Title: Charmed
Author: Cambria Hebert
Series: Death Escorts #2
Publication Date: July 22, 2013
Genre: New Adult Paranormal/Fantasy
Source: e-arc provided by author for my honest opinion/review.
Description from Goodreads:
Life or Death? Not many people would choose death. But what if death chooses you? What if death doesn’t mean the end of your life, but the beginning?For a Death Escort, death is life. Death is your paycheck. Death is your job.
And Charming is the best Escort the Grim Reaper has ever had.
But when you piss off the Reaper, being the best doesn’t matter. So Charming is assigned a Target who is practically impossible to kill. He knows the Reaper hopes he fails—that he’s counting on it. So Charming vows to prove him wrong. He vows to make the kill.
But someone else vows to get in his way. Someone with a big mouth, a sugar habit, and blond hair. Someone who makes his heart start beating again.
And so Charming is left holding more than one person’s fate in the palm of his hand. He thought the choice would be easy, that there really wasn’t a question at all.
He was wrong.
Life or Death?
My Thoughts:
And so just minutes after I lived the moment that defined my life forever… I also lived the moment that would forever define my death.
I liked Recalled (the first book in the
escort series), and when I heard that this was going to be a series I
was super excited. I love the new take of the Grim Reaper created by
Cambria Hebert- it is a little creepy, but original :). I will admit
that I did not like Charming in Recalled, because he was portrayed as
the bad guy (which he was). But after reading Charmed I completely feel
in love with his character. There is just so much more to Charming's
character that we did not see in Recalled.
Usually my charm, looks, and money got me to the finish line.
Who is Charming? Well let me start off by saying that this boy just leaves a trail of Charm where ever he goes. He uses his charm to get his job done as a death escort. But under all that charm, brand clothing, and materialistic life there is a man that lived a rough life, is protective, is honest, and is caring. At the beginning we get the same Charming we got in Recalled-egotistical, charming, cocky, and a real jerk. But getting deeper into Charmed we get to see the true person Charming really was when he was still alive. And after reading all that he suffered, and what he sacrificed to become a death escort I fell even more in love with him. Plus this boy is just oozing sex. Trust me when I say that I had to fan myself a few times, because he is just intense. I will admit that I loved Charming more than I loved Dex :). What can I say? This girl loves her bad boys, and I love that he is a boxer :D!
If I didn’t know what a complete and utter loser he was, I might fall prey to his… well…. his charm. Damn it.
I was actually excited to read and learn more of Francesca (Frankie) in Charmed. The little I did read about her in Recalled really made me feel a connection to her character. Frankie is more spontaneous, daring, sassy, and more full of life than Piper's character in Recalled. I just loved that Frankie did not let Charming's charm affect her (it sort of did) but she did not show it. She played Charming back in his game, and this I absolutely loved! What happens when the player finally gets someone who is willing to play him back? These two are just perfect in teasing each other :D!
Her words struck something inside
me that I hadn’t felt in a long time, and I pushed it back, I didn’t
think about those kinds of things anymore. I didn’t feel.
When Frankie decides to make it her mission to stop Charming from completing his next job/kill by messing up his plans, everything in Charming's life starts to mess up. Ever since he died he shut down his emotions, because it helps getting the job done. But now that Frankie is injecting herself in his life, he starts to feel things. He feels emotions that he does not want to acknowledge or even want, because it is ruining his job of being a death escort. Will Charming finally surrender to the things he is feeling and finally start living again, or will he shut down the feelings and continue doing his job so no one will get hurt? You are just going to have to read Charmed to find out :D! I really can't say more without ruining the story to you guys, and trust me when I say this book is worth the buy and worth to read!
...the only direction I seemed to be going was toward him.
“But when I’m around you, I feel like there might be some hope.”
Frankie doesn't want to admit or come to terms to what she is feeling towards Charming. I mean who will want to love a man who kills for a living and who tried to hurt her friend? When Charming finally accepts the fact that he is feeling something for Frankie, he wants her to stay away from him. But the attraction and chemistry between these two is just too much for their own minds and bodies to handle. They try to stay away from each other, but their bodies have a mind of their own. I just have to say that Frankie and Charming relationship is one of my favorites. These two are just perfect together! But Charming knows that he can not have a relationship with Frankie, because there is no good that will come out of it, especially when you work for the Grim Repear. That is all I can say without ruining the book :).
Butterflies with razorblade wings.
That’s how he made me feel. It was the
feeling that plagued me since we had met, the feeling that took me so
long to acknowledge and even longer to identify. It’s exactly what he
did to me.
Charmed was one of the hardest reviews I had to write so far, because I can't say much without ruining the book. Like I said before Charmed is a book worth buying and reading :). Cambria Hebert brought the heat, sizzle, deepth, and intensity in Charmed with both Charming's and Frankie's characters!
Charmed just has everything that Recalled did not have and so much more. This is definitely going on my favorite reads for 2013 :D!
***e-arc provided by author for my honest opinion and review
Final Verdict: 5 Stars
Favorite Quotes:
"Sometimes there is beauty in sorrow.” I suddenly felt like I was standing too close to a flame. Heat seared my skin.
“You aren’t dead. You just don’t remember how to live.”
It’s like he and I were stuck on a carousel—destined to go round and round but never actually getting anywhere.
His hand wrapped around mine. His fingers found their way in between mine and curled closed, pressing his palm against mine.
If I had thought Charming was changing before, I knew it now. It was almost like night and day.
She caught my wrists and pulled them away from her head. “Why is it whenever I try to get away from you, I end up in your arms instead?”
