Review - The Dark Angel Trilogy by I.T. Lucas

A short while ago a friend turned me on to this series and I have been devouring them ever since and the author is on my auto buy list. The Dark Angel Trilogy:Dark Angel's Obsession - Dark Angel's Seduction - Dark Angel's Surrender are books 14 through 16 and are the Guardian Brundar and human woman Callie's love story.
I interviewed I.T. a few months ago she tells where her inspiration for the series came from and other interesting tidbits. Click HERE to read it
Enjoy!

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excerpt courtesy I. T. Lucas:

CHAPTER 1: CALLIE

Twenty-two months ago.

“What’s wrong? You look green.” Iris’s worried eyes met Callie’s in the mirror.

Ugh. The nausea should have passed by now. Morning sickness at two in the afternoon was unacceptable. But then her queasy stomach might have had less to do with her pregnancy and more to do with her upcoming nuptials.

“I think I’m going to be sick again.” The train of her wedding dress clutched in her hand, Callie bolted for the bathroom.

Locking the door behind her, she eyed the toilet and contemplated kneeling on the floor, but doing so in a white, voluminous dress was asking for trouble. It could get dirty or wrinkled, and she didn’t need the extra stress.

Instead, she put a protective hand over the plunging neckline and leaned over the sink, trying to purge the swirling sensation from her gut. Nothing came up, only painful dry heaves.

“Are you okay in there?” Iris knocked on the door. “Can I help? Do you want me to call Donald?”

“No. Just give me a minute,” Callie called out. The last thing she needed was for her father to freak out. The man couldn’t deal with anything female related. She still remembered his reaction to her first period. It was good that the supermarket had been walking distance from their house. There was no way her father would have survived buying her tampons.

It was a freaking miracle that man had managed to raise a daughter on his own since she was a tiny toddler.

Another knock. “Callie, let me in. I can at least hold your hair back while you puke,” Iris pleaded.

“I’m fine. I’ll be out in a minute.” Gah. The woman was so irritating.

Iris meant well, but she was too young to play mother of the bride. A big sister, maybe, but not really. Less than a year ago, when her father had finally remarried, Callie had been genuinely happy and excited to welcome Iris into their lives, even though the woman was only eleven years older than Callie and thirteen years younger than Donald.

Iris was chatty and smiley and filled their quiet home with life.

Callie had hoped for a sisterly relationship with her new stepmother, but things hadn’t worked out that way. Though not for lack of trying on both sides. They were just two very different people. The only thing they had in common was their love for her father.

Iris made Donald happy.

Before she’d tumbled into his life, he had rarely smiled, which made Callie wonder whether he’d been a happier man when her mother was still alive.

Getting him to talk about her was impossible. It made him too sad. But the many pictures and few home movies told a story of a perfectly normal little family, with two doting parents and a chubby baby girl whom they’d seemed to adore.

Callie sighed and leaned her forehead against the cool mirror.

One tragic moment had shattered their family forever, taking away her mother from them and leaving Donald a broken, sad man to raise a daughter on his own.

“Callie, are you okay?” Her father’s voice.

Damn it, Iris. She’d told her not to bother him.

“I’m fine. I’ll be out in a moment.” If she could work magic, she would’ve gotten rid of them both, sent them to mingle with the guests and let her breathe for a few moments, but the best she could do was get rid of at least one. Temporarily. “Can either of you bring me a coke?”

“Sure thing.” Her father jumped at the opportunity to be useful doing something other than dealing with his daughter’s prenuptial jitters. Or worse, her pregnancy nausea.

Callie waited another moment before opening the door.

“Feeling better?” Iris asked.

She forced a smile. “Much. Can you do me a favor and bring me some saltines from the kitchen?”

Iris patted her arm. “That’s a splendid idea. Saltines work miracles on nausea.” She rushed to the kitchen, or rather attempted to. Hindered by her spiky heels and long tight dress, it was more of a waddle than a fast walk.

Alone at last, Callie sat down in front of her vanity and picked up the pink lipstick, hoping the bright color would help offset the green hue of her skin.

Pregnancy should have made her glow with health, not look pale and sickly. Except, that was likely true for those overjoyed by the prospect of motherhood, not those tricked into it at nineteen.

Too young.

She hadn’t done anything with her life yet.

No regrets, Callie. It was the mantra she’d adopted after the shock of discovering she was pregnant had worn off.

It was all happening a little sooner than she would’ve preferred, but she was going to make it work. Her life was going to be great. She was going to build a cozy home for her sweet, adorable baby and loving husband.

Except, Callie wasn’t so sure about that last one.

Did Shawn really love her?

Did loving people trick their partners into marriage?

Relationships were supposed to be built on trust.

Theirs wasn’t.

Callie had no proof that he’d gotten her pregnant on purpose. After all, condom failure was not unheard of. But from what she’d read online, it was mostly due to mishandling. At twenty-seven, Shawn should’ve had plenty of experience in handling one properly.

As the door to her bedroom opened, Callie took a deep breath, bracing for more of Iris’s prattle, but it wasn’t her stepmother.

“Dawn!” Callie jumped and turned, almost tripping on the gown’s long train. “You made it!”

“Of course, I made it. You think I would miss my best friend’s wedding?” Dawn handed her a Coke can and a pack of saltines. “I told your dad and Iris that I’m taking over and that they should stop neglecting their guests.”

“Thank you.” The tears prickling the back of Callie’s eyes were threatening to ruin Iris’s carefully applied makeup. “Aren’t you missing finals?”

“All done. I took the last one yesterday.”

“How did it go?”

Dawn waved a hand. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Callie laughed. “You are probably the only one that can say that about MIT’s electrical engineering department finals.”

“Not really. To my utter horror, I discovered I wasn’t the smartest thing to ever grace the lecture halls of that prestigious institution.”

Callie pretended to gasp. “Get out of here. Really? It can’t be.”

Dawn shook her head. “Sadly, it is. But enough about me. How are you holding up?”

“I want to throw up.”

“That’s to be expected from one who is expecting.”

Callie sat back on her vanity stool. “I don’t want to marry Shawn.”

“I don’t blame you.” Dawn knelt in front of her and clasped her hands. “You can still call it off. I’ll go out there and tell everyone to go home including Shawn, who, by the way, is strutting around like a peacock, happy as can be.”

“I bet. He got his way, the bastard. He’s been pestering me to marry him since the day he popped my cherry, obsessed by the idea of marrying a girl who’s never been touched by another.”

Dawn’s eyes narrowed. “Do you think he did it on purpose?”

“I can’t be sure, but I have my suspicions.”

“So why the hell do you refuse to get an abortion?”

Cradling her middle protectively, Callie shook her head. “I can’t. It’s not this little one’s fault that his or her father is an underhanded jerk. Besides, you know I love children. I’m going to be a great mother.”

“I know, sweetie, but is Shawn going to be a great father? Or husband?”

“I don’t know,” Callie whispered.

He’d been so charming and attentive when they’d first met three months ago. Still was. But Callie couldn’t shake the feeling that Shawn was putting on a very convincing act, hiding a darker, more sinister side underneath all that smooth talk.

The thing was, when he turned it on full force, it was hard to hang on to that suspicion. It was much easier to believe that she was worried for no good reason, scared by nonexistent shadows.

Shawn was older, bossy and dominant. It was what had attracted her to him in the first place. Except, that bossy attitude was getting annoying. Especially when his dishonesty and manipulative behavior brought about disillusion and disappointment.

The thing was, blinded by her attraction to him, she hadn’t noticed any of it until it was too late and she was carrying his child.

Callie had never been drawn to guys her age. Ever since she’d became sexually aware, she’d craved something that for the longest time she couldn’t define or name. Naturally, she’d assumed it was what every woman craved and hadn’t been overly bothered by it. But the sweet romances she’d sneaked under the blanket at night had painted a different picture.

Much later, she’d found a series of books that had opened her eyes. As a high fantasy it was mostly about adventure, not about romance, and the few intimate scenes were by no means descriptive, but the tapestry it had woven contained many more shades than Callie had been aware of.

“Love as thy wilt.” That imagined society’s main motto was that nothing was taboo as long as it was consensual.

Easier said than done.

It had been difficult to accept that she wasn’t like everyone else, and that the things she craved were somewhat outside the norm.

Why the hell did she crave sexual dominance?

Callie wasn’t combative, but she wasn’t timorous either. She didn’t accept authority without question, and had her own opinions about pretty much everything, which she never shied away from expressing.

She was a strong, capable, and independent woman.

She had no other choice.

With no mother and a father who worked long days, she had been basically left to her own devices since she was a very young girl. No one had ever supervised her schoolwork, and yet she had always been a straight A student. No one had ever moderated her behavior, and yet she had always been polite. No one had told her how to dress, and yet she had always dressed modestly.

Perhaps the reason for her good-girl model behavior was that she had never had a reason to rebel. Why would she? And against whom or what?

With no one to tell her otherwise, Callie could do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted.

Her father had trusted her with running the household from a very young age, giving her a bank card and a checkbook filled with signed checks. Callie had done all the grocery shopping and paid the bills. It was a lot of responsibility, but she’d never shied away from it. Her father needed her help, and she’d given it freely, glad she was able to do it.

So why the hell did she crave sexual domination?

Why did nothing else turn her on as much? Or at all?

Those were questions she’d grown tired of asking.

It just was.

My Review(s)

Review of:
Dark Angel’s Obsession #14
Dark Angel’s Seduction #15
Dark Angel’s Surrender #16
I.T. Lucas’ Children of the God’s Series

Series catch up:
From the beginning of time there have been near immortal beings who have molded humanity, been the object of worship but who as a race almost destroyed each other and human civilization.
Now only two Gods are left both sworn enemies:
The followers of Morta, the Doomers and the descendants of the Goddess Annani.

The Dark Angel’s trilogy is the story of the Guardian Burndar and a human, Calypso. Brundar is not a stranger to readers but he is an enigma and his tragic past, aversion to being touched and need for kinky sex is finally revealed. Calypso (Callie) however is an open book and her openness and adventurous side is just what the dark brooding Brundar needs, even though he’d never admit it.
This series continues to wow me at every turn and Lucas keeps it fresh by adding new twists, new possible dormants both obvious and some readers don’t see coming. Her imaginative narrative, inventive continuing world building, fantastic side stories and scenes that are unbelievably believable propel the story. And of course there are her larger than life characters that rule every page.
This series is one that you must read in order.

SUMMARY:
Ever since the chance meeting when Callie and her husband Shawn tried to get into the sex club he co-owns, Brundar’s been obsessed with her and had a bad feeling about her husband. So he takes it upon himself to be her stealthy stalker protector. He can’t understand his fixation with this human woman, he only knows he’ll move heaven and earth to make sure she’s safe even if that means getting to know her personally and breaking a few of his, not getting involved, rules to do it.

Callie knows she made a mistake marrying Shawn, knows she needs to get out of this marriage because even though he’s never touched her she senses a darkness in him and she knows he’ll never let her go without a fight. She knows she needs help getting away and there just happens to be a tall dark and brooding, sex on a stick guy who may be able to help her.

Meanwhile back at the keep there’s a lot going on, the clan is trying to discover who is committing terrible murders, they need to learn if it’s a human pretending to be a vampire, or if it’s an immortal gone mad. The construction of the clan’s new village is under way and members are busy picking homes. Plus the continuing drama of Roni and Sylvia and Tessa and Jackson are unfolding at warp speed

Click HERE for the series in order

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Meet IT: 

I.T. Lucas, author of the Children of The Gods series, lives in Southern California with her five favorite guys. Ever since she'd met the love of her life at a high-school party, they've been doing everything together; from majoring in business and then starting and running their own, to raising four wonderful boys.
A voracious reader, her interests run the gamut from fantasy, sci-fi, and paranormal romance, to forays into the mythologies and histories of ancient civilizations, philosophy, the nature of the universe – physical and metaphysical, and more.
Still, if not for her sons' insistence, she would've never thought of incorporating this fascinating trove of information into fiction. Of course, what they had in mind were not the smart yet steamy paranormal-romance novels she ended up writing… which they can't read… Their dad, naturally, reads everything, offers suggestions, and with the right incentives, proofreads.