When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity, Book 1) (edition 2007)

When Darkness Comes is the first book in a new paranormal romance series called the Guardians of Eternity by author Alexandra Ivy. When Darkness Comes is set in Chicago and includes demons, evil wizards, witches, and vampires.
This story is about Abby, who inherits the power of Phoenix (a good creation keeping the Prince of Darkness at bay), when her employer dies. Dante, the protector (or beast as referred to in the story), is a vampire and magically chained to that power to protect the Phoenix, also call The Chalice.
For most of the story it centers around the growing attraction between Abby and Dante and conflicts to include the dangers that Abby and Dante face in the form of zombies, demons and the acolytes of evil while trying to find the witches and have the Phoenix removed from Abby.
I again, was looking for a new paranormal series and found that this definitely fit the bill for it. I feel as though Alexandra Ivy did a phenomenal job at making the characters likeable and the plot entertaining, not to mention the hilarious back-and-forth between Dante and Abby with her stubborn ways and his arrogance attitude. When Darkness Comes is a hugely enjoyable read and a strong start to the Guardians of Eternity series, it has everything a vampire romance fan could ask for - sexy vampires and hot romance.
I am looking forward to the next book in the series, Embrace the Darkness, which hopefully is the story of the cunningly wicked Viper. ( )

Abby Barlow has been working as a maid for Selena for only a short time when she is killed by an explosion. During this time she also met Dante, a vampire, who was chained by invisable chains to Selena by a coven of witches, as Selena is a mortal who is The Chalice as she carries the spirit of the Phoenix within her. The Phoenix is a spirit who can keep the dark lord at bay. At Selena's death the spirt transfers to Abby and things get interesting from there.

Dante and Abby have to fight demons, wizards and witches to save the day and of course they fall in love along the way.

This is the first in a series of 7 called "Guardians of Eternity". It was good read. ( )

It's been a hell of a day for Abby Barlow. In just a few hours, she's survived an explosion, watched her employer die, had a startling dream, and now she finds herself in a seedy Chicago hotel with the sexy, unearthly Dante, a man she both desires and fears.

For 341 years, Dante has stood as guardian to The Chalice, a mortal woman chosen to hold back the darkness. A terrible twist of fate has now made Abby that woman. Three hours ago, Dante would have used all his charms to seduce her. Now she is his to protect. And he will do so until his very death.

A terrifying plan has been set in motion, one that will plunge Dante and Abby into an epic battle between good and evil—and a desperate race to save their love... ( )

I really enjoyed this book. It had a very tight, well-written plot and I'm definitely going to read other books in this series.I truly enjoyed the character of Abby, which doesn't always happen in other romance books. The last thing I want when I'm reading a romance is to be jealous of the heroine. I want to empathize with her. Abby Barlow is one of those sorts of heroines.If you like your erotica wrapped around a great plot, this book is for you. ( )

Abby seems to have trouble follow her. Growing up she had nothing to look forward to. He father was a abusive drunk. Her mother was useless and un-motherly. So when she started a menial job she didn’t think her life was getting much better. Her life changed after breaking a Ming vase. After Dante catching her breaking the vase a huge explosion occurred knocking her down. After gathering herself she ran to see her employer Selena dead while Dante trying to save her. Selena grabbed hold of Abby transferring the Phoenix and making her the Chalice. Making this short Dante and Abby fell in love they had to battle witches, demons and wizards. While fighting to stay alive they were trying to find a way to remove the Phoenix from Abby ad removing the spell from Dante, which tied him to the phoenix as a protector.

As much as I hate to give a bad review, this book left me no room to do much else. The characters were underdeveloped. If Dante remarked “Bloody hell” one more time I probably would have shot myself. I didn’t understand the relationship between Dante and Abby. At times they seemed a perfect pair and then you realized how the characters didn’t seem to have much personality. Abby may have talked about her childhood but it wasn't heartfelt. I had no connection with here. This book took me a week to get through because I just couldn’t get into it. The writing lagged it was slow paced even during the drama and fighting scenes.

The one character I wanted to know about really wasn’t in the book as much. Viper was Dante’s brotherly/fatherly figured who demanded attention that wasn’t given. I have found out that the second in the series is Vipers story. As of now I would not read the rest of the series. I still have a bad taste in my mouth maybe I will give it another shot in a month or so.