Flora Reviews…
Read: 27th March 2015
Re-Read: 15th – 21st October 2017
Format: Kindle
My Goodreads Rating: 4 Stars
So what’s this book about?
Darkness Rises is book four (approx 417 pages) in Ms Duvall’s popular Immortal Guardians Series (currently 7 novels plus 2 novellas); a paranormal romance tale that I think could sit happily on an urban fantasy shelf due to some of the content, set in our modern human world featuring a new twist on the vampire genre.
Immortals and vampires are both infected with the same virus, which lends them dramatically increased strength, speed, healing capabilities and enhanced senses. Vampires are humans who have been infected, whereas immortals are gifted ones who have been infected. Gifted ones are men and women who were born with extremely advanced DNA that lends them special gifts, such as healing, telepathy, precognition and the like. Vampires rapidly descend into madness when the virus damages their brains but Immortals don’t; their advanced DNA protects them from that aspect of the virus.
The romance aspect of the tale between Etienne and Krysta is concluded by the end of this book in Ms Duvall’s signature HEA style, but I’m unsure whether Darkness Rises can really be read as a standalone story; we meet characters from the previous books and there are references to past adventures, and although, Ms Duvall tries to ensure her new readers aren’t lost – pertinent information is weaved beautiful into this story without slowing the pace – I feel that that as with most series, you miss the nuances of knowing the existing characters, understanding the dynamics of relationships and ongoing plot lines when jumping in cold or reading books out of order plus. As with most series, there are background story arcs that are concluded within this book while others are left to continue into the next one, and possibly beyond.
If you’ve read any of my reviews before, you’ll know that I don’t post spoilers of any kind or reveal any plot twists in my book reviews, so here’s what the official blurb has to say about the story:
So, what did I like about it?Krysta is used to getting the drop on vampires. Her “special abilities” aren’t much, but the plan is simple–she plays helpless pretty young thing to lure them in. Then her shoto swords come out and it’s bye-bye, bloodsucker. Until one night she finds herself with an unexpected ally. He’s a vampire, all right, but different. Mysterious. Handsome. And more interested in saving her skin than draining it.
Etienne has been an Immortal Guardian for two hundred years–long enough to know that Krysta is special. He can’t stop thinking about her long legs, even more than her short swords. Then he discovers the vamps she’s exterminating have friends in high places, and the Guardians are in danger too. He’ll have to accept Krysta’s help to save them. The stakes for a mortal are high. But the cost to his heart might be higher. . .
I have become a definite fan of Ms Duvall’s writing style and find her books very easy to read; she writes intelligent, engaging stories with a collection of well written characters within an imaginative world that mixes fantasy and reality creating a world that I can believe in. The pace of her stories is usually fast and full of action but without being disorienting and I like that she combines a couple of plot lines to run alongside the main romantic story arc. Darkness Rises did not let me down.
My regular followers will know that I enjoy books where the characters are not black or white, good or evil but a multifaceted mix of positive and negative traits and I like to see them grow through embracing or overcoming these hurdles; the fact that the characters within these pages have been written with personalities that we can see in the real world around us – even though most of them are mythical, paranormal beings – adds that level of believability to this fantasy tale.
I liked the way that all of the characters in this story were written – even the villains of the tale – none of them were flat 2-dimensional creations, they all felt very real. Oh, and like most Brits I do love a bit of banter – this story has plenty of it! I found myself COL (Chuckling Out Loud) throughout, especially in scenes that featured Richart’s second, Sheldon!
I loved the fact that the mystery/thriller aspect of this story kept me guessing, the action kept me on the edge of my seat, the blossoming romance made me warm and fuzzy, the banter kept me giggling and the passion set my tummy a-tingling. *oooh*
So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?
Now, I’ve got to be honest, right from the first chapter, I felt irritated by our lead romantic lady, Krysta; her actions, her thought processes and her blinkered determination, “There are some things I can’t do, Krysta. I have limits. When I reach those and you have to bury me, will it have been worth it?” She is so gung ho and stubborn I found it hard to like her, however, I appreciated the journey that she had to go on.
So, basically what I’m saying is…
I didn’t want to stop reading this book!
It had everything that I look for in a good; intelligent writing style that’s easy to read, main characters with depth of personality that I can like (or love to hate) and believe in, depth of character in the supporting cast, believable background story and setting and a good balanced mix of relationship and/or romance scenes to action and/or sex scenes.
Due to the graphic nature of the violence and sex scenes, I would only recommend this book to adults who are not offended by this sort of content, so if you enjoy strong alpha heroes and independent capable heroines, tense often traumatic and brutal confrontations and hot lust/romance scenes then this book shouldn’t disappoint you.
So, has my review of DARKNESS RISES (IMMORTAL GUARDIANS #4) encouraged you to find out more? Just click on any of the links below to check out the book yourself or to find out more about the author. To see the other books I’ve read, take a look at my profile on Goodreads.
See DARKNESS RISES on Goodreads.com
Buy DARKNESS RISES through the usual sources, including Amazon.co.uk or through Amazon.com
Visit DIANNE DUVALL‘s own little corner of the web, connect to her on social media via Twitter or Facebook or Goodreads or Pinterest
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