When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity Book 1)

I am a huge fan of Alexandra Ivy's work and this new series is no different. This book has it all for a paranormal romance book. The premise of the book was very good, unique that I have not read about yet and the characters so fleshed out and real, that you can actually feel for them, want what's best for them and everything to work out in the end. First, we have Abby Barlow, who is not very educated due to her horrible childhood and informative years. So, she is working at Selena's mansion whom she is her "caretaker", and Viper, the vampire also lives there. Abby has the hours for Dante. From the way he's described, so would I. Anyway, unbeknownst to Abby, Selena is the chosen vessel if the chalice, a goddess of the light that can smite demons and other beings with " evil intent". With the chalice being housed in Selena's body by her father about three hundred years ago due to him contracting the plague and he wanted a cure. He sought out the witches and they told him that for a price, we will cure you. The price, his daughter, Selena. He was fine with this. Back then daughters were only good for making alliances and strengthening the family lines and filling the coffers. So, what did he care about sacrificing his daughter? He wanted his cure of the plague and he was rich and entitled and no one or nothing was going to stop him. So, the longer the chalice is in the vessel, the stronger the vessel becomes and it is also immortal. Her "presence" is shielded from dark forces, the dark Prince , demons, etc. Dante, the vampire, was made to be Selena's protector, shackeled to her as it were, by the witches. He was trapped by them, never had a choice in the matter. He can't even drink blood from the vein/artery anymore, in case he may accidentally harm the vessel. So he hates the witches and Selena for what has happened to him. If Selena didn't treat him like a servant instead if like the awesome bodyguard he is/was, they may have gotten along. But she was a spoiled brat that felt entitled to be the vessel for the phoenix and treated everyone like they were her servants instead of normal people. Even Dante, whom was the protector of the phoenix, thereby being her protector, treated him shabbily and her for it. Anyway, Selena ends up mysteriously dying and the house exploding in her section of the house, when Abby and Dante went to investigate, she was dying and Abby touched her too check to make sure she was dead, when Selena grabs her arm and transfers the phoenix to her! Now, Abby is the new vessel and nothing short of comedic, hilarious, end if the world danger ensues with all sorts of varying demons, dark wizards of the dark Prince and his minions as well as witches, want the Phoenix dead. Dante and Abby just want a cure-a new vessel to be found so Abby is free of the phoenix, but not free of him. I love this book. It was so great. I definitely give it five stars plus (if I could) on originality alone. Would recommend 18+ readers due to content and am eagerly going to start the next book in the series. I do hope that this wasn't too long winded of a review and ius certainly not like me when I review, but this series ius a keeper, for me.

When Darkness Comes is the first book in the Guardians of Eternity series by Alexandra Ivy. I have been wanting to read this series for a long time, but never got around to it, even after purchasing it in e-book format. I wish I hadn’t waited so long! This was a great book with lots of action, danger, and romance. I liked how it moved along quickly and how Ivy wrote vivid descriptions. Abby wasn’t my favorite paranormal romance character, though. She seemed naive and needy. For most of the book, she relies on Dante to do everything. At the end, she does make an effort to save herself, but doesn’t succeed. It is the Phoenix within her that actually saves her. I don’t feel like that’s much of a spoiler because I am not saying why she needs saving. Plus, it’s a romance novel so the reader knows she will be saved in some way or another. Dante is a pretty likable character. He’s a little cocky, but that’s to be expected from a vampire. I liked how Dante and Abby form a relationship and get to know one another. It isn’t just about the sex. I noticed one problem with the writing in this book: sometimes Dante sounds formal while Abby sounds casual. Then, it switches and Dante sounds casual and Abby sounds formal. I would have liked for their speech to have been more consistent. I think since Dante is the old vampire, he should have been the formal one throughout the book. Overall, I enjoyed reading When Darkness Comes. I recommend it to readers who like hot vampire-human sex, dangerous witches, and a main character who gets thrown into an incredible situation she doesn’t want to accept. Soon I will be reading book # 11 Hunt the Darkness and book #12 When Darkness Ends, which comes out in May. I wish I had time to read #s 2-10, but I don’t and will have to skip to the newer part of the series. If you have already read this series, I would love to hear from you in the comments. Do you think I will be able to understand what is going on without having read it all the way through?

Alexandra Ivy continues her excellent series in The Guardians of Eternity. I found this one even better than her last one and can hardly wait for more. She has been able to keep my attention and move a good story with speed and substance. I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Conde Cezar is a vampire, who serves the Oracles, the ultimate rulers and dispensers of justice in the immortal world. He has served them for 200 years since he tasted a woman destined to join their ranks. They have forced impotence on him and seperated him from the regular world. Now he has been allowed to entice the woman he seduced to come to Chicago. Anna Randel has come to meet Cezar and get some questions answered. She allowed him to seduce her 200 yrs ago. When she awakened and hurried home her home had been destroyed and she was alone. She has been alone for all those years and has found that she is immortal. Now she wants to ask Cezar what he did to her. When they meet again, Cezar finds his body very willing to seduce her again and Anna finds herself in a ton of trouble. Someone is trying to kill her. There are secrets and there are revelations. Just when life is getting interesting for both they must face a final parting. I loved this book and recommend anyone who likes this type of tale to not miss it. This author has a surprisingly light and intriqing instinct for this type of literature. She is going to be around for a long time.

I didn't know what to expect when I started this book, so I wasn't disappointed. Generally fast paced and action packed, this is a pretty steamy romance that also confronts some very seriously evil forces. Atmosphere in this book is definitely dark- so be prepared for that. Our heroine is more character than sex symbol, but the hero is more sex god than character. Part of the fun was getting to know Dante for more than just his looks, though I don't think he ever really became fully developed. Abby was great though. The parts narrated from her perspective were always lots of fun to read. The chemistry and bantering dialogue between the two of them was well done. Over all, the story seemed rather thin, but this was largely balanced out by more thoroughly explored characters. Even the bad guys got face time as we had glimpses into what their motivations were. Some great supporting characters were brought in, showing promise for future books. Pretty good paranormal romance. Writing was just ok and sometimes it felt as though we spent too much time with the bad guys- they were very creepy and those sections could be unnerving when you weren't sure where we were going with them. Lines between good and evil became oddly blurred, adding some needed complication to the plot line, and a few confusing moments when I wasn't sure who I wanted to root for outside of our central couple! I will definitely read any additional books as those other characters seemed to have the potential to be just as much fun as Dante and Abby.

I enjoyed this story, as I do all of Alexandra Ivy's books. I do have one question though. If vampires have no heartbeat, then blood cannot be running around in their body. Therefore, how can blood cause them to get a hard on when they get excited that way. Given that this is the first book in this series, maybe that will be explained in a later book.

When Darkness Comes was an entertaining and sensual paranormal romance. I enjoyed the plot even if it was a tad bit formulaic. I thought the pacing was good throughout the book. There's action, adventure, humor, romance, a little mystery and some fairly explicit love scenes. The character development and writing was spot on. I liked Abby and Dante. I appreciated that Abby wasn't the typical great beauty found in most romance novel and that her inner strength, resilience, and pure soul is what made her truly desirable and beautiful. I liked Abby and Dante's chemistry and banter. The suspense was rather weak. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and plan to read the 2nd book in the Series. There aren't any cliffhangers, everything pertaining to this book was resolved. A great stand alone read.

Beautiful girl who doesn't think she's pretty, superhumanly handsome and sexy vampire, demons, witches, and other supernatural beings are the ingredients that make up this book. There are other reviews describing the plot, so I'll jump right into what I thought about it. I don't know why I bought this book; it was a whim. I got a giftcard for Amazon from a friend and I wanted to use it. When I started reading it, I was surprised to find myself turning the pages eagerly, wanting to see what happens. It has a good tempo and a solid story with well defined characters. The author has a good storyline and tells it well. I am particularly fond of the way she describes her characters; they become real. Anything to nitpick over? Well, there has to be a synonym to the word drawl, and for a few pages in the middle I had an overload of the word witches. However, this is really nitpicking! The book is a good read and if you're at all into the supernatural I think you'd appreciate it.

This book had everything you look for and more. I actually caught myself laughing out loud with the humor that was used. The vampire romance was great, the plot came around nicely while keeping you totally unable to put the kindle down! I am not one to review books and give you the summary of what happens you can get that off the description. I will say I only ordered one book of this Guardians of Eternity series because I wanted to see if I liked how the Author put the story together. Needless to say I have ordered all 6 books and can not wait to dive into them. The only thing I don't like is when ordering series thru the kindle portion of amazon it does not list the books in order by the series but it does if you order a paperback. I understand you can go by copyright but that didn't prove true in the last series I read (which I know makes no sense) That said I definitley recommend this book/series if you want to be taken to a mytheical place, with seduction, friendship, sexual tension, real life experience, and comedy all wrapped up in one nice packed delivered by Alexandra Ivy!

After having read the reviews I decided to go ahead and buy a copy of this book. I must admit that during the reading of it I did get a little annoyed at Abby - she does whine a little too often and Dante is forced again and again to stroke her fragile sense of self. However, that aside, I did love this book - the story moves on nicely and the characters are nicely fleshed out. I would have liked a little more info on Dante rather than soooooo much on Abby, but, hey, we can't always have what we want. Also, I totally agree with the earlier reviewer in that the secondary characters are also nicely developed in this first instalment and I am looking forward to reading their individual stories. I love the whole paranormal romance genre and Alexandra Ivy looks set to become a major player in this field. I have already bought the next two instalments and have the fourth on pre-order. If you fancy a fun, racy, sexy paranormal adventure then you could really do much much worse than this excellent book.

Well written, enjoyable storyline. Moved along at just the right pace. A couple of places where it seemed to jump about but overall looking forward to the next book.

Good book you can really relate to the characters in the book I just wish there was more passion other then that it's a good read

Abby worked for Selena, and Dante protected Selena. when Selena is mortally injured, Abby finds herself the unwilling host to the Chalice, the only thing that keeps the Dark Prince where he belongs. There are those who wish to see him return, and it is Dante's job to make sure that Abby is safe, and the followers of the Dark Prince do not get their hands on Abby. easier said than done, since Abby has been driving him nuts for the weeks she was in Selena's employment. Abby has been having similiar thoughts about Dante. this is the first in the Guardians of Eternity, published some time ago, and ive read alot of Alexandra Ivy's newer stuff, and you can see the difference. THAT not to say this is bad, at all, just you can see the progressive writing skills in the newer books. slight twist to the vampire lore, Dante cannot remember who he was before he was turned, and since being Protector to the Chalice, he has been unable to feed directly off of humans, using bagged blood to survive. i loved the interaction between Abby and Dante, espcially near the beginning when it was all kicking off. they are so funny together! lots of vampire sex, but not so explicit, and violent, but then again, facing witches, demons and lord knows what else, its hardly surprising! the second book, Embrace the Darkness, appears not to be available on kindle, and i soooooo wanna read that one, as it involves Viper and the Shalott from this book. anyone know where i can get it??

This is one of my favourite authors and she never disappoints! I have every book in this series and am waiting impatiently for the next one to be published this year. This author makes a strange world realistic, and makes you care what happens to her characters. Love all her books!