Why angels are falling

Today I'm delighted to be a part of the Death Skull blog tour, hosted by Juniper Grove. Fallen angels seem to appear in so many contemporary novels, and they're in the Bible too of course, so I found myself wanting to know, why are they so fascinating? So, over to you Cassiel, and thank you for visiting my blog.

Why are fallen angels so intriguing and featured so much in modern fiction?

By Cassiel Knight

For me, the reason fallen angels are so intriguing and featured so much is the idea that beings who were once so close to God rebelled against him and were cast out of a place we all want to go. That’s if you believe in Heaven and Hell.

In romance, fallen angels are the quintessential bad boys. After all, the men were once good guys—the guys in the white hats. Women like their men with some rebel in them and think about these guys—all rebel. I think it’s our nurturing instinct that says we want to change these bad guys, be responsible for redeeming them from their wicked ways.

This is why vampires are so popular in romantic fiction. We like to take the dark and have them find their light. Christine Feehan made a career out of finding light and color for her dark heroes. They aren’t fallen angels but the concept is the same.

I know that’s what it was for me in writing Key of Solomon and The Death Skull. In the first, my fallen angel was a male who’d once been dark but chose to throw that aside and seek redemption. Lexi, his “light” helped him find that. In The Death Skull, Mari is my fallen angel and she’s pretty dang tough but she’s not looking for redemption. But still, she finds someone who is her light.

In the final book, The Ring of Addu, I’m taking one of the darkest fallen angels, Asher, Lucifer’s killer, and letting him find his light. All of them may be different but all of my fallen angels are bad guys (and girls) who are redeemed and made whole.

There’s something about getting a tough guy or girl to fall in love and change for someone. That’s why they are so big in romantic fiction. For other fiction, I think it’s just the mystery of them. Why they choose to Fall? Do they regret their decision? Do they want to go back to Heaven?

All that speculation can make for some very entertaining reading.

Thank you. I really like your answer. The possibility of redemption is always tempting, and I think you're right about that "nurturing instinct"--it makes great sense.

So now, for readers, here's some more information about the Death Skull, a giveaway, and even an excerpt for your reading pleasure. Enjoy! And good luck!

Title: The Death Skull

Series: Relic Defender # 2

Author: Cassiel Knight

Published: May 6th, 2014

Publisher: Samhain Publishing

Word Count: 87,000

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Content Warning: Adult content, minor blood/gore

Recommended Age: 18+

About the book: Fallen angel Marisol Asheni Fell when she unwisely chose to follow Lucifer. Unlike many of her fellow angels, she has no desire for redemption. Instead, she prefers fighting the followers of the Dark when they step over the line. Except, in the deepest part of her soul, she longs for a reason to stop fighting.

Jackson’s only loyalty is to himself and his mother, but even he has boundaries he won’t cross. When his last job threatened the life of a young woman, he tossed aside the lucrative pay, and finds himself fighting evil. He’s attracted to Mari despite her hard, seemingly emotionless edge. And while Mari finds the tall human reluctantly appealing, she has no intention of finding herself in a relationship with a human.

Brought together by the Archangel Michael, they must find and destroy the crystal Mayan Death Skull before the son of Lucifer uses the skull to destroy the world’s leaders and throw the world into chaos to begin Hell on Earth.

Their search for the Death Skull takes them from Chicago to Central America to the lost city of Lubaantun in Belize, the heart of the Mayan civilization, and into a battle for their souls.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

Excerpt from The Death Skull (Relic Defender #2) by Cassiel Knight:

Jackson leaned against the gymnasium door. He flexed his right knee, which was still sore and tender from his near-death slide down a mountain a couple of weeks ago. Once off the slopes and in the hillside city of Nagarkot, he’d been pronounced fine by the local doctor. The little joyride down the mountainside had left Jackson with a banged up kneecap and strained and bruised neck and shoulder muscles. Not much more severe than the normal scrapes and cuts he’d gotten over the last six months since he’d turned over a new leaf and joined a band of do-gooders to save the world.

How had his life changed so fast from the neatly roped-and-tied, orderly affair to the messy, knotted circle it had become? Six months for a complete turnaround was fast for a man who had been perfectly content as an unscrupulous mercenary working for the rich and powerful.

Especially the rich.

Now, instead of traveling the world to work for men willing to part with their ill- gotten money, he lived in a goddamn huge mansion with an angel who turned down Heaven, an ex-exotic dancer with a sassy mouth and a destiny to save mankind, a shape- shifting rock with aspirations to be a 1920s mobster, a cocky tech expert and—

Her.

About the Author:

In the job that pays the mortgage and allows her to indulge in her real passion, writing, Cassiel Knight works in the beautiful state of Oregon. Crazy-passionate about the romance writing industry, Cassiel has a paranormal romance series featuring fallen angels and demons from Samhain Publishing, an urban fantasy through Lyrical Press and a Egyptian mythology/archeology series with Champagne Book Group. She writes paranormal romances with kick-assitude that blend archeology and mythology – just a few of her favorite things.