes I said it was silly. And it's a romance so of course they fall in love. Easy reading with some funny bits.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. While it had romance, it was not the mushy every page kind. It actually told the story of a fallen angel who is helping a rock star who sold his soul to the devil. Great characters, good plot and fun to read. I will look for more by this author.
This story was lacking the excitment and anticipation needing to have a truely excellent story. I read the first 80 pages, and just was not able to engross myself in this book.
Not my typical fare when it comes to reading books, but was interesting enough for me to read. If you are looking for a romance with some mysticism lumped in, consider this book.