Servant: the Acceptance

Gaby has grown up a complete outsider since she not only is an orphan, but she also has paranormal abilities that make people fear and dislike her. For as long as she can remember, she could sense evil from afar and see the bad in people. She has unusual strength, speed and fighting skills, but when her ability kicks in, it comes with severe pain and makes her mostly blind to whatever else is going on around her. When she was 17, she met a priest who finally helped her understand that she wasn't mad or evil and from then on she saw her paranormal powers as a gift and duty from god, meant to help her fight evil. But after the priest's death she has been alone, always on the outside and at risk from the law that would see her as a mad killer. In book 1, 'The Awakening', Gaby made friends with Mort and met Detective Luther Cross. They felt very attracted to each other but her less than law-abiding lifestyle made it impossible to let him know too much about her abilities and activities. When she thought that Mort had died and was afraid that Luther might arrest her, Gaby left. She moved into a bad neighbourhood in order to protect the prostitutes living there. But Mort isn't dead and neither he nor Luther can forget her. When Luther finds her, they are even more strongly attracted to each other than before and when he tries to get Gaby to open up, she lets him see more of her unusual abilities. But when she starts hunting a serial killer who tortures and murders prostitutes, Luther's belief in her and his duties as a policeman are soon in conflict. But if he doesn't trust her, there will be more deaths - and the killer has his eyes on both Gaby and Luther as his next victims... Just like the first book in the series, the second is a great mix between dark urban fantasy, paranormal romance and crime novel, with humour, action, depth, great characters and an intelligent plot. I liked it even more than the first and can't wait for the series to be continued.

Gabrielle "Gaby" Cody is willing to abandon everything in order to fulfill her role as a warrior for God. But will Detective Luther Cross let this unique woman go? Gaby hunts the dark beings that haunt the night, those nasty creatures that prey on others. She has a true calling, a sort of internal warning that sends her out hunting at a moment's notice. Gaby has fled the connection she felt with Luther only to find him reappearing just as she is tracking something odd, a kid and yet this child seems strangely out of place. Someone or something deadly is out there... will it cost Gaby everything to stop it? L.L. Foster has created a very intense world where demons exist and Gaby's role as a paladin is paramount. This highly intense series takes readers into a dark side of the supernatural and yet still offers hope in the process. SERVANT: THE ACCEPTANCE has a bit more romance than the first book in the series but is still far more of an urban or dark fantasy story than it is a paranormal romance. It's hard not to love Gaby! She isn't the most refined of characters but her honesty and lack of artifice is refreshing. Gaby doesn't hesitate to protect those she loves even while she fights her own inner fear of love, making her a very believable and oddly lovable character. Tortured heroes are fairly common in novels nowadays but L.L. Foster offers up something different: a tortured heroine, and yet a heroine who is heroic without wanting credit for her deeds. Luther adds the needed touch of solidarity and familiarity to the story. He asks the questions that we readers want to know about Gaby and her calling, and ultimately satisfies us with the answers about her credibility. L.L. Foster has created perhaps the only man who could match Gaby in Luther, as Gaby is not an easy woman to get close to. L.L. Foster takes readers on a dark journey with SERVANT: THE ACCEPTANCE, but it is a journey that is more than worth it. This gritty and haunting series is a refreshing entry into the genre. L.L. Foster isn't afraid to take risks with this powerful and edgy tale and it shows in the fascinating mesh of strong character development and world building. Highly recommended! COURTESY OF CK2S KWIPS AND KRITIQUES

This book was amazing. If you read the first book then it was even better. I personally love Gaby's innocence in so many ways and then her other abilites that make her so memsmerizing. This story differs from the last in that we meet the bad guy early on and we can see the maddness in him and are amazed that he managed to remain free for so long. I reccomend this to anyone who kikes suspense, but also anyone who likes a story that is almost to real. It makes me wonder if there could be someone like Gaby out there trying to protect those that society has forgotten.

Reviewed for queuemyreview.com; book release Sep08 If I had ever tried to imagine the kind of book Lori Foster would write if she turned to the `dark side', never in my wildest imagination would I have come up something like her `Servant' series. And now that I've read the second book, "Servant: The Acceptance", I'm struck by several similarities to Foster's more normal romance novels. But, before I start that, let me say that her `Servant' series is dark, very dark. If you're looking for sexy, frothy romance--go buy some of her work under Lori Foster. L.L. Foster, on the other hand, can write some seriously good and gritty urban fantasy and the `Servant' series is addictive. Gaby is a Paladin, a servant of God. She can sense, feel, and see evil differently than anybody she's ever met. No matter what face evil wears, she sees it as it truly is...and destroys it. When she is `called', she feels excruciating pain until she answers the call; and when she does answer, she is infused with the extra strength, stamina, and skills she needs to defeat the evil. She's always been alone, but now Detective Cross is dogging her every move and asking too many questions for comfort. How could a fighter for justice like him condone what she sometimes is called to do? But it seems that no matter what Gaby tries, she can't forget about him and he's not going away. Detective Luther Cross has never met a woman as frustrating as Gaby. The more he learns about her abilities, the more fascinated he becomes. And the more time they spend together, the more trouble he has forgetting about her sexual innocence when faced with her honest curiosity. Once again Gaby is mixed up in one of his cases. Someone is torturing, mutilating, and killing prostitutes; and Gaby, who has appointed herself as the `girls' protector, always seems to know that little bit too much for comfort. How far can Luther stretch his beliefs? Now, since Lori Foster writes sexy romances with HEAs, and the book I just described is clearly no romance and probably doesn't have a HEA...why do I say there are similarities? It's like this...Foster's writing (in either guise) is closer to reality than most other authors. Her romances usually involve regular people in situations that mimic real life and the obstacles they face are those that we regular folk deal with every day. In this series, I think that's one of the things I find so fascinating. IF someone WAS born with the ability to sense evil, and would feel pain when in proximity to evil, then what would that person's life be like? Can you imagine being a small child, unable to explain what was wrong, when you were `scared of' certain people and began screaming? Or suffered pain without knowing why and trying to explain that to a doctor? How long do you think it would take for you to be labeled a `troubled' or `imaginative' or `insane' child? What would life have been like as a teenager? How would you make a living? How in the heck could you ever t

I really enjoyed this book. The relationship between Gaby and Luthor is hot and I love how he's coming to accept Gabys' calling. Wish it wasn't a year to wait for the next book in the series.