Joy Nash - The Unforgiven

Seven thousand years ago, angels descended from heaven to guide a fledgling human race. Known as the Watchers, they were forbidden to partake in carnal pleasures. But they could not resist the temptation, and as a result their descendants have been cursed—unnatural magical beings that belong neither to heaven nor fully to earth.
Cade was ordered to claim her for his clan. She was becoming one of them— a Watcher, so to reach her full power—and she didn't even realize it. Yet the moment he saw her, he knew he could never share her. No matter what demons lurk in her past, no matter how much she tries to deny her body's burning need for his, he will claim her for himself. And together they will face the battle that is brewing...

Comment: I got this book back in 2011, a time where almost everything PNR was interesting enough for me to grab. I still like PNR but nowadays I mostly stick to authors I know or the books I've accumulated throughout the years. Of course, this means some books are amazing, others not so much.

In this book we have an interesting take on the angels myth and their descendants, namely the Nephilim. In this world, the Nephilim are supposed to be evil, the result of the sin of angels, who have fallen.

In this story we meet some characters who are descendants from Samyaza, one of the fallen angels, and Azazel, another one. Now on earth, the ones who belong to the genealogical lines of these angels supposedly must battle between themselves because history has made them opponents. Since their forefathers were enemies of sorts so these contemporary people are too and they can "recognize" each other due to their magic and powers.

When this story begins, people from house Samyaza suffer a huge blow and many of their members are killed which makes it even more important for their magic supply to increase and one of the easiest ways is for them to enslave a member of house Azazel. This turns out to be possible due to some circumstances and Cade is the one sent to do d this task but the problem is that the recently discovered member of house Azazel is an unaware young woman and Cade ends up falling in love with her...

This book has many interesting elements, which I have liked: the angel mythology, the fact descendants live together, sort of, that they rely on magic for their survival... and the characters themselves were intriguing enough to make me care about them and their feelings.

However, the author balanced all this with other not so good perspectives in my opinion: the fallen angels are evil, there's no compromise between the descendants and the Azazel family seems to be bad as well.

In terms of mixing good aspects of the myth folklore, the author did a good job because I was interested in knowing more about the myths used and its details. But, at the same time, everything was so limitative because of the whole "enemy" clause and having it done in a different way, by making all houses close and working together could have made things a lot more interesting, more vibrant and - for at least - even more romantic.

I can see the why of providing situations where angst and opposition ensued but this led to another aspect I wasn't as fond of: how the characters dealt with one another.

Basically, the two families we've known about in this book, Samyaza and Azazel, are destined to fight between themselves to gain more magic and power and that leads to some conflicts of course. Of the other angel houses there was no reference.

To summarize, in this book the Azazel family is the most despicable whereas the Samyaza one has a bit more honor and that is why making Cade to enslave someone feels a little wrong but they have no choice or they would perish. I can understand this tactic and that led to the whole plot, but after reading so many other books featuring these myths and where the characters are "good" people despite their origins, I felt really annoyed how these families were portrayed and would have liked to see different settings and developments.

Besides, the way the characters talk to each other, live among one another and help one another was very indifferent, as if it was just a chore even when they mentioned duty and feelings. I missed the romanticized version of a happy family.

As for the romance between Cade and Maddie, it was good, they had chemistry, they bonded over several aspects and not just the obvious sexual one. I'm just sad their relationship was so set on difficult happenings and we don't have an epilogue to see how settled they have become with one another.

I suppose that would be seen in future books but since 2011 no other book has been published in this series! I've checked the author's website and there is another book and a novella but reading the blurbs, those can only be prequels to this story somehow! I just don't feel interested in reading them, considering the state of things in this Unforgiven regarding some secondary characters. Therefore, I suppose I'd stop here despite the appeal of some elements the author has created.

Grade: 6/10