Steamy Fallen Angel Sex

Authors: Yelena Casale, Tina Moss

Touch of Darkness Cover I do love a good supernatural thriller – who doesn’t?  Fallen angels, demons, special powers, humans caught in the middle.  Good stuff.  In A Touch of Darkness we get all of these and even a little steamy sex.  Sounds a little too good to be true, and it is.  Not a lot, but a little.

A Touch of Darkness is collaboration between authors Yelena Casale and Tina Moss.   When we enter the story, 27-year-old Cassie is trying to figure out the source of her increasingly intense paranormal experiences.  Her hands emit a purple light, she gets searing headaches and now has started having nightmares.  She feels like she’s losing it.  Her best friend Zoey takes her to a psychic for answers, but all they accomplish is spooking the psychic.  That doesn’t help Cassie feel better.

Soon enough, things begin to become clear.  Or at least a tiny bit more clear.  The man that has been in Cassie’s nightmares appears at the restaurant where she works.  He’s looking for her.  His name is Gabe and he is a Fallen (angel, that is) who has been tasked with her protection in order to gain his own redemption.  Unfortunately for both of them, that will be easier said than done, since Cassie is far more than she appears and protecting her may mean losing the salvation that is Gabe’s only wish.  Bring on the bad guys, shit’s about to get real.

A Touch of Darkness has a lot of its ducks in a row – decent female protagonist with a little spunk, hunky fallen angel with a mission and hormones to spare, plucky best friend, and an array of bad guys all looking to exploit the mostly clueless Cassie.  As she learns more about her true nature, we learn more about the danger she faces and the dilemma into which Gabe has been forced.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it leaves too many fundamental questions unanswered.  Realizing that it’s the first book in an intended series explains why that happened, but makes it no less frustrating.  We do not find out how Gabe became a Fallen.  We don’t really learn much about the non-earthly dimensions or how Keys (that’s what Cassie is) are able to give power to others.  Or how they can use it themselves.  We do find out a lot about Gabe’s overwhelming sexual urges and Cassie’s inability to resist them, however, so there’s that.  Personally I could have done with less panting and moaning and a little more explaining.

Still, as a first series book, A Touch of Darkness shows promise.  It sets up an interesting world, with three separate dimensions all squabbling over the apparently extremely powerful Cassie.  She is not a complete shrinking violet and definitely has potential to become a pretty kick-ass Warrior Key in future installments.  Overall, 3 stars out of 5 for A Touch of Darkness, pending revision if and when the next installment is published.  If authors Casale and Moss don’t make with some fundamental answers in the next book, I could easily find myself with little interest to continue on.  Check it out of you like urban fantasy and heavy breathing.

– S. Millinocket

My thanks to Charleen Famiglietti for the review copy of A Touch of Darkness

[AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”B00G9GRRPU”]
Sue Millinocket
Latest posts by Sue Millinocket (see all)