Review: Darkness Rises (Immortal Guardians #4) by Dianne Duvall

Flora Reviews… Darkness Rises (Immortal Guardians #4) by Dianne Duvall

So what’s Darkness Rises about?

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Darkness Rises is a paranormal romance tale that I think could sit happily on an urban fantasy shelf due to some of the content. The series is set in our modern human world, North Carolina, USA to be exact and features a new twist on the vampire genre.

Immortals and vampires are both infected with the same virus, which lends them dramatically increased strength, speed, healing capabilities and enhanced senses. Vampires are humans who have been infected, whereas immortals are gifted ones who have been infected. Gifted ones are men and women who were born with extremely advanced DNA that lends them special gifts, such as healing, telepathy, precognition and the like. Vampires rapidly descend into madness when the virus damages their brains but Immortals don’t; their advanced DNA protects them from that aspect of the virus.

So, what did I like about Darkness Rises?

I’ve become a definite fan of Ms Duvall’s books. I love her writing style and find her stories very easy to read. She writes intelligent, engaging tales with a collection of well-written characters within an imaginative world that mixes fantasy and reality creating a world that I can believe in. The pace of her stories is usually fast and full of action but without being disorienting. Plus, I like that she combines a couple of plot lines to run alongside the main romantic story arc.

My regular followers will know that I enjoy books where the characters are not black or white, good or evil but a multifaceted mix of positive and negative traits and I like to see them grow through embracing or overcoming these hurdles; the fact that the characters within these pages have been written with personalities that we can see in the real world around us – even though most of them are mythical, paranormal beings – adds that level of believability to this fantasy tale.

I liked the way that all of the characters in this story were written – even the villains of the tale – none of them were flat 2-dimensional creations, they all felt very real. Oh, and like most Brits I do love a bit of banter – this story has plenty of it! I found myself COL (Chuckling Out Loud) throughout, especially in scenes that featured Richart’s second, Sheldon!

I loved the fact that the mystery/thriller aspect of this story kept me guessing, the action kept me on the edge of my seat, the blossoming romance made me warm and fuzzy, the banter kept me giggling  and the passion set my tummy a-tingling. *oooh*

So, ummm, was there anything I disliked about it?

Now, I’ve got to be honest. Right from the first chapter, I felt irritated by our lead romantic lady, Krysta. Her actions, her thought processes and her blinkered determination killed me. “There are some things I can’t do, Krysta. I have limits. When I reach those and you have to bury me, will it have been worth it?”  She is so gung-ho and stubborn I found it hard to like her. However, I appreciated the journey that she had to go on.

The romance aspect of the tale between Etienne and Krysta is concluded by the end of this book in Ms Duvall’s signature HEA style, but I’m unsure whether Darkness Rises can really be read as a standalone story; we meet characters from the previous books and there are references to past adventures, and although, Ms Duvall tries to ensure her new readers aren’t lost – pertinent information is weaved beautiful into this story without slowing the pace – I feel that that as with most series, you miss the nuances of knowing the existing characters, understanding the dynamics of relationships and ongoing plot lines when jumping in cold or reading books out of order plus. As with most series, there are background story arcs that are concluded within this book while others are left to continue into the next one, and possibly beyond.

So, basically what I’m saying is…

I didn’t want to stop reading this book!

Darkness Rises had everything that I look for in a fantastic read.

It had easy to read, intelligent writing style and a believable background story and settings. The main characters have a wealth of personalities that I can like (or love to hate) as well as a depth of character in the supporting cast. There’s also a good balanced mix of relationship and romance scenes to action and sex scenes.

I’d recommend Darkness Rises to readers who want strong alpha heroes and independent capable heroines. Those who enjoy tense often traumatic and brutal confrontations interspersed with hot lust and romance scenes.

So, has my review of DARKNESS RISES (IMMORTAL GUARDIANS #4) encouraged you to find out more? Click on any of the links to check out the book yourself. Keep reading to find out more about the series and the author herself.

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Thanks for taking the time to read my review. I hope you decide to add Darkness Rises to your wish list.

Dianne Duvall is one of the amazing authors on my favourites’ page. I’m sure you’ll see more of her on my blog in the months and years to come. Have you read any of her books? Drop me a comment below.

Bye for now,

Flora x