People (as a whole) tend to get comfortable when reading. We stick to the same genre’s we’ve always read, and depend on authors we are familiar with to entertain us. Hopping a fence into lands we’ve never experienced before can be uncomfortable, make us second guess ourselves, even make us retreat back into the hole in which we climbed out of, and I assure you, I am no different. While I would like to say “I read EVERYTHING” that’s not exactly the truth. There are (in fact) genres of literature that bore me to death or make (for a lack of a better description) my skin crawl.
Why am I telling you this? Well, because “Guardian” by Elita Daniels is one of those books for me. Now, I’m not saying that Elita’s book bored me, or even gave me the willies, but when it comes right down to tacks and brass knuckles, “adult fiction” is just not a genre I spend much time with. That said, I understand, (and appreciate) that there is a (rather rapidly growing) audience for it, and some of those followers happen to read my blog, and… in a effort to offer something for everyone, I agreed to review this book.
Anna lives in a complicated world. Not only is she a vampire, but she is a vampire with a unique trait. She is a carrier. Having the ability to “make” vampires has landed her under a microscope and she hates it. Poked and prodded for research is not what Anna wants to spend her time doing, and lucky for her she doesn’t have to anymore. After the sudden death of her long time Guardian she is assigned a new one, and to the relief of Anna, he’s different… compassionate. Or is he? The more Anna discovers about her infection the more she realizes she can’t trust anyone but herself. Will she (despite her suppression drugs) let her instincts overrun her common sense. Will a mistake in the heat of passion come back to haunt her, and will Anna ever find the one thing she has always wanted but never found… love.
One of the more obvious problems I have with “Adult fiction” is the lack of relationship prep. While most novels “tease” and “elude” for the majority of the book, Adult fiction gets right down to business, (if you know what I mean.) Now…while in MY mind this is annoying, it can be easily overlooked if the plot surrounding the couple is solid, and adds depth to the otherwise missing emotional “build up.” In the first half of “Guardian” this is NOT the case. Elita Daniels is not new to this game. She has several books under her belt, and a few more on the way, so her lack of focus, (and general flipsy doosey with her plot in the first 40% of the book) was a little disconcerting. However…once Daniels found a steady path in which to navigate her characters; the story finally started to develop, and the second relationship in the book, (though rushed like the first) seemed much more natural and believable, (which yes, I know sounds ludicrous since we are ultimately talking about a vampire book.) By the end I found myself genuinely interested in the fate of Anna and the overall meltdown of the society in which she was placed and, despite every instinctual thought in my head to dislike this book, I can’t say that I did.
Do I think it is the best book out there? No, but I will say that for those who regularly enjoy this genre there is definitely something there. Wave off the soda at lunch and instead spend the 99 cents to get yourself a little vamp action.
Happy Reading my fellow Kindle-ites and remember: You’ll never know if you like it, until you try it. (Unless of course it’s cooked spinach, in which case you can be assured it tastes like snot.)
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[Rating:3.5/5]
