Spotlight and Review - Angeli by Jody Wallace

 

Title: Angeli
Author: Jody Wallace

 

 

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Publisher: Entangled Ignite
Pages: 170
Language: English
Format: Ebook
 

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Gregori’s last mission is to save Earth from the demons threatening to take control. He doesn’t care if he survives as long as he averts the impending apocalypse—until he meets Adelita, a human refugee, whose spirit and determination give him a renewed reason to fight. And live. He’s falling for her, despite the fact he’s told her nothing but lies and there can’t possibly be a future for them. 

Adelita can hardly believe the archangel Gregori, sent to save mankind, has lost his faith and his edge. After he saves her from a demon attack, she vows to help him recover both by any means necessary. But can she keep her own faith when she learns the truth about who and what Gregori really is?

 

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Excerpt:

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he told the Terran, “but don't fight me or you'll regret it.”

“Understood.”

He arched his wings into a dome in case the Terran was stupid enough to think he could run. With a grunt, he flipped the man over. The hat tumbled off in the process.

Not a man. A woman. She had long-lashed brown eyes, an oval face, full red lips. Masses of dark hair. Flecks of dirt and pine needles coated her cheek and clothing from where he’d shoved her into the ground. Her white shirt was smeared with fresh blood.

“You’re a female,” he said, as if it were news to her.

She nodded. “Y-yes, angeli.”

Didn't mean she wasn't a threat. He inspected her body, looking for weapons and the source of the blood. He located surface wounds on her legs, arms, and hands. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s nothing.” Her breasts rose and fell rhythmically. He watched them a moment. Round and balanced, like twin moons, the fabric covering them taut. Something about her breasts made his head swim, but that could be the alcohol, not to mention the fact that a daemon, and then a Terran, had nearly killed him.

He shouldn’t be cutting it so close with Ship still in orbit and the retrieval teams still white-lighting select Terrans.

He returned his gaze to her face. Her dusky cheeks were flushed, and her breathing was faster than normal.

“Were you trying to shoot me?” He didn’t know much about Terran females except what he’d learned masquerading as their religious icon. He’d had opportunities, but it wouldn’t have been convincing if he’d indulged. That wasn’t the mythology Ship had ordered them to follow on this planet.

Not that his team had stuck to the program.

“Shoot you? Santa Maria!” she exclaimed. Her English was musically accented. “I would never.”

“You sure about that?” Her vocal and physical cues seemed honest, but she'd been pointing a gun at his head. Based on the sunbeams razing his skin, he was 90 percent sure his force field was kaput. Fragging tech. A bullet anywhere besides his armor would have ripped into him.

“I'm sure I wasn’t going to shoot you.”

“Then what’s with the gun?” And what was she doing in this area besides inciting the horde?

Before he could ask more, she said, “Why do you worry about a little pistol? You can’t die. You’re angeli.”

“I…” What should he tell her?

****

He rose and lifted her to her feet. She stumbled away as soon as he released her, dusting her shirt and pants. Then, completely without warning, she whirled back to him, grabbed his feathers and yanked.

“Are these really wings?” she demanded.

Good thing he’d had the battle tips retracted. “What else would they be?”

“I don't know.” She glared at him. “Who’s to say only the heavenly host can have wings? Daemons fly, too.”

“You continue to doubt me, mortal? After seeing me on your television?” He spread his wings halfway and glared back. This was easier when his force field—his glow—and his headpiece were functional. Dammit.

“Obviously you haven’t seen any 3-D movies.” She marched behind him and inspected his shoulders. He allowed it, even as her gaze made him self-conscious. As though he should flex his muscles and stand straighter.

She brushed past him. “I can’t see through your armor.”

If she could, she’d see the wings piercing his skin. They were endo-organic like his headpiece. He tucked the broken array into a storage compartment on his breastplate and eyed her shapely legs. She was finely formed, this Terran woman. As she picked up her hat and gun, he appreciated her rounded buttocks.

She stuck her hat on her head, her gun in her waistband, snapped her knife holster, and gave him a long, assessing stare. “You see something you like, angeli?”

He lifted one shoulder. “All mortals look the same to me.”

She crossed her arms. “Well, you look taller on television.”

“I’m tall enough.” On Ship he was ninetieth percentile for height. “Taller than you.”

She blew her bangs out of her eyes. “Ay, who’s not taller than me?”

He thought about the Terrans he’d met. This woman was petite, though she’d be average on Ship. “Children?”

She gestured in a way he recognized as rude. “You act more and more like a regular man the longer I talk to you. Not to mention the other thing.” She tugged her hat farther down on her head. “My Jeep is on the road. Or are you going to fly off now?”

“I can’t leave you here alone.” He didn’t want to frighten her, but the horde was closer than she seemed to realize. With his array out of commission, his surveillance abilities were limited. It was time to relocate.

“Then come.” She strode off without looking back, so he folded his wings and followed her, several paces behind.

***

“You aren’t angeli.” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as shaky to him as it felt in her tight throat. She cocked one hip and rolled her eyes to hide her confusion and fear. “I admit, I had my doubts about you.”

May the Lord forgive her for them.

His eyebrows arched. “I thought you said you’d come to believe?”

She gestured dismissively. “That was before. But today? With the way you behave, and the sweating and bleeding, how could I not wonder?”

“I can understand that.”

Her lips were trembling, so she pretended to hide a yawn before asking, “Who are you?”

“Gregori. It’s my name. I’m the one you’ve seen on your television.” He rubbed a hand over his head, smoothing his long, damp hair. “First you need to understand I’m here to save your people. The horde is lethal, Adelita. Every type of entity seeks only your death. They’ll destroy this planet and everyone on it.”

“I got that much, ange—Gregori. We all got that much.” She considered the questions exploding in her mind and asked the easiest one. “What about the wings?”

“Removable.”

She crossed her arms to shut out the panic. “Halo?”

He crossed his arms, too, but held her gaze. “Machine.”

“Do you want to take over the world?”

“No.”

“Are you some kind of soldier?”

“Yes.”

It was like twenty questions, a game she always won. But it didn’t feel like she was ahead. “Did you infiltrate the real angeli?”

“There are no real angeli.” He continued to hold her gaze, his eyes the same clear blue they’d been since the first time she’d seen him on TV. “Not how you think of them.”

It was what she’d feared and what some had insisted all along. The believers had been deceived. But why? Why would anyone do this when people were dying? What was the point of pretending?

A bad thought crossed her mind. She stepped closer and shook her finger at him. In the mirror behind him, her reflection did the same thing. “Is this another test?”

His lips relaxed from a grim line to something softer. “Would I admit it if it was?”

“Just tell me,” she snapped.

“There are no tests.” Red tinged his skin along his high cheekbones and didn’t fade. Wait, no, it didn’t fade because he seemed to have a sunburn. His arms were pinkish between his bracelets. “I apologize if I offended you with…the first thing that wasn’t a test.”

She couldn’t think about that when she was afraid she already knew the answer to her next question. “Did God send you to us?”

“I can’t speak for your god, Adelita. I’m not from him, and I don’t know him. Only you can speak to your god and hear him. My people worship differently.”

“Anyone with a soul can hear my Lord if they have open ears and an open heart,” she told him sternly. Unless Gregori wasn’t a man. “Are you a robot?”

He kind of smiled, and it made her want to kick him. “I’m a person. I breathe and bleed and eat and sleep and—”

She interrupted. “I can guess the rest.”

 

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 My Review:

I enjoyed this tale of Gregori and Adelita.  Gregori came to Earth to save the primitive humans but found himself admiring and caring about them.  Humans believe him to be an Archangel sent from Heaven to save them.  Adelita is a human who decides that she is going to see all the sights before they are destroyed by demons and comes across a fallen Gregori.  Adelita doesn't believe she is worthy (she is religious) but I found her to be a very strong, determined and very smart woman who finds the strength and courage to stay in the danger zone to finish her quest.  Gregori is confused yet fascinated by her which was entertaining as he did not know how to "deal" with her.  These two definitely have sparks and stubbornness in abundance.  The story is very well-written and I will advise readers that you should read this while there are no distractions as the story gets fairly detailed oriented at times.  It did leave me desperate to read the next book in this series as I had been totally drawn into the story. 
 

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PURCHASE AT:    Amazon

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About Jody Wallace: 

Jody Wallace grew up in the South in a very rural area. She went to school a long time because there was always something new to learn and ended up with a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing. Her resume includes college English instructor, technical documents editor, market analyst, web designer, and general all around pain in the butt. She currently lives in Tennessee with her family: 1 husband, 2 kids, 2 cats. One of her many alter egos is “The Grammar Wench”, which should give you an indication of her character. She is a terrible packrat and likes to amass vintage clothing, books, Asian-inspired kitchenware, gnomes, and other items that threaten to force her family out of the house. She also likes cats. A lot. 

Ms. Wallace’s approach to writing is to tell as many outlandish lies as she can get her readers to swallow. Her dream is to be moderately well-paid for this service. She is active in RWA and occasionally conducts writing workshops. Among topics she’s been known to cover are training sessions for contest judges (she coordinated her local RWA chapter contest for many years), point of view, dialogue punctuation and creativity enhancement.A double Golden Heart finalist in 2006, Julie Rowe has been writing medically inclined romances for over ten years. She’s also a published freelancer with articles appearing in The Romance Writer’s Report, Canadian Living, Today’s Parent, Reader’s Digest (Canada) and other magazines. 

 

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