4 out of 4 stars
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Purgatory’s Angel by B. Hughes-Millman is an exciting supernatural romance. The story is ultimately about good versus evil, though sometimes that battle is waged within us.
People’s demons surface in the dream world. These demons hunt and kill others in their sleep. There’s nothing the mortal police can do since these murders leave no evidence behind. God has sent his best angels to Earth to help with this problem. They are born human but have superhuman abilities, live a very long time, and when they go to sleep they must hunt or be hunted. Jaime Connor thinks she might be the last good angel fighting since her family members are all dead. She always remembers her dreams, but one morning she’s only left with fleeting memories. What happened? Did she kill the man with the striking green eyes? Was he a demon? He must have been since she remembers him trying to kill her. Therefore, he must be dead since there’s no other way out of the dream. When he shows up at the bank she works at she’s more confused than ever. To top it all off, she has a strange, undeniable attraction to the man. Could she be slipping into madness? Will she eventually give into her inner turmoil and turn dark?
Jaime was a very interesting character. She struggled with her need to protect people and her desire to kill others. She knows what she does is necessary, but she struggles with how much she enjoys it. Her overwhelming need to be punished puts her in dangerous situations. She watches the demons she hunts. She often lets them hurt her before she inevitably ends them. She thinks she deserves the pain and the scars, but she’s not yet ready to give up the fight. This self-loathing is mimicked in her love life. She remains single and alone until she finds herself having feelings for the green-eyed man from her dream. She’s pretty sure he’s a demon, but that doesn’t stop her from wanting him to touch and kiss her. Then there’s the doctor she convinces to help her. She remembers him from the pre-existence when the angels battled in the war between God and Lucifer. He fought beside her. She can trust him. He obviously has feelings for her, and she starts to feel the same way. However, she can’t ever be with a mortal. Her life is too dangerous. Anyone she cares about could be swept up in the violence and get hurt. So, she keeps the doctor at arm's length. Well, for the most part, she does. This love triangle gets quite tantalizing. As a reader, I swapped back and forth between green-eyes and the doctor several times.
I liked that, like Jaime, we didn’t know who to trust. At times, we couldn’t even trust Jaime or her judgment. All of the characters are complex enough that we can’t tell if someone’s being honest or manipulative. It gave this book some unexpected mystery and kept me guessing until the very end. I also liked Jaime’s explanation for volunteering to be sent to Earth to hunt and kill every night. She said, “Wouldn’t you jump into raging rapids to save a drowning child?” Given that comparison, I completely understood why she would put herself through so much pain. The few times we saw her save actual victims were so touching.
I didn’t especially like how far the love triangle went. I enjoyed her meeting two guys and having feelings for both. I didn’t enjoy how one would kiss her in front of the other. I felt that was a bit too voyeuristic for me. At one point she was sleeping next to one guy while the other snuck in for a little make-out session. I generally enjoy a little romantic confusion, but this repulsed me.
I only found a few grammatical errors throughout the text, so I believe this was professionally edited. I read it fairly quickly, so it is enjoyable and quite a page-turner. I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I would give it 3.5 because of the love triangle, but it wasn’t enough to lose a full point. There is some graphic violence and some sexually explicit scenes, so I wouldn’t recommend this to young readers. However, if you enjoy books like Twilight and The Southern Vampire Mysteries, I think you would enjoy this book. It is the first book of the Dark Angels Novels.
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Purgatory's Angel
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