Rapture-Book 4 in The Fallen Angels series by J.R. Ward

RAPTURE (The Fallen Angels #4) by J.R.Ward-Book Description:

Out of the wickedly inventive imagination of #1 New York Times bestselling author J.R. Ward comes a world where sin and salvation collide in a battle for the future of mankind—where a cynical fallen angel struggles against the seven deadly sins and a demon’s lure over seven chosen souls…

Mels Carmichael, reporter for the Caldwell Courier Journal, gets the shock of her life when a man stumbles in front of her car outside the local cemetery. After the accident, his amnesia is just the kind of mystery she likes to solve, but she soon discovers they’re in over their heads with his past. Over their heads with passion, too…

As shadows walk the line between reality and another realm, and her lover’s memory begins to come back, the two of them learn that nothing is truly dead and buried. Especially when you’re trapped in a no holds barred war between angels and demons. With a soul on the line, and Mels’s heart at risk, what in Heaven—or in Hell—will it take to save them both?

Review:

Mels Carmichael is at a crossroads of sorts in her life and in her career. She moved back to Caldwell, New York from New York City when her father, a Caldwell police officer, was killed in an auto accident three years earlier. Not wanting her mother to be alone, she gave up her job at a prestigious paper in NYC to work at the Caldwell Courier Journal in order to be there for her mother. Mels is on her way home late one night, when someone walks into her lane of traffic. She hits him and crashes her car. Little did she know that things as she knew them would never be the same. She has no idea of the battle that wages between good and evil, right there in Caldwell.

Matthias awakens on a grave, naked and cold. And has no idea how he got there and no memory of his past life. He does know that he needs to gather himself and get moving. Once he gets out of the graveyard, he is struck by a car and the next he knows, he wakes up in the hospital. When the door opens, in walks Mels Carmichael, there to apologize for the accident and he knows as soon as he lays eyes on her that she will be part of his life.

Jim Herron, team leader for the Angels on Earth, and his sidekick Adrian, have no idea who the soul is that they are to save. Nigel, Jim’s boss from Heaven, tells him that it will be very plain to him who it will be. And when Jim sees Matthias, he knows the he has one more shot to save him. He had already lost against Devina, the Devil, when Matthias’ soul was up for saving in a previous match up. And Devina won. However, due to Devina’s cheating, the Maker placed his soul back in play and gave him one more chance to redeem himself. Matthias and Jim have a past as he was Jim’s boss when they were members of XOps, an organization that took care of “problems” for the government, but that the government would never acknowledge knowing about.

Matthias is drawn to Mels and once Jim realizes that, he knows that she is the key to saving Matthias. The bigger problem? Devina figures it out as well. Matthias’ memories start slowly coming back and the race begins for those out to get him. The XOps that he is no longer a part of and Devina who wants his soul. Could Jim save his soul? You’ll have to read the story to find out.

I was really looking forward to this book. I am a J.R. Ward junkie, and even though this series started out slowly, the books got better each time out. I loved that Mels was such a strong heroine. And loved the fact that Matthias wanted to be……….better. The romance that developed between the two was great, and once Mels figured out that all was not as it seemed, I loved it even more. The problem I had was that Nigel only made a few appearances and Colin (Nigel’s partner in Heaven) didn’t show up at all. They were a big part of the previous book and even though we think all is well with them, I would have liked that to have been confirmed in this book. And, Eddie (another of Jim’s cohorts and Adrian’s best friend) is still dead. I know down to my toes that he will come back, but the question is when. I can only guess that it will be something spectacular when it happens. And, I will say the ending had me saying “REALLY JIM?!?!?”………… Unfortunately for me, this book was a bit slow. We get to see Devina quite often, but there just wasn’t enough Angel action for me. With all of that said, it was a good story, just not as WARDish as I was anticipating. Oh, and for those of you wondering about Dog, this is the one for you!

Reviewed by Vickie M.