Series: The Milayna Series, Book 1
Author: Michelle K. Pickett
Published: March 17th, 2015
Publisher: Clean Teen Publishing
Genre: YAm Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Adult language and violence
Recommended Age: 16+
Synopsis: It’s hard being good all the time. Everyone needs to be bad once in a while. But for seventeen-year-old Milayna, being good isn't a choice. It’s a job requirement. And it’s a job she can’t quit. Born a demi-angel, Milayna steps in when danger and demons threaten the people around her, but being half angel isn't all halos and happiness. Azazel, Hell’s demon, wants Milayna’s power and he’ll do anything to get it. But he only has until her eighteenth birthday, after which she becomes untouchable.
With the help of other demi-angels, Milayna thwarts the trouble Azazel sends her way. Fighting by her side is Chay. He’s a demi-angel who’s sinfully gorgeous, and Milayna falls hard. But is Chay her true love… or her nemesis in disguise?
When she learns of a traitor in her group, there’s no one she can trust… not even the one she loves.
Maribel's Review
Let me just start off with this: Michelle K. Pickett has rapidly become one of my favorite authors. I love that she created characters that had great chemistry together. Dialogue was great and I have to admit that for about 75% of this book, I had a goofy smile on my face because of Chay. He was a swoon-worthy character and he was charming and sweet and so attentive to Milayna. Characters like him are why I love reading, more specifically why I love reading YA.
Milayna's character grew and evolved as the book progressed and you see her start off as this bratty teenager who makes everything about herself like teenagers are prone to do, but at the end she's a strong character who has finally accepted the life she's been handed. It took most of the book for her to accept it, but hey, better late than never is my motto.
I'm glad that the traitor in her group wasn't who I feared it was, but it did leave me with a lot of questions in regards to a character that is close to Milayna.
It's been awhile since I last read a book about angels and demons. This was a different spin on that theme, and I enjoyed it immensely due to all the action that took place in this book. Never a dull moment was to be had here, and even the beginning had me rushing through the first chapters to find out what was going on.
I'm looking forward to the second book in this series, and Milayna gets 5 Platypires from me!
Sara's Review
As far as Milayna, I really liked her, and it was interesting to see her character development from the beginning of the book to the very end. She starts out having visions, and thinks she's a freak before she finds out she's a demi-angel with a human mother and an angelic father. By the end, not only has she accepted what she is, but she's much stronger than she was initially. It was easy to root for her, and there were times when I felt a lot of empathy for her when things happened that she had no control over. I also thought there was a lot of chemistry between her and Chay, and their relationship did not feel forced or rushed. As a swimmer myself, I loved the fact she was on her high school swim team and I felt a connection to her because of that.
This is the type of book I'd recommend to those who like strong female characters and YA novels with angels and demons. My rating is 5/5 platypires.
Excerpt:
“Milayna?”
“I have to go. I’ll call you when it’s over.”
Who is it? No one is here for me to protect. Oh, geez, maybe it’s a neighbor. Or the red rugrats are coming. Then what do I do?
“I’ll be right there.” She slammed the phone in my ear.
My stomach roiled, and my mouth was filled with the rancid taste of stomach acid. My breathing came in gasps, like I was running. My head and heart pounded in time with each other like a pair of drums. The sound bounced through my head.
I heard Muriel come in the back door just as the first of the vision appeared.
Mom’s building. She’s leaving work, walking to her car in the parking garage.
“Call my mom,” I said.
“What’s the number?”
I jumped when I heard Chay’s voice. “Speed dial two on my cell. On the table.” I pressed the heels of my hands to my eyes and focused on the vision.
The parking garage is dark. I see our car. I smell damp cement and exhaust fumes.
“I’m here, Milayna,” I heard Muriel tell me.
My breathing grew faster. My heart beat so hard it hurt, and I rubbed my chest with my hand.
“Your mom is on the phone, Milayna,” Chay said quietly. I could barely hear him over the blood rushing behind my ears. “She wants to know what’s going on.”
“Has she left work?”
“No.”
“Tell her to call a cab. Don’t go into the parking garage. It’s dangerous.”
Sulfur. Coughing. Hobgoblins.
“Wait! It’s not her. The vision hasn’t changed.”
The smell of sulfur is stronger. Red high heels.
“Red high heels. Tell her to look for someone wearing red high heels… and… and… red nail polish. I see her fingers. She’s holding a black notebook. “
A force jerked me forward, and I screamed. Tears pushed behind my eyes. I tried to pull away, but it squeezed my wrist so hard it was painful. I tried to jerk away. But I couldn’t. I tried, I really tried, but it was too strong. Much stronger than me. So big, too. How could we do it? How could we win against something like that? I jerked again and again, but it held me easily.
A manhole cover moved to the side. The hole is open. A gray face… horns.
“Oh, shit, it’s disgusting,” I choked.
The wood-like horns curled back from its face and were so long they almost made a perfect circle on each side of the gray demon’s head. The smell of burning flesh wafted off its skin. Smoke and ash billowed around it. Its large, jutting bottom jaw didn’t align with the top and it couldn’t get its mouth to close all the way, so saliva and remnants of its last meal dripped from its mouth. Its large, gray forehead was bare but for three circles in the center. The circles were in a line. Their sides touched but did not overlap. A line with a slight curve extended from the center of the middle circle. It almost looked like the picture of a cherry on a Vegas slot machine.
Its unblinking, black eyes stared at me. A reflection bounced back to me. But it wasn’t me I saw reflected in its eyes. It was the woman in the parking garage. Her face was twisted in pain and horror. Her mouth was open as if she were trying to scream, but no sound came out.
About the Author:
Red Bull or Monster Khaos are her coffee of choice, and she can’t write without peanut butter M&Ms and a hoodie. A hopeful romantic; she loves a swoon-worthy ending that will give her butterflies for days. She writes across genres in the young adult and new adult age groups. She loves to hear from her readers.
Michelle signed her new young adult contemporary novel— Unspeakable, with Clean Teen Publishing in 2014.
Giveaway:
- Signed print copy of Milayna, a $20 Amazon gift card, a “Guardian Angel” personal alarm, & bookmarks
- A bookmark swag pack, winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook, and a $15 Amazon gift card.
- Signed print copy of Milayna and bookmarks