“Fallen” by Kat Kinney

I’ve read all of Kat Kinney’s books, and I honestly can’t say which of her three paranormal series I love best. I pre-ordered “Fallen”, book two in the Everwood Falls series, and I couldn’t wait to read Lucien and Isabel’s story after my curiosity about them had been ignited while reading book one “Light My Pyre”. And I wasn’t disappointed!

I absolutely adore the way the author mixes the dark and the cosy. The characters in her books are stylish and beautiful. They live their lives with gusto – now I dream about visiting Texas and tasting all its specialities – appreciate delicious food, comfortable living, and don’t neglect their wardrobes. Still, they aren’t empty shells gifted with paranormal abilities. They are loyal friends, caring parents – even when the ones they call their children aren’t their blood kin – and devoted professionals in their field.

In Everwood Falls, the town where magic lives not only in its inhabitants but in plants and animals as well, you’ll meet an ancient vampire whose passion is to feed people. And feed them so that they leave his restaurant happier than they entered it. A green witch who teaches the town folk how to persuade a carnivorous spruce to behave like a proper Christmas tree so the kids can have a magical holiday season. A merman who works in the school to help students avoid accidents in the pool.

“Sometimes finding a way forward meant learning to live your best life and discovering joy in the people and pastimes you loved, despite the challenges of chronic illness.” The author tackles the topic of chronic illness beautifully, portraying both the challenges such conditions bring and the ways to make one’s life fulfilling despite it.

Lucien and Isabel are meant to be together. They meet in ancient Pompeii, even though she wasn’t supposed to see him, and he wasn’t supposed to talk to her. They see each other, they talk to each other, and they fall in love. And that causes the avalanche, more disastrous than the eruption of Vesuvius. Isabel dies. Lucien gets severely punished by the Archangels. And the two of them suffer again and again over the centuries that come and go, strengthening the curse. Isabel gets born again and again only to die a tragic death. Lucien tries to prevent it but always fails.

Something changes when the Archangel approaches Lucien in Everwood Falls to tell him that this time, many innocent people’s lives are interconnected with Isabel’s impending death. It doesn’t give Lucien any hope that he might finally get a chance to spend his life with his beloved in this timeline after centuries of tragedies and heartbreak. He knows the ways of the Archangels only too well to be that optimistic. Yet, he can’t let innocent people die if he can prevent it. And so, although he’d sworn not to come close to Isabel this time, he breaks his promise, and he and Isabel unite their efforts to find those who threaten to turn the lives of many families of Everwood Falls into hell.

“Fallen” is a beautiful, emotionally charged, and oh-so-delicious story that will make you want to read more about Everwood Falls and its inhabitants.