by Stacey Jay
Series: Juliet Immortal #2
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon *affiliate
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.
Romeo Redeemed is the follow-up to Juliet Immortal and brings us Romeo’s story. I was captivated by Stacey Jay’s retelling of the Shakespeare tragedy Romeo and Juliet and was pleased to receive an early copy of book two. It is a beautiful love story, a tale of redemption and the power of forgiveness. I quickly became immersed in the tale and walked away feeling all warm and fuzzy. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon read.
The tale picks up after immediately after book one ends. Romeo now cursed is walking around in a rotting corpse and for the first time in almost eight hundred years, he feels. He feels pain, hunger, cold, and loneliness. Despite this, he feels his curse is deserved. He was able to save Juliet and undo his wrong and for this, he would do it again. He is approached by Nurse and offered a chance to join the Ambassadors; a chance to redeem his soul. There is a condition; He must prove himself worthy and will have to complete a mission. If successful he may save the world and join the Ambassadors. He readily agrees to her terms. He must travel back in time and save Ariel Dragland. To save her he must make her fall in love with him and turn her towards the light. Unbeknownst to Ariel, she is an important key to both the Mercenaries and the Ambassadors. If he fails, he will return to his rotting corpse. When Romeo is transported back he finds himself once again in Dylan’s body. He is in the car with Ariel, seconds before she grabs the wheel. Now he has to convince her, that he isn’t an arse and make her fall in love. He has three days to win her heart. The tale that unfolds was delicious. It was filled with twists and turns that had my heart racing.
I really like Romeo in all of his flawed, smexy glory. Yep, he was a bad boy, perhaps shallow but we get to see the continuation of the transformation that began in book one and it was lovely. Ariel blossoms in this version and I liked her. She doesn’t accept crap from anyone and begins to stand up for herself. She sees the sadness in Romeo and feels he needs her. She suffers from nightmares and voices and releases them through her art. Ariel is constantly tested throughout this tale by her friends, enemies and her own doubts. At times she wavered in her beliefs but overall I was impressed with her character. The romance was sweet, beautiful and believable. I loved the depth and wonder they experienced. Jay made me feel it, I wanted them to conquer all and get their HEA. Juliet, Rosaline, and Ben make an appearance and weave back into the tale. The roles of the Ambassadors and Mercenaries become clearer. I loathed the Friar and the sickly sweet Nurse.
Filled with messages of forgiveness, redemption and the power of love, Jay does a fantastic job of engaged the reader. I loved the paranormal woo-woo she weaved into this tale and dare I say it, I actually liked Romeo Redeemed better than book one. Eep..It’s true! Maybe because we understood more of the back-story and the characters were more fleshed-out. Whatever the reason, fans of the first will love this one. The tale is told from three POV’s and I felt it added to the suspense and depth of characters. The storyline has a great pace, but at times it felt a wee bit messy. None of it was enough to distract me from the overall tale and at times I blamed my own eagerness. We get an action-packed, and suspenseful ending. Jay did a great job of tying up all the plots and I was well satisfied.
I recommend Romeo Redeemed to fans of Juliet Immortal and retellings. I thought this was a delightful, face-paced, action-packed read with a romance that left me breathless. The paranormal elements weaved into the tale made this unique and the characters made it surreal. Stacey Jay is an author whose works I would try again.
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
kimbacaffeinate
Then you will love this Erin!!
kimbacaffeinate
it was Kim and that doesn’t happen very often, but yes I liked Romeo’s story even more <3
Kimberly
Great review! I’m starting Juliet Immortal tomorrow I’ve been dying to read it and finally have a chance. This one sounds even better than the first one 🙂
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Jenea I cannot wait to hear what you think!
kimbacaffeinate
These surprised me too, and I will be honest, I got an ARC of book two, so I bought book one and was really surprised by how much I liked it. Great twist, loved them.
Sharon - Obsessiowith Books
Thank you for a great review Kimba! This series sounds wonderful & I’ve always been interested in Romeo & Juliet so this one is going on my TBR pile – the romance sounds really sweet & I’m glad the ending was satisfying, there is nothing worse then when we are left hanging 😉
Thank you for sharing.
kimbacaffeinate
I agree, and was so delighted book two was stronger then the first book..doesn’t always happen that way.I hope you get to read them and would love to hear your thoughts.
rogier
i need 2 read these books . what a fun review kim
kimbacaffeinate
Thanks Roro, these were so much more then I expected.
kimbacaffeinate
hehehehe!
kimbacaffeinate
Yay..i hope you like it!
Michelle
I haven’t read this series yet. It’s one that I want to, but until I get my TBR pile under control I don’t know if that will happen. I’m so happy to see that you enjoyed it- thats another reason for me to add it to my to-read list 🙂
I also love that you saw transformation and growth. Those are starting to be my favorite two words in YA books.
Thanks for the great review Kimba. Hope you have a great weekend 🙂
Michelle
This sounds nothing like what I expected from these books, so I think I’m going to have to check out the first one. Great review
karina
*sigh* now I want to read this right away! Great review, Kimberly!
Erin O'Riordan
This is going on my TBR list – I adored ‘Juliet Immortal.’