Photo credits: David Mark
Edited by Vaishali
Title: ‘Covet'
Author: Andris Bear Series: (Deadly Sins #1) Genre/Themes: Fantasy, New Adult, Paranormal Romance, magic, Angels Publisher: Independently published Year of Publication: 2012 Version: e-book kindle app ISBN-10: 1731355238 ISBN-13: 978-1731355232 Review
‘Children had it right – monsters did lurk under the bed, waiting for the moment we were alone. Only they weren’t out to scare. They were out for blood.’
“Earth, nurtures life. Air, disperses life. Fire, warms life. And water, brings life. But blood, mortal blood, is life.”
Living her mortal life as human, Joey Benton – who hates her original name and goes by Joey – has the blood of a creature more than human because Joey has always been more than just human. She is half angel.Ever since her mother died life became very strange for this red headed photographer…blackouts, migraines and seeing creatures that shouldn’t exist are part of Joey’s atypical life, and nobody knows this secret but her. Privy to these demonic creatures – who appear to be more just hallucinatory – can’t just be manifestations of her stress…can they?
‘Shadows lurking within the shadows, shades moving in the dark rather than with it. I spent many nights dreading the moment when these specters would grow tired of watching and step out of the blackness, bringing my worst nightmares to life.’
‘I was a mortal angel with the ability to see evil’s face.’
After possibly the world’s worst morning, her day only continues to grow more problematic…you see, what would you do if an Archangelcame to your place of work claiming that he is now assigned to shield you, that you will be his charge because you are ‘Blessed’ , and he needs to protect you from demons that are out to get you? …Well I’m sure you wouldn’t ask him to drop his trousers, which is exactly what feisty Joey does!
‘He didn’t exactly curtsey and apologise on his way out the door. Or move. Rather, his gaze slid down my chassis in a lazy perusal that reminded me of a lion sizing up a gazelle as it loped unsuspectingly into his field.
Lions ate gazelles.’
Joey is blunt and unsharpened, but those traits wring out the best kind of humour from her. Joey’s thought processes are full of mirthful banter, the girl doesn’t even need an interlocutor to bounce conversation off of because she has the kind of naturally outrageous humour that snags attention from the first page. Though she has flaws and doesn’t always engage in the best kind of consideration, explicitly her incredibly loose mouth – which invariably spills words like a tap runs water - her self-mockery and frustration of the minute yet troublesome patterns of daily life make her a relatable character.
“Now how would you like this to play out?”
As a romantic comedy rather than the horror story it’s shaping up to bbe'
Joey and her best friend Shula are co-partners who run a photography studio together. Punctilious, measured and intuitive, Shula has traits I find in myself – especially list making! - but saying that, my fumbling also knows no bounds much like Joey – but Shula’s sense of preparedness and logic is a merging balance to Joey’s eccentric quirk and often thoughtless decisions, thinking with her mouth rather than her brain. Shula is a side character, one I didn’t know enough about to build an opinion of other than the fact that she is a loyal friend to Joey. A side character she is, but she felt less than that because her presence is brief, not capturing her completely.
“You are forbidden, Joey. The mortal child of an angel. You walk both world, yet belong to neither. You see things mortals weren’t meant to see. You know things mortals weren’t meant to know. Those gifts are a birthright you were never meant to have.”
Joey’s life is destined, and she has a part to play in this debacle between Heaven and Hell. The epitome of Hell is searching her out, an interesting Incubus – who I found to be the most drawing - wants to make her his, and her pouting angel Ursus teaches her how to fight to protect herself from what is to come because he might not always be there. This angel doesn’t break rules, and angels aren’t allowed to break rules or be anything other than platonic with their mortal charges, but the seduction of a mortal might be too enticing, especially when the woman in question is a taunting humourist who loves to challenge Ursus with her stubbornness…not to mention her non-stop ogling and heated thoughts.
“Yes. We seem to have two modes – bickering or making out. You, for some unfathomable reason, prefer to sling insults. So I taunt you to show moral support, See how good I am to you?”
Pokerfaced, and occasionally warm, Joey is either hit with Ursus’s uncaring demeanour, or caressed with his kind action, but mostly she swelters under the chemistry they share. Their relationship doesn’t particularly feel founded on something deep, rather in the early stages of lust and desire which is perhaps why the romance felt spindly rather than fully-formed, and not entirely adhering considering that this is a paranormal romance book. I liked them both, but there wasn’t enough depth of character for me to engage with them as motivating leads – the attraction is too instant.
“Listen here, happy pants – you may not be human, but you’ve got all our parts, and I clearly got a standing ovation.”
The build-up of Joey and Ursus’s relationship was missing, and what they had lacked depth, the depth starting at base level, hence there was no real build-up. I bought that they had potential as a couple because I can always see potential, but the execution let down a little. The conflict and angst between them also felt baseless. Though the presence of side-characters felt fleeting, not enough time given for me to latch onto them, I expected the leads should have had that full punch- rich with characterisation that overwhelms not underwhelms, because what started as a book that had me already, became a book that left me along the way because the plot felt misleading. 'Covet' doesn’t throw heavy amounts of information at you, but I also found that it doesn’t provide particulars..
‘It wasn’t death I feared but the future – a future where demons and angels waged war on Earth. Crossing the threshold placed me dead center of what I wanted to avoid most.’
The twists weren’t twisty enough to elicit shock from me, and the conflict between Ursus and Joey seems more trivial and trifling, rather than realistic and intense. It felt like the story ended at the typical halfway mark of a story rather than at an actual end. What was supposed to be the ending felt like the middle. The epilogue left me in an unresolved state too, firstly because Ursus and Joey’s story hadn’t felt like it reached conclusion, secondly because unfastened loose ends were poking me in sorts of places – which perhaps might be addressed in following books, but it does not seem likely as the books that trail this are told from different characters altogether.
“You’ll endure the loss of your life, bribes, destruction, lavishness – whatever it takes to satisfy the devil.”
“What satisfies the devil?” “Ruin.”
This was a book I chose to read to have some respite from the kind of mentally demanding fantasy tales and turn to some easy romance, which i have been doing a lot of lately - with no shame as one shouldn't. It had its perks and pluses, but all around it was an average read. 'Covet' didn’t hold enough danger and risk for me, and with little rising development of the relationship, and not an awful lot happening story-wise I felt my engine losing its petrol, waiting for the story to feed me more and get my engine revving up.
“Oh, little mortal, what makes you think I’d ever let you die?” Her humourless smile chilled. “Do you know? Hell is repetition.”
‘Covet’ by Andris bear is a slow-paced paranormal fantasy with angels, demons and a not-so-human cheeky Joey who rests in the middle, and an easily-riled up angel who isn’t initially so fond of his new charge. ‘Covet’ is full of mirthful writing and laugh out loud commentary, and if the author’s humour is anything like Joey’s then Ialready love her. At times I didn’t know whether I should bellow with laughter or be concerned with the serious situations Joey found herself in simply because of her lively humour, and her humour does soften the edge of a situation that should potentially hold hazard.
“Every choice has its consequences. And every sacrifice…its reward.”
Joey has a youthful spirit, which only accentuates her wit, making her appear far younger than she actually is, and I did enjoy that. Joey doesn’t hide from her faults, and she doesn’t hide from her flaws, she knows what she is and pokes fun at her character which made me feel comfortable in her character. For Joey’s stash of one-liners and snarky attitude, Ursus has equal amounts righteous rage and an affronted temper, usually triggered by Joey herself.
Not the best paranormal romance/fantasy but a decent pastime and entertaining.
“You drive me nuts, but I’m lost without you.”
“Here’s to a lifetime of driving you crazy!” “Hear, hear, pretiosa.” I gave this book 2.7 stars
Note: The kindle version of this has incorrectly labelled page numbers because apparently I just read 3,834 pages!
Trigger Warning: Attempted rape, swearing, scenes of a sexual nature/bloody scenes.
My Rating System:
★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read
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His hands tangled in his black hair, and then dragged down his face. Closing his eyes with a heavy sigh, he mumbled, “Sit.” ‘I considered telling him to sit, on his sword, but in his current state of agitation, I decided that wasn’t productive.’ ‘They didn’t know heaven and hell on a first name basis. Some believed, others didn’t. I knew.’ “Wanna play twenty question?” I could drive him round the bend if I wanted… He gave me a puzzled look. “What?” “Twenty questions. I ask tons of questions and you have to answer.” I smiled. In truth, I’d never played the game and had no idea what it entailed. But he didn’t either, so I could make up the rules… “No? No biggie. You chime in whenever you’re ready. Now, about those wings…I don’t see them under your shirt. Where’d they come from? Better yet, where did they go?” Only his stomping footfalls challenged the silence. “You can get back to me. Second question: Do you guys poop?” His unexpected halt had me slamming into him. “Do you ever shut up?” I took an exaggerated look around and, pointing at my chest, said, “Are you talking to me?” His lips spread with a growl. “No.” And off he trudged. I grinned. “Okay. Third question-“ “The park!” “There now, was that so hard?” I called after him. He barked something in return. A thank you for my insightful questions, no doubt. Stubborn jackass.’ ‘Who did he think he was dealing with, a five year old? I was a grown damn woman – who just happened to be on the verge of sticking out her tongue.’ “Do you know the real meaning of special?” I ground through clenched teeth. “It means separate. It means different. It means excluded. I don’t want to be special, I want to be normal like every other woman.” “Esther Josephine Benton, don’t ever think I came here for anyone but you. The only care I have for the future is that you are in it.” My heart faltered and ached at his haunted look. It said, I’ve descended into the abyss to reach you because you are mine.’
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