Genre: YA Paranormal
Series: Dante Walker #1
Publication Date:
ISBN: 9781620612422
Page Count: 352
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Review Copy: ARC
Reviewed by: Janice
Buy Link: AMAZON
Synopsis: He makes good girls...bad.
Dante Walker is flippin’ awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence have made him one of hell’s best—a soul collector. His job is simple: weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag.
Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante’s an equal-opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he’ll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment:
Collect Charlie Cooper’s soul within ten days.
Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that’s a permanent ticket out of hell. But after Dante meets the quirky Nerd Alert chick he’s come to collect, he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector…and uncover emotions deeply buried.
REVIEW
Irreverent. Cocky. Selfish. Original. Fun and funny. Bad boy.
These are just a few of the words that can be used to describe The Collector's Dante Walker, and they are by no means the only ones. He is all of those things and more, and what's more, he's perfectly happy being that way. But there is another word that could be used to describe Dante, and it is one he would probably laugh to hear coupled with his name. That word is....
Hero.
It's true. He is. An unlikely one, maybe, and certainly reluctant, but he's a hero all the same. He just doesn't know it yet.
As the Boss Man's top soul collector, with the record (and ego!) to prove it, Dante doesn't just embrace his bad boyness - he celebrates it. He's young, at the top of his game, and living the high life, complete with exclusive parties, designer duds, and of course his coveted black Amex card that opens countless doors. Okay, so maybe he has secret plans for his future, but that doesn't mean he can't milk all the enjoyment out of his present, right? Right. So when he is ordered to collect the soul of a girl named Charlie Cooper, he doesn't think twice about it. It's just an assignment like every other. He can do this with his eyes closed.
One problem. Charlie isn't like Dante's other assignments. She's socially awkward, a terrible dresser, and puts the good in goody-two-shoes....and that's just the short list. Which begs the question, why does Boss Man want her soul so badly? Normally, the souls Dante marks or collects are guilty of some type of bad behavior and deserve whatever they get. Charlie doesn't fit the bill. The girl is gold through and through. Pure, sweet, innocent gold. But defying Boss Man is never a good idea, and Dante isn't willing to sacrifice his own ambitions for the sake of one girl. He'll do whatever it takes to get the job done, and if that means he has to lie, cheat, and corrupt a near-pristine soul, well, so be it.
That's the plan, anyway, and you know what happens to best-laid plans. They have a bad habit of going awry.
The more time Dante spends with Charlie, the more she gets under his skin. Suddenly, the conscience he thought he'd buried years ago is resurfacing, and the poor guy actually starts feeling things...good things, no less (*gasp*)! It's uncomfortable and really cramps his bad boy style - not to mention making his task a helluva lot more difficult - but he can't seem to make it stop.
I said at the start of this review that Dante is a hero, and I stand by that statement....but I am not going to cite a bunch of examples to prove it to you. Cruel of me, I know, but I really want you to read this book and find out for yourself! Dante is one of those characters whose awesomeness you have to experience firsthand. Just believe me when I tell you that he will charm your socks off, and that after you read The Collector, the only thing you will be saying to yourself is, "Oh Dante, where have you been all my life?!"
4.5 Stars ★★★★1/2
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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