Book Review: Dust of My Wings by Carrie Ann Ryan

Title: Dust of My Wings
Series: Dante’s Circle, #1
Author: Carrie Ann Ryan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy from author
Published: July 2012 by Fated Desires Publishing

Humans aren’t as alone as they choose to believe. Every human possesses a trait of supernatural that lays dormant within their genetic make-up. Centuries of diluting and breeding have allowed humans to think they are alone and untouched by magic. But what happens when something changes?

Neat freak lab tech, Lily Banner lives her life as any ordinary human. She’s dedicated to her work and loves to hang out with her friends at Dante’s Circle, their local bar. When she discovers a strange blue dust at work she meets a handsome stranger holding secrets – and maybe her heart. But after a close call with a thunderstorm, she may not be as ordinary as she thinks.

Shade Griffin is a warrior angel sent to Earth to protect the supernaturals’ secrets. One problem, he can’t stop leaving dust in odd places around town. Now he has to find every ounce of his dust and keep the presence of the supernatural a secret. But after a close encounter with a sexy lab tech and a lightning quick connection, his millennia old loyalties may shift and he could lose more than just his wings in the chaos.

Warning: Contains a sexy angel with a choice to make and a green-eyed lab tech who dreams of a dark-winged stranger. Oh yeah, and a shocking spark that’s sure to leave them begging for more.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: I HAVE A NEW MUST-READ SERIES!!

The Set Up: In a world where supernaturals live among unsuspecting humans, Shade’s angel dust was turned over to a human lab for study. Now Shade has to recover his dust from OCD lab tech Lily but when he meets Lily, he’s drawn to her. A traitor in the angels’ ranks will threaten Shade, Lilly and their love even as Lily experiences a transformation.

Why I Read this Book: I know I keep harping on it, but paranormal romance is the chocolate of my reading habit and I’m always prowling for new reads. The synopsis sounded very promising and I devoured this short novel like it was a box of fine chocolates.

What I Liked: Everything! But since that’s not enough of a review, let me try to break it down. First, I love the characters and romance. Lily and Shade are both stellar leads. Lily’s OCD but warm personality was unique and compelling. And Shade, whow-wee, he is one fine romance hero! He’s strong, powerful, gentle, and oh so loving to Lily. For instance, he makes her stir-fry and counts out her chicken to veggie ratio to make sure it’s even so Lily can eat.

I adore that both share their emotional vulnerability with each other. In my opinion, this is the foundation for strong romance and this novel built a sexual relationship on the couple’s emotional connection beautifully. I also like that Lily and Shade’s romance is certainly spicy but they spend lots of time outside the bedroom too as they get to know one another and share their lives. I like sexy time as much as the next reader, but I’m getting bored with paranormal romance that’s little more than sexual episodes loosely connected by a paranormal thread. I can honestly say that’s not the case here. This is a real romance story with sexual intimacy but plenty of plot and world building too.

What I Also Liked: In addition to loving the leads and romance, I love the celebration of friendship contained in this short novel. Shade’s best friend Ambrose and he have a wonderful friendship and shared history. But Lily’s group of friends stole the book. This group of women are all distinct but have built a family where they love and support each other through everything. I love reading stories with strong female friendships and Lily’s friends are perfect examples of that. I suspect these women will all be heroines in subsequent books in the series and that will rock.

I also adore the world building here. It is deftly crafted without the info dump that can bog down paranormal romance sometimes. It helps that Lily is like readers, clueless about supernaturals and that Shade becomes her (smoking hot!) guide. If someone ever needs to introduce me to dragons, weres, angels, brownies, and fairy-folk, PLEASE let it be a stud in tight jeans and leather jacket!

What I Didn’t Like: This author better write the next books quickly or I will Occupy Her Lawn until she releases more! Okay, not really since I must have hot showers and tea three times a day but I promise I *will* send her “are-you-done-yet” emails!

IMO: Pure romance enjoyment here. Now go put this on your TBR pile—shoo!

J9’s Rating: