Kissed by an Angel

Kissed by an Angel by Elizabeth Chandler

This book is actually a trilogy..Kissed by an Angel, The Power of Love and Soulmates. I would really classify this as a three part story, not really three separate books.

Ivy and Tristan are teen sweethearts. After a short but intense romance Tristan and Ivy are in a fatal car wreck. Tristan dies and becomes an angel. Ivy lives on but suffers the loss of Tristan. Before Tristan's death Ivy had a strong belief in angels.....Tristan did not. Now Ivy no longer believes. If angels exist they would have saved Tristan. Tristan now must fight against Ivy's disbelief in order to make contact with her and assure her of his undying love.
As Tristan tries to work through those around Ivy to make her aware that he still exists, he finds that his death was not an accident. Ivy was the original target and now her life is in danger.
Tristan gets help from a sassy angel named Lacey. Together they finally break through Ivy's disbelief and help her to see the peril all around her.

The opening scenes of the book did not inspire me. I quickly concluded that the characters were shallow and unlikeable horny teens.......completely without depth. I pressed on. I wish the author had begun somewhere else and skipped the whole first chapter. Eventually I came empathize with the characters.......I even shed more than one tear. I ended up really liking the book but the flaws seemed to intensify because of the opening scene. At times I felt like the editor may have been smashed. Places and conversations seemed choppy. Ivy's 8-9 year old brother seemed more like he was 5. All of the parents were disgusting idiots. And I am not sure that the whole 'mystery' held much water once it was resolved.

However.......you know my penchant for soulmate love. I had to push on. Once the characters began to develop I really liked what I was reading. They were definitely 'characters' but I guess they have to be in order to keep you entertained for nearly 700 pages. Gregory ......rich and insane step-brother. Ivy.... sweet, intelligent victim of circumstance. Eric....high as a kite. Beth....semi psychic, bleeding heart wanna be authoress. Suzanne......shallow stunning beauty with an ugly name. Will.......mysterious and underplayed boy next door. Tristan......the perfect boyfriend, full of undying love. Lacey.....spunky, flaky actress turned angel looking for a mission. At one point I felt like it was being narrated by the narrator of Arrested Development....why I don't know but it pushed me over the edge and then I really liked it! Put it all together and it wraps up in a fairly nice bow.

Rating 4 Once the characters develop there is enough investment in them to get you through to the end. Plus you know.....you can't go wrong with a soulmate.
Rating PG Even though the opening scene (which was a mistake) seemed to be the end of a dirty teen scene.....it never became explicit. And the stepbrother thing was weird but not graphic.