Nikki finds herself thrown in the battle between Heaven & Hell. She has three guardian half-angels sworn to protect her. Tow of the halflings have begun to fall for Nikki. The choices they make could have them condemned to eternal damnation.

This novel has the same premise as most angel novels. The main difference is this one throws in science.

Nikki is the lead character. It was hard to connect with her. She is supposed to be a level-headed girl that also happens to be awesome in karate and riding motorcycles. She had moments where she couldn't cope with her choices or things that were taking place, and at times was very whiney.

Mace and Raven were great characters. Mace is kindhearted and always follows the rules, until he meets Nikki. He constantly struggles with doing what he is supposed to do and following his heart. Raven is a brooding halfling. He hates the world he has to be a part of and all the unfairness of his situation. He's sliding further and further to the side of evil. The only person that seems likely to keep him from going down that path is Nikki. There are so many layers to him, but Nikki manages to break through his shell and see him.

The writing is easy to follow, although sometimes I felt like I was reading a script.

I did enjoy this book, and will read the sequel Guardians that comes out later this year. This novel definitely produced more question than answers, and I need answers. :) ( )

I would have given this book maybe a three star thinking it would be okay for adolescent readers, but then the end came. Or actually, it didn’t. It was as if the author simply got bored with writing. Without an ending this book was just so much dribble. It also annoyed me to be quoted fortune cookie scriptures. I really wanted to like this book, but it was empty of theory, depth, personality, and went no where.

I did finish the book, and it is the first book from this author. I hope the second books is more... gratifying. Writing is a learning process. Every book an author writes should be better than the one before. ( )

Honestly, it seems that I've been having some poor luck when it comes to angel books lately. I totally love the genre--for probably obvious reasons--but sometimes they just fall flat. This, unfortunately, fell into that category. One of the main problems was that the whole thing kind of felt like a giant prologue--leading up to something that never happened. And if the first book in a series doesn't draw me in, I'm really not going to be too excited to go and check out the rest of them. The writing was well done, and the characters did have a good deal of depth to them, which I appreciated, but I just couldn't get into it. And, the book itself was more religiously oriented (I know, duh, angel book and religion, whodathunk? :), but it kind of made God come off as kind of a jerk. At least, that was my interpretation. LOL! Anyhow, not my cup o' tea. And I can't believe I just wrote that in a review. Hopefully a few of you find this entertaining... ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.

Quick & Dirty: Very promising premise, but unfortunately I couldn’t connect with the story. I liked the characters and the romance was cute.

Opening Sentence: Fangs sank into Nikki Youngblood’s leg, setting her skin on fire.

The Review:

Nikki Youngblood keeps finding herself in mortal danger. She has been hunted by some strange rabid dogs, and almost ran off the road by a stranger. If not for the mysterious inhuman boys that keep rescuing her, Nikki would be dead. Raven, Mace, and Vine are Halflings, which means they are part angel and part human. They were raised to fight evil and protect anyone that the higher power asks them to. Nikki is their next target and they will do anything to keep her safe. But none of them have any idea why the other side is after Nikki and no one knows what is really at stake.

As Nikki gets to know the boys better she finds that she has an unnerving attraction to Mace and Raven. She knows that getting involved with either of them would be a mistake. It is against the rules for a Halfling to be with a human and the consequences are that they might lose their soul. But neither boy seems to care as they both start to slowly fall for Nikki. Nikki is torn between the two, but love is one of her least concerns right now. She has a lot of choices to make and some of the consequences could be deadly to the human race.

The story was told from Nikki’s point of view and I actually really liked her. She is very independent and has a spunky attitude. She has been taught how to defend herself and she doesn’t give away her trust easily. Her life has basically been turned upside down but she deals with things as logically and calmly as she can. There were a few times she got a little whiny, but nothing too bad. She tries to handle her problems head on and doesn’t run even when she’s scared. I found her easy to connect with and overall, I thought she was a great character.

A big part of this book was the love triangle between Nikki and the two Halfling boys she falls for. First, she meets Mace. With his stunning good looks and ocean blue eyes, Nikki finds him instantly attractive. He is a really sweet guy and he is very protective of Nikki. Living the life of a Halfling isn’t always easy and falling in love with a human is a big no, no. But Mace finds Nikki fascinating and the more he gets to know about her the more he likes her. They have cute chemistry and overall, I really liked Mace, but I am totally team Raven.

Raven is gorgeous and he knows it. He is confident and kind of a jerk. He knows that he is good at being a Halfling, but he fears that with every journey that he completes, he is slightly losing his soul. Nikki infuriates him, but he is also very intrigued by her. She is interesting and Raven never finds anyone interesting. I love the bad boy vibe he gives off, it makes him mysterious and very hot. But he is also a good person that is trying to do the best he can. I loved his character and I hope that he gets the girl in the end.

This was just an ok read for me. My main problem with this book was that I felt there wasn’t really a story. It went from one event to another, but I didn’t see the connection between them. By the end, I felt that you finally got a since of what was going on but throughout the whole book, I had a big lack of interest. I didn’t know what to look forward to because I had no idea where the story was going for the majority of the book. Because I couldn’t get into the story, I felt like I had to force myself to keep reading the book so I would finish it, and for me that is never a good thing. I did finish the book and the end of the book was much better, but I wish I could have connected with the story earlier in the book. I really enjoyed the characters, they were interesting and fun to get to know. The premise of the book was promising, but it just took too long to come together for me. The romance was cute but it had a touch of instalove to it. While the story did have a lot of faults, I still am interested in finding out what happens in the sequel. I would recommend this to anyone that likes a light read with cute romance.

Notable Scene:

A strange sensation swept Nikki as she watched him. Time seemed to freeze as his body reacted to whatever had drawn his concentration. Moments later, she heard heated voices drifting from the teacher’s desk. The words grew in intensity, but her focus remained on Raven, who remained statue still-he didn’t even breathe. The thought predator suddenly careened into her mind. He looked like an animal getting ready to make a kill.

Nikki swallowed hard while prickly gooseflesh spread across her arms.

He wasn’t human. And she wanted to get away.

Tearing her gaze from him, she glanced at Krissy, who’d quieted but didn’t seem to notice and change in Raven.

Finally, Nikki turned to see what had caused him to react. Two guys were arguing by the desk at the front of the class: one was dressed in camouflage and looked like he’d just come in from deer hunting. Nikki remembered him from last year. Joey-something. As she tried to recall his last name, he reached under his jacket to the small of his back.

Nikki knew that posture. Her heart dropped. “No!” she screamed, flying to the front of the room as Dr. Richmond’s face turned to horror and he stepped between the two boys. Joey shoved the portly teacher and Dr. Richmond tumbled backward, teetering beside the second boy.

The rest was a flash. First, the glint of steel passing camouflage clothing, a scream from somewhere, blade jutting forth, then Raven. He blocked her vision, moving in long, deft swift motions more graceful than any dancer she’d ever seen.

Nikki tried to close the distance to the knife-wielding Joey, but couldn’t reach him in time to stop the blade’s trajectory. That’s when everything slowed. Almost to a halt.

FTC Advisory: Zondervan provided me with a copy of Halflings. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Halflings took me by surprise by how intensely romantic it was and how hooked I became on the characters. It was that intensity more so than the plot that kept me reading. The halflings (half angel, half human) were never explained to my satisfaction. The attempts at explanation were often awkward, confusing, and unconvincing. For example, when Nikki asked Mace how old he was, he said it was difficult to explain in human terms. Apparently, it was also difficult for the writer to explain because it made no sense. I was willing to overlook it because I was drawn to the plight of the flawed and sympathetic characters, but I hope the next book explains things better. Also, though I liked Nikki (the main character), she was inconsistently drawn. One minute she's strong enough to defeat a hell-hound (something that apparently no other human had ever done) and the next minute she's fainting...again. One thing I did appreciate was that although this was definitely Christian fiction, it wasn't preachy. I would've liked for the supernatural elements to have been better developed and explained, but I have hope that the next book will answer some of my questions. Despite the inconsistencies and occasionally unconvincing plot elements, I thoroughly enjoyed the read. It kept my attention throughout, and I'm intrigued enough to want to read the next in the series.

Please note: In compliance with FTC guidelines, I was provided a review copy by the publisher through NetGalley. ( )