When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity, Book 1) (udgave 2007)

I was expected your typical vampire romance with this book, I've seen so many people read it and seemed to have liked it, so I was like alright I will give it a shot. I'm glad I did, it's nothing like I've read before. It's dark, more dark than most of the other vampire books I have read. I like the characters in this book, I like the world building, I like how you don't just dilly dally waiting for things to happen, it's pretty much automatic bing bang boom, the story is alive. I quite enjoyed this book and will definitely continue on with the series. I'm glad I picked up this book, it gives me something that's dark, has a different type of world than others, and the writing is great, and the story keeps you interested from beginning to end, not really any dull moments with this one. ( )

Listened to audio narrated by well Arika Rapson. Dante is a vampire who's been bound to protect the Chalice against his will, by witches. Abby comes from an abusive home but she works for a pretentious lady to pay her bills. When her boss dies, she unwittingly becomes the chalice for the Phoenix and Dante must protect her. Abby must come to terms with not only being the Chalice but that demons and vampires are real. They've both been attracted to each other but Abby has kept Dante at bay, but she gives in as Dante proves he's not who she thought he was.

A nice paranormal romance, with a good balance of action, danger and romance.

More of my reviews can be found at https://wyldheartreads.wordpress.com/

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When Darkness Comes
3.5 Stars

The world building, plot and characters have incredible potential but the book falls short of living up to it.

Numerous intriguing elements are introduced - vampires, witches, zombies, the Dark Prince, the Chalice, the Phoenix, etc. Unfortunately, none of these is sufficiently developed and the reader is left with gaping holes in the world building and characterization. This is the first book in a series with 15 books so far, so it is possible that explanations will be forthcoming - I certainly hope so.

The romance fares better as the hero, Dante, is simply scrumptious and Abby is sweet and feisty. Their dialogue is one of the highlights of the book and their smexy scenes are steamy. Nevertheless, Abby’s stubbornness often leads her into TSTL territory; she is too accepting of all the supernatural events going on around her, and her transition from distrusting Dante to loving him is too rapid.

The villains belong to the typical megalomaniac class and are efficiently dealt with. However, there is a flaw in the internal consistency of the plot here when the author seems to lose interest in her primary villain and shifts focus to a new adversary who only makes an appearance in the last 1/4 of the book with absolutely no prior development. This dilutes the build up of tension and results in a lackluster climax.

In sum, the story is enjoyable overall and the hero of the next book is enough of a draw to continue with the series. ( )

"When Darkness Comes" is the first book in Alexandra Ivy's (Guardians of Eternity) series. I have read the "Bayou Heat" series by Alexandra Ivy and Laura Wright and wanted to try out some of Alexandra's other works. I have to say the first book in her Guardians of Eternity series was disappointing, but I like to give a series a three book try.

I give "When Darkness Comes" a 2.5-3 stars. It was an ok read. It's not a book I'd read again. It did not pull me in and make me want to keep reading. I had trouble staying interested, but I did finish. A lot happens in the first couple of chapters maybe too much, because I found myself going back several times. Both the hero and heroine remained vague characters and the immature dialogue was driving me crazy. There also were holes left open in the story for example Abby's terrible background mentioned over and over but never revealed.

Abby is working in a mansion owned by an older woman Selena and Dante also works there thou his position is never clarified, but that is neither her nor their. Dante as the “sexy” vampire was very vanilla to me.
An Explosion happens and Selena is dead and Abby has now been infused with the “Phoenix”. She is now the physical holder of the “Chalice" and Dante has become her personal bodyguard. Abby on the other hand is so very clueless (annoying at times) as to what is happening and now her life is in danger with demons out to kill her. They are forced on the run and in no time they are intimate with each other. As for the paranormal world it takes Abby forever to come to terms with the world she’s been thrust into.

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za upíry o hvězdičku navíc. Klasika (za víc než ty čtyři pětky, kolik to stojí v Levných knihách, to nestojí) - harlekvínka s krvesajema, nic netušící smrtelná žena se stane démonem a na krku jí tak zůstane děsněhrozněmocbetálně sexy vampejr (s dlououououhejma černejma vlasama), který má za úkol-prokletí ji chránit, takže nejdřív na sebe štěkaj a pak zamilovaně šouněj. Ještě k tomu teda zachrání svět před totální likvidací všech démonů, ale co jinýho čekat. Prostě kravina! ( )