Darkness Dawns

When Sarah Bingham finds Roland Warbrook staked out in her garden she rescues him and finds herself caught up in a world of immortals and vampires and her life will never be the same again. She's a willing participant. The occasional author attitudes toward particular foods and gun ownership does make itself felt. A cut above some others in the genre, I actually liked the characters and felt that they respected each other. ( )

I absolutely loved this book I can hardly wait for the next one to come out....if you Like the Fever series I recommend that you read this book...the plot is wonderful with plenty of twists and turns and it really was one I just could not put down ( )

Sarah Bingham is a music teacher at UNC-Chapel Hill. Roland is an Immortal Guardian protecting innocents from vampires. Their paths cross one very early morning when Roland is staked to the ground in a remote area by enemies who torture him while they wait for the sun to come up and burn him to ash. Sarah, out before sunrise to beat the heat, is digging up a place for her vegetable garden in a field adjacent to her home when she hears a loud commotion. After sneaking up in the trees to see what’s going on and witnessing the torture of a naked man she decides she doesn’t have time to go home to phone 911. Taking her shovel firmly in hand she whacks the bad guys in the head, unties Roland and helps him to her house thus saving his life. And that’s just the beginning.

From the very first pages I loved this book. The characters are well-fleshed and interesting, the writing flows smoothly, the plot unrolls at just the right speed and there’s humor, action and sexual heat aplenty. A big plus for me is that this book is set in North Carolina, not far from where I live. I can count on one hand, maybe two, the number of books I’ve read that are set in North Carolina.

Roland and the other Immortal Guardians are HOT, interesting, honorable, strong and yummy. Sarah is no shrinking violet and is gutsy and quick thinking even when she’s scared. Even secondary characters are well-fleshed. I very much look forward to continuing the series and with so many interesting characters I hope this series will be around a very long time ( )

I love this series. It's like a cross between J. R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood and Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series, except it's been consistently good. Granted, there are only 3 books in the series so far and I haven't even finished the third book, but I only have 30 or so pages to go and I'm out here typing this review instead of reading - probably because it's so good I don't want it to end!

The Immortal Guardians are a group of "good" vampires who hunt the "bad" vampires who kill people. Roland, an Immortal Guardian, has been ambushed by a group of vampires and is about to be fried by the sun when he is rescued by Sarah, a human. Her actions put her in danger from his enemies and he discovers he is willing to do anything to protect her.

I think what I like the most about the series is the strong secondary characters and the humor. The series has an overarching storyline and the love stories are woven into it. The leader of the Immortal Guardians is incredibly hot - powerful, yet protective (like Acheron) - but the other Guardians and their human Seconds are so likable that I wouldn't mind reading their stories first . . . I just wish they were already written so I could read them NOW! ( )

Reviewed by: Rabid Reads

I’m just going to come out and say it right off the bat so that when I start babbling like a love-struck school girl you’ll have been warned… I love, love, LOVED this book! Darkness Dawns is flirty, energetic and features one of the cutest paranormal couples that I’ve ever encountered. That’s saying something considering I just met them! Dianne Duvall’s writing is so real that I needed a reality check every time I took a reading break. I was so engrossed by the story that real life sort of slipped to the sidelines. Kirsten Potter’s beautiful job as the narrator definitely helped too. Look out Bones and Barrons, Roland might succeed in stealing your spot as my top fictional boyfriend!

It’s really hard for an author to accurately portray the magnetic chemistry that exists between soulmates. I’m sure you know a couple or two in real life who just have this “thing” about them; two peas in a pod or cut from the same cloth if you will. Duvall achieved near perfection when she created Roland and Sarah. These two couldn’t be more opposite but that’s what makes them so good together. Miss Bingham is a school teacher, enjoys gardening and leads a quiet, human life. Warbrook is nine centuries old, anti-social and an immortal guardian. From their very first chance meeting it was obvious that these two are a match made in heaven. They just don’t know it yet! Sarah is the voice of reason to Roland’s stubborn resistant nature. I couldn’t help but crack a smile every time these two interacted with each other. Had they been real, I could have spent hours just watching them. It didn’t matter whether they were discussing dinner or an upcoming battle. Sarah and Roland have a knack for making the most mundane things interesting.

The story itself is spellbinding. Dianne’s world and characters (even the side ones) are all beyond awesome. Marcus’ tragic love story is as hopelessly romantic as it is heartbreaking. Seth is the oldest immortal among them and hides so much knowledge about their kind from the others that I was desperate to learn more. Unfortunately, he gives away nothing! Amiriska is yet another mysterious character who has the potential to be formidable in future installments. I’m not even going to cover David, Lisette, Bastien and Étienne because I’ll never finish!

The plot is as action-packed as it is passionate. When bullets aren’t flying or a battle to the death isn’t occurring, Roland and Sarah are busy getting it on. I was turned-on by their conversations alone so you can only imagine how hot their romp sessions are! I also enjoyed the distinctions that Duvall makes between immortals and vampires. She covers their origins in detail and even explores their DNA. Kirsten Potter’s narration does Darkness Dawns justice. Her accents are dead-on and her voice is mesmerizing. This book is already awesome but believe it or not, she makes it even better!

It takes me a lot longer to get through an audio book than a physical copy but every time I dived back in it was as though no time had elapsed at all. The story was always fresh in my mind and it took me mere seconds to reimmerse myself into this fab tale. Darkness Dawns is pure greatness wrapped up in a sexy Roland package. Five stars all the way! ( )