Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.
Release Date: October 9, 2012
Published by: Delacorte Books
Hardcover: 384 pages
Review
I really fell in love with Juliet Immortal when I picked it up a couple of months ago and honestly could not wait to get my hands on Romeo Redeemed. Truth be told the book did not let me down. Actually I think that in the end I enjoyed this book a little more than I did Juliet Immortal. When I started this book I did have a general idea of what to expect but I did find myself surprised a couple of times. The book basically starts off where Juliet Immortal ended. With Romeo being punished for his actions and his current circumstances may be a little sad but I had a hard time feeling any sympathy for him to start. Not to say I dislike him but I know what brought him to where he currently is. However this book is about redemption and getting another shot to do right. This comes in the form of an offer and a not so easy task. Romeo has to fight for love instead of against it and has to show a girl that love is worth it. Problem he only has a certain period of time to accomplish this and then he must become an Ambassador.
The book is told from both Romeo and Ariel's point of view. There is even a little Juliet thrown in throughout the book. This did confuse me to start and I was beyond thrown because of the glimpse we got at the end of Juliet Immortal. The switch from each POV is put at the start of each chapter but more than that you can just tell who you are reading. Their voices are very clear,easy to identify and made the book go much faster than I had anticipated. That being said I was happy with how the book was paced and the way things were placed throughout the book. This was more of a what's happening now than what happened before and really I think that may have given this book a bit of an edge from the first.
There is a lot of growth in Romeo in particular in this book. As previously stated Romeo wasn't exactly a saint and made a lot of wrong choices to get where he is. To start he seemed like the same old selfish Romeo, the one that is only looking out for his own best interest but things change. I loved the changes that occurred within Romeo and the things that he learned strictly because of true love. The revelation that he makes does not come without consequences but the end result seems to be worth it. Not only for him but also for those around him. The Romeo we knew with Juliet has turned into someone that we could fall for and feel for.
Ariel (who is actually Ariel not Juliet this time around) is the object of Romeo's mission. She is troubled and hardened but with good reason. Her life hasn't really been simple or easy and because of this she lives with her heart guarded. Really my heart went out this girl. There were times I wanted to run and hug her and others that I wanted to shake and scream at her. Ariel in my opinion was both strong and weak. I know what a contradiction right? However there were times I would smile because she would put her foot down and that was the way it was and also when she felt something she didn't fear it. The opposite end of that was that she didn't always think things through and was swayed way too often by the thoughts and opinions of others. The one time I thought she was going to fight it she just didn't. This makes her more human though I guess and I found her to be an overall beautiful and developed character.
The romance in this book are for the most part beautiful and heart felt. Though it does move really fast due to the three day time limit that Romeo is given to make Ariel love him. So to some this will be something they see as an insta love and nothing more than that. The love wasn't instant though. Rushed yes but not by choice and Ariel didn't just swoon herself into Romeo's arms. They had to work for it in many different ways. Once Ariel let her guard down and all truth that could be out there was out there the romance was beautiful and what they had was wonderful. Though their love never seems to come easy and there is a lot of stuff standing in the way at every turn.
I repeat what I said with Juliet Immortal: Stacey Jay took a chance with twisting this well known love story into something different. With book two it still works if not a little more so than the previous story. The ending was wonderful and I loved how everything felt finished. There was no loose ends with anyone really and everyone got an ending. Even Juliet's story is truly finished in this novel. I would still warn those that are really attached to the original story of Romeo and Juliet that this series is nothing like the story you know and you need to brace yourself for a new truth. That being said I look forward to seeing what Stacey comes up with next!
Quotes
... But not because I'm scared or horrified. Because the blood is sweet and I want more. I want to tilt my head back and let it flow down my throat. - p.87
"So you don't think you have any latent sadistic tendencies?" - p. 139
And then I lie staring at the ceiling, working out the details, trying to ignore the crushing pressure as my new heart learns how to break. - p. 243
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