Darkness Rises (Immortal Guardians, #4)

by Dianne Duvall

[kimbacaffeinate]

Darkness Rises by Dianne Duvall quickly reminded me why I enjoy paranormal romances wrapped in suspense and a little paranormal woo-woo. While this was my first Duvall novel and the fourth in the Immortal Guardians series, this worked wonderfully as a standalone. Fans of Laurie London’s Sweetblood series will love the fast-pace, characters and sizzling romance that Duvall delivers. Three word review: suspenseful, romantic and action-packed.

Etienne an immortal guardian is watching from the rooftops never campus keeping an eye out for vampires. He is a hunter and keeps the bloodsuckers from ruling the night. As he watches he sees Krysta, obviously impaired exiting a sorority house. He is struck by her beauty and begins to follow her fearing she would make an easy target, and sure enough vampires are soon on her tail. When she enters a dark alley, he moves forward to aid her but gets the shock of his life, when this completely sober beauty begins kicking vampire ass. The tale that unfolds was fast-paced, engaging and totally hot. From the characters to the world Duvall had me under her spell, as I laughed, squirmed and rooted for this duo.

All of the characters I encountered throughout Darkness Rises were fleshed out and had unique voices, so that I immediately could tell them apart. Etienne is a two hundred year old Frenchman, who was a gifted one. He was accidentally turned Immortal along with his brother by their sister. As an Immortal, he is young, but already an experienced hunter who can read minds and hear thoughts. I found him to be smexy, funny and just so darn cute. I laughed as much as I sighed over him. Krysta is one kick-ass heroine who see auras. She uses that gift to hunt vampires with her brother, a healer. Krysta is confident, determined and thinks getting to choice her weapons from a collections of bad-ass weapons is the crème de la crème. She is level headed she, and she processes things logically without getting all hysterical. We meet other immortals and gifted ones, and some couples from previous books. I loved how they work as a unit and am anxious to go back and read through the series.

In Darkness Rises, the author gave us a strong sense of the world and the supernatural creatures residing there. I loved all the rich details which slid seamlessly from the author’s pen giving me a panoramic view. While some might say Etienne and Krysta’s romance developed too quickly, but for me, the author made it feel genuine, and I was immediately invested in them both. The sexual tension, banter and smoking hot sex scenes were scrumptious. The plot had the couple facing a new threat, recruiting the enemy and going on the offense. It was intense, action-packed and had my heart racing. The tale is told from several perspectives which help draw me in and connect. There are side threads which develop and will continue into the next book, but for the most part this story was self-contained. After an intense climactic scene towards the end, the author gives us some humor and leaves us on a high note as she sets up for book five.

Fans of action-packed, smoking hot paranormal romance wrapped in suspense will love Darkness Rises and the Immortal Guardians series. I snagged a copy of Darkness Dawns book one in the series and will be working my way through them in anticipation of book five, since I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Copy received in exchange for unbiased review and originally published @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer