Series: Guardians of the Realms #1
Audience: +18
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Self-published
Release Date: January 18th 2014
My Rating: 5 cups
Source: Netgalley
Blurb (from Goodreads):
As one of the twelve Guardians, Urian has spent the last several centuries in a constant battle to keep the inhabitants of Earth’s Realms under control. Humanity has to evolve, hell beasts need to die, and Immortals need mates. But lately, Uri's mind is overrun with thoughts of when his sexy voyeur will find him again, watching him from the shadows, continuing their wicked game. All Guardians are forbidden contact with the little goddess and her brothers, but his need for her escalating, he finds it increasingly difficult to keep from pinning her down on the nearest surface and making her his.
Alexandra has managed to evade the Guardians and being cast out from the human Realm for centuries, ever since the Creators sent the Gods to sleep for their sins against humanity and banished all Immortals. Always sensing that she was needed on Earth, only once has Alex gone against her instincts and the price she paid will forever haunt her. It is for that reason she forces herself to stay away from the only male who has ever truly enticed her. The only one who has ever made her long for what she knows is dangerous.
In a desperate need to help her beloved brother, she will have to go to the enthralling Guardian, her dark obsession, and even though he will surely attempt to exile her, she won't go easily…
Warning: This book contains explicit and sizzling sex scenes with big dominant males. MFM, ménage, and light bondage.
*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from Netgalley and Setta Jay in exchange for an honest review. This odes not influence my rating or my opinion of the book in any way.
Discovering new authors is such a fantastic feeling, especially in the realm of urban fantasy/paranormal romance. If the stories also happen to have even the smallest tie to mythology and ancient gods, then I'm the happiest reader ever.
I loved the concept of this series. The idea that the Greek Gods were punished due to them being mostly villains is so interesting. I liked reading about how the realms are divided, how the Guardians all have to protect them and make sure that the gods don't wake up. I also liked the story of who the Guardians are. My inner history geek squealed, to be very honest. I also loved the story of how the Gods came to be, or the little part of that story that the readers gets to read about. I am curious to see if the rest of the books in the series also show that and if they explore that aspect more.
I really liked Alexandra. Her backstory is really painful, and it's interesting to see how it still affects her, both physically and mentally. I found that her story was pretty unique, which I loved. Seeing how she had all that power, and yet there were things she couldn't prevent herself from doing or going through was an interesting aspect of her story. I liked her relationship with her brothers. She loves her brothers a lot, and you can really see that, especially with how she's willing to sacrifice herself to save them.
I liked Urian. I liked reading about his struggle to keep from contacting Alexandra, but I also enjoyed the twisted game they seemed to play with each other. It felt almost like a dare, like they were pushing themselves to see who would give in first. Urian is a pretty great Guardian, and I liked how dedicated and how loyal he was to his brothers and sisters. I liked how he helped Alexandra overcome some of her issues, but I would have also enjoyed seeing him teach her how to control what was happening with her.
There's a secondary plot line developing in this book, that I can only hope will be explored in the next books, involving one of Alexandra's brothers. I'm very curious to see what will happen with him in the future. The pace of the book was pretty good, and I am so, so excited to read the next books in the series. The book is also very sexy, which is always nice, and it didn't feel forced or over the top. The physical aspect of Alexandra and Urian's relationship was very interesting and I'm curious to see how that aspect will be explored with the other characters, if it's going to be similar, or if it's going to be very different. Basically I loved this book and I need more. If you're a fan of paranormal romance, you definitely need to read this book.
