The Rest of Forever by Carrie Pulkinen

What to do when you start to fall in love with your guardian angel? Well, if he’s as deliciously fine as Damian, I’d take him back to my place!

What’s it About?

A guardian angel who’d rather die than fall for a human must come to terms with his tragic past when he learns his Charge is more than she seems. April Carter is a high school history teacher who dreams of finding the perfect man to whisk her away from her small-town life. She wants it all—the husband, the house, the kids, the car. But her dreams of living the perfect life are shattered during a school shooting. Now she must learn to accept her fate if she’s ever going to find the life she loves.

Damian Perkins is April’s Guardian Angel, though no one would guess that based on his attitude. A tragic event in his past has left him bitter and resentful, and he won’t let anyone get close enough to care about him. He’s tried to make April hate him, but she sees through his abrasive exterior and awakens a part of his soul he thought had burned out long ago. Damian must let go of his past and accept his responsibilities or he’ll spend the rest of his existence alone and miserable.

First Impressions

This romance is about a woman who falls in love with an angel, and even though said angel tries his damnedest, he can’t help but fall for her as well. Not gonna lie, when I first started reading this book I had one immediate thought in mind, and that would be Mr. Nicholas Cage. Kind of frightening. Although the plot of this novel is initially reminiscent of City of Angels, it quickly becomes more elaborate as Damian aims to protect his charge, April, in the face of a school shooting.

Forever Changing

When it comes to the main characters of this novel, I must say they were unbelievably dynamic. I felt like one minute I could find them both to be quite frustrating in their stubbornness and naivete, but then in the next they were both quite admirable as they faced the realities of their lives together following immense hardship.

Let’s start with April. At the start of the book, she was incredibly materialistic, and wanted nothing more than to move out of her small Texan town for a larger city. She was even willing to marry someone who treated her like crap, and who everyone else hated with a passion if it meant she could get a ring on her finger and the wedding of her dreams. But as the novel progresses, we also see her character start to evolve. She learns to speak for herself and act according to what she thinks is right. Sure, sometimes there are unforeseen consequences to those actions, but at least she starts to live life her way.

Then there’s Damian, a guardian angel intent on keeping his distance from the one woman he’s meant to protect, mainly because another woman broke his heart 600+ years ago. That’s right, 600 years! Talk about not being able to move on in life. But when he starts spending more time with April, he realizes she is someone worth changing his rules for. In a way, they are kindred spirits in that neither truly plays by the rules. Once Damian admits to himself that he does in fact feel something for April, he can finally start to move on from his past and live in the present with someone he truly cares for.

Bringing these two characters together was sometimes like trying to mix oil and water, especially when they refused to be open and honest with each other. They were also interrupted from sharing their true feelings one too many times for my taste, as it got pretty frustrating after a while for their romantic coupling to be continuously delayed. However, once they do finally come together in a tangle of limbs, it was oh so worth the wait.

*A copy of this book was provided for an honest review*

Series: Stand-alone

Should you read it? Definitely an interesting story, and one that I’ve never truly encountered before. The story pulls you in at the beginning and has an exciting end. There were a few times in the middle which were a bit stagnant as Damian and April’s stubborn sides are at war with each other. I would have enjoyed some more scenes of Damian explaining to April what it’s like to be an angel, and some more detail of the powers involved, but it’s definitely a unique read.

Smut Level: Sex with an angel has its benefits. Mainly that he can make your clothes dissolve away with just a thought. So convenient!

Get it on Amazon: Click Here. $2.99 Kindle Price. Amazon Digital Services, LLC. 235 Pages.