Review: Penitence (Heavenly #2)

Title: Penitence (Heavenly #2)
Author: Jennifer Laurens
Publisher: Grove Creek
Pages: 322
Challenge: YA Series

My Rating:

Seeing good and evil spirits is a gift Zoe guards with her life.Despite her guardian angel's disappearance, Zoe forces herself to accept that she still has a purpose-but how does she carry the weight of her brother's drug abuse, the hardship of living with an autistic sister, and a best friend who's obsessed with a guy who only wants Zoe? She's never felt more alone. When a mysterious spirit appears, Zoe thinks she has a new guardian angel. Instead, her brother's addiction worsens, her parents are on the brink of separation, and her best friend tries to kill her. The spirit she thinks is her new guardian isn't there to protect her: he's out to destroy her family and seize Zoe's soul. . . for Hell. Will Matthias' return mean that he is Zoe's guardian angel again? Or is their love the reason the jaws of Hell now gape open? -summary from goodreads.com

Anyone else notice a trend in YA series? First book; intro to story. We meet characters, meet the love interest, get to know the plot and problems, climax, then we finish with resolution (not necessarily true for every YA series book, but bare with me). What typically happens in book two? There’s some more problems (ex: forbidden love, dram, hurt feelings) and the main love interest disappears for a while. Soooo, now what?... Yep, you guessed it; a new love interest is introduced. Typically this bugs the hell out of me! (Remember reading New Moon? I wanted to throw the book across the room after chapter 3)… And although Penitence tends to fellow this YA series trend, I absolutely loved it!

Mrs. Lauren’s sure knows how to make you doubt your feelings. I was in love, swooning over, 100 % Team Matthias… but after reading Penitence, Weston now holds a part of my heart, and I mean BIG! While Matthias continues to be a caring, witty, and loving angel- Weston is… Well, he’s real. He’s the young man who knows he did wrong by Zoe but he’s paying for it. He’s trying to make things right because, from the bottom of his heart, he truly is sorry for what he did. Penitence couldn’t have been a better title; Matthias, Weston and Zoe are all paying the consequences to their actions. We’re also introduced to a new character; Albert. He goes around messing with Zoe’s family and making life a living hell.  Every scene w/Albert tore my heart. Poor Zoe, she’s trying so hard to turn over a new leaf and help her family…. *sigh* Albert= grrrr!

Overall, Penitence was beautifully written. The story will have you hooked from the prologue. This book had some crazy chapter cliffhangers, I was nervous I’d turn the page at that would be the end of the book. If you’ve never heard or having picked up this series, you should REALLY consider it! I feel like an obsessed fan girl, I recommend this series to everyone! Anyone else out there reading, or have read the Heavenly Series? Share your links with me, PLEASE! :)