Review: Entice

Entice (The Violet Eden Chapters #2)
by Jessica Shirvington
Published 2012 by Sourcebooks

CONSEQUENCE HAUNTS EVERY CHOICE

Violet Eden is Grigori - part angel, part human. Her destiny is to protect humans from the vengence of exiled angels.
Knowing who to trust is key but, when Grigori reinforcements arrive, it becomes clear everyone is hiding something. Even Lincoln. The only thing Violet does know: Phoenix's hold over her is more dangerous than ever.
The race to find the one thing that could tilt the balance of power brings them all to the sacred mountains of Jordan, where Violet's power will be pushed to the extreme. And the ultimate betrayal exposed.

 Synopsis from Goodreads

I never had the chance to review the first book here on the blog, so you'll just have to take my word on it that it was a great read. And, as a second book in the series, I was surprised and thrilled that this one kept pace. No second book syndrome here!

Let me go on the record as saying that I'm not a religious person. I'm not denying the existence of God, or any other higher power, but neither do I pray or worship. My own beliefs aside, I do not judge others for their own religious views. That being said, when a book begins to preach religion to me, I get a little put off. I will usually smack myself in the face, and tell myself to loosen up, but it's still there, that little niggling shadow. As I start to read a book about angels, my hackles begin to rise. Am I about to feel like a sinner? This series manages to discuss, not just angels, but even a little bit of religion, without making me feel overwhelmed, or bad about myself in any way. It doesn't force anything on me, and I am completely free to enjoy the plot and characters, without distraction.

The plot was complex, but not in an overly complicated way. There were brief hints and foreshadowing, and I loved that it wasn't so obvious that I had it all worked out. The element of surprise is too often underrated. I also want to give a huge thank you to Ms. Shirvington for providing enough reminders about the first book. It has been over a year since I read it, and when I started reading this second book, I almost had a panic attack. Full on hyperventilating! (not really...) I am a parent with small children! I can retain nothing in my miniscule memory that doesn't directly pertain to the children's eating, sleeping or health. While a full scale synopsis of the first book wouldn't have been turned down, there were enough reminders that I could put two and two together.

Despite the large cast of characters, there are really only two, in my opinion. Violet and Lincoln. Yup. The others characters are great, sure, but the chemistry between these two is so electric, I couldn't get enough of them.
Ahhh... forbidden love. Is there anything hotter? From my hazy memories of the first book, I had been really conflicted with the *inevitable* love triangle. Phoenix makes Bad look Good!  I was a little disappointed that he doesn't play a larger part in the second book, but I just know that he'll be making some waves in the third one, Emblaze. And you know I'll be reading it soon!

And tell me the US covers aren't HOT, right?! I am not a fan of the UK ones, AT ALL! They are just too soft and gentle for such a strong woman, such as Violet. She can definitely pull off the leather pants and corsets.