Christina Henry - Black Wings

As an Agent of Death, Madeline Black is responsible for escorting the souls of the dearly departed to the afterlife. It's a 24/7 job with a lousy benefits package. 
Maddy's position may come with magical powers and an impressive wingspan, but it doesn't pay the bills. And then there are her infuriating boss, tenant woes, and a cranky, popcorn-loving gargoyle to contend with.
Things start looking up, though, when tall, dark, and handsome Gabriel Angeloscuro agrees to rent the empty apartment in Maddy's building. It's probably just a coincidence that as soon as he moves in demons appear on the front lawn. But when an unholy monster is unleashed upon the streets of Chicago, Maddy discovers powers she never knew she possessed. Powers linked to a family legacy of tarnished halos.
Powers that place her directly between the light of Heaven and the fires of Hell..

Comment: This book was a birthday gift last month...yes, my birthday was last month...how they get more and more so fast, oh well.
Anyway, this one was a gift and I wanted to read it because I think it's rude when it takes so long to read something someone obviously took the time to pick for you. Sadly, I'm known to have done so in the past. (picture ashamed face)
So, my new policy is to read book gifts as soon as possible.
I've never went close to this one, not even reviews, so it was a surprise all right.

This is the story of Maddie, she's an Agent who gets souls after their bodies die and escorts them to the Door, where they go on with their spiritual paths. Maddie does this because her mother did too and the job is kind of hereditary. But Maddie is very lonely and has only her gargoyle for company. She lives in a world where supernatural beings exist but aren't known to the common mortal. However, Maddie isn't as normal as she thought in the world of Agents and when she gets a new, handsome tenant, things start to change for her and what she thought was just magic in her life, is actually a very surprising ancestry as well...

At first I thought this book had many ideas and potential to be an amazing paranormal romance story. It had the intriguing and not usual heroine, a strange but compelling hot guy who we believed will be the hero in the story and secrets to explore in a new world. The characters had a lot to be puzzled about. The world seemed a solid one but...there was something not very addictive in the story. I thought this would be a passionate and different world that would fascinate me, but somewhere in the middle of the book I started to dislike some of the characters, some of the things happening and most of all, I started to want to end the book fast. I think things were shaping up about Maddie's origins which she wasn't aware of and we got to find out at the same time she did but although the idea seemed interesting, I didn't like the way things were going and what would be expected of her and her life from then on. I wasn't curious over that and actually thought at that point things would go to the cheesy path. Since then I've read some reviews about the following books that might be interesting, but I'm still not interested in reading them. Who knows in years to come...

Maddie was an intriguing character. She did her job, she seemed lonely but not unhappy and she has her quirks. Not that bad at all. Then her attitudes throughout the book, while the action developed showed someone who did things no matter what and her personality went from apparently innocent but strong to almost TSTL. Almost, not all the way. Still, I wished the author had taken a different approach to her personality.

The thing is, the writing talent can be seen and the way things developed is understandable, it's not that bad...but I thought it would be different. I stick to the story even when it stopped being as interesting as that, but what happened didn't win me over so no matter who well don things might become, I just didn't feel interested in reading more although I wished it could be different. It's hard to explain, but there it is.

The secondary characters seemed good, but they weren't never sufficiently explored to my taste. I also think, despite the good potential so obvious in the beginning, the author's voice didn't follow the path I'd have liked, specially in terms of romance and world. Many things happened I wasn't very amused about if that was the expected emotion nor was I riveted by its "rules".

All in all, it was a book good enough to entertain, but in the end all the good elements just weren't thrilling or solid enough for my personal taste.
Grade: 5/10