Lucian Divine

By: Renee Carlino

Narrated by: Kale Williams, Lisa Zimmerman

Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

My guardian angel is a drunk. Evelyn Casey's life is at a standstill. She's in her mid-twenties, struggling with the dating scene in San Francisco. Nothing seems to be working out, and she's starting to think that she'll live out her days in her crummy apartment with her overbearing roommate, Brooklyn. It's absurd, but sometimes Evey longs for a guardian angel to show up and save the day. And then he does. Seriously. His name is Lucian and he's a guardian angel, been on the job for 2000 years. His sudden presence in her life is both good - he's brilliant, witty, and warm - and bad - he's brilliant, witty, warm, and hot. But as perfect as Lucian seems, he's got problems of his own. He's taken up drinking and he's brazenly inserted himself into Evey's life, going against the greatest cosmic law ever created. For Evey, the rules are simple: You are not allowed to hook up with your guardian angel. But sometimes fulfilling your destiny requires a leap of faith, a confrontation with God. Yes, God as in God.

©2016 Renee Carlino (P)2017 Renee Carlino

Sweet story!

Any additional comments?

A fun and sweet romance that will pull at your heart strings! This story was a little different from my usual romance books given it's a guardian angel story but I really enjoyed it! I loved the banter and I adored Lucian! I did find the ending a little rushed though but still enjoyable! 3.5 stars!

I loved the story...up until chapter 22.

this was awesome. ... until it wasn't. I just didn't feel the ending at all.

2.5 Stars

I really wish I could rate this one higher since I've enjoyed the books by Renee Carlino that I've read prior to this one. I was excited for this story and it's premise. Unfortunately, I didn't care for how this relationship progressed or the somewhat clunky writing. It was inconsistent compared to her three most recent releases that I've read. This book was also heavy on the sex and foul language, which took me by surprise since Lucian is a guardian angel. The relationship advanced so quickly that the sex scenes felt oddly placed or overdone, at times. For me, the strongest part of the book were the last 5 chapters. I finally felt like I was reading the kind of book regularly executed by this author.

The audio performance was fine. Although, I think the male narrator was a little dry and didn't truly capture the emotions or characterization of Lucian very well, I considered quitting the audio and finish with reading, but I didn't think that would have changed the reading/listening experience much.

love the narration, but didn't connect with story

The blurb to this story was very intriguing. I didn’t take “guardian angel” very literally, which was my mistake. I was indifferent to the “religious” aspect of this story but more interested on how the author went about developing the love affair. Evelyn Casey was in a rut with her professional life as well as her romantic life. It seems that her current philosophy about relationships were no longer satisfying her. That’s when her guardian angel, Lucian, made himself known to her, beginning their improbable journey together.

I was on board during the first couple of chapters. Evelyn trying to decipher the puzzle that was her dating life. I was amused by her inner musings and her roommate’s obliviousness. Then drunk Lucian Divine arrived and I thought that maybe her parents paid him to find her or maybe someone she owed money to. The answer was less sinister than my imagination, but it became increasingly clear that Lucian really was a guardian angel. Also, that the author was going to pair this naïve and susceptible young girl with a 2,000-year-old angel who has been watching her for the entirety of her life.

I liked the narrated dual points of view so I knew what each one was thinking but I just didn’t connect with the characters nor the story. I feel like Evelyn and Lucian weren’t truly developed as a lead characters. I had trouble with Lucian as well. The paranormal aspect nor the romance worked for me. I wanted more personal growth as individuals and I wanted more of that entertaining/humorous angle that we got in the beginning.
I applaud the author for writing a story that is outside the box because it was different for me. Unfortunately, it didn’t resonate with me.