This time out, I have a series starter from Dianne Duvall, Darkness Dawns (Zebra, received from publisher), which kicks off her 'Immortal Guardians' series. When Sarah Bingham defends a seriously wounded man from vicious men bent on his death near her home, she has no idea what she's gotten herself into. Roland Warbrook is a guardian, one of many who protect humans from the vampires who do the opposite, and he's been around a long, long time. Long enough to know that trusting anyone, even his fellow immortals, isn't always a good idea; long enough to know that letting his emotions get tangled up with a human with a very short life span compared to his is the worst idea; yet apparently not long enough for him to have fully convinced himself that love is out of his reach. I'll be honest, when I looked at the back cover blurb on this one, I did groan about another vampire book. The regulars here know I'm not a big fan of them, with few exceptions. But I figured I'd check out the beginning of the story, which drew me in. It helps me a lot that the vampires aren't the main focus of the story. There are things that Sarah learns about the guardians that could potentially frighten her as much as the deadly vampires who come calling, but something about Roland persuades her they are far different creatures. Sarah, conveniently, has some skills that come in very handy throughout this story, a fact I couldn't help but notice, then wonder if I could buy it. I also wondered how Roland, who's supposedly built up all these walls around his heart after more than one heartbreak, could allow himself to fall for Sarah so quickly. But these are rather minor peeves for me, as there are some really intriguing secondary characters here who will surely get their own stories told later in the series, and that makes me happy. Roland is surely a sexy hero, strong, willing and able to fight to the death to protect what's his, and Sarah is no shrinking violet, capable of standing up for herself, or any wounded warrior in her vicinity. I'm not sure I'd say I loved this one, but I did like it quite a lot, and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next for these immortals. I'm borrowing four of Cupid's five arrows for this one. If you're looking for an intriguing new paranormal series, pick this one up. You won't be sorry.
Until next time, happy reading!
