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Lost Angel
Mia Moore is a wandering soul. At eleven years old, she lost her parents. Now seventeen, she bounces between foster homes, forming whatever life she can. In her new home, the residents are already tormenting her—a problem she would normally resolve with fists. But one more incident and it's juvenile hall. Then she comes across Liam Forrester.
As an LAPD detective, Liam can address her problems. He’s an authority figure with the law on his side. But why would he help an adolescent from the streets? It’s more likely that he would bust her for something.
To gain his cooperation, Mia needs to change her identity. Afterward, she can enter his life, establish a connection, and start bending his will. And if the connection is firm enough, maybe she can have Liam accomplish what she truly desires.
As an LAPD detective, Liam can address her problems. He’s an authority figure with the law on his side. But why would he help an adolescent from the streets? It’s more likely that he would bust her for something.
To gain his cooperation, Mia needs to change her identity. Afterward, she can enter his life, establish a connection, and start bending his will. And if the connection is firm enough, maybe she can have Liam accomplish what she truly desires.
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 3, 2021
74 people are currently reading
2612 people want to read
About the author
Ana Valen
3 books29 followersAna Valen is the pen name for an independent author from Los Angeles, California. The author operates under the additional pen names of Mark Anthony and Kevin Corbin. Mark Anthony writes science fiction novels, and Kevin Corbin writes historical action/adventure novels. For more information regarding these titles, please visit noeticquest.com. Thank you.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
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October 3, 2022🎁 FREE on Amazon today (10/2/2022)! 🎁
April 12, 2021
Lost Angel by Ana Valen is one of those books that will stick with you forever. Mia Moore has been in the foster care system for six years, since the death of her parents. She tries to remain unseen in her dress and actions, but trouble seems to levitate towards her. Mia is faced with a dilemma that she doesn't want to let go and a LAPD detective has the knowledge and opportunity to help her get rid of her trouble. She just needs to find a way to manipulate Liam Forrester.
I found Lost Angel mesmerizing. Ana Valen created a crime thriller that keeps you wondering who is manipulating whom? There are many layers of crime, shifty maneuvering and deceit. The pace quickly shifts between Mia and Liam and you hope for a good ending between these two. The characters seem real enough to pass you on the street. Overall, I felt as if I was on a roller-coaster ride dominated by characters struggling to outwit each other.
I found Lost Angel mesmerizing. Ana Valen created a crime thriller that keeps you wondering who is manipulating whom? There are many layers of crime, shifty maneuvering and deceit. The pace quickly shifts between Mia and Liam and you hope for a good ending between these two. The characters seem real enough to pass you on the street. Overall, I felt as if I was on a roller-coaster ride dominated by characters struggling to outwit each other.
April 21, 2021
17-year-old Mia Moore is an orphan living in one of Hollywood’s Orphanages. Having lost her parents six years prior, left her with the distinct wish to simply disappear. Being invisible would be so much better for her and her ultimate goal. A chance encounter with an LAPD officer, finally brings her true goal closer into her reach. Seizing an opportunity, she changes her identity to ingratiate and insert herself into this officer’s life.
Plenty of twist and turns, the book is amazingly complex and deep, the characters are not clear cut and we don’t have a pure antagonist, nor a pure protagonist. This distinction Is what makes this book so great, there is a sense of realism to the characters, mainly because we can see ourselves in them, from their positive traits to their flaws. Much is revealed at the end and many things (or people) may not be all that they seem up until then, a truly surprising ending.
Plenty of twist and turns, the book is amazingly complex and deep, the characters are not clear cut and we don’t have a pure antagonist, nor a pure protagonist. This distinction Is what makes this book so great, there is a sense of realism to the characters, mainly because we can see ourselves in them, from their positive traits to their flaws. Much is revealed at the end and many things (or people) may not be all that they seem up until then, a truly surprising ending.
April 15, 2021
Lost Angel by Ana Valen opens with a harrowing scene that sets the tone for the book. Mia, the main character is in a foster home following the death of both her parents in a car accident. She proceeds to get beaten up by her enemies and gets no support from the powers that be. The story truly begins as her life intersects with Liam Forrester, an LAPD detective. This is a fascinating book with characters that are manipulative and calculating, and deceptively real, and sometimes it's hard to know which direction the book is going in. The author never fails to pull you in as a reader, creating a nuanced and addicting storyline. The back and forth pull keeps your interest, and as far as crime thrillers go, this one is perfectly rendered. Highly recommend it for some fine writing and a compelling story.
November 23, 2021
More Like Determined Sociopath
A young woman in foster care blackmails a detective into homicide. But she herself is soon to be
trapped.
This book is unbelievable. Filled with unlikable characters and poor choices it is an unpleasant read. Mia the foster woman is intelligent and resourceful and could have easily chosen a different path. Liam, the cop, is a dunce. I did not feel sorry for any of them.
A young woman in foster care blackmails a detective into homicide. But she herself is soon to be
trapped.
This book is unbelievable. Filled with unlikable characters and poor choices it is an unpleasant read. Mia the foster woman is intelligent and resourceful and could have easily chosen a different path. Liam, the cop, is a dunce. I did not feel sorry for any of them.
April 9, 2025
I’m conflicted. I won this in a GR giveaway. I really want to give it a positive review, but it really needs professional editing.
First of all there’s pretty good beginning. I’m moderately invested in the characters and looking forward to finding out what happens to them.
Then we jump to the future. This is where I started getting lost. There is an error with two names that had me confused until I sussed it out. There’s a lot of telling, rather than showing. We don’t all the steps for getting a drink: getting the glass, pouring in liquid, drinking, walking glass to sink, washing it out, etc. Details like this come up a lot.
We don’t get a clear picture of why Mia is the way she is at 17. She doesn’t present as a strategic mastermind, so some of the things she does in the book don’t track. Liam is also inconsistent. Why does he go along with Mia’s plan? We don’t get enough of his backstory to make that journey with him. It’s more a connect-the-dots kind of thing.
Also, with what happens to the people in her life, as a direct result of her actions, seems like literal overkill for their “crimes.” Mia goes into hyperdrive because someone mentions her parents. Are we to believe no one has ever mentioned her parents before, especially the bully who knows it’s a sore spot? Toward the end of the book, Mia practically accuses someone of overreacting in a similar situation.
There are other questions such as where did the money go and what was Mia’s life like before the home that may have been answered, but I kind of had to skip some parts that were step-by-step telling.
The bones of a good story are there. Editing would resolve the outright errors. Delving deeper into character motivations would allow the reader to feel empathy. And playing around with ignored loose ends would give depth to the plot.
I’m glad I got the opportunity to read this book and would read others by the author.
First of all there’s pretty good beginning. I’m moderately invested in the characters and looking forward to finding out what happens to them.
Then we jump to the future. This is where I started getting lost. There is an error with two names that had me confused until I sussed it out. There’s a lot of telling, rather than showing. We don’t all the steps for getting a drink: getting the glass, pouring in liquid, drinking, walking glass to sink, washing it out, etc. Details like this come up a lot.
We don’t get a clear picture of why Mia is the way she is at 17. She doesn’t present as a strategic mastermind, so some of the things she does in the book don’t track. Liam is also inconsistent. Why does he go along with Mia’s plan? We don’t get enough of his backstory to make that journey with him. It’s more a connect-the-dots kind of thing.
Also, with what happens to the people in her life, as a direct result of her actions, seems like literal overkill for their “crimes.” Mia goes into hyperdrive because someone mentions her parents. Are we to believe no one has ever mentioned her parents before, especially the bully who knows it’s a sore spot? Toward the end of the book, Mia practically accuses someone of overreacting in a similar situation.
There are other questions such as where did the money go and what was Mia’s life like before the home that may have been answered, but I kind of had to skip some parts that were step-by-step telling.
The bones of a good story are there. Editing would resolve the outright errors. Delving deeper into character motivations would allow the reader to feel empathy. And playing around with ignored loose ends would give depth to the plot.
I’m glad I got the opportunity to read this book and would read others by the author.
April 27, 2021
Twists and Turns to Keep Your Head Spinning!
Lost Angel by Ana Valen was a real page turner! It's part police procedural, part psychological thriller.
Mia is a 17-year-old whose parents were killed in a car crash. She lives in a home for girls after bouncing around the foster system. She is fiercely protective of her parents' memory, which strangely leads eventually to the deaths of five people. The plot is simultaneously plausible and incredible. The ending is uplifting and tragic. I definitely recommend it.
Lost Angel by Ana Valen was a real page turner! It's part police procedural, part psychological thriller.
Mia is a 17-year-old whose parents were killed in a car crash. She lives in a home for girls after bouncing around the foster system. She is fiercely protective of her parents' memory, which strangely leads eventually to the deaths of five people. The plot is simultaneously plausible and incredible. The ending is uplifting and tragic. I definitely recommend it.
March 24, 2022
Amazing, Stunning Fantastic Mystery
Author Ann Valen has outdone herself with this novel, Lost Angel aroused my detective senses, with the main character MM, who has been through many trials and battles. She sets out to change her identity but would have chosen to remain invisible. Quite an interesting crime thriller. What makes this book a delicious read is the characters, none are clear and the antagonist/protagonist are not really plain. A naturally good read. Lost Angel is one of those novels that is as "real as you can get". The story late is relatable and real.
Just Amazing!! Ann Valen deserves a 5 *****
Author Ann Valen has outdone herself with this novel, Lost Angel aroused my detective senses, with the main character MM, who has been through many trials and battles. She sets out to change her identity but would have chosen to remain invisible. Quite an interesting crime thriller. What makes this book a delicious read is the characters, none are clear and the antagonist/protagonist are not really plain. A naturally good read. Lost Angel is one of those novels that is as "real as you can get". The story late is relatable and real.
Just Amazing!! Ann Valen deserves a 5 *****
October 11, 2022
Easy read, but the editing was poor. At times it read like it was written in another language and translated to English. Inaccurate phrases and missing words distracted from the content. A seemingly familiar story, but one that with more detail and a better understanding of real life occurrences, could have been a more fascinating read. The author comes off as inexperienced in life and lacks the knowledge needed to truly keep the reader enthralled without pausing to sort out the sometimes confusing chain of events. The ending felt very rushed and was predictable. All that aside, entertaining and looking forward to future works.
July 12, 2021
This story is a rollercoaster. Mia is trying to just live after her parents are killed and trying to uphold their memory. She gets into trouble, and it appears the only person who can help her is Liam, a detective. The only way to get him to listen to her, she has to change and be something else. It's kind of annoying because you'd believe police officers or just anyone a part of the police force would listen to children. She's still legally a child, but she still has to get them to listen. At the end, both do get an ending, but it definitely still leaves you thinking about it.
March 28, 2025
I need a book to be plausible for the characters to feel like real people and connect. This book completely lacked that, but I still enjoyed the story...up until the 50% point. It went from extremely unlikely to absurd. The main character is cunning & manipulative, then impulsive & immature, then benevolent and self-sacrificing for someone whose life she destroyed. The "twist" was more nonsense. If it wasn't a quick read, I wouldn't have finished it.
October 9, 2022
An orphaned girl goes into a foster care facility where she is subjected to repeated bullying. She develops a plan to strike back against the people who bullied her. Her actions are a stretch of the imagination but overall it was a good book about a sad subject. The majority of the main characters were not likeable.
October 20, 2022
Lost Angel is a crime thriller.
It is a slow burn, but it helps in developing the characters. Once I got more into the book, it didn’t take long to become invested in the story and want to keep reading. This is not a happy book, but it is still worth reading.
It is a slow burn, but it helps in developing the characters. Once I got more into the book, it didn’t take long to become invested in the story and want to keep reading. This is not a happy book, but it is still worth reading.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 3, 2021
great read.
Had me til the end.
Hope you read it and find it as enjoyable as I did it proves how innocent things get screwed up
Had me til the end.
Hope you read it and find it as enjoyable as I did it proves how innocent things get screwed up
Read
October 30, 2022Good fast read for the hours you want to escape.
November 23, 2022
I’d give 3 1/2 stars. I found Mia’s character to be a bit of a stretch. Also the storyline was predictable.
I did overlook those things and enjoyed the book for what it is.
I did overlook those things and enjoyed the book for what it is.
January 7, 2023
An interesting story though not entirely plausible. A couple of unexpected twists. I didn't hate it and found myself wanting to get back to reading it more often than not.
Curious to read the author's Science Fiction.
Many thanks to the author and publisher for the Giveaway!
Curious to read the author's Science Fiction.
Many thanks to the author and publisher for the Giveaway!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews