Greed

The Seven Sins, Book 1

By: Brooklyn Cross

Narrated by: Paige Reisenfeld, PJ Freebourn

He would stop at nothing to have her, but would her heart survive loving a sin?

Being the archangel of selflessness got me kicked out of my home. I’d spent my entire existence guiding those to give of themselves and help their fellow angels. Even when Lucifer marched on Heaven’s gate, I once more attempted to get those I called family to see a better way. Sadly, Father didn’t see that and I was cast out of Heaven to be forever be trapped on Earth or worse in Hell.

If Father wanted to cast me out and turn me into this symbol, the Sin of Greed, I would not only accept the challenge as Riker, I’d own it.

And then I met her and the world once more shifted beneath my feet.

Minetta wanted nothing more than to have a normal life and do something that made her feel proud. Working as a 911 operator gave her that feeling, but there was always something missing from her life. Until one day, she unwittingly became the pawn in a chess match she never knew existed.

A deadly war was brewing, one that had been waged for centuries and could mean the end for humanity. Pulled into the middle of this tug-of-war, she met him, Riker. The man was imposing, but the Sin under the sexy exterior was terrifying, and yet her heart still pounded hard when he was near.

Could Minetta have love and save the human race, or would she end up having to choose?

©2022, 2023 Brooklyn Cross (P)2023 Brooklyn Cross

Can Greed be redeemed?

This is a great way to start a series about the seven deadly sins. The way this story opens had me hooked from the start. This is a story about the relationship between Greed and a sweet innocent 911 operator. Minetta is such a lovable character who is learning to stick up for herself in a world full of greedy manipulators. Riker is a fallen Angel who embodies his sin and provided one of the spiciest scenes I’ve even read/listened to. This narration, especially in duet, is flawless and added so much to the story!! Highly recommend to any fan of paranormal romance.

"If I'm dreaming, never wake me up."

1st & 3rd person/dual pov (don't let the 3rd person sway you away from this one!)
Spice: 5/5

"If I'm dreaming, never wake me up."

OBSESSED. I'm honestly upset with myself for taking so long to come across this book! Then again I am also kind of glad I didn't until the audiobook was out because I don't think there is a better way to experience this story other than the audio. I've listened to some good audiobooks but this one was stellar! You can tell these two narrators put their hearts and soul into these characters. But the range with which they played all the different characters is what had me floored. They both did such a good job of creating different voices and personalities to fit each one that I often forgot this wasn't a multicast recording. Especially P.J. - those demon voices were so perfectly creepy sometimes! And the emotions they put into this as well? They screamed they cried, they whispered, they laughed. It was as if I was there in the room with them while these conversations were happening and not listening to it all through a pair of headphones. Just amazing work all around.

Now let's talk about the story itself. Set in a shared world with six other authors, Greed follows the story of the fallen angel who became the deadly sin of Greed. Going by the name of Riker since the fall he is an extremely wealthy businessman and the embodiment of greed as he should be. Still holding on to all of the anger and hatred from his banishment from Heaven he is pretty much a grade-A jerk to anyone in his path and seems to be a forever bachelor. My favorite thing about Riker's character is that even though he has been on Earth for centuries at this point he still has so much confusion about humans and the way they operate sometimes. I loved being inside his head and getting all of his snarky thoughts about the ins and outs of human lives and his opinions on the race as a whole. Some things he has figured out quite well and uses it to his benefit such as how to manipulate human predictability into making himself even more money. Then of course there are his Wednesdays... Trust me when I say you will laugh so hard it hurts once you realize what I'm talking about and you'll never look at a Wednesday the same way again!

So Riker is living his best fallen angel life until he stumbles across a human woman by the name of Minetta. She looks almost identical to a woman he knew in heaven but quickly realizes she is not her. Not only is she human but she seems to have no greed or any of the other sins living in her heart. She's not like any other human he's met before and for some reason, he can't get her out of his head. And as much of a jerk as she thinks he is Minetta can't stop thinking about him either. Unfortunately, others have noticed they've met and are actively trying to remove Minetta from the picture right under Riker's nose, believing she is the key to stopping an ancient prophecy from coming true.

Talk about a couple fighting to be in each other's lives. These two are literally fighting Heaven and Hell to find their happiness as well as each other. Riker is so set in his sinful ways and Minetta has such a pure heart that they often butt heads over a multitude of things. This right here is where the book really won me over. Minetta is bringing out parts of Riker that he hasn't seen since he spent his days behind those pearly gates. Pieces of him he once thought were broken are beginning to heal without taking away the things that make his character who he is. Minetta's eyes are opened up to a whole world of things she never knew existed or were possible while she remains courageous and kind. The way their story plays out was full of ups and downs but so fulfilling in the end and entirely worth everything it took to get there.

Be ready for this book to bring out some emotions in you as well. It's full of dark humor and some of the wildest scenes I've ever read that had me gasping for air as I tried to reign in my laughter. It also had some super steamy spicy scenes that without a doubt will turn your insides to goo if you listen to it because of the way P.J. gets into character and delivers Riker's naughty words... that should be illegal! I can practically feel my insides melting just thinking about it lol.
What I wasn't prepared for however was the tears. I cried several times in varying degrees of sobbing. Sometimes a moment just got me in my feelings and for others my heart was completely crushed. At one point I'm certain I stopped breathing and just sat against a wall letting it all out because there was no continuing on until I had processed what I read and there were no more tears left to cry. At least for the next couple of hours anyways cause Brooklyn got me again before it was all said and done lol.

But even with all of the tears, this has to be one of the most entertaining books I've ever had the pleasure of consuming. At the moment it is sitting pretty at the top of my list for book of the year and it is going to be hard for a book to make me feel everything this one did and then some in order to beat it. It is dark and it is twisted at times, but you have to remember we are dealing with Hell, demons, and fallen angels here. Literal sin in the flesh. It would be a waste of time to go into this book expecting any different. With that said though still make sure to check the content warnings provided by the author before reading or listening.

I AM FULLY BLOWN AWAY

This book took me by a whirl wind from the beginning. The world building and stage setting really captured me. The way Brooklyn writes and builds her characters, you can vividly see everything in your minds eye! It’s like you’re there with them!

I loved how the narrators were so expressive and their intonation made you feel everything. Character development is a huge thing with me… I hate when a character is one way and then immediately changes. That isn’t like that here. Riker changes subtly and even then still remains himself.

This book is about fallen angels and their original sin selves. This is classified as paranormal, so know this going in! But this is paranormal in a real world setting and I love how Brooklyn built this! And leave it to her to give you a HEA with a cliffhanger that leaves your jaw dropped! Now I HAVE to read the next book in the series! Thanks, B!

I Am So Glad I Discovered This!

I love that this was performed in duet style and in both 1st person and 3rd person and it was performed with such talented narrators like Paige Reisenfield and PJ Freebourn. Both are new to me and I was blown away by the skill of the different voices and accents that they were able to perfect. I enjoyed watching Greed/Ryker and Minetta fall in love and I enjoyed the epic battle scenes between the Angels and the Demons...Omg the last scene wrecked me. Thank you Brooklyn Cross 👏

5 starz - I would listen again