Romeo Redeemed(Juliet Immortal 2)Publisher: Delacorte Books, 2012Genre: YA Paranormal RomanceCursed 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 truly believed he was doing Juliet a kindness when he decided to trick her into killing herself. He chose to grant her death instead of letting her live in poverty, shame, and exile with him. His actions, though wrong and evil, were born out of desperation, and he believed the friar’s lies that when Juliet died she would live a happy life in heaven. Romeo never thought Juliet’s soul would be tainted by so much anger and rage that she would never be at peace. Juliet’s pain and hate were the only feelings that reached Romeo when he couldn’t feel anymore. This is why he relished their encounters.
Now Romeo has been given a second chance at life, and maybe at love, in an alternate reality. His task is to save Ariel (the real Ariel not Juliet) from the Mercenaries. He has to do this by turning her from her dark side and making her fall in love, and he has exactly three days to do it! But this is no easy feat, as Ariel doesn’t buy his sudden change of attitude. Remember Dylan had made that bet to sleep with her? Yeah. Romeo has a lot to make up for what Dylan did, and for his own miserable soul. It also seems most of his evilness came from being a Mercenary, and now that he isn’t one his true self is revealed. New feelings surface and he doesn’t trust himself not to still be the monster he was. As flawed as he is I couldn’t help falling in love with him.
And the real Ariel couldn’t help but love him too! She starts out a bit emo and suicidal, but turns out to be a really tough chick whose a bit scary at times. Seriously. She can match Romeo’s wicked streak, and in turn the romance between them is sizzling! Romeo really is redeemed in this second book. He’s sweet, caring, loving…I mean the boy invites Ariel shopping for prom! Now that is love (lol). On a side note, I still hated Gemma with all my heart.
The whole thing about different realities, and souls traveling time and dimensions, was once again mind scrambling. For a minute things didn’t make sense like at all, but once the pieces of the puzzle started to fit together I was amazed by Stacey Jay’s work. She really has gone way beyond any simple re-telling of Romeo and Juliet. This is a dark and complicated romance that will tug at your heartstrings and take you on a spin across time and space as Romeo finds the real meaning of forgiveness in true love. Romeo Redeemed is wicked fun and sexy! This one gets the full five.
*Arc copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley*
Favorite Quotes:
~700 Years without feeling or tasting~
Meat. Glorious, glorious meat. Succulent, juicy, red, and bloody, seasoned with butter and herbs, every bite better than the one before. The myriad of flavors explode on my tongue, shimmy through my mouth, slap my taste buds and call them filthy little bastards, and I love it.
Love. I’ve died and gone to heaven, and it is this feast on my plate. I moan, and shovel in a forkful of cream cheese and chive mashed potatoes.
Beside me in our corner booth, Ariel laughs beneath her breath. “That good?”
“Better. I’m having a religious experience.”
“God is a filet mignon.”
“No. Filet mignon is god.”
~Vocabulary~
I nod. “Understandable. Lamentable, but understandable.”
A wrinkle forms above the bridge of her nose.”Lamentable.”
“Regretable; sad; worthy of much lamenting, wailing, gnashing of teeth.” I smile, ready to put the serious moment behind us.
“I know what it means. I just don’t know where you’ve been hiding the vocabulary.”
“In my boxer briefs,” I say with a grin. “If you’d let me take them off, you would have seen for yourself.”
