Genre: Paranormal Romance
Synopsis: When Khiara Banning was born, her soul— the purest of all souls— was inextricably intertwined with the outcome of the final battle between good and evil. However, due to her parents’ foolishness she was cursed, cursed to be truly alone; no Guardian, no Soul Mate. But yet, when the fallen angel—Cael—heard whisper of this and from the exact moment he first saw her, he knew with the core of his being that he above all others needed to protect her. Cael begged and pleaded with God to be appointed as her guardian and because He is fair, it was permitted. However, He ruled that if any mistakes were to be made, Cael would instantly be stripped of his title. Years later, the curse evolves in a terrifying new manner that not even God could have predicted. The only entity who knows the key to reversing the effects of her life, no… world changing curse is none other than the Goddess, Morrigan, whose curse tainted Khiara in infancy. She alone has knowledge that could change Khiara’s fate forevermore. Can Cael’s perseverance, love and angelic power surmount SLXLM​​the poisonous evil influences that rise up as the final battle draws nearer? Will Khiara be able to endure the relentless onslaught? Her survival is crucial, as the fate of the world depends on it.

My Take: Canadian authors I have been reading of late sort of have a thing for angels, don’t they? And to be honest, I get it. I have a mild obsession with angels too, and it was much worse when I was teen. I had a huge angel collection, and people joked that I only married my husband so I could become an Angel(l) (because, we aren’t those kind of angels, lol!) 
So I should be loving this story. It is about a girl who is awkward and self aware because she is different. (I can relate). Who falls in love with this amazing boy who she is inexplicably drawn to. (Again, can totally relate.) and then finds out that she isn’t who she thought she was all her life. (I dreamed of this as a kid. What kid doesn’t?) 
And although I did enjoy the book, I am not diving to read the next book in the series. (There is another book, and then a couple that seem to be in the same universe, but not necessarily the same storyline… IDK, it isn’t clear from the descriptions.)What went wrong? Well, I don’t know that it is that there is anything wrong, per se. I have added the other books to my TBR and will read them, eventually, I am sure. I did like the characters, I just didn’t love them. It isn’t as compelling a story as, say, Harry Potter, which I can read over and over and over again. 
One issue I had was that there were a lot of linguistic issues. I am not sure how many were because of the book not having an editor (I saw on the author’s Facebook page that it was getting edited, and I am fairly certain I got the pre-professional editor version.) or if it was because the author placed the story in an area of the country that I am pretty familiar with and the vernacular was off for me. 
The story also wandered a lot. I am not a wanderer. I think it is the main reason that I don’t like books by Nicholas Sparks, or Jodi Piccoult. I know it is why I don’t like Charles Dickens. 
For me, if you spend a couple pages setting up a scene, then those details need to be important to the story. There were times the author did this, and then it wasn’t important to the story. Now, it may end up being important later on in the series, but I didn’t get that far. See, Harry Potter does that too, but the details that are woven in are interesting and exciting. Even though I didn’t see the immediate need, it was fun to read about anyway. When authors do that with everyday things, it is just sort of. “Ok, I get it. Can we please get back to the action and good bits?!” 
It is why I can’t read Tolkien either. I know, so sad. I totally love Hobbit and LOTR, but I grew up reading books about his version of Elves, so I have that framework that people of his era didn’t have. It just felt so unnecessary! 
Anywho, I digress. The overall storyline is exciting and I am definitely intrigued based on the ending, to read the next book. But not as intrigued as I was to read Miyran Heir by Rebecca McCray, which I am currently devouring at a rapid rate ;). 
Do you love angels? Then grab your copy of The Dark One: One for Sorrow on Amazon.

Until next time, 
Keep Reading!