Fallen In Love (Fallen #3.5)

4.3 out of 5 stars! Fallen in Love is a collection of four short stories that are
Love Where You Least Expect It, Love Lessons, Burning Love and Endless Love.
I really liked this novel. It was simple and romantic yet tragic. I enjoyed getting to learn more about the characters and their loves. Shelby and Miles grow closer while we learn more about Arianne and her love. Roland's love story is very memorable and Luce and Daniel spend Valentine's Day together.

This was quite disappointing after reading Fallen, the first book in the Fallen series. I really liked that, but this book seemed to be lacking in any depth. There are four different tales in this book based around Valentine's day. The first is the Valentine tale of Shelby and Miles; the second, Roland's tale; then Arrianne's story of lost love and lastly, the first time Daniel and Luce spend a Valentine's together. This should have been, and could have been something much more, to whet our appetite and give us a greater insight into these characters. To me it seemed like a bit of a flimsy gimmick where every tale is really a re-hash of the one before.

Won't let it spoil my reading of the rest of the series though. I'll put it down to a small blip in Lauren Kate's thinking.

Split into four different love stories, Fallen in Love was heartwarming and a fun addition to Lauren Kate’s Fallen series.

Fallen in Love’s first story, Love Where You Least Expect It: The Valentine of Shelby and Miles, was adorable. I loved seeing the lighter side to both Miles and Shelby, and their uncertainty about their growing feelings was extremely endearing. The way Shelby kept catching herself staring at Miles once his hat was lost, getting caught up in his clear blues eyes, had me stopping to catch my breath a couple times. Their nighttime picnic under a starry sky sealed the deal, and had me instantly swooning for their fledgling relationship.

I wasn’t as big a fan of Fallen in Love’s second story, Love Lessons: The Valentine of Roland. Maybe it’s because I haven’t read any of the Fallen books in a while, but I had a hard time remembering who Roland was. While I empathized with his torment over how things ended with his first – and only – love, I couldn’t truly connect to him because I couldn’t place him in Fallen’s overall plot.

Fallen in Love’s third story, Love: The Valentine of Arriane, started out quite promising. Learning about Arriane’s sordid love affair with one of Lucifer’s demons, a passion that spanned a millennia that neither time nor distance seemed able to weaken, was heartbreakingly beautiful. But their love story was tainted after Tess decided to present Arriane with an ultimatum – something someone truly in love would never force upon their loved one.

Fallen in Love’s last story, The Valentine of Daniel and Lucinda, was one I could have done without. Luce’s anxiousness permeated the pages, in her desire to uncover more clues about her past and what she needs to change in order to be with Daniel in the present. Even during a romantic moment together, Luce wasn’t able to completely set aside her worries and just live for the moment.

I did love that all four stories happened during the same time period – medieval England – and that they were all connected in one way or another, eventually leading up to Daniel and Luce’s Valentines Day. I also enjoyed that, while love was the focus, there was also a lot about friendship and the type of family bond that comes with shared experiences over time. It was also kind of romantic that, even though in this century Daniel and Luce are inevitably torn apart, if only for one night, their friends worked together to give them a moment of pure happiness. While I don’t feel like Fallen in Love has added to the Fallen series, it was a quick and romantic read that fans of the rest of the series are sure to find enjoyable!

I found these short stories interesting to read--you really get some insight into some of the characters in the Fallen series. But, I found when I was finished, my overall reaction was merely, "meh."

Surprisingly, the best part was Roland's short story. If I were rating the book just on that story, it would have gotten 5 stars. I loved seeing how Roland's past choices consume his present self, and after choosing Lucifer, he can still feel love, shame, and sorrow. Hopefully we can see more of this Roland in Rapture!

What bothered me?
I got bogged down in all the details again--just like in Passion. There were entire pages that I just skimmed because it was description after description after description. There was a point I wanted to yell, "Get to it already!"

Nonetheless, if you like the Fallen series, you should still check this out, just for the sake of seeing a little deeper into the psyche of the angels.

Wow. What a complete waste of paper.

The last time I checked, a "novel" was more than two-hundred measly pages of huge text and lots of chapter breaks. Calling this tiny thing a "novel" is ridiculous, as is pricing it at $15.99. Luckily, I got it on sale at Target, so it wasn't too expensive, but I totally want my money back after reading it.

Also, the last time I checked, a novel in a series was supposed to advance the overall plot. At least a little. In FALLEN IN LOVE, the word "plot" is nonexistent. Cute, sappy valentine's day stories aren't enough to satisfy your readers, Kate. The franchise doesn't need to be milked any more. Honestly, I would've rather gotten RAPTURE after a normal nine-month period than wait another three for this piece of crap to be released.

The first story in FALLEN IN LOVE is the story of Miles and Shelby. This was my favorite (and the only one I actually liked). So much of it was backstory and background and description, and so little of it was actual character development, plot, you know, stuff a book needs to thrive? Even though I liked the romance between Shelby and Miles, I wasn't completely enthralled about everything else.

The second story in the book is the story of Roland. I also liked his story, but I wouldn't consider it a love story. ****Partial Spoilers**** Maybe a heartbreak story, but that's crossing the line. He talks a lot about his lost love and feels sad and stalks her and in the end, just realizes that (view spoiler). *Gag*

The third story is Arianne's story, which I wasn't crazy about. Fourth was the valentine's story of Luce and Daniel. That's right, the ones the whole series are devoted to. I don't know why this was necessary; the entire FALLEN series is their perpetual and gag-worthy love story. This story I mostly skipped over.

At the end of the book is a snippet of the next (and last, thank God) book in the Fallen series, RAPTURE. I will admit I was really excited for this. FALLEN IN LOVE was a huge disappointment, and I thought I'd like the RAPTURE sneak-peek more.

I didn't.

It was boring, and I skipped over a lot of it. I hope the book reads more smoothly than the excerpt that was included, because if that's how the rest will be, I'm not so excited for it anymore.

FALLEN IN LOVE was a big disappointment in the world of FALLEN. Hopefully RAPTURE will redeem it a little bit.

I recommend this book to all lovers of the fallen series as you need to know some stuff about the important characters in the book that you wouldn't know unless you read Fallen in Love. Oooh and there are extra chapters from the last book Rapture too! I was sooo filled with excitement and it was only like 2 chapters extra but seriously they were really goood, I wanted to carry on reading :(

Oh well, I can't wait for the last book in the serious, part of me doesn't want it to come to an end but all good things have to ey.