The line that best pops into my mind after reading this book by Rayanne Haines is, 'Please, sir, may I have some more.'.
This is the second book in The Guardian Series. I haven't read the first book, but I'm going to soon. I didn't feel lost. I felt motivated to read and read and read and oh, did I mention read.
Here is the blurb on the back:
"Maria Del Voscova is a powerful witch with a past. When she’s asked to become a member of the elite Guardians she knows she can’t risk sharing the truth about her messed-up family. But we don’t always get what we want. Sometimes, we don’t always know what we want.Â
Though Mar absolutely knows she doesn’t want Neeren, King of the Parthen. She alone sees the darkness in him and it reminds her too much of the past. She knows better than to fall for his stoic, tortured soul façade.
She’s training to be a Guardian, a shadow; tasked with keeping the balance between good and evil in the world. It’s what she wants—to be better than her family was.
But the past has a way of catching up to Mar and the future has a morbid sense of humor. On her first mission, she’s kidnapped by the enemy she’s been running from her entire life. Thankfully the guardians look after their own. As it turns out, so does Neeren.
As Mar finds herself caught between the past and the future; between blood and bond; between the light and the dark, she realizes her only chance at surviving may be in trusting a man who is the most dangerous of them all."
The connection between Mar and Neeren is stellar right out of the gate. It isn't love at first sight. It is that unspoken (unbridled) something's happenin' here kind of vibe. Which I think makes for the best kinds of love stories.Â
Rayanne Haines' writing is fluid. There are a couple typos i.e. sub conscious instead of subconscious. I blame Microsoft Word or whatever program she used, but it didn't rip me out of the story. It was like when you read a Stephen King novel and you are so engrossed in what's happening that you're take a double-take when you come across the error. Sometimes you stop to confirm and other times you blow it off. Same thing.Â
Her magic system and creature detail is dyanmic. Nothing is all powerful. There is a checks and balance system. The world Rayanne Haines built is modern, enchanting, and mysterious. She is definetly an author I will be keeping close tabs on.
If you'd like to keep in touch with her, too, you can find her at:
Or purchase her books on Kindle. Click the book cover to purchase the book.