Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay

***1/2

 

From Random House:

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.

The first in the series, Juliet Immortal, was one of my favorite books of last year.  You can read the review here.  Romeo Redeemed picks up where Juliet Immortal left off and without getting into spoilery territory, Romeo’s soul has been returned to his original body, a rotted, disgusting corpse that has been decomposing for centuries.  He is approached by an Ambassador of Light and given the chance to redeem himself – accomplish his task and his soul will be sent to the peaceful “mist” until he is needed again.  Fail and his soul will be returned to his corpse until it rots away and then his soul will remain tethered to this world, lost and tormented. 

His task is to make Ariel fall in love with him, to show her the power of love and light.  We met Ariel in Juliet Immortal and she is teetering on the edge of dark and light.  A girl with burn scars over half her body and episodes that make epilepsy look like a walk in the park, Ariel has always been ostracized from her classmates, mistreated and labeled a freak.  Not to mention that the body Romeo’s soul is sent to inhabit has just been busted trying to hook up with Ariel to win a $500 bet.  All this will make Romeo’s task nearly impossible.

For me, Romeo Redeemed is a story about the atrocities people will commit in the name of love and light and the lengths people will go to when they lose their way.  That even those who fight for good can lose sight of what’s really important in the name of the “greater good.”  Juliet Immortal was more about self-discovery and learning to forgive yourself and those who have hurt you.  Both journeys and stories are important, but I found Juliet Immortal to be more moving.  I also had no expectations of liking Juliet Immortal, but after being blown away by it, I definitely had expectations going into Romeo Redeemed.  Both books are exceptionally well written and captivating and I highly recommend both.  I am hopeful that we will see at least one more in the series. 

~Shel

P.S.  Kudos to whomever chose the covers for this series - they are both beautiful!