Fallen (Seven Deadly Sins, Book 2)

I bought this book at a writer's convention a year ago. I bought it based on the cover art. I finally picked it up and gave it a try while riding the exercise bike last week. A couple of chapters in, I found I couldn't put it down. It was how I spent my Saturday, 20 chapters of Erin McCarthy. This is by far one of the most inventive romance novels I've read in quite some time. Can't wait for book 3!

I am new to Erin McCarthy she is a delight to read. I can not wait for her 3rd book for this series.

Gabriel St. John is a fallen angel. Sent to Earth years ago to watch over and protect humans, Gabriel succumbed to addictions just as humans do, thus changing his status from watcher angel to demon. And just as humans harm themselves and possibly others with those same addictions, Gabriel is afraid that he has done the same thing. For one hundred and fifty years, Gabriel, who was called John Thiroux, has believed that he might be responsible for the horrendous murder of his then mistress, Anne Donovan. Unable to find out who murdered her, he turns to forensic scientist Sara Michaels with whom he shares one thing in common - her mother was also murdered in the same foul way and Gabriel wants to write a book in the hopes of solving both murders. Sara Michaels wants answers. Selling her childhood home and taking a leave of absence from the job she loves, she heads to New Orleans with the hopes that author Gabriel St. John can help her solve her mother's murder. Gabriel is enigmatic and attractive but at the same time mysterious and anguished. In spite of this, Sara finds herself falling in love with him and craving his touch. But Sara has a secret of her own. She is the great-great-grand-daughter of Anne Donovan and unbeknownst to Gabriel, Sara thinks it is only a matter of time before she is murdered as well. Gabriel and Sara are attracted to each other but because of Gabriel's curse, he knows he can never touch Sara the way he and she both want. Will they be able to continue their platonic relationship or will they succumb to the passion that is inside both of them? I am guilty of never having read Erin McCarthy's work. Guilty but oh so remorseful because Fallen was magnificent! From the prologue to the last scene, Fallen kidnapped me and held me spellbound. I ate, breathed, and slept this novel until I could finish and finally put it down. Then when that happened, I picked it back up and began to read again. It was just that outstanding. Gabriel was tormented and full of regrets. Regrets for Anne's murder, regrets for his angelic status turned demon. Most of all, he regretted not being able to touch and love Sara like he wanted. And he wanted her with every breath of his body. Sara often at times was just as tortured as Gabriel because of her own regrets and addictions. I agonized at their inability to love each other fully but hope prevailed despite everything that seemingly was working against them. Consider Fallen Joyfully Recommended! The plot, the characters, and the setting of New Orleans all combine to make a fabulous and unforgettable read. Erin McCarthy has a woven a timeless tale of good versus evil and has gained a new fan. Two thumbs up and a dusting of angel wings on this one! Talia reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Gabriel St. John was sent to New Orleans as an angel and a watcher. He was supposed to protect the people, but he got caught up in the human suffering and emotions and ended up falling victim to human temptations. Seeking solace in Absinthe, Opium and the waiting arms of a prostitute named Anne, Gabriel was no longer an angel, but one of the fallen immortals known as demons. In the year 1849 he awakens from a drugged stupor only to discover his beloved Anne has been murdered. All signs point to him, but he can't let himself believe he would do this. Fast forward to the present day, Gabriel is still in New Orleans, sober now and punishing himself in little ways for the man he was, and the death of Anne. Sara Michaels has lived in fear of a curse that seems to follow and kill every female in her family for generations. When it happens to her mother, that fear multiplies. She leaves her Florida home and heads to New Orleans to work with Gabriel, who is now a true crime writer, to find some much needed answers. This is the second book in the Seven Deadly Sins series, Erin McCarthy's take on the darker paranormal realm. I was blown away and all consumed from page one. Her darker tales are delicious and the mystery and suspense in this book was amazing. She leads us through twists and turns and just when you think the road has straightened, she throws another curve at you. There are two mysteries, past and present, and Gabriel and Sara are the link. The book previous to this one, My Immortal (Seven Deadly Sins, Book 1), was much more sexual, but this book is much more sensual. There is a little scene involving some solo sex that was by far one of the most erotic scenes I have ever read; erotic in its innocence and freedom. Fallen is a chilling and sexy tale, a mystery wrapped in sin. I absolutely loved it! Cherise Everhard, May 2008

Sucked into the morass of human emotions and temptation, Gabriel was cast down from his status as angel, and is now one of the Fallen, a demon. For many years he let himself wallow in addiction and remorse, a situation only worsened by the murder of his mistress while he was in an absinthe-induced stupor in an 1880s brothel. Could the potent liquor have propelled him into a temporary madness that caused him to kill the beautiful young woman in the room with him, or did someone else perform the heinous deed while he himself was comatose? Thanks to his more than inebriated state, he cannot remember, and so suffers from the maddening uncertainty on top of his assumed guilt. Cut to the present day: Gabriel now has his addictions reigned in, although he still struggles with them. But he is obsessed with the terrible night he still can't recall, and determining the truth of what happened to the lovely Anne. Now another woman has been killed, and it is almost identical to Anne's murder over a hundred years earlier. Coincidence? Gabriel is determined to find out, and who better to help him research it than the new victim's own daughter. Still reeling from her mother's violent death and the subsequent trial that left the case still unsolved, Sara descended into her own addiction. Frail and uncertain, she can think of no better way to get on with her life than to help true crime novelist Gabriel St. John unravel the mystery of a century-old murder. He doesn't need to know that the victim involved his her very own great-great-great-grandmother, nor does she plan on telling him the same cycle of violence has been perpetrated on almost every female descendent since. Sara will do anything it takes to prevent the same fate from befalling herself. On the heels of her most intriguing beginning to the SEVEN DEADLY SINS series, MY IMMORTAL, Erin McCarthy releases a sequel that is equally as dark and compelling as the first book. FALLEN is everything you would expect if you read the first story, but is filled with plenty of its own surprises. While the story is undoubtedly romantic, and the attraction between Sara and Gabriel pretty intense, the mystery is as important a part of this story as the romance. I, for one, was immensely pleased with the twists Ms. McCarthy delivered in FALLEN, and would like to state for the record that I didn't quite deduce them all before the big reveal happened. I grew up reading mysteries, and developed quite a knack for figuring the `whodunit' ahead of time, so when a book is able to surprise me, I am quite delighted. One thing I wasn't quite as fond of was the numerous news stories and reports. Both of the SEVEN DEADLY SIN books tell stories that began centuries ago, and understanding what happened in the past is a vital part of what is happening to the heroes in the current day. In MY IMMORTAL, the author tells the back history with flashbacks that involve other characters, which I loved. With FALLEN, the ba