ARC REVIEW ~ SOUL WEAVER BY HAILEY EDWARDS

Title: Soul Weaver (Wicked Kin, Book One)
Author: Hailey Edwards

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Expected Release Date: August 7, 2012

Genre: Paranormal/Fantasy RomanceARC provided by NetGalley

ISBN: 978-1-45552-346-7 (ebook)
ISBN: TBA (print)

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Links for author:

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Since the accident that nearly took her life, Chloe suffers from acute agoraphobia. Living alone above her family's bookstore, she spends restless nights terrified by strange visions . . . until a mysterious stranger appears and offers her salvation. Chloe is drawn to the ethereal, gorgeous Nathaniel-but her haunted soul warns her there is more to him than meets the eye.

An archangel who roams Earth collecting souls of the newly departed, Nathanial is the sole witness to the accident that should have taken Chloe's life. Seduced by the purity of her soul, he defies Providence by saving her life. But his attempt at kindness marks Chloe for damnation, and makes her an unwitting pawn in a game of unholy ambition. Now together they must fight the demons of Hell itself-for a love that defies the boundaries of Heaven and Earth.

Click here for Soul Weaver Excerpt from Author's Website.

Book Review

Nathaniel is a Fallen Angel, now charged in the role as WEAVER--taking those souls marked for the pits of hell and weaving them to use as the Fallens wings he and his breathern now wear upon their backs.

He has just collected the soul of one human damned for hell and while on earth he witnesses the brutal accident that SHOULD have killed one fragile human--Chloe.  Instead he is mesmerized by the colorful beauty of her soul and cannot understand why the Angels do not come to take her rightful place in paradise. Not able to really explain his actions, he takes his powerful shears, cuts a piece of his soul and binds it with hers--placeing  the now combined soul back inside Chloe's body and saves her soul from being forever lost.  

Chole has been left with no family and suffers from agoraphobia. After her near-death accident, she suffers horrible nightmares and struggles with the threatening addiction of her anxiety medications. Alone and isolated in the town of Piedmont, she has no choice but to hire someone to help her with the small bookstore she owns--Neve, a woman who has her own secrets but is desperate for the chance of a new life.

Chloe and Neve bond, the two women helping each other more than just as employee/employer. And a stranger, one who Chloe feels an undeniable attraction to, shows up at her store offering to help with much needed repairs.

The stranger is, of course, Nathaniel. And he is determined to see Chloe form attatchments while on earth--and the time she has left has been numbered. It seems that Chloe's combined soul has been marked. Marked like those damned for the pits of the fiery hell Nathaniel has sent thousands to as punishment for their sins.

A place that Chloe doesn't belong and he will do everything, even risk his own fate, to make sure that doesn't happen.

SOUL WEAVER is the start of a new series, and its world building is somewhat difficult to follow. There are a few number of players and trying to remember each ones role was a bit perplexing at times. The pieces of the story's puzzle really didn't start connecting for me until the last third of the book. But some the characters were facinating, despite the complexity of this paranormal world.

The romance between Chloe and Nathaniel is a sweet one with a slow start that builds over time, but one I just never truly got a great feel for. In fact, I felt more of a connection between Chloe and Neve (which was written very well-loved their friendship).
Her agoraphobia makes their relationship tough and not much of a joy to read. I thought it limited the possibilities of growth in their relationship. Besides the paranormal realm of hell and Chloe's bookstore, there are no other settings--I was really hoping to see more with Chloe's character and how she dealt with her illness. It was too much of a quick fix at the end.

Then there is Saul. Sigh...

Saul is a harvester, fallen from grace just like his brother, Nathaniel. I was really, REALLY, hoping for Saul to see the error of his ways. He had such great potential as a secondary character. But Hailey Edwards had different plans for him, lol. I don't want to give too much away as Saul is a pivotal player in Chloe and Nate's future.

One thing that I never fully understood and was never explained  was the fact that Chloe's soul had no attatchments to anyone. Which was the reason why no Angel came to collect her soul. What about her parents, who she seemed to be close to when they were alive? Surely, her father, who she loved and adored would have been waiting for her. And I am also still not clear what exactly was wrong with Chloe's mother. Did she too, suffer from agoraphobia? The way it was written, she seemed to suffer from some sort of illness? Maybe I missed something along the way.

Because I never truely lost myself in the book, I was slightly disappointed. There were some holes in this very unique world and along with the unclear roles of the secondary characters and how they exactly they fit, the confusing plot, I can only give it 3 Stars.