Customer Reviews

Beyond the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity, Book 6)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This was so much better than the last installment of the guardians of eternity. I've been a secret Salvatore fan for a while now so they may have played a part in it. The king of the werewolves has been a good or bad guy depending on the circumstances and I've been intrigued with him. In Beyond the Darkness Salvatore catches up with one of the missing quad she wolves that he has been searching for. Harley is the third female that could be the savior/breeder the werewolves have been waiting for. In the beginning Salvatore is full of arrogance thinking that he will have Harley for himself after he explains that he is not out to kill her. Too bad Harley has been raised by Caine who stole her as an infant and has brainwashed her into thinking that the King of the Were's will kill her on sight.

Harley has never been around other weres and allows curiousity to over rule good judgement by visiting Salvatore's jail cell. Without revealing any spoilers the two end up together on the run and the story is on. The Anasso and Darcy show up as well as Abby and Dante. This story overlaps Darkness Unleashed since there is mention of Jagr after Regan but not that he has caught her. Levet obviously is here with an appearance as well but no where near as annoying as before.He was almost his endearing self again. This was really good and I loved watching the love develop between Salvatore and Harley. We're given some tidbits about why the female quads were kidnapped as babies and the plot reveals information that ties up some of the questions on previous books. More info on Tane the asian vampire assasin as well as his possible hea with a djinn and then a pivotal scene about Caine and maybe the final female pureblood wolf being discovered.

Ivy did a fantastic job with this Alpha and Harley is worthy of being Queen of the Weres.

I admit, I believe the Guardians of Eternity series hasn't quite reached the level of exceptional paranormal romance (yet). I think it's a very solid and satisfying paranormal romance series - with a slight issue here and there. There doesn't seem to be a lot that differentiates and individualizes the lead romantic pairing in each book in either character development or the formula of the evolving romance, and I believe that is what separates the solid and satisfying from the exceptional. I've long been a huge fan of paranormal romance novels and series, though, so I have a pretty high tolerance for that lack of differentiation and individualization. It's a common malady in the paranormal romance series sub-genre. That being said, there are some series, like Christine Feehan's Carpathians, that I stopped reading a long time ago because the formula got to be too much, the characters too interchangeable, the women too often somehow lesser than their mates. I'm taking a break (and have been since Acheron) from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series for similar reasons.

I'm still reading Alexander Ivy's Guardians of Eternity series. Why? Because it's still giving me exactly what I like in my paranormal romance novels. An uberalpha male and a strong, independent female that lock heads, fangs, fists AND wits, humor, and charm to create an explosive chemistry that works for me quite nicely. There's also the characters from previous novels that get tossed into the mix, and I love seeing the continuing development there.

In Beyond the Darkness, in particular, Ivy has gone one step further, and seems to have added another dimension to the series arc, hinting at something coming that may draw together all the characters we've met so far and pit them against one decidedly evil threat to all demonkind. It was a tantalizing and tricky thing to do, because it provided the series a cohesion and depth previously unattained. Not to mention, this particular book is the first of the series to provide a male pureblood werewolf as top dog (so to speak) instead of another of the leeches (as Salvatore would call them), so we got to get a much better - though still too brief for me - view of the difference between the vampire culture and the declining werewolf culture. The differences were handled nicely, even if I wish I'd seen a few more of them to make them really stand out. When combined with my appreciation for the series and the characters to date, it raised my enjoyment of this book and the series even higher.

Not to mention that Alexander Ivy has managed to take a character I have disliked since he was introduced, Salvatore Giuliani, and made me not only like him (a little), but understand him better and appreciate his responsibilities and the demands of saving a race from extinction. That stunned me, because I said in my review of the previous book in the series that I was NOT looking forward to a book about Giuliani. Up until this point I've found him arrogant, manipulative, and at turns boorish and sadistic in how he treated his curs and females. There was A LOT of ground to cover to get me to like him, and while he STILL isn't my favorite character, I admit, I did warm to him. I had no such trouble with Harley. I found her just as competent, intelligent, and strong as all of Ivy's female leads (except maybe Abby). I enjoyed very much her calling Giuliani to task again and again for his arrogance and I appreciated her willful resistance to bowing to the alpha's power. I thought the plot supporting her backstory was well defined and explained everything about her character. In fact, I think this is the first book in the series in which I completely bought into exactly why the male and female lead are exactly the way they are and was very impressed by how deftly the author blended the pair without diminishing either individual.

Salvatore has been searching for the four genetically altered pureblood cubs for thirty years, and has finally stumbled across the third (after the first fell in love and mated to the vampire Anasso, Styx, and the second proved to be barren...though she also fell under the spell of the leech Jagr, and Salvatore had no chance there). Imagine his surprise when he realizes that the third of the female cubs, the delicate in appearance but anything BUT delicate in reality Harley, is not only within his grasp, but is also his true mate - a bond he thought lost to the mysteries of the past for his species, as it had been a hundred years or more since the last pureblood true mating. Harley has been living cloistered from the werewolves, kept hidden by Caine, the upstart cur who's been using Harley's blood to try to find his personal holy grail - turning curs into purebloods and being the messiah of the species. She's been lied to her entire life - about the death of her sisters at the claws of the Were King himself, in particular, so meeting up with him on a moonlit night sends terror through her heart and violence through her soul. Neither know, nor soon realize, that each are a pawn in a far deadlier game, and ancient evil and a long dead nemesis rise against them both. If they fall, they lose more than their lives, they lose the entirety of the battered and beleaguered were species.

Excellent novel, and fun, fast read. It didn't have quite the same amount of humor that some of the others in the series do, and I truly missed the sardonic acceptance that each of the vampires showed when they realized THEIR mates weren't going to make life easy on them. Salvatore was less humorous, more intense that way - but in his defense, he had some truly charming and adorable moments towards the end that I won't go into further to prevent spoilers. They were endearing, though. Beyond the Darkness is also the first in the series that has set me on the edge of my seat for the next - and it's exactly because of the added dimension I mentioned as well as the plot thread with Caine. Dastardly Ivy keeps making her books better and better. 4.5 Stars all the way. Very much enjoyed it.

I have all of this author's books and I have enjoyed each of them. I really didn't like the "King of the Weres", Salvatore Giuliani. However, this book changed my mind about him and I liked the romance. He was so arrogant in the other books that I thought he was not a likeable person. Now however, Harley, his mate brings him down to earth. The romance is good the supernatural aspect is excellent and I recommend this one, if you liked her other novels.

Harley is one of the babies stolen from the weres. She is one of four born without the ability to change. Therefore she will be able to carry her babies to term. She doesn't know this as she has been held her whole life by a group of curs. These are weres who were bitten instead of born. Salvatore finally finds her and rescues her from the curs. But Harley has been held to long and now she wants her freedom.

Salvatore has hunted the babies, one of whom he plans to make his Queen, for 30 years. When he finds Harley he finds more than he bargained for, there has not been a true were mateing in many, many, years. So it is hard for him to accept that he and Harley are true mates. The fact that his powers are weakened by her nearness, and the musk that now permeates his skin, finally convince him that he must quickly make her his mate.

The identity of the true evil that is killing the packs and draining their power is finally revealed. This power is now determined to kill Salvatore and take his place. The action is fast, the romance hot and I love these stories.

There are as usual a few secondary characters that you know will be in the next novel and leave you wanting more.

Werewolf King Salvatore Guiliani is on the hunt, he's scented a pureblood were female and strongly suspects that it's one of the remaining genetically altered females who were supposed to mean salvation for his declining race. Having already lost two of the four sisters to the dirty bloodsucking vamps, Salvatore is amazed to discover that this one is 'his Queen'.

Harley has been told for years that Salvatore is the bogey man who killed her family and wants to wipe her out too. But somehow the reality of Salvatore just doesn't mesh with what Harley's been told and Salvatore's scent stirs a hunger deep inside her soul. But can Harley trust Salvatore when he spouts fairy stories about their true mating - despite Harley's inability to shift, she is no submissive female willing to pump out pureblood pups for the arrogant were.

But Harley's acceptance is crucial, for Salvatore's old enemy has arisen and with the mate bond incomplete Salvatore may lack the power to save his people from immediate extinction.

Werewolf King Salvatore has been a total arrogant jerk in the previous books, but Ivy manages to make him a decent hero here. Somehow Ivy manages to do that while still keeping Salvatore's character mostly intact - he's still arrogant, but here all that attitude makes Salvatore sexy and seductive. And as despicable as Salvatore's been at times in the past books, he definitely has some noble moments here. Harley is a surprisingly good heroine too. After Harley's previous two sisters stories, I was expecting them all to start blending. But even though Harley has that same core of strength as her siblings, her story stands out because she uses the that strength to make Salvatore really work for his happily ever after. And since that strength allows her to stand up to Salvatore, it ultimately makes Haley a good queen to his king - and fortunately Salvatore is trainable:)

I have really grown to like Ivy's books and though it sounds cliché, this series really does keep on getting better. Which is great since we still have three novels and a Levitt short story to look forward to. Even though vampire assassin Tane's book is next up (he's paired with a half djinn), I am hoping that the final sister Cassandra, whose story was started here, gets her own book too - though I wouldn't mind if a bit more of her story is woven into Devoured by Darkness to tide me over.

The werewolf population is in danger of extinction unless purebred females are found. As their king, Salvatore Giuliani searches for a pureblood candidate before the vampires grab them. He catches a whiff of Harley and goes after her.

He rescues her from a cur pack and knows she is his soulmate, but she rejects him in spite of her attraction to him; as Harley learned to never trust a werewolf having been held prisoner by one. However, all hell breaks loose when a nasty demon resurrects an odious evil rival of Salvatore, who still covets being the werewolf ruler; collateral damage means nothing to either malevolencies including destroying much of the Were pack, vampires, and Harley's recently discovered family.

The sixth Guardians of Eternity (see Darkness Unleashed and Darkness Revealed) is a terrific romantic fantasy as the regal pompous Gucci wearing King of the Weres meets his queen only to be rejected by her. Alexandra Ivy is at her best as she turns the arrogant royal into a heroic champion protecting his soul mate and others rather than just ordering his pack. Beyond the Darkness is another winner from one of the leading urban fantasists.

Harriet Klausner

I love this book. There is humor, danger, sexual tension, etc throughout the book that will keep your heart rate up. I could not put this book down and actually finish it in one day. Highly recommended.

Being the 6th book in the series, it was still entertaining. I do enjoy this series and (if I can find the time) will start the next one soon.
I only had 2 issues with the book.
1st The heroine was too strong...there were times I found Harley annoying...sarcastic to the point of near dislike.
2nd The dialogue between the two main characters was mainly sex joke/friendly banter. They rarely made it through a page without some joke or smart ass comment. They never really seemed to have a real conversation. It was funny and fun to begin with, but it was annoying towards the end and I found myself skipping entire paragraphs because I felt what they had to say wasn't important.
Normally I get through a book within a few days, this book took me weeks.
Overall: I enjoyed the book and I am interested in finding out what happens next in series.
(Especially since the next hero of book 7 was somewhat of a bad guy in book 6...now the reader is suppose to like him...? We'll see.)

I picked this book up at the library because the back blurb sounded intriguing. I have to admit though that I'm usually a sucker for the "King of all paranormal" and mate stories though. =)

However, once I started reading the book, I felt like I'd been thrown into an immature, teenage romance with some mystical powers thrown in. The main characters don't live up to what readers expected them to be; Salvatore isn't very alpha or majestic and Harley is a wall flower - I couldn't recall her name and had to look it up, even though I've just finished the book. For the first half of the book, Salvatore, the king of all werewolves, acts as if he's a studly gift to the world; some of his first words to the heroine are "Come in here and I can show you the benefits of being on the bottom". Of course he's saying this after he's been captured, locked in a silver cage with no way out, and in the hands of one of his biggest enemies. There's such a thing as poetic license, but even fantastical stories have to have some semblance of practicality in them. Honestly, if I was the King of Weres and pretty much their only hope to fend off extinction, I'd be a little more worried about getting out alive than hitting on a girl, even if she's my mate; call it my "pack instinct" as AIvy so likes to emphasize in this story. The heroine, Harley, is just as bland as the hero. Except for the brief part in the beginning when she captures Salvatore, and appears to be capable of being Queen of Weres, she lets Salvatore make all the decisions as she meekly follows along. It felt like she was a ditzy blonde (blondes don't get offended, the character actually is blonde), as her lines pretty much consisted of "Oh my god! Get over yourself!"; I could practically feel her eyes rolling before her character even spoke in the book.

The only saving grace AIvy has in this book is the actual storyline. There is something more sinister at work than any of the weres, vampires, or "good guys" ever anticipated as former enemies thought dead are magically alive again, demons with bad powers are escaping detection by the council, and mortals are becoming immortal. Not sure how many books AIvy plans for this series, but if the next book is going to be the last then she's setting it up to be probably the best of the lot as there's an epic paranormal battle brewing.

I recommend that the book be read if only to understand what is occurring in the Guardian world because readers will most likely be disappointed with the weakness of the main romance and characters.

I LOVE THIS AUTHOR!!! The whole series was great, but this book has taken my top pick!I would recommend to anyone

I really love Alexandra Ivy's writing! Her prose flows like smooth, warm honey, the kind you'll never get enough of. I know I've said something to that effect before, but I witnessed it again in this story and in Embrace the Darkness, which I've read but haven't yet written the review.

I have to admit that when I was reading Darkness Unleashed (Jagr's story), I hadn't liked Salvatore Giuliani, King of the Weres, that much. I thought he was too smooth, too slick and let's face it, I hate any man who has a better grasp of fashion than I. In this story, Salvatore is still the same fastidious Were, but his head is by no means only wrapped up in his appearance. There's another side to him--the king who takes his responsiblity and duty to his people seriously, maybe at cost to his own life. The man who would do anything to protect his mate and keep her safe. When Harley itches at his protectiveness, he told her, "There will never be a moment when I won't need to protect you." Happy sigh, and in serious danger of melting! What I like best was his snappy, witty banter with the heroine. I could read on and on. Totally refreshing and never failed to bring a smile to my face.

Harley is a likeable heroine, strong, spunky, smart, an equal partner for Salvatore. I like that when she did finally meet her sister in person, she was wary and that they didn't immediately fall crying into each other's arms. Affection does take time to grow. Though she seemed to resist making any commitment to Salvatore, her reaction when she discovered he might be in danger is a dead giveaway to the people around her. But when she finally accepted her place as Salvatore's mate and queen, she stepped right up to her responsiblities.

In this book, we finally discovered who engineered the kidnapping of Harley and her sisters and the reasons behind! However, the story doesn't stop here. Ms Ivy cleverly dangles another thread before us, one that might have cataclysmic repercussions, and I hope we see this in the next book, which is still a long time coming--December 2010!

Sadly, there's not much about Levet here, except for the first few chapters. But there's a fascinating new character--Harley and Darcy and Regan's sister. There are intriguing bits about her, who is very mysterious and seems to be the catalyst to some world event. And then there's Caine, evil cur turned good guy? I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him. The next book should be plenty exciting!

Reviewed by Silver
for The Romance Reviews