Small Miracles by Olivia Atwater @OliviaAtwater2 @SnyderBridge4

A little bit of sin is good for the soul.

Gadriel, the fallen angel of petty temptations, has a bit of a gambling debt. Fortunately, her angelic bookie is happy to let her pay off her debts by doing what she does best: All Gadriel has to do is tempt miserably sinless mortal Holly Harker to do a few nice things for herself.

What should be a cakewalk of a job soon runs into several roadblocks, however, as Miss Harker politely refuses every attempt at temptation from Gadriel the woman, Gadriel the man, and Gadriel the adorable fluffy kitten. When even chocolate fails to move Gadriel’s target, the ex-guardian angel begins to suspect she’s been conned. But Gadriel still remembers her previous job… and where petty temptations fail, small miracles might yet prevail.

After reading The Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater I jumped into reading her entire catalog.  Most are regency faery stories but this one is unique in her collection.  Small Miracles is a stand alone novel featuring a fallen angel, Gadriel, who owes someone on the other side a favor that is about to be called in.  It should be easy, help Holly Harker loosen up and relax a little, committing a few small sins to help her enjoy her life more.  All Gadriel needs is 20 measly points and their debt is paid.  Only thing is Holly just can’t seem to be tempted, even by chocolate.  Gadriel is going to have to put a little more effort into this and possibly dig into their bag of tricks from their former life.

She’d always delighted in the tiny banalities of existence—the lucky coin on the street; the butterfly that lands on your shoulder; the bread that bakes perfectly on the first try. Somewhere along the way, Gadriel had decided that yes, small pleasures like plucked daffodils and bits of chocolate were more important than pleasing the boss.

This was such an easy read and overall a feel good story.  Holly is a likable character, taking on her niece after the death of her sister.  She might not know how to raise a teenage girl but she is doing her best.  Gadriel takes one look at this situation and is sure that the way to tempt Holly will be though her niece Ella.   But as the story unwinds Gadriel can’t help but think something more is afoot and the angel is going to have to take a more active role in both of their lives if they are getting out of this job.

But while God’s angels had since become very fond of smiting the fallen, they rather had their hands full with the louder, angrier rebels like Lucifer and Beelzebub; none of them could really be bothered to visit divine judgement upon someone who spent their time tempting mortals to eat just one more crisp.

Everyone in this books has something to learn and a discovery to make about themselves, even our fallen angel.  I liked all of the footnotes, they added a bit of whimsy to the story and helped keep a tally of the sin counts for things.  It was a very interesting take on how the balance of what side you fall on could be and how all the little good and evil deeds add up over time.  I also like that at the heart of the story is the message of love and hope between Holly and Ella and how they are trying to live this new life together.  While there is a small romance involved, I would have almost preferred it wasn’t there as I was so focused on Holly and Ella’s relationship.  Also angel/human romance is always a happily for now scenario as Angel = immortal and humans have an expiration date.

Overall, a cute feel good book with some very fun moments throughout.

You needn’t feel bad for the chihuahua. Just as God created the platypus out of spare parts, Lucifer created the original chihuahua out of spare spite. There may be many greater evils in this world, but one would be hard-pressed to find a more concentrated form of evil than the average chihuahua.

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Robin

Reviewer at Books of My Heart

Reading is my #1 addiction…I’d go to a support group for it but who are we kidding -  I have no intentions of quitting anytime soon. By day, I’m a chemist and can be found sciencing and listening to books. On nights and weekends, I’m a wannabe Spartan and am often training and listening to books. I straight up LOVE almost everything by Brandon Sanderson and Ilona Andrews; they are my flagship authors and I might be slightly impartial where they are concerned. My other guilty pleasures are unusual fairytale retellings and uber alpha males.


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