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Embrace The Darkness

Alexandra Ivy

Published 2007       334 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

Lady Shay is the last of her kind.  Half human, half Shalott, her blood is a precious aphrodisiac to vampires, who consider it more precious than gold.  Though Shalotts are renowned assassins, a curse held over Shay lands her on the slave auction block, where her fate is uncertain...

Viper, the beguiling chief of a deadly vampire clan, can't explain his longing to possess the beautiful Shalott who once saved his life, but now he is free to do anything he wants with her.  Strangely, while he desires both Shay's blood and body, he wants her to surrender willingly.

A hidden evil has been stalking Shay since she left the slave market with Viper.  It is an evil that endangers the very existence of Viper's kind, and there's no reason he should court such danger just to protect a Shalott.  But the love he feels for Shay is enough to make him willing to go to hell and back if it means spending an eternity with her in his arms...

The Review

Embrace The Darkness is the second novel in Alexandra Ivy’s Guardians of Eternity paranormal romance series.  This novel is a stand alone story, so although Dante and Abby the central characters from When Darkness Comes (the first novel in this series) make a return appearance in Embrace The Darkness you don’t have to have read the first book first to enjoy and understand this story.

Readers were first introduced to both Shay and Viper’s characters in When Darkness Comes.  This time around they are the stars of the show, or rather their own story.  Viper, the beautiful yet deadly vampire with a love of luxury, gets more than he bargained for when he purchases Shay from a slave auction.  It is hard to tell who is master and who is slave, as he showers Shay with gifts and battles to protect her from those who would capture her in order to drain her healing blood.

Shay and Viper spend most of the story either running from, or fighting with, the various demons, hellhounds and vampires that have been sent to capture Shay.  This constant flight from peril maybe why their romance seems a little superficial.  There isn’t much real romantic conflict between the pair and this is strange considering that they have plenty of issues to be at odds about.

Viper is a vampire, Shay’s father was hunted and killed by vampires and Shay herself has spent her life hiding from vampires, this is an obstacle that might stand in the way of their relationship - but it doesn’t appear to be worth more than a brief mention.  Viper purchased Shay at a slave auction and no matter how nice he is to her - he still owns her and she is still a slave - but this is no barrier to Shay and Viper instantly falling into lust for each other.  The problem here is that their relationship is not shown to develop, it just seems to happen.  Romance readers maybe disappointed by the lack of emotional connection and romantic development between the lovers.

While the constant running and fighting might be the reason Viper and Shay’s romance never had time to develop, the fast paced plot also carries the reader from one supernatural thrill to another at such a pace that there really isn’t time to worry about it.

Embrace The Darkness is an enjoyable read by any standard even if the romance doesn’t tug on the heart strings it still has engaging characters, hot sexy vampires and plenty of supernatural beasties to keep readers entertained.

The Guardians of Eternity series is definitely one to watch out for and with the ancient vampire Styx up for finding love next in Darkness Everlasting fans of this series won’t have to wait too long.

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