Kiss of Surrender: A Deadly Angels Book

The author's style of writing is really good. There's a nice build up of the characters, witty and funny conversations between the main characters. It made me laugh a few times but the overall plot, story is not what i expected or wanted. The hero is a vampire angel and his main duty is to talk the bad guys to turning good. Once he managed to that, he convince them to let him make a meal out of them to suck out their bad essence or something. I didn't actually get to finish it, as soon as i realised what the hero's job is i just couldn't continue reading it.

I liked the main female character but that was about it. I kept reading hoping the story would get better, but it just got more and more far fetched. Honestly the concept of a Viking Angel who is also a vampire was just too out there.

I was immediately intrigued when I read the synopsis for this book: A Viking vampire angel? What's not to like?

Captain Trond Sigurdsson will forever be 29 years old. He died in the year 850 A.D. in the age of the Vikings. Trond, along with his six brothers, are all Vangels: Viking Vampire Angels. Each brother is representative of one of the seven deadly sins, with Trond's being sloth. His motto was, "Work smarter, not harder." His mentor is St. Michael the Archangel, and the Vangels have been assigned to kill demon vampires (aka Lucipires or "Lucies") and to save the nearly-lost human souls. Trond's original penance was to serve as a Vangel for 700 years but, because he has erred a number of times over the centuries, the years have piled on and he has served over 1,000 years and counting.

Lucipires prey on humans that are on the brink of some particularly harsh sin. They bite the neck of the victim to put them in a state of stasis and then blow their unholy breath into the victim through any orifice, which puts them in a weakened state and more vulnerable to temptation. A victim will have the scent of lemons about them. Once the victim has committed the final sin to seal his fate, the Lucipire will drink from him until he is drained and the victim is then taken to the Underworld.

St. Michael has received word that Jasper, the king of the Lucipires, has sent some of his minions to recruit some Navy SEALs. St. Michael sends Trond and a younger Vangel, Karl, to join the SEAL's training program on the pretext that they were Jaegers from a top-secret Norwegian Special Forces team.

When Trond meets Lieutenant Nicole Tasso, a 28 year-old Navy WEAL ("Women on Earth, Air, Land and Sea"), there is an immediate attraction but neither wants to admit it. Because Vangels are supposed to be celibate, Trond cannot get involved with a woman. Besides, her peppiness rubs him the wrong way. He is more of the lazy-type (hence, his slothful nature), and Nicole is his polar-opposite in that department. She constantly listens to motivational tapes and is a "can-do" type. She was victimized by an abusive husband, and she has no desire to get involved with another man at this point, but Trond has awakened feelings in her that she thought were dead.

The chemistry between Trond and Nicole was red-hot, particularly during Trond's infamous "near-sex" escapades. I thought that I would be put off by the military lingo, but I wasn't. It took me a bit to get used to all the acronyms, but then I found a handy glossary at the back of the book which helped me a great deal. I really liked Trond. Again, I repeat: He is a Viking vampire angel - what is not to like? I liked the playful banter between Trond and Nicole, and I also liked Trond's effect on Nicole. She was a different woman with him around, much more daring and confident which was so unlike her former self. Nicole came a long way with her past, which began even before she was married, since her father is also an abusive man who actually had the gall to side with his son-in-law instead of his own daughter saying that Nicole always "needed a bit of discipline." Argh, what an awful man!

Hill is a new-to-me author, and I like her spin on the usual vampire which made for a very unique story. I also like that she injected a lot of sarcasm and humour into the book.

I did not realize that this was the second book in the Deadly Angels series. Nonetheless, I did not find that I was lost for not having read the first one in the series. However, I plan to go back now and read that one!

I received this book for review from the publisher as part of the author's virtual book tour with TLC Book Tours. I did not receive any compensation for my review, and the views expressed herein are my own.

The first time Trond rolls onto the pages of this series is in the previous Deadly Angel book Kiss of Pride. He excited about being the first vangel to be a seal, an animal. His brothers laugh at his misunderstanding and not knowing what a Navy SEAL is. This made me think Trond and his heroine would deliver the humor that Vikar and Alex did. It didn't happen for me.

I honestly found it difficult to find sloth, Trond sexy. Every time I visualized him in my head he resembled the fella on the cover, but the wife beater tee had pizza grease stains on his beer belly along with sweat stains around the underarm area. Trond is NOT represented in this way. Hill wrote him as a physically sexy virile Viking man. It is just the image that stuck in my head. The sin he was punished for was sloth, sloth is not sexy.

Most of the banter between Nicole and Trond that was supposed to be funny left me wondering how people this childish have made into the adulthood, much less the SEALs and WEALS. After all the humor that Kiss of Pride had I was expecting the constant giggles again with this installment of the Deadly Angels series. There are humorous moments, but it was when the other brothers were present. Trond often gives the impression that he is ignorant or uneducated.

I love angst and conflict. Both of the conflicts that readers see Nicole and Trond headed into are resolved neat and efficiently and quickly swept under the rug. The conflicts had some serious weight to them. One involved the secrets in Nicole's past that she tries to keep hidden. The other was a major mission for the SEALs and WEALS. I felt teased. I was given the idea of some serious conflict then it just resolved and went away.

I still found the near sex awesome. These poor angels, they know that premarital sex is a sin. They know that they must abstain from the sins of the flesh. The other side of this is they are Vikings who cannot change from their Viking ways. The things they (Hill) comes up with to push the limits on going around this rule while still pleasuring their lady and getting their fulfillment, I just love it. It is something that is enjoyably different.

Overall Kiss of Surrender left me with a meh feeling. I still like the idea behind the series, Viking vampire angels with a huge slice of snarky humor. I will continue the series. I think Trond and Nicole just didn't work for me. It happens on occasion. I'm very picky about the couples in my romance novels.

book provided by publisher for the purpose of an honest review

This is not your typical paranormal romance. It is lighthearted and quirky and fun. If you don't look for anymore than that out of it you will enjoy it immensely! The dialogue takes some getting use to at first but taken in context that you are dealing with some pretty hard-headed and ancient Viking types it works with the story. I laughed quite a lot while reading this book... Trond was just too incorrigible.

The Deadly Angles books just keep getting better with each book Sandra Hill writes! It is great to look back at the references of the other books and seeing what has happened with other character's. Laughing out loud at the characters antics in the stories are the best and puts a smile on your face! A definite must read in my opinion! I can't get enough of the stories or the character's and now starting the next book immediately!

How can anyone not love the characters Sandra Hill creates for her stories? They make you laugh and they can make you cry along with them. Sandra Hill is also on my list of Auto buy Authors. Check her out if you haven't already. I'm liking this new series of hers. It's '' Near hysterical" Gotta love them Vangels!