Wicked Nights - Gena Showalter

Leader of the most powerful army in the heavens, Zacharel has been deemed nearly too dangerous, too ruthless-and if he isn't careful, he'll lose his wings. But this warrior with a heart of ice will not be deterred from his missions, at any cost...until a vulnerable human tempts him with a carnal pleasure he's never known before.

Accused of a crime she did not commit, Annabelle Miller has spent four years in an institution for the criminally insane. Demons track her every move, and their king will stop at nothing to have her. Zacharel is her only hope for survival, but is the brutal angel with a touch as hot as hell her salvation-or her ultimate damnation?

Wicked Nights is a paranormal romance released in 2012, and written by author Gena Showalter. It is the first book in Gena Showalter's new Angels of the Dark series. This series is a spin-off of the Lords of the Underworld series and follows a group of warrior angels who are about to be kicked out of the heavens. It recounts the story of warrior angel Zacharel, and Annabelle, who has been accused of bloodily murdering her parents and insanity, and thus, is confined in an institution for the criminally insane.

The truth is, this is a good story, not excellent, not even close to Ward's or Ione's paranormal, but it's good. Anabelle is an ok heroine, even though I feel like she should have evolved a little more as a character. It's not that she's underdeveloped, it's more like because of the fast pace of the novel and the need to cram it up with details that are not necessary (again, not bad details just... not really necessary), she fell shorter in terms of growth than I expected her to be. Zacharel on the other side, I do wish I could've know better. I feel like his character was merely brushed upon, and we were only given glimpses of what he was like because of his fondness for his brother and his relationships with his soldiers. Their sexy scenes were... more sweet than sexy, actually. No steam there, and I didn't really see the build up of trust you would expect from significant others. I don't know, I guess it was a strange read, even if I partially enjoyed it.

As for the plot twist and the antagonist, as soon as the antagonist was presented I knew what the plot twist was going to be, so it was sort of predictable. I don't even remember were I was browsing books when I stumbled upon this one, so I can't say I had many expectations about it. The blurb sort of reeled me in, and it turned out to be entertaining, if not overly exciting. I was also introduced to some characters from the Lords of the Underworld series, which were very intriguing. Even if I decide not continue with this spin-off, they had me curious enough to try one of her other series. Overall, I give it 3.0 inconspicuous stars.