Covet by J.R. Ward

A winner-takes-all endgame between angels and demons with the final outcome determined by seven battles for seven souls. The only thing that stands between those souls and damnation is Jim Heron - a man whose own soul is gray enough to make him an acceptable advocate for both Heaven and Hell.

The first soul up for grabs is Vin diPietro's. Vin is a rich and powerful man who is never satisfied with what he has even though everything he has is the very best. A man who started with nothing, did whatever it took, and bent whatever rules he could get away with to make it to the top. A man who has `lost' himself in a fog of avarice somewhere along the way, teetering on the edge of damnation, until the night that he catches a glimpse of Marie-Terese across a crowded dance floor. Seeing the beautiful and somehow familiar Marie-Terese is like a wake-up call for the soul Vin doesn't even realize that he's been loosing.

When Vin enters Marie-Terese's life she too is at a crossroads. The job which has meant her survival for Marie-Terese has been eating away her soul bite by bite. The wealthy and handsome Vin is everything Marie-Terese finds attractive in a man, but she's been there done that and paid a steep price for that mistake.

Little do the pair realize that Vin is a playing piece in a cosmic game, with points awarded based on whether or not Vin takes that final step towards damnation. But Vin is not alone on the game board, he has a champion in the form of Jim Heron - the sole person who has been chosen by both sides to help Vin with his choice. But of course Team Hell is cheating and trying to push Vin over the line. Still, even with Jim's help, it is Marie-Terese who is the key to Vin's salvation. But if Vin and Marie-Terese can't break free from the ghosts of their pasts and Jim can't head off the demon working to keep them ensnared by said ghosts, the world will be literally one step closer to Hell.



 I liked the romance between Vin and Marie-Therese, but this book didn't grab me as much as the Black Dagger Brotherhood books by the same author did. I think it might be because the romance doesn't involve the 'hero'.

I would read more in this series to see if they improve.