"Immortal City" by Scott Speer

Immortal City - Scott Speer - released 2012
(First book of the Immortal City series)

As soon as I read that the book was about angels, I wanted to read it.  I find stories about angels fascinating.  To add to the intrigue, the angels are treated like A-list celebrities, so I was really excited to read this book!

Guardian Angels don't save lives out of the kindness of their hearts anymore.  You have to PAY for their protection...

Jackson Godspeed is the hottest angel in a city (Los Angeles) that revolves around idolizing angels like him.  He grew up in the limelight, like today's celebrity children, and is about to become the youngest Guardian ever.  People around the world are lining up to be his Protection and Jackson's lifelong dream of becoming a hero are about to come true, until he meet Maddy Montgomery, a smart, down-to-earth girl who sees Jackson for who he is and not for is celebrity.  Of course there is an instant connection between them, and of course, it's a forbidden love because humans and angels cannot be together.  There are definite Romeo and Juliet elements involved in this story, because what good love story is about love being easy?

At first the book felt a little slow and I didn't care a whole lot about either character.  It had a little bit of a Bella and Edward vibe that I wasn't a fan of, but it was easy to look past.  The book's pacing starts off as nice summer's day walk, where you take your time and sometimes get distracted, but you come back to continue the delightful gait... and then the book kicks it into high gear, and it goes from a summer walk to driving a race car at 200 mph likethat!  Holy hell! Things pick up in an instant, and then you can't put the book down until you finish!!  I was delightfully surprised how quickly the pacing changed, and it stayed that way until the end!  I went from liking the book to loving it!

Final say:  I can see it being a movie (the author, Scott Speer, is a film student from USC).  Just make sure you don't have anything to do for the next hour - two hours (depending how fast you read) once Maddy leaves Ethan's party, because you won't be able to put it down!