Kristina Douglas: The Fallen

So I’ve always loved paranormal romances.  One of the all time great ones, RESTOREE by Anne McCaffrey, sits on my keeper shelf in its original, dog-eared, seventy-five cent retail glory, along with a couple of later reprints just to make sure I never lose it.  (Same with her first two romantic suspense novels, but that’s a different story).  Her first dragon books were killer romances, and there were other classic ones, like THE SERPENT by Jane Gaskell, and … well, my brain fails me.  For a while gothics (which was the only alternative to very pure Harlequin boss-secretary, nurse-doctor romances) went a little paranormal, with devils turning up as the love interest (very tricky to carry off) but mostly we had time-travel as the only available paranormal romance.

Time-travel died a swift death, but then we got the new, angsty vampires and the bewitching shape-shifters.  (I used to dislike werewolves because it seemed kind of like fucking your dog until I realized you only did it when you were both the same species. Kelley Armstrong’s BITTEN changed my mind forever).  And I kept saying “let me write vampires.” The answer was always “no.”

Vampires were over.  I’d been told vampires were over for ten years until finally my agent said “vampires aren’t over – wanna try one?”

And man, did I ever.  By that time so many people had done them brilliantly I was hesitant, but I’d always had a thing for fallen angels, and I combined the two, thinking I was being brilliantly original, not knowing such things were in the universe, waiting to be born (like Sandra Hill’s Viking angel vampires, etc.)

There are great paranormal writers out there whom I strongly recommend.  My personal favorites are: Nalini Singh, Jeaniene Frost, Deborah Harkness, Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Mollie Harper, Darynda Jones, and maybe half a dozen more.  I even love JR Ward despite her spelling issues.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been surrounded by such a richness of writers I’m dying to read.

I’m just hoping the tales of the Fallen can make the cut for you.

The final one, REBEL, is now out, and it’s somewhat of a departure from the others.  The first three had historically (or at least mythically) famous characters:  Raziel and Azazel from the first of the two hundred fallen angels according to the Book of Enoch, and the archangel Michael.  This time around it’s a rebel angel, an outcast among outcasts.  Cain has never played by the rules, no matter whose rules they were; he has a hidden agenda and more secrets than any human could possibly have.  He’s also angelically handsome and devilishly sexy.  His poor heroine, the uptight, widowed, erratically-psychic Martha, doesn’t stand a chance against him.  We have blistering dream sex, bone-melting real sex (I have a fondness for sex), lies and counter-lies until we come to a decent resolution: redemption and a happy ending for all those who deserve it.

In the meantime, enjoy Cain the rebel, the trickster, the sexiest blood-drinking angel who can break all the rules and find himself a reluctant hero anyway.  Martha’s a very good influence on him.