Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Guardian's of the Race #1-3 by Jacqueline Rhoades

Title:  Guardian's Grace
Author:  Jacqueline Rhoades
Series:  Guardians of the Race #1
Published:  May 12th 2012
Page Count:  342
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Shelf:  Gift
Rating:  ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Grace Masters always wanted a family she could call her own. Of course, in her imagination it didn’t include a pair of rambunctious and affectionate twins who can turn into killers within the blink of an eye or an aging vampire who has trouble controlling his thirst. She never expected to find a friend and mentor in a three hundred year old witch who looks like Sophia Loren. And she certainly never dreamed – okay, she dreamed but never thought it would come true – of a tall, handsome hero who would sweep her off her feet. Yet here she is, in an old Victorian home, living and loving under the cover of night.

Who knew that the source of her lifelong torment was really her gift as a Daughter of Man or that this gift could be controlled and used for something good? Who knew there was another race called the Paenitentia who live side by side with humans? Who knew that demons were real?

Grace certainly didn’t until one fateful night when her world falls apart and comes together again in a place where she finally feels she belongs. Sometimes a person just knows when something is right and destined to be. Sometimes convincing someone else of that fact is a little more difficult. Canaan ad Simeon is that someone else.

Canaan is Liege Lord to a House of Guardians whose job is to protect the Race from a demon threat many no longer believe in. Already breaking away from the outdated traditions that are depleting their numbers and threatened by a hierarchy resistant to change, the last thing Canaan needs is to fall for this innocently sexy Daughter of Man.

But fall he does, with a mixture of comedy, drama and sexy fun that will touch your heart.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

What a brilliant premise for this novel. I love how unique yet well developed and put together everything is. The mythology behind this story is clearly set out for the audience in an entertaining manner. This fast paced novel kept my attention throughout. It is extremely suspenseful & romantic, with just the right touch of comedic relief. For all its twists and turns, however, above all this is a story about love and loyalty and finding yourself.

Rhoades is a very visual author. Using a multiplicity of techniques she develops a world that you cannot help but see in your mind’s eye. Her writing style and tone change minutely based on the scene and it’s participants. She subtly evokes emotions in her readers through this. The dark and light of the storyline are entrenched in the reader’s psyche without Rhoades every having to state it flat out. Rhoades describes her scenes in explicit detail, drawing her readers further and further into the story.

I love how Rhoades doesn’t mince her words. She says what she means in the way real people say it. This flows directly into her dialogue. People talk like real people. Slang and swearing make their way into her novels in the manner that it does in everyday conversation. It makes everyone seem so much more real when they aren’t speaking like a textbook or sickly sweet. Rhoades writes her novels for adults without ever talking down to them or simplifying things. At the same time, the novel is naturally written. You feel like you’re still in the real world experiencing something amazing.

I found myself attached to the main characters right from the beginning of this novel. Although the cast itself is quite large, each character is individually developed. Rhoades does a brilliant job of developing everyone to suit their role. She doesn’t throw extraneous details at her readers.

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Title:  Guardian's Hope
Author:  Jacqueline Rhoades
Series:  Guardians of the Race #2
Published:  April 7th 2013 by Createspace
Page Count:  368
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Shelf:  Gift
Rating:  ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Hope Parsons has heard about the evil of demons since she was a child in the little isolated community where she grew up. Demons were part of the outside world; demon sex, demon drink, demon music, demon woman. According to her father, her mother had a demon in her, too.

This is Hope’s world until she finds a box her mother hid years ago and the remnant of a letter her runaway sister wrote begging for help. These finds are the impetus she needs to embark on a journey out into the world and the city where she hopes to find her sister and learn more about her mother’s legacy. Once there, she learns her father was wrong about most of the evils of the outside world. Unfortunately, he was right about one; living, breathing demons are real.

Nico ad Nimeni, with his dark charm and magazine cover good looks, is a recent addition to Canaan ad Simeon’s House of Guardians. As a Guardian of the Race, it’s his job to protect his people, the Paenitentia, along with humankind from the demons who cross over from the Otherworld, but Nico knows there are demons other than those that stalk the night preying on the fear and flesh of humankind. Nico’s personal demons are the ones that plague a man’s soul and insist he stand apart.

When circumstances bring Hope to the House, she finds a place where everything she was taught about good and evil is turned upside down. In this world of witches and demons, vampires and Paenitentia, she learns that things are not always what they seem and that a shy, self-conscious country girl can be beautiful and find love in the arms of a suave sophisticate.

Join Hope and Nico as they search for her missing sister and discover in each other the healing power of love.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

With this novel Rhoades gets further in depth into the history and beliefs of both the Guardians of the Race and the Daughters of Man. In the broadest sense this intensely exciting story is about the interactions between them. It takes one heck of a twist on the way. This story is also quite intense, but not in the usual way. Rhoades brings forth an emotional and mental intensity that you won’t’ be able to walk away from, right until the tearjerker of an ending. Rhoades weaves an unforgettable tale that you can not only read and imagine but visualize and feel.

This story is quite emotionally charged. The two main characters are learning to accept who they truly are and can be as compared to what they have learned/believed all their lives. I love the play between fate, happenstance, and the everyday in the course of relationships coming together. Amidst the supernatural turmoil of the story love and hope still shine through.

It’s brilliant to see how this group of unrelated individuals come together into a family unit. Everyone complements each other in an emotional, mental, and even physical way. Even though this is far from your traditional family unit, you can definitely see the familial relationships here. My only question with regards to any of the questions is this: What in the world is up with the cat (because cats are people too).

This novel is simultaneously fun, exciting, suspenseful, sinful, sensual, and romantic. It was a brilliant escape from reality that I’d suggest to anyone and everyone.

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Title:  Guardian's Joy
Author:  Jacqueline Rhoades
Series:  Guardians of the Race #3
Published:  July 11th 2012 by Createspace
Page Count:  350
Genre:  Paranormal Romance
Shelf:  Gift
Rating:  ★★★★

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Running from an unknown past... JJ Justice has spent her adulthood lost and alone and vulnerable to the haunting of a past she can't remember. It's no wonder she feels different from other people and not surprising that she chose the police force as a way of standing up for others who are defenseless against the evils of the world, but when her only friend and partner is brutally murdered by a creature not of this world, JJ discovers a greater purpose. She is called to hunt the monsters only she can see. Once again, she resigns herself to living her life alone, because the one thing she knows for sure is that letting people in only causes pain. Guardian of the Race, Bernardo ad Tormeo, longs for a woman of his own, one that's as fun loving and loyal as his Liege Lord's Lady, Grace, and as soft and gentle as his fellow Guardian's mate, Hope, but the chances of meeting such a woman seem slim to none. What with the nightly patrols and his gaming business, he hasn't the time to go searching for love. Nardo is sworn to protect his people and their human cousins from the demons who cross over from the Otherworld. He never thought he would be hunting a vampire; just like he never thought of falling in love with a leather clad ex-cop who can kick demon butt with the best of them. How do you romance a woman who thinks more of knives than roses? How do you help her fight the demons of her soul when she can't remember who they are? Nardo doesn't know, but he's determined to find out. He only hopes he and his new love can find the answers before a monster from Joy's past takes away the only woman he will ever love.

Adult-content rating: This book contains content considered unsuitable for young readers 17 and under, and which may be offensive to some readers of all ages.

My Review:

Rhoades has taken the idea of the paranormal and what is ‘accepted’ as paranormal and shaped it to create something that is completely her own. The world of the Guardians of the Race is one that is fully developed to the extent that you feel like it truly does exist and that these individuals could really be living on your block. Rhoades’ phenomenal storytelling skills along with her solid grasp of the English language combine to create a world that you not only visualize but also visit during the time that you read this tale.

Rhoades melds vividly intricate descriptions with allusions to create a solid setting for her story. By creating this world she roots her readers firmly in this novel that they won’t be able to put down. She feeds all of your needs throughout. It’s fun, exciting, enjoyable, awe inspiring, suspenseful, and above all, romantic.

Although each story in this series can has a main character/couple, the rest of the ‘family’ remains front and centre in the story. I really love how all of the lead characters may be of 1 of 2 races, thus bringing them together with a commonality, but it is who they are that keeps them together. Although on the surface each of the stories in this series are similar – a Guardian of the Race and a Daughter of Man become a couple – each story is as unique as the couples themselves. Each person is vividly real and extremely unique. The female lead in this instalment is a very standout individual who contrasts with the male lead. They are true proof that opposites attract in the most explosive of ways.

Rhoades doesn’t simply tell this story, she creates an escape from the everyday for her audience. This story is complete in and of itself but definitely follows from the previous novel in the series and leaves you wanting more. My suggestion? Read it!

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1 comment:

  1. Thank you, Jonel! Your reviews of the books in my Guardians of the Race series have me walking on air. Bless you! - Jackie Rhoades

    ReplyDelete