Death of Darkness (Immortal Guardians, #9)

by Dianne Duvall

Seth has led the Immortal Guardians for thousands of years. With them fighting by his side, he has protected humans from psychotic vampires, defeated corrupt mercenary armies, defended military bases under attack, and more. But the latest enemy to rise against the Immortal Guardians has proven to be a formidable one, wielding almost as much power as Seth. His goal is simple. He wants to watch the world burn. And he will use every means at his disposal to accomplish it. Seth and his Immortal Guardians have succeeded thus far in staving off Armageddon despite heartbreaking losses. But they have never before faced such danger. Seth has only one wish: to protect his Immortal Guardians family and ensure the continuation of humanity by defeating his foe. But then Leah walks into his life and sparks a new desire.

Leah Somerson has suffered losses of her own. It has taken her a long time to rebuild her life and find some semblance of peace. Then one night a tall, dark, powerful immortal with what appears to be the weight of the world on his shoulders stumbles into her shop, and everything changes. Peace and contentment are no longer enough. Now she wants more. She wants to find happiness. She wants to erase the darkness in Seth’s eyes and replace it with love and laughter. She knows he’s different in ways that make most fear him. Even some of his immortal brethren keep a careful distance. But Leah will not. Nor will she shy away when danger strikes.

• ISBN10: 098641719X
• ISBN13: 9780986417191
• Publish Date: 19 August 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Dianne Duvall
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 510
• Language: English

Reviews

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Death of Darkness continues the intriguing, action packed and spell binding tale of the Immortal Guardians. This, the ninth book in the series, tells Seth's, the beloved leader of the Immortal Guardians, long awaited love story.

Seth’s character intrigued me from the moment of his appearance in Darkness Dawns, and I looked forward to his story. I figured because of his position as the leader of the Immortal Guardians, his story would bring the series to an end. However, this was not the case. The author has penned other books in the series since the release of Death of Darkness. This made me happy, as I was not ready to say goodbye to the world of the Immortal Guardians. Seth is not only the leader of the Immortal Guardians, he serves also as a father figure. He always puts their needs ahead of his own, ensuring their well-being and happiness. So it was a delight to see him finding love a second time around after more than a thousand years of existence.  

Death of Darkness delivered an exciting tale infused with humour and action. This tale will have readers either sitting on the edge of their seats or biting nails because of the action, suspense and danger permeating the pages of the Death of Darkness. Throughout the series, I had many questions regarding Seth's origin. Well, this instalment answered them all, bringing with it some mind-blowing revelations.

The events in Death of Darkness occurred at the same time as that which occurred in Awaken the Darkness. Therefore, it's best to read Awaken the Darkness before to avoid spoilers. Also, the epilogue paved the way for the spin-off series, The Aldebarian Alliance.

Now, for the most important part of this instalment, the romance between Seth and his lady love. Leah came into Seth's life at the appropriate time. The spark between them was clear from the start, however, both were not looking for a relationship. They both shared the experience of losing spouses and children in the past and feared opening their hearts to the possibility of love a second time around. So they chose the route of friendship. However, the more time they spent in each other's company, the closer they grew. Soon, they could no longer deny their growing feelings for each other. Seth falling in love brought out his softer side, which surprised his team. They made each other happy.

Kirsten Potter continues to narrate the series. Honestly, I cannot imagine another narrator could do justice to the series like she does. Her performance, as always, is brilliant. She portrays the characters’ emotions and personalities superbly.

This was a great addition to the series and one which I recommend it to fans of paranormal romance and urban fantasy.This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading

[kimbacaffeinate]

I have longed for Seth’s story, but also feared his story would signal the end of the series. Once Duvall assured readers it was not, I dove in. Seth is the parental figure of the Immortals, the worrier, the one who wants everyone happy and who puts their needs first. To see him finally open up, share and bring the rain was delightful.

Like life, love often finds you at the most inopportune times. Gershom has captured immortals, vampire attacks are on the rise and Seth is working round the clock to aid them. But he has also been dreaming about a woman. That woman turns out to be Leah Somerson. The woman who owns the clothing & toy store that his granddaughter loves.

His immortal and human teams sense something and plan for the two to spend time together. It begins as friendship even though the chemistry is present. Honestly, this slow moving romance was so sexy and sweet moments took my breath away. It was tender and filled with laughter, shared secrets, confessions, pain and more. Simply beautiful.

[EBookObsessed]

Dianne Duvall never disappoints. We wanted an earth-shaking novel for our most beloved character and she has certainly delivered on all the action, suspense and romance we have come to expect.

Check out our Character Interview with Seth.

Spoiler warning, if you are not up to date with the series. This review also will be referring to happenings in this book.

Seth has been the leader of the Immortal Guardians for centuries. He lost his human wife and children a millennia ago and has since made a new family with his beloved Immortals. And like any father-figure, Seth takes on all the responsibility for their safety and happiness onto himself.

As we have seen since Night Unbound, the danger to Seth’s family grows with each new attack, each having been orchestrated by Gershom, who a being as powerful as Seth and one with a unknown vendetta against Seth. A vendetta he is willing to throw the world into an apocalypse for if it will bring pain to Seth. Gershom is determined to destroy Seth and is willing to destroy his Immortal family to do it. Each time Seth fails to capture Gershom, the pressure is weighing heavy and heavier on Seth’s shoulders. We have seen that lack of sleep is affecting his judgment, his performance, and his overall happiness. Anytime we see Seth in recent books, he is somber and almost bleak from his own self-flagellation, and with only the rare smile and those are mostly for his adopted daughter and granddaughter, Ami and Adira.

When Seth meets Leah, we see for the first time a real spark of joy in Seth and it is amazing. The joy he feels when he is around her is like a drug to him. It’s like throwing a light switch the way she lights him up. As soon as he sees her, you can feel all his self-torture drain away and for those precious moments when he is focused only on her, Seth finally knows happiness. Seth, and the audience, are so swept away by the happiness she brings out in him, that we all suffer this oppressive dread and anger when his phone rings bringing him crashing back to reality.

Of course, the workaholic in Seth tries to deny himself the pleasure of time with Leah. I thought at first that it was simply that Seth doesn’t know how to relax after centuries of jumping to protect the Immortals in need but the more you read you see that Seth doesn’t believe he deserves to step away from his duty and he feels guilty for taking even a moment of quiet pleasure for himself.

I loved that once his people started to realize Seth’s growing feelings for Leah and how he was denying himself the time to be with her, David, Aiden, Zach and even former-other Jared are all stepping in to take care of Seth’s growing Immortal family and field the phone calls and emergencies that drain so much of his time and energy so that Seth would have no excuse to spend time with her. Even Chris Reardon and the network are doing what they can to protect Leah and keep her safe so Seth can be happy. They are all forcing Seth to have a life outside of just being their leader. Even little Adira kept taking Seth and Leah’s hands and joining them, making them hold hands whenever she was around. They believe Adira has precog abilities so it may simply be that she knew they would fall in love but it was adorable nonetheless.

I have to admit that when I first read the description of Seth’s book, I feared that the story plot would fall into my most hated paranormal story plot where the deceased spouse is reincarnated and our hero doesn’t understand why he is so drawn to this new woman until he realizes that she’s his dead wife and then they must be together. I. HATE. THAT. STORY LINE! But if it turned out that way, I had been determined to try to enjoy Seth’s story regardless. But of course, I should have known that Dianne would not disappoint me and drag us down that rabbit hole.

I was soooo happy when it turns out that even someone as old as Seth, who has been mourning and celibate for a millennia, can meet someone new and learn to love again.

I loved that Dianne didn’t make Leah immune to telepathy, like Ethan. Seth simply didn’t read her thoughts. It was a matter of respect. He didn’t want to do that to her and he refused to invade her privacy. He even warned off all of the telepaths that if they read her mind, they would face his wrath. David does read her mind at the beginning but only to make sure she is not mind-controlled by Gershom since Ami and Adira frequent her store.

Another amazing thing is that Dianne chose Leah to be human. Yes, I said human. Leah isn’t a gifted-one. There are many reasons for that, especially since we will finally get some of the answers about who Seth, Zach and the others are and about where gifted-ones come from. All those things that she found a logical reason not to divulge in Night Unbound. While everyone is shocked that Leah is human, Seth does not shake his fist at fate and lament that Leah would grow old and die. Remember his first wife was human as well. He still falls in love with Leah knowing that their time together would be limited and he even brought her to meet a human/immortal couple so she would understand what the future held for them. While Seth can extend her life with his healing, she would not be immortal. But since neither Leah nor Seth is infected with the virus, I am wondering if there might be more babies to join Adira and little Michael in future novels.

I also loved that Leah is not a girl. She is a mature 46 year-old-woman. She has a confidence that we wouldn’t find in a 25 year old heroine. And her age is one of the reasons it takes so long for them to get beyond friendship. Leah doesn’t want to be Seth’s cougar girlfriend, since she believed him to be in his late twenties or thirties, at best. Seth doesn’t object since he fears an attack by Gershom if he knew how much Leah mattered to Seth. She understands his grief because she lost her husband and child and she understands why he feels he has to shoulder the whole burden on himself but she also stands up to him and doesn’t allow him to do it. Seth loved that she never felt intimidated by his size or the power that radiates from him.

This book is soooo good, I had to immediately read it again.

Thankfully, I had read several notes from Dianne that Seth’s book is not the end of the Immortal Guardian series as the ending has a let’s everyone get together and celebrate vibe like you might get at the end of a trilogy. Dianne, and we as a fandom, are having too much fun with these characters to walk away from them so soon.

This is still my favorite series and I can’t gush enough about it. Seth and Leah’s story is another triumphant addition. Everyone who likes Urban Fantasy and paranormal romance should be loving Dianne Duvall’s Immortal Guardians.

Received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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