Dianne Duvall

Book source ~ Purchased

Taelon has traveled 13 months in space to Earth from his home planet of Lasar. His sister had been missing for years and he’s finally had a good tip that she’s been on Earth. He and his family have not heard from her and they assume the worst has happened. With good reason. Amiriska was captured and tortured for 6 months before she was rescued, but before Taelon can discover this nugget of information and find out where she is now he himself is captured and show more tortured. Some welcome that is. Yikes.

Lisa has lost people she loved and she’s finally getting her life back on track. Earning some extra money doing research while attending classes has really helped her financial situation. Until she answers a flyer from the Anomalous Cognition Research Institute asking for people to participate in a psychic study. Lisa thinks it’s a bit too woowoo for her, but the pay is good and when she advances to the next round she accepts. She has no idea that she really is psychic and the institute is a cover for a malevolent government organization. But she’s about to learn that fact the hard way.

Taelon and Lisa end up in the same facility and they have to work together to get out and stay hidden. A little help from the Immortal Guardians is just what they need to beat feet. However, they are both in a bad way, they have no idea who to trust, and Taelon still needs to find his sister. But they have each other and a tentative trust that grows each day. Will it be enough though?

Holy shit! I’ve been so busy that I had no idea Dianne Duvall was creating a new spinoff series to my beloved Immortal Guardians. But after the ending of Death of Darkness it makes sense and I feel like an idiot for not seeing that coming. Duh. The Lasaran has everything I love about the Immortal Guardian series: snappy dialogue, action, humor, steaminess, and paranormal elements, but now I can add space travel. Booyah! All of the characters are so awesome, the writing is fantastic, the world just keeps getting bigger and bigger (this is a good thing), and the author makes me love every single thing about it. Which is both a blessing and a curse. I stayed up WAY past my bedtime trying to finish this huge book and finally had to admit defeat at 3:00am. I finished it the next day and wanted to go back and read it again. I am so looking forward to the next book in this series and the Immortal Guardians. show less

Shadows Strike took me on another intense and fantastic journey into the world of the Immortal Guardians. This installment is by far the most intense installment when compared to the previous books. At the end of his friends with benefits arrangement with Lisette, I wondered if he would have his chance at love. Well, Shadows Strike delivered Ethan’s love story and so much more.

This installment started with a bang and had me on the edge of my seat from the first page. Action, suspense and show more romance are the ingredients which drove this installment. In the midst of the action, Duvall infused humour and witty banter which had this reader grinning from ear to ear.

Now, while each book in the series features a different couple, it’s best to read the books in order of release because of the overarching plot driving the series. The situation arising from the previous installment intensified with the revelation of the enemy’s identity and motive. A motive steeped in jealousy.

Ethan is fairly new to the series, and I was keen to learn more about his character. Ethan possessed an uncanny ability to remember everything down to the smallest detail. Although his gift was not as powerful as the other immortals, he possessed top notch fighting skills. Skills which came in handy the night he first met Heather, his love interest. Heather is a US enforcement agent and the daughter of an army General, who possesses the ability to read minds, making her a gifted one. An added layer of excitement came with her introduction to the series. I loved how she adapted to the world of the Immortal Guardians after overcoming her initial shock about their existence and that of vampires. One would have never guessed she was new to the world.

Now, unlike the Night Unbound, the romance in Shadows Strike was not front and centre. With the level of action and suspense permeating the story, this came as no surprise. The romance which developed was not of the slow burn variety, which is the norm for the genre. However, despite the instant connection, their chemistry was undeniable. Their sexy banter and the way they were open with each other made it easy to get on board with their romance.

The secondary characters added another exciting layer to the story. We get caught up with those from the previous books meet new ones in this installment. The introduction of a particular character and the role played left me wishing for his story.

Now while I enjoyed Shadows Strike, I wished that Heather and Ethan’s gift played a major role. With that said, I enjoyed my revisit to world of the Immortal Guardians. I am eager for my next visit as the threat sill looms.

I missed the voice of Kirsten Potter in Phantom Embrace, so it made me happy knowing she narrated Shadows Strike. She’s the voice of the series and I cannot imagine anyone topping her performance. Her performance breathed life into the story and the characters. One could feel the excitement and the tension.

Shadows Strike delivered an action packed read, featuring a kick ass heroine and a cocky but likeable Immortal.

This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading show less

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 show more 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! show less

Book source ~ ARC. My review is voluntary and honest.

Rachel is an Immortal Guardian who volunteered to go into space with four others of her kind and 10 gifted ones. They were heading to Lasara to see if they could help the Lasarans with a fertility problem. Ok, it’s much more involved than that, but I’m keeping this short. Anyway, they were happily traveling along when their ship was attacked and escape pods were scattered across the galaxy. Rachel finally comes across a planet she show more hopes will suffice until she can be rescued, but it’s already occupied by people who are in hiding. And she just brought a mortal enemy right to their door. Uh, oh. Now what? A lot of ass kicking, that’s what. Woot!

Hellz to the Yeah times infinity! What a ride! I am loving this series so much! Each book follows what happened to the survivors after the Lasaran warship Kandovar was attacked by the Gathendians. They can all be read as stand alones, but seriously, why would you want to do that? Go back and start at the beginning. You really won’t regret it.

Rachel and Wonick are great characters with tons of personality. The writing flows fast with lots of action and humor. Secondary characters shine and the romance between Rachel and Wonick builds up steam until it explodes into yummy goodness. Wait. That sounds especially naughty. Because it is! Nom nom! I devoured this across three days only because I was in the process of my office renovation. Otherwise it would have been done in one day. I look forward to every single book Dianne Duvall produces. Her Book Release Days are a holiday for me. Or I try to make it so. This year was the exception that I’ll try not to duplicate. If you like your books filled with awesome characters, action, humor, danger, romance, and ass kicking then do not pass this up. Long live Dianne Duvall! show less