Review: Falling Hard by J.K. Coi

Falling Hard

by J.K. Coi

Kindle Edition

Published July 18th 2011 by Carina Press

ASIN B005078OJM

Courtesy of NetGalley

After a life filled with tragedy, rocker Gabriel Gunn thinks he's finally getting the better of his personal demons. Then he's attacked after a concert—and rescued by a warrior goddess brandishing a sword and white wings. As hard as it is to believe in an angelic bodyguard, Gabriel must face an even more impossible truth: he carries the devil's soul within him.Amelia has been watching over Gabriel for years, using her angelic powers to prevent Lucifer's return. Now she must also protect him from warring angel factions with their own agendas. Amelia would do anything to avert another angelic war, even sacrifice her own emotions to avoid temptation. Yet with Gabriel she feels things she no longer wants to deny, and pleasure she never imagined.But the closer Gabriel and Amelia get, the stronger Lucifer becomes. Will Amelia be forced to kill the man she's come to love to stop the war she's always feared?

83,000 words

GoodReads

My Thoughts:

Gabriel Gunn is a rich and sexy rocker with a troubled past; after trying for a year to get his life straight he is attacked outside of a concert and learns that no matter what good he does in life it may not matter because he carries the dark angel Lucifer inside of him – and devil is ready to be set free.

Charged with protecting the life of Gabriel and insuring that Lucifer’s soul is never let out, Amelia has been watching over Gabriel his entire life. Stripped of emotions long ago by the archangels, Amelia knows nothing of love, desire, anger or even regret until she must leave the angelic realm to guard Gabriel night and day. Now, not only is she second guessing her entire life but she is experiencing arousal for the very first time and Gabriel is more then up for the challenge of introducing Amelia to life’s carnal pleasures.

With two angel factions hunting them in hopes of possessing Gabriel’s darker half and the protective walls crumbling around Lucifer’s soul, Amelia and Gabriel find themselves in a race against time. They must find a way to contain the Devil without destroying them both; will they survive the battle ahead or will the darkness living inside of Gabriel surpass even the deepest love?

Falling Hard was a compelling story about the age-old battle between angels and the fallen, weaving in a rock star atmosphere with myths and beliefs associated with religion. The premise was good and as the story started out it really captured my attention despite some of the musical term errors at the beginning (which was corrected as the story continued), but as soon as Gabriel and Amelia started to recognize their attraction for each other I begin to lose the feel for it. Don’t get me wrong, Falling Hard has a wonderful romance with a stellar couple but the plot fell to the back of that, giving it a minor feel that dragged and stumbled often. It didn’t seem to flow in a believable way for me.

Gabriel and Amelia’s courtship is sizzling, intense and riddled with tension but it focused too much on the character’s distrust, regrets and insecurities, as well as sex, without backing it up with concrete feelings and a well constructed world. The whole story lacked depth and dimension. There was a good amount of action though, with rogue angels appearing out of nowhere, but it just didn’t make up for the missing layers.

I think this novel will get a 50/50 out of readers. I really wanted to love Falling Hard but it ultimately left me frustrated because I think that this could have been a great and unique story if the author would have put just a tad more effort into it.

 

Rating: 3 Wine Glasses - Liked It

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