James Paddock's Blog

What a world Maureen Turner creates in this fascinating series. Who would have thought that Angels could fall in love, or that we had Angels living among us? If you're not sure, just ask to see their wings. Are their wings white or are they black, and what exactly does that mean? From Malchediel to Lucifer, from the Warrior Angel to the Fallen Angel; what are they to each other and how are they different? The other question, the answer both surprising and not, who is Amy to them both?

I very much enjoyed reading the entire series.

Malchediel, Warrior Angel by Maureen Turner

Angels are not allowed to fall in love with Mortals. If Malchediel had been told those words as he was sent off on a mission, most definitely not of his choosing, he would have laughed all the way to Earth. His intent was to do what he had been ordered to do so as to be able to return to what he really loved, what he was good at. He was a Warrior Angel, not a baby-sitter. How thoroughly demeaning. He didn’t deserve this.

But this girl, Amy, this mortal, is not fully mortal. She is half angel, a Nephilim girl, and she has no clue. When her parents died, much too young, they’d yet to tell her what she was, that she had powers, certain that they were protecting her from an evil force of Fallen Angels. Thus, is the reason that Malchediel is sent to protect her. An angry Fallen Angel has discovered Amy’s existence, whose daughter she was, and wants revenge.

When Malchediel appears in her art shop, seemingly out of thin air, his wings folded away so as to appear as nothing more than a golden-haired surfer, there comes a spark, a mixture of attraction and irritation on her part, amusement on his. She is so innocent that he is flummoxed on how to tell her of his mission. And so, the story unfolds into one of anticipation from page to page. How will she find out who he really is, what she really is, who her mother really was?

Maureen Turner is an artist in weaving us through this story of growing attraction, then love between an Angel and a Nephilim, between an immortal and a mortal. How could it possibly work? This first in a three-book series will pull you along. Malchediel, Warrior Angel is a great read and I look forward to the other two, Amy, Nephilim Freedom Fighter and Lucifer After the Fall. Where will this go as Amy finds her place as a Nephilim Freedom Fighter?

Amy, Nephilim Freedom Fighter by Maureen Turner

Malchediel is gone, snatched back to where he belongs, leaving Amy lost and heartbroken. Angels are not allowed to fall in love with Mortals. To do so would relegate the Angel to that of the Fallen. Amy couldn’t do that to Malchediel so with great trepidation—and excitement—she turns away. Knowing now who she is, she closes her business and heads off in her mother’s footsteps. She is a Nephilim, after all. She joins the NFF, the Nephilim Freedom Fighters, the Earth-based force intent on stopping the rise of attacks from the Fallen Angels, the angry lot led by Lucifer. Maybe, with her special Nephilim power, she could be of service to the greater good of her half human, half Angel people. It is they who are the first line of defense against the Fallen Angels' Goblins and Demons.

What a spell-binding ending!

Lucifer After the Fall by Maureen Turner

Lucifer is called so many things, this leader of the Fallen Angels. The big question is, how did he become Fallen? It was his attitude toward the Creator, of course, he being the Creator's favorite, the Morning Star. As he faces his plunge into the void, Lucifer has final words with his best friend, Michael.

"We [angels] exist to do His bidding whilst his other creations [humans] have free will to live and do as they wish."

“Whilst they break every one. Not for them, total obedience. How can that be fair?”

“We are Angels Lucifer. They are merely humans stumbling in the darkness. They are His great experiment. A species endowed with free will so He can monitor how they handle themselves. They live and die. We are immortal.” ... “He has decided you must be punished.”

And so Lucifer is punished for questioning the Creator, jumping into the void before he is tossed. How is it he survives when so many others who also question the Creator perish? Battered and burned, his wings charred and black as coal, Lucifer climbs from the void, heals and goes about building a safe haven, an Anomaly, for his followers, they being those who also survived the toss into the firery void. Centuries pass by and despite Lucifer's orders, many of the other Fallen find pleasure in the human women from whom are born a new species, a hybrid between the angel and the human. They are called Nephilim and become an abomination to the pure, white-winged Warrior Angels whose new purpose is to destroy this hybrid. As adults. As children. Even as babies. Lucifer is angry at his Fallen followers for having relationships with human women and even more so for allowing children to be created. Then his anger turns to that of rage at the Warrior Angels for running about the earth intent on destroying these children.

But as it is with all men, be they immortal or otherwise, they often find themselves beseeched by the beauty and wiles of a woman, and damned it be if that woman is not immortal as yourself. Such is how Lucifer's life makes a turnabout. There is a woman; she is beautiful and she is alone. What possible harm could come of it? Before long, maybe only minutes, Lucifer is smitten and some time later, a son is born.

Enough said about this great, final book of the Wings Unfurled series. Don't want to give the entire plot away. It'll keep you awake, reading into the dark of night, guessing at where the story is going. Be careful. It might take a millennium or two.

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