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| Castiel the angel on CW's Supernatural portrayed by Misha Collins |
They were either hollow one dimensional people with no growth in their personality or (depending on the use of the tradition) they seemed off the mark as to what an angel was supposed to be.
All that changed of course when I saw the character Castiel on CW's tv show 'Supernatural.' If I had to describe Cas in one word, it would be- chutzpah. And he has oodles of it. In fact he oozes it along with certain amount of unconventional sexiness that somehow manages to keep up with the raw animal appeal of his companions- Sam and Dean Winchester.
Though he's an angel, he's also strong and a natural born leader. Two traits we romance readers love in our alpha males. We find out in the course of his story line that at one time, he was a captain within his garrison of angels that was charged with overseeing a certain section of the world. We learned that he performed his duty with sense of quiet fortitude that had garnered the admiration of many of his peers.
He also was one of the many angels who laid siege to Hell to rescue Dean Winchester from its clutches. However out out of all of them, he was the only one able to pull Dean out using such force as to permanently burn a hand print into Dean's shoulder.
In the beginning Castiel did not have much interest in fostering interpersonal relationships especially those towards mankind (at one point stating that he preferred the Neanderthals to Cro Magnons because he liked their poetry). The closest he got to liking anyone or anything was that of admiring the 'beauty of God's creation from afar' however any act done beyond that was done out of obedience to an order from God or one of his angelic superiors.
Still his emotional detachment changed over time. He grew to love people, especially his friends the Winchesters, whom he considered to be his family. From them he also learned about sexual pleasure
along with romantic love. Gradually some of his naivete fell away giving room to a willingness to experiment. So much so, that at one point he even has a dalliance with a demon who admits that he is the one person in the universe that could make her turn to the good side.
It is pure Castiel. He is so hot. Why? Because is the perfect angel. He is sweet and innocent, yet versed enough in the ways of the world around him to be a potent secret weapon no one will ever expect.
Would he make a great alpha male in a romance novel? Let me answer it this way- Dean Winchester- who is the ultimate alpha male on the show- calls on him when he's in a fix. So yes, he and others angelic characters could be great protagonists in a paranormal romance.
So naturally that got me to thinking. There has got to be some great paranormal romance novels out there featuring angels as the heroes of the story. It turns out there are. But for now, I'll mention one:
Relic by Deena Remiel. Part of The Brethren Series
Blurb:
Raphael, a Brethren Savior, an angel with a forgotten past, has lost his power to heal and is on a self-imposed guilt trip to get it back. If he can’t, his tour of eternal duty as Brethren Savior will be revoked. On his journey, he winds up enmeshed in a web of attempted murder and resurrection, all thanks to a woman he’s only seen in a photograph and by chance on an Arizona desert hiking trail.
Serena Sikes is a wanted woman. Desired by “undesirables” for a gift her brother gave her—a stolen relic with suspected healing powers. Hunted down in the Arizona desert and left for dead, she is found by none other than the angel who cannot heal.
Raphael and Serena are inexorably bound together, for locked deep within the relic’s heart had lived the soul of his long lost wife. Now, it resides inside Serena. Evil lurks around every corner as Raphael tries to keep both Serena and his dead wife’s soul alive and lustful temptation at bay.
Three souls bound together by an ancient relic, bound by a timeless gift, and bound by a love that is eternal.
Available now at Amazon
For A Demonstration of Castiel's ability- Watch This Short Clip!
