Jamie is, what she refers to as, a Dark Angel. She volunteers to defend humans from demons, and Jamie's battlefield is our dreams. During sleep, Jamie will transport to a demon hunting in nightmares, to stop them from murdering the dreamer. The concept of Purgatory's Angel by B. Hughes-Millman is an imaginative one. Being in mortal danger, while one is so vulnerable during sleep, is a truly terrifying scenario.
While in the dream realm, Jamie usually remembers every aspect of her fight. Upon waking one day, the details of the dream she was defending in are frustratingly vague. Most of what Jamie retains is her friend Sarah, and a man Jamie has never met before, are present for whatever occurred. Disturbingly, the day after this dream, Jamie meets the man, Collin, in the waking world. The significance of the scene is more than it appears. When Collin and Jamie finally address this encounter, a twist in events reveals itself that I had not connected. I enjoy when a situation surprises me.
Instantly, Jamie feels a connection with Collin, although she worries he is a demon and means to harm her. Soon, she discovers the connection she feels is mutual, but the couple remains suspicious of one another. The downfall in this story is with the romance. Jamie and Collin possess fantastic chemistry. However, deception surrounds the couple. It was difficult for me to support their union, after witnessing the manipulation Jamie and Collin experience, and do to one another.
Jamie speaking of pre-existence, what I assume is the realm, or time, when she fought against Lucifer, always leads to more questions than answers for me. Jamie states Dark Angels heal fast, as an explanation to why she appears younger than her ninety years of age. Demons kill Jamie's parents and grandmother, proving they are not immortal. Assuming this is her first lifetime, and the author never gives reason to believe anything different, it does not seem possible only ninety years passed since Jamie fought against Lucifer. It seems the battle would have been, well, a very long time ago. The matter of her existence before being a dream warrior causes great frustration for me. I do acknowledge that future clarification on these points is possible. Being the first novel in a series, some of the explanation I am looking for may come later.
Aspects of Purgatory's Angel I enjoyed, it was unique and engaging. The relationship between Jamie and Collin, however, was a bit difficult for me to get behind, which took away from this enjoyment. It makes me question if reading the series, in its entirety, would be worth it for me.
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