Romeo Redeemed by Stacey Jay ~early review

Romeo Redeemed
by Stacey Jay
Series: Juliet Immortal #2
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Publication date: October 9, 2012
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Purchase*: Barnes and Noble/Amazon/Book Depository

Cursed to live out eternity in his rotted corpse, Romeo, known for his ruthless, cutthroat ways, is given the chance to redeem himself by traveling back in time to save the life of Ariel Dragland. Unbeknownst to her, Ariel is important to both the evil Mercenaries and the love-promoting Ambassadors and holds the fate of the world in her hands. Romeo must win her heart and make her believe in love, turning her away from her darker potential before his work is discovered by the Mercenaries. While his seduction begins as yet another lie, it soon becomes his only truth. Romeo vows to protect Ariel from harm, and do whatever it takes to win her heart and soul. But when Ariel is led to believe his love is a deception, she becomes vulnerable to Mercenary manipulation, and her own inner darkness may ultimately rip them apart.

Romeo Redeemed is the follow-up to Juliet Immortal and brings us Romeo’s story. I was captivated by Stacey Jay’s retelling of the Shakespeare tragedy Romeo and Juliet and was pleased to receive an early copy of book two. It is a beautiful love story, a tale of redemption and the power of forgiveness. I quickly became immersed in the tale and walked away feeling all warm and fuzzy. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon read.

The tale picks up after immediately after book one ends. Romeo now cursed is walking around in a rotting corpse and for the first time in almost eight hundred years, he feels. He feels pain, hunger, cold, and loneliness. Despite this, he feels his curse is deserved. He was able to save Juliet and undo his wrong and for this he would do it again.  He is approached by Nurse and offered a chance to join the Ambassadors; a chance to redeem his soul. There is a condition; He must prove himself worthy and will have to complete a mission. If successful he may save the world and join the Ambassadors. He readily agrees to her terms.  He must travel back in time and save Ariel Dragland. To save her he must make her fall in love with him and turn her towards the light.  Unbeknownst to Ariel she is an important key to both the Mercenaries and the Ambassadors. If he fails, he will return to his rotting corpse. When Romeo is transported back he finds himself once again in Dylan’s body. He is in the car with Ariel, seconds before she grabs the wheel.  Now he has to convince her, that he isn’t an arse and make her fall in love. He has three days to win her heart. The tale that unfolds was delicious. It was filled with twists and turns that had my heart racing.

I really like Romeo in all of his flawed, smexy glory. Yep, he was a bad boy, perhaps shallow but we get to see the continuation of the transformation that began in book one and it was lovely. Ariel blossoms in this version and I liked her. She doesn’t accept crap from anyone and begins to stand up for herself. She sees sadness in Romeo and feels he needs her. She suffers from nightmares and voices, and releases them through her art.  Ariel is constantly tested throughout this tale by her friends, enemies and her own doubts. At times she wavered in her beliefs but overall  I was impressed with her character. The romance was sweet, beautiful and believable. I loved the depth and wonder they experienced. Jay made me feel it, I wanted them to conquer all and get their HEA.  Juliet, Rosaline and Ben make appearance, and weave back into the tale. The roles of the Ambassadors and Mercenaries become clearer. I loathed the Friar and the sickly sweet Nurse.  

Filled with messages of forgiveness, redemption and the power of love, Jay does a fantastic job of engaged the reader. I loved the paranormal woo-woo she weaved into this tale and dare I say it, I actually liked Romeo Redeemed better than book one..Eep..It’s true! Maybe because we understood more of the back-story and the characters were more fleshed-out. Whatever the reason, fans of the first will love this one. The tale is told from three POV’s and I felt it added to the suspense and depth of characters. The storyline has a great pace, but at times it felt a wee bit messy. None of it was enough to distract me from the overall tale and at times I blamed my own eagerness. We get an action packed, and suspenseful ending. Jay did a great job of tying up all the plots and I was well satisfied.   

I recommend Romeo Redeemed to fans of Juliet Immortal and retellings. I thought this was a delightful, face-paced, action-packed read with a romance that left me breathless. The paranormal elements weaved into the tale made this unique and the characters made it surreal.  Stacey Jay is an author whose works I would try again.

I want to thank Random House for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review. *Purchases made through the buy links result in a small commission which we use to fund giveaways.

I gave this 4.5 coffee  cups out of 5. 

My review of Juliet Immortal