Halo by Alexandra Adornetto

*3.5 stars*

First let me say... I'm totally in love with the cover of this book.  How gorgeous is that?

I really enjoyed reading this book...but yet there were several things that kept me from giving it 4 stars.

I'll start first with my complaints:

-It was waaaaaaaaay too long. It has what I call "Beautiful Creatures syndrome" in that it was a good story could have been told in 100 less pages.

-Bethany did no strike me as divine. She had far too many flaws and was far to naive for me too really buy in to the fact that she was an angel.

-Would The Archangel Gabriel really be sent to some podunk town? Wouldn't he be put to better use elsewhere where there are major issues? Maybe not... I don't pretend to be an expert on Christianity or angels.  That was just my take.

-As much as I thought Xavier was adorable, I didn't really feel the intensity of his relationship with Bethany. Something was missing for me. It was cute, but I didn't feel the depth. It felt like a typical high school romance to me.

I know that sounds like a long list of whiny complaints, so let me assure you that I did enjoy the book. It was an intriguing story with types characters that I haven't read a whole lot about. It was also really interesting to hear the descriptions of heaven, hell and angels. I actually found that part fascinating and it's largely what captured my attention in the beginning. I read through it fairly quickly given that it's pushing 500 pages (about 150 longer than my average book lately) and I look forward to the next installment. The epilogue leaves a little cliffhanger that makes the reader, or at least made me anxious to see what happens next and what's in store for these characters.

All-in-all, I recommend this book to all fans of paranormal romance. A cute read.