Shattering Halos by Sunniva Dee

   Gaia was supposed to die that day.  All of her friends in the vehicle had.  And she was supposed to as well.  Instead she lived.  And while she was lying on the side of the road, unable to move, she watched him.
 He was barefoot and absolutely beautiful.  Maybe even shimmery.  While she was in her hospital room trying to recover from a broken neck, this mystery guy returns.  After a while she starts to think he is just a figment of her imagination.  Once she gets out of the hospital she goes back to school to try and get back to normal again.  Except how can you do that when you lost three of your friends?  And then there is the guy.  He shows back up at school except when Gaia tries to tell her new friend Marina about him and point him out, she doesn't see him.  Is her mind just making this up?  Gaia sure doesn't think so when she goes into the janitor's closet at school to get away from it all and he appears there.  Not only does he appear, but she kisses him.  And he feels real enough.   His name is Gabriel.  And Gabriel is her guardian angel.  He is the reason she is alive.  And he broke the rules for her.  Gaia was never really supposed to see him, but Gabriel has a hard time hiding himself when he is around her.  She feels his presence, and she is falling in love with an angel.  Marina, after finally seeing him, thinks he is a demon because his actions and the attention he gives Gaia doesn't seem like the attention a normal human would get from an angel.  And she is somewhat right.  It isn't normal.  But that doesn't make Gabriel a demon either.  Gradually Gabriel's love of Gaia starts making him act more human.  His want of her and need to be around her is more human than angel and there is no explanation for it.  He also doesn't understand why he isn't being punished for breaking so many of the rules with her.  Although he is in love with her more than he is willing to openly admit, he is fighting it and trying to do what is right.  But their love has set in motion something much bigger than anything they could ever imagine.  A war could be started between angels, demons, and the fallen angels.  All of Hell wants to take back over Heaven, and they have a plan that could succeed.


   For this to be Sunniva Dee's debut book, it is a great start into the writing world!  A book about angels and demons and forbidden love between a guardian angel and a human makes for a good read.  You go through most of the book wondering if punishment is going to be handed down from on high.  But the truth to everything turns out to be more shocking than how Gaia and Gabriel had wondered all along if this thing between them would be so completely ended that she would never see him again and possibly not even remember him.  However, the journey to the great catalyst is one full of wondering what Gaia and Gabriel should do, whether they should just give in to their feelings or fight it and try to go on as it should be, with Gabriel being the invisible guardian he was meant to be.  But the journey is heavy with temptation, and Gaia's willpower is not near as strong as Gabriel's.  Once she realizes what could be at stake she tries to be good, but all she can see is him, even when she can't see Gabriel.  The temptation to just fling themselves off of that precipice is great indeed.