Title: The Guardian
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Genre: Paranormal romance
Series: Dream-Hunter. (Connected to Dark-Hunter series)
Synopsis: As a Dream-Hunter, Lydia has been charged with the most sacred and dangerous of missions. She’s to descend into the Nether Realm and find the missing god of dreams before he betrays the secrets that could kill all of them. What she never expects is to be taken prisoner by the Realm’s most vicious guardian.
Seth’s time is running out. If he can’t hand over the key to Olympus and the heart of Zeus, then his own life and soul will be forfeit. No matter the torture, he hasn’t been able to break the god in his custody. But when a rescuer appears, he decides to try a new tactic.
When these two lock wills, one of them must give. But Lydia isn’t just guarding the gates of Olympus, she’s holding back the darkest of powers. If she fails, an ancient evil will roam the earth once more and no one.
Review:
The Guardian opens with the male lead, Egyptian demi-god Seth, experiencing the worst sort of torture. Despite this being the latest in centuries of pain, Seth remains strong of spirit, mocking the lord of this realm, Noir.
This insight explains why Seth later warns Dream-Hunter Solin that worse is to come if he fails to tell Seth where to find the key to Olympus.
Solin’s adopted daughter and fellow Dream-Hunter/half-breed Were-Hunter (Jackal), Lydia Tsakali, barges into the interrogation, ready to free Solin.
She’s already battled one awful, ‘icky’ low-level to reach Solin and is prepared to battle more and the intimidating Seth, to get Solin back home, all in silence – Lydia has no voice.
Lydia’s and Seth’s story starts out with them having differing goals which merge into one vision of freedom over their time together in Hell as captive strangers.
Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dream-Hunters and Dark-Hunters have all experienced deep pain, often involving the loss of a loved one, but they have a sense of survival and somehow, find a way to open their hearts to love, even if they don’t expect to get it in return or are way of trusting it.
The Guardian is no exception to this, though I felt the story of Lydia and Seth falling in love amidst a battle could have done with some extended scenes/time periods within the story.
This being said, the characters were well-developed and their motives understandable. h has to battle a lifetime of abuse, neglect and torture, even in his sexual encounters, to find love with Lydia on an emotional and physical level.
Even kissing has been associated with pain for Seth until he meets Lydia and even then, their first kiss ends in a bite. (I’ll let you read the book to find out why 😉 )
It was funny, cute and touching to see Seth learn about the internet and computers with Lydia’s help. Something you don’t see unless reading a time-trave l book.
I look forward to seeing more of Lydia, Seth, Solin, Jaden and Madoc in future Dream-Hunter books.
Grade: A-
Excerpt:
The Guardian’s armor lay in a heap on the floor outside of the shower. A shower she hadn’t realised earlier had a glass door.
Now she saw it. And she saw him. All of him.
The hot water slid over a magnificent body that rippled with chiseled muscles and sinewy grace. Oh Yeah, baby. He’d make a fortune with a Web cam.
Holy cow…not even the bruises and scars detracted from the absolute beauty of him.
Oh my word, I want a piece of that. Never in her life had she wanted to bite a heinie so badly. Her throat went dry as a wave of desire burned through her blood like lava. Unaware of her presence, he scrubbed at himself with such vigor that she was surprised that he didn’t remove skin with it.
He turned slightly to get more soap, then froze as he saw he caught sight of her.
Time hung still as they stared at each other through the glass and steam. Her eyes widened the instant his c**k began to swell.
“Sorry!” she shouted before she jumped back through the door and slammed it shut.
Oh good grief! She was mortified at being caught.
Seth still didn’t move. He couldn’t get the sight of Lydia standing there out of his mind. Why had she watched him?
How long had she watched him? Did it matter?
Sighing, he returned to bathing. It stunned him that he could get hard again, given what Azura had just put him through. But all he had to do was think of Lydia and his body reacted against his will.
Damn treacherous beast.
He turned the water off and summoned his loose black pants and a loose, long-sleeved black shirt. He’d never liked showing off his body. Not after what had been done to him.
