Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall

Darkness Dawns by Dianne Duvall

Book Stats:
Reading level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal romance
Mass market paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Zebra
Release date: February 1, 2011

Series: Immortal Guardians #1

Source: Kensington

Reviewed by: Jenn

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

In this dazzling, sensual novel, Dianne Duvall beckons readers into a world of vampires, immortals, and humans with extraordinary gifts…where passion can last forever, if you’re willing to pay the price…

Once, Sarah Bingham’s biggest challenge was making her students pay attention in class. Now, after rescuing a wounded stranger, she’s landed in the middle of a battle between corrupt vampires and powerful immortals who also need blood to survive. Roland Warbrook is the most compelling man Sarah has ever laid hands on. But his desire for her is mingled with a hunger he can barely control…

In his nine centuries of immortal existence, no woman has tempted Roland as much as Sarah. But asking her to love him is impossible—when it means forfeiting the world she’s always known, and the life he would do anything to protect…

I was very excited when Darkness Dawns showed up in my mailbox the other day. I loved the premise of the series before I started reading and so I couldn’t wait to get into Darkness Dawns.

The basic idea of the world of the Immortal Guardians is pretty straightforward in some ways. There are two main forces in the world: the immortal guardians, like Roland, who try to keep humans safe from vampires. Like vampires, immortals need blood to survive. Unlike vampires, immortals have an incredibly long lifespan while vampires live for maybe a couple centuries on a slow but progressive descent into madness and murder. There’s no such thing as a good vampire in this series, which makes it stand out to my mind. Plus, the origins of the immortals are a little up in the air, which really caught my attention. I’m hoping it gets explored more in the next book.

The main characters in Darkness Dawns are nicely matched. It took me a while to like Sarah, mostly because I found her a little preachy when the subject of eating organic came up, but she’s generally a lovely heroine, especially since the book opens with her saving Roland. She’s strong and smart and kind and adjusts surprisingly well to the whole the-man-I-just-met-isn’t-a-spy-he’s-really-a-blood-drinking-immortal situation. And I love that Dianne didn’t make it a huge issue for their romance. It was just a fact amongst fact about Roland, who’s got a lot going for him. I like that the author gave him a bad history with women because it makes a lot of sense. After all, not everyone is going to react well to being told their partner isn’t what he seems, particularly when it’s something this huge.

There are also some plot threads that are meant to carry into the next book, and perhaps beyond. It’s such a tease, but in a good way, because I really want to know what’s going to happen with these plot points.

All in all, I found this book to be incredibly satisfying. There are some great action sequences and the romance between Sarah and Roland is sweet and sexy all at the same time. I love the world and the characters that Dianne Duvall has created and I can’t wait to start reading Night Reigns.

Read an excerpt

Posted by jenn at 05:00

 Dianne Duvall, Kensington, Review, Vampire  6 People left their mark

Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.