12 Days of a Kensington Christmas ~ Darkness Rises

Title ~ Darkness Rises

Series ~ Immortal Guardians, #4

Author ~ Dianne Duvall

Publisher ~ Zebra/Kensington

Published ~ 1 October 2013

Genre ~ Paranormal/Romance

*Book source ~ Many thanks to Kensington & NetGalley for providing a review in exchange for an honest review. 

My Rating ~ 5 bites out of 5

Étienne d’Alençon is an Immortal Guardian. Tasked with protecting humans from vampires, he and his siblings, along with other Immortal Guardians, hunt each night, but no matter how many vampires they take out more seem to fill the void. One night while on patrol Étienne comes across Krysta Linz, a human vampire hunter. Even though she has some serious mad fighting skillz he decides to follow her each evening and protect her. Until one evening when she finds herself seriously outnumbered by vampires and things spiral out of control. The threat that was thought to be eliminated is still going strong and the Immortal Guardians are once more fighting more than vampires.

I wondered what would happen when the big baddies were put down, what or who would the Immortal Guardians deal with now? Vampires aren’t much of a threat to them though they are annoying to keep in check, preventing them from hurting or killing humans. Well, I didn’t need to worry because this book reveals something else is going on. And it’s a doozy.

I love, love, love this series. Every book is a smorgasbord of everything I like about books all under one cover. The paranormal elements, fast action, kicking ass, humor, hot nommy guys, excellent dialogue, fantastic characters, bad baddies, steamy scenes and I mentioned the hot nommy guys, right? I know when I pick up an Immortal Guardians story I won’t be able to put it down.

I have to admit that part of my delight in this book as well as the others in this series is the fact that the setting is right down the road from where I live. I love seeing familiar cities and landmarks mentioned since I don’t think I’ve read a book yet that has a setting so close to home. In addition, Étienne turned about to be more laid back than the other Guardians I’ve met so far, so it was a nice change of pace. When the French siblings were first introduced in the series I wasn’t sure if I would like them, but after Richart’s  & Étienne’s stories were told they have earned a place in my heart. Krysta is a great character, too. Strong, stubborn and very loyal to those she loves. She took a horrible experience and turned it into a crusade that luckily didn’t get her killed. I also love meeting more humans who are gifted ones and what type of gift they have.

There are a few more Immortal Guardians mentioned in this book as well as their Seconds, Ami’s secrets are revealed to the Guardians and then there’s Zach. Oh, boy. I’m seriously hoping his story is next though Seth’s story would be super awesome. I can’t wait to read more about the Immortal Guardians and I’m very much looking forward to Night Unbound due out September 2, 2014.