ARC BOOK REVIEW ~ DARKNESS RISES BY DIANNE DUVALL

Title: Darkness Rises ( Immortal Guardians, Book Four)
Author: Dianne Duvall
Release Date: October 1, 2013

ARC provided by NetGalley

Krysta is used to getting the drop on vampires. Her "special abilities" aren't much, but the plan is simple--she plays helpless pretty young thing to lure them in. Then her shoto swords come out and it's bye-bye, bloodsucker. Until one night she finds herself with an unexpected ally. He's a vampire, all right, but different. Mysterious. Handsome. And more interested in saving her skin than draining it.

Etienne has been an Immortal Guardian for two hundred years--long enough to know that Krysta is special. He can't stop thinking about her long legs, even more than her short swords. Then he discovers the vamps she's exterminating have friends in high places, and the Guardians are in danger too. He'll have to accept Krysta's help to save them. The stakes for a mortal are high. But the cost to his heart might be higher. . 

Book Review

I admit that I have only read the first book of Duvall's series, Darkness Dawns. But I love a great vampire book, and enjoyed the first book, so I had to jump ahead a bit in the story line in order to read Darkness Rises.

That being said, the story is easy to follow and I did little fumbling along the way trying to catch up.

Duvall has created a world where vampires are the bad guys. Her vampires have been infected with a virus that eventually turns the vampire crazy.  And it is up to the Immortal Guardians to hunt them down and destroy them before they kill or can infect others.

These Immortal Warriors are different in that they too have been infected with the same virus--but because of their unique gifts (ability to heal, ability to read others thoughts, etc), the virus doesn't infect them in the same way. They maintain their gifts and only the positive aspects of being a vampire.

Krysta and her brother, Sean, have been hunting vampires for over six years. With their special abilities, they are able to demolish and kill those vamps that prey on the innocent. But a run-in with the sexy Immortal Guardian, Etienne, changes everything.

And Krysta finds herself falling in love with a vampire. Except, Etienne is different. And it is those differences that attract her to the sexy Immortal Guardian as he exposes her to another kind of world. Can she trust this stranger to be who and more importantly, what he is?

Duvall has built a solid world with attractive Alpha heroes who are bad-ass to the bone. She intertwines several plots with ease and the secondary characters almost outshine the intended couple of this book. Fans of the paranormal and vampire world will love to sink their teeth in this sexy series.