Book Review: Fallen by Kat Kinney
Genre(s): Cozy Mystery / Paranormal Fantasy / Urban Fantasy
Book Synopsis:
EVERWOOD FALLS… a small supernatural community tucked up in the Colorado Rockies where witches, werewolves and vampires can live without fear of discovery, and those with curses they can’t control are sent to keep the existence of magic from being revealed to Mundanes.
Once one of thousands of angels who fought against the Underworld at the command of the Archangels, Lucien Girard had his wings broken as punishment for defying angelic law. His crime? Trying to change the fate of the human woman he’d fallen in love with. Centuries later, he bears the curse the Archangels handed down: To fall in love again and again, each time with a new woman who shares the face of the soulmate he failed to save thousands of years before. When Dr. Isabel Romero moves to Everwood Falls, Lucien vows to stay as far away from her as possible, not knowing any other way to prevent her death like all the others who have come before her. But someone from Isabel’s past is stalking her and Lucien can’t simply leave her to her fate. He knows this time will be no different. And yet he refuses to let her go.
Dr. Isabel Romero lives with guilt for the people she’s harmed. The night she died, her life was saved by Costa, a vampire who changed her into one of the undead. But becoming a vampire meant she had to leave her parents behind, only visiting once per year according to vampire law so no one would notice that she isn’t aging. Gifted with a rare healing magic, she saves lives that are beyond her abilities to heal as a doctor. Moving to Everwood Falls is supposed to be a fresh start, but her magic has a dark side and someone from her past is hunting her. The last thing she wants is to be responsible for someone else getting hurt, and that means she can’t allow anyone to get close to her. But she’s going to need Lucien Girard’s help if they’re going to catch the person harming patients in Everwood Falls before someone is seriously hurt.
With a herd of enchanted elk, carnivorous spruce trees, and sentient pumpkins that stalk the local landscaping, Everwood Falls is a quirky mountain town where scales and fur mean found family.
Review:
The first book in this series was good, but I thought this one was even better. I loved the story, the characters, the setting… All of it.
One of my favorite aspects was Everwood Falls itself. I’m from Colorado and have lived there my whole life. Everwood Falls is the quintessential mountain town, with the requisite candy shop and homey restaurants in its picturesque downtown, the spruce trees, and the mounds of winter snow. The setting feels like home to me, and when there’s found family and magic added to the mix, I can’t help but fall in love.
And found family is a huge theme in this series. Every character in Everwood Falls is there because they can’t safely live elsewhere, often at the expense of not seeing their biological families. They make lasting friendships with the other residents instead. Sometimes it leads to romance too.
Beyond the friendships and the cozy atmosphere, there’s also a mystery. In Fallen, it was uncovering who was stalking Isabel and why—and stopping them before they escalated into violence. The mystery element was done so well that all of my theories on who was responsible for the stalking were wrong. I like to be surprised when it comes to mysteries, and I certainly was here.
Fallen is set in December and features the winter holidays throughout. While I originally bought this book when it released in April, I intentionally saved it for after Halloween, and I’m so glad I did. It’s the perfect read to bring in the holiday season.
Author’s Amazon Page: Kat Kinney
