The Saving Angels Series continues…
A new cast is introduced, while journeys already taken start to
merge with the present, leading you down the old Red Dirt Road.
Death has always seemed just one step behind Layla Hill, taking
almost everyone she’s ever loved. After she loses the love of her life, Layla
vows to never love again—how could she, when she’s a death magnet?
Trying to outrun fate traveling with her uncle Willie and his
band, Layla meets Michael Roberts, a beautiful Irish boxer as gentle on the
piano as he is brutal in the ring. He proves as relentless in life, fighting
for a place in her world even as she pushes him away, trying to protect him
from her killer tendencies.
But neither foresees the sinister presence waiting for Layla at
the end of the Red Dirt Road.
This is the
2nd book in the Saving Angels series; however, it does not leave off
where Marigny Street leaves off. In the 1st book, there really isn’t
closure. I thought that in this book, Red Dirt Road, we would continue the
story of Evangeline and Gabriel, but we don’t. We are introduced to a new set
of main characters, Michael and Layla, and a whole group of supporting
characters. It is a brand new story. While Eva and Gabriel are mentioned in
passing, we don’t really learn anything new about them. At first, I was
disappointed. I wanted to know how they turned out; but, as the story went
along, I came to REALLY like Michael and Layla’s story a lot more.
Layla, Lotus
as she is also called, believes the universe is out to get her, but is
confusing those she loves for her and killing them instead. She has lost her
mother, father, husband, and unborn child, and has built up a wall around her
heart as a result. She tries not to let
anyone new in. She goes on tour around the country with her uncle, Willie, and
his band. At their last stop, they
decide to do ProMature night, where they choose someone out of the crowd to
sing with someone from the group. It is during Layla’s turn that she meets Michael.
They have an instant pull towards one another. After their song, Michael and
his friends, Seamus and Andrew, hang out with the group for a bit.
After they
go their separate ways, fate seems to step in at 7-11. As Layla is buying some
late night snacks, there is a robbery in progress and Michael saves her life.
They rest they say is history…Willie offers Michael and gang and place to stay
and jobs at his bar and hotel. However, there is rising tension in the group
between Michael and one of the band members, Yuma. He is suddenly showering Layla
with attention and it seems he is not going without a fight. He tries to put a
wedge between the two, as if Layla isn’t doing the job herself already. Yuma is
creepy and everyone gets really bad vibes from him. He seems to follow her
around and cause destruction wherever he goes. Where Michael is good and light,
Yuma is evil and dark.
This book
mainly focuses on struggles, Layla and Michael’s struggles individually, and
their struggles to come together and stay together as a couple. Layla has to
learn to let the walls down. She struggles with loss and misplaced guilt. She
really believes she is the cause of death. She has to find her purpose in life
and make the choice to start living life. Michael believes his purpose to life
is fighting. He is a boxer, and a good one at that. He has to choose to keep
his life on the same path or forge a new one.
I really
enjoyed the supporting characters as well. My favorite was Madam Catalina. She
is a blind woman with a gift of sensing and reading people. She knows if they
are good; where their strengths and weaknesses lay. She just has an uncanny
ability to “know” things. After reading people, she tells them what their
mothering flower is, kind of like what flower represents them. That is where
Layla gets her nickname, Lotus. The author did an excellent job creating the
characters in this book.
I’m still curious about the characters of
Marigny Street; I thought the author did a great job with this one. I can’t
wait to, hopefully, read more about them in book 3.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Annie has a habit of shortening
her words and telling long stories. She speaks with a southern flair and cooks
with it too. At the tender age of twenty- one, she hitched up her wagons (took
her first plane ride) and moved out west to the big shake (California). Her
writing career began one sleepless night when she imagined a gorgeous woman and
a man with maniacal hair floating above her like lightening bugs falling from
the sky. Curious about them, their story, and why they were floating around in
her head, she sat down and penned (typed) her first novel, Marigny Street. A
dream come true for her, she hasn’t stopped writing since. She loves a damn
good love story, always has, no matter what the genre. She is particularly
moved by imperfect love that in its own unique way is perfect, the notion of
love at first sight, soul mates, and things that are generally out of the norm.
When she’s not writing she enjoys dabbling in photography and
finding new, inspirational music to add to her collection. She currently
(still) resides in the big shake (although her southern roots are calling her
home) with her husband, daughter, and their two peculiar dogs, Boudreaux and
Tabasco (who, call her crazy, bark with an accent).
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