Customer Reviews

Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jenson Guardian)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a real improvement over Keri Arthur's earlier stories in Riley Jenson, Guardian series - there is a greater focus on plotting and characterisation and less emphasis on sex to carry the story along. The book starts with Riley on holiday on an island to recover from all the events of the last year (and last four books). She is contacted there by a member of her former pack who demands that she looks into the disappearance of a pack member, Adrienne, and threatens to hurt Riley and Rhoan's mother if she doesn't comply. Shortly afterwards the Directorate ask her to look into the strange murder of a woman who appears to have been torn limb from limb by her fiancé and Riley discerns a supernatural element to the crime. She works on both investigations at the same time, also finding herself under attack from an unknown assailant, dealing with the memories that contact with her pack has dredged up, and trying to make sense of her relationship with Kellen who wants to 'go solo' with her. Riley's not sure if she can commit to that and clearly has some feelings still for vampire Quinn, although he doesn't appear in person in this story.

The plotting in this book was excellent with good pacing and with the variety of two simultaneous investigations. The caustic relationship between Riley and Salliane, 'The Cow', is very amusing, and adds some light relief in a story with a fair amount of darkness. Riley's skills are growing and strengthening and she discovers a new aspect of her nature in this book following the drug treatment that she received in the first instalment. Her brother Rhoan features in this story as he helps Riley at the denouement at the end of the story when they uncover the evil behind a string of grisly deaths from the UK to Germany to Australia.

This book relied far more on plot and characterisation, particularly Riley's workaholic nature and her complete absorption in being a Guardian and how that plays out with her personal relationships, rather than sex; for me, this made it a much stronger read and made Riley a more sympathetic character. It ended on a cliffhanger in Riley's personal life (although the major plot lines were all completed) and made me look forward to the next book. Although part of a series all the relevant backstory was given in a smooth and concise way and so this book would be easy to understand for a first-time reader despite the complex supernatural world and the varied skills that the non-humans have. "Embraced by Darkness" is a great addition to the series and a book that will probably win this author new readers.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, [...]. © Helen Hancox 2007

Riley Jenson is part vampire and part werewolf. She had been forcibly given an experimental fertility drug in her past. She has developed a few interesting powers due to side effects, such as the abilities to see souls rise and spirits walk in the shadows. Riley never knows when another ability will pop up. However, they tend to come in handy during her job.

Riley and her brother, Rhoan, are Guardians; they are the super-cops, hunter-killers, of the nonhuman world.

When Blake Jenson, her family's alpha male, demands Riley help the pack, Riley is ready to tell him to get lost. Riley and Rhoan had been thrown out of the red pack back when they had been thirteen-year-old pups. But Blake throws down a verbal gauntlet when he informs Riley that should she refuse to help or fails in the mission her mother's life would be forfeit. Riley is now on the hunt for a serial killer. At the same time, Riley's lover is trying to convince her to quit her work. Yet should Riley do so, many will die.

**** This is the fifth book in the Riley Jenson Guardian series. The plot starts out immediately, on page one. Readers are able to dive right into the scenario. The action slows down two or three times during the course of the novel, but gets hotter than a blow torch by the end. This may be the fifth book of the series, but new readers will not find themselves totally lost. The author does a good job of filling them in. I found this to be a compelling story that held my attention well. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

I loved this series since the first installment. It's true that this book doesn't have the "heat" of some of the previous books. Here we see Riley starting to develop more as a character who isn't a complete prisoner to her hormones.

Hopefully, Riley will have someone new come into her life. Quinn has his own issues, and can't accept her for herself. As for breaking off her relationship with Kellem, it was no great loss. His character always seemed a little flat to me.

Ms. Arthur has a good imagination so hopefully she will surprise us all in the next book.Embraced By Darkness (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 5)

This by far is the best installment yet (hence the four stars) but it still leaves something to be desired. The characters are finally becoming something more than one dimentional but the plot line is still predictable and the love scenes fizzle. Quinn disappears which wouldn't be a bad twist if the author had explored the dynamics of Riley and Kellen's relationship more instead of throwing us in the middle of it (SPOILER)) only to see it's demise.

All in all, Keri Arthur appears to be growing as an author and I'm looking forward to her next book.

As a Guardian, Riley begins working two cases. One is connected to her former Pack, another deals with a Serial killer. They're connected, but again, not really.

What has me so disappointed in this outing isn't the lack of steamy sex scenes. It's there, but after the first few books Riley was really becoming like Anita Blake... doing any thing, any time, any where... so her promise to try to make a go at it with Kellen was something fresh and unexpected. What I had a problem with is that this lacked the pick up and go action that the first novels had. I purchased this book when it first came out, and I'm only getting around to reading it now because from the very beginning, I was able to put it down at any time. Riley has always been one to grab my attention from go, and that was missing this time. It was like just another day in the life... which tends to get boring if not done right. And sadly enough, this was just 3 shades away from boring.

I like Riley. I really do. But Embraced By Darkness left a lot to be desired. And I hope that with the return of Quinn in The Darkest Kiss, the next book will return Riley back to her glory.

Once I started the Riley Jensen series, I bought all the books on Amazon but this one. Now I finally have it and I can go on with the series. Book arrived in a timely manner just as I was finishing number 4. I am anxious to see what other trouble Riley can get into and which guy she will end up with!!

Another fine Riley Jenson book. The more I read this series the more I love it. Keri has some of the nastiest villains I've ever read.

This one starts 5+ weeks after the last one left off. Riley is on vacation but Kellan has left to go back to work and she's had about enough downtime but feels guilty if she heads home because of all the money Rhoan and Lysander have spent on this trip.

She has an astal visit from the alpha of her birth pack demanding she find his missing granddaughter or he'll kill her mother. So she begins to investigate as well as fulfill her guardian duties. This step in Riley's brings more horror and new discoveries. An excellent read. Looking forward to book 6.

I love her books. She is a great writer. can not wait for her next book.

Same thing I said for 4 and 6: I love and hate these books. I am not really into the whole vampire/ware-wolf/shifter type stories but I cannot put this series down. It started with the first 3 and I was happy when it seemed like there were only 6. Now I am waiting on 8 and 9. I just have to know what happens to Riley Jensen!

I would like to add that her books are well written and I liked her creativity when it came to different characters and scenes of action.

I have read all of the popular, and many not so popular, series in urban fantasy and Riley Jensen is my favorite heroine. It took me a long time to decide to read the first book of the series because the favorite reviews are poor. I usually rely on fellow fans and their reviews to pick a series to read, but after how they really let me down with this series I don't trust reviews anymore. For example the most popular reviewer for book 1 is...

"113 of 133 people found the following review helpful:2.0 out of 5 stars Meh. Disappointing., May 9, 2006 By Circejane (Michigan) - This review is from: Full Moon Rising (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 1) (Hardcover) As an avid Kim Harrison fan, I read this book when she recommended it on her website. Her other recommendation, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, was an excellent read, so I dug into Full Moon Rising with high hopes, but was disappointed."

Who is this Circejane and why are 113 people listening to her????!!!! She is so far off the mark that I question her taste in books, especially in Urban Fantasy. I am also a big fan of Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison, and this series by Keri Arthur more than measures up to the series by those authors. I also love Karen Chance, Lara Adrian, Charlaine Harris, Jeaniene Frost, J.R. Ward (earlier BDB) Kresley Cole,... so Riley Jensen's place as my favorite Heroine means she is one kick ***, entertaining, and well written character.

If you do not thoroughly enjoy each and every Riley Jensen book from 1 to 8 and can't wait for the next, then you obviously don't like urban fantasy. The world building, plots, characters, dialogue, and especially the character of Riley made this series un-put-down-able!!!! It is truly impressive that there are 8 books and each is better than the last. The character devlopment is great, and unlike some authors (like J.R. Ward) Keri Arthur does not make any drastic or odd changes that kill the series for the fans. I read the 8th novel right after it came out in April 2009 and have read tons of books since then. That it is Feburary 2010 and I am still excited for the 9th novel, and this series is still my favorite, should tell you to read this series.