Hunt The Darkness (Guardians of Eternity # 11) by Alexandra Ivy
Paranormal Romance
Released: May 27th
Zebra Books

Reviewed by Sheena

Blurb: The vampire Roke is raw, sensual, always in control. Yet somehow he’s allowed the unthinkable to happen: a nymph-like witch named Sally has used her magic to trick Roke into mating with her. The pair will remain bound for eternity unless Sally breaks the spell. The trouble is, she has no idea how. . . As they mate with a ferocity that leaves them both aching for more, Sally isn’t sure if her world is more dangerous without Roke–or with him…

This is just such a fun series.  The world building is fantastic.  Eleven books into this series and it still feels exciting and fresh every time a new book is released.  Set in a paranormal world where demons of every ilk live among humans and battle one another almost as often as they align to battle the evil influence of the Dark Lord.  In this installment we finally have (cue: squeee!!) Roke and Sally’s story!  The pair were most definitely break-out stars from the previous book, Darkness Avenged, and they did not disappoint one bit in their feature tale.

Even though we are pretty deep into the series, you could read this book as a stand alone, though I wager that it would not stay alone long as you’ll likely fill your shelves (virtual and physical) with its predecessors.   There is enough back-story in Hunt the Darkness to loop in new-to-series readers without boring and agitating the pants off of veteran Guardian readers.

 OMG, where do I start!

How about here:

Roke swallowed a groan, a complex mixture of fury, lust, and savage relief surging through him.  None of it showed on his face as he turned to study the tiny female with shoulder-length hair that was a blend of deep red tresses streaked with gold.  She had pale, almost fragile features with velvet brown eyes and full lips that begged to be kissed.

“Hello my love,” he said in a low, husky voice, “Did you miss me?”

Sally Grace is one of my favorite heroines of the series.  She is a beautiful half human half….demon of sort whose mother trained her to be a phenomenal witch, until nuances of her demon heritage began to manifest causing her demon hating mother to treat Sally horrifically.   Roke is a big bad vampire clan chief with a heart of friggen gold.  Beloved by his clan and respected by the Anasso (Vampire King), Roke is fresh off an adventure that changed the trajectory of his existence when a panicked and untrained Sally, accidentally used magic to create a mating bond with Roke.

Vamps mate. Once.  For Life.   And the key to reverse the unintentional mating  lies in the knowledge of who Sally’s demon sire truly is.  But who has time to track him down when there is danger afoot that forces Sally and Roke to use their nascent bond to protect one another while fighting off their latest threat.   Despite his rumblings, Roke does not seem to be in an awful hurry to rid himself of his troublesome little witch.  While Sally faces off against her own will and insecurities to really see Roke:

“She’d been aching for Roke from the moment she’d caught sight of those dark, male features and the astonishing silver eyes.”

Consummate scene-stealer and Guardian series favorite, Levet, once again endears himself to our heroine and manages to always be in the right place  in just the nick of time.  Sally is smitten by the little  gargoyle and naturally Roke vows to throttle him!

There is plenty of smexy times with these two  as they push and pull against their desires on their journey to their HEA.

“If you were as anxious as you claim to end our mating, you would be begging for my…services…”  His gaze deliberately lowered to take in her slender body, making Sally tremble…the blast of sexual arousal made her feel like she’d been struck by lightening.  And the worst part was, she couldn’t blame the intense reaction on the faux mating”

 I was so damn proud of Sally’s development. And Roke, well he had me convinced all along.  This series is not just warring demons and damsels in distress.  The characters leap off the page.  The mated females bond and have their own sisterhood that remains strong, even when their males go apeshit.    These males are definitely ALPHA but the women truly rule their hearts and every thought.  One previous heroine is a goddess.  And she is bad.  I mean bad-ass bad!  Another heroine lured her mate from the cold dark caves where he lived for centuries to the opulent, gilded mansion they now call home.  This was no small feat…Styx the Aztec Vampire Anasso, is stubborn as ten bulls and had lived in those dank caves for-ev-er!

The adventure and heat and comedy make this a very unique paranormal romance series and I for one am waiting rather impatiently for what is next to come!

Oh yeah, and then this went down….

“My beautiful witch.”

You once told me that Styx should throw away the key to the dungeon and leave me for the wolves….”

His fangs were fully extended as her fingers explored his bared chest… “I like this idea of being the one in control.”

So did his cock.

The bastard twitched and throbbed, as if  silently pleading for her to touch, even as he ruthlessly sought to keep himself from coming.

“I need to be inside you.”

A smile curved her lips. “But I’m not done…”

Roke gave a strangled shout and nearly shot off the bed as Sally leaned down and licked him from balls to tip.

Holy shit.

Love this author, love this series and if you like paranormal romance with action and a few laughs, I would recommend Hunt The Darkness for sure!  And then find out how it all begins with Guardians of Eternity #1, When Darkness Comes.

Grade: B+

Goodreads l Series Guide l Author Website

Kindle l Nook