Bridgeport ( )

I cried like a fool when both Yuri and Stanislav died. The intensity of the Immortal's grief sucked me in.

To find out he was taken and what was done to him....shudder. How the hell did he survive all that?

Susan Meyer, a telepath who has no clue that there are others like her with "gifts". Or that a bevy of bad men would like nothing more to get a hold of someone like her to "study" what makes her so special and how can they harvest her talents to make them rich. (Damn greed, when will folks learn it gets you no where to be so damn greedy)

At first I couldn't get over the fact that Stan was alive and just hoped this didn't turn out to be some cheesy knocked out story to pacify a bunch of readers who were truly upset to lose not one but two Immortals. It wasn't.

Was it shorter than most of the books, yes. Did it tell a complete story, yes. Was I drawn into it, yes. Did I enjoy it, yes.

There are two events which really hit me in the feelers...when Seth realizes Stanislav is alive. I hope everyone survived the thunder storm that emotional outburst brought. The second, well you just have to read that for yourself. ( )

This is the latest in the Immortal Guardians series, which is a good choice for romance readers who find most vampire romances too dark. After feeling compelled to buy an old house, Susan finds a man buried alive in her basement with no memory of who he is. As they fight off attacks and try to uncover lost memories, the duo of course fall in love. While this title is enjoyable, it works best when the reader is familiar with previous titles in the series. ( )

AWAKEN THE DARKNESS wasn't my favorite book of the series, but it was still an enjoyable addition to the overall storyline.

AWAKEN THE DARKNESS felt more like a filler book than a book that continues the overall storyline. Most of the book takes place with Stanislav and Susan in isolation and getting to know eachother and in Stanislav's case, getting to know himself.

The romance didn't totally draw me in like the previous couples. Don't get me wrong, Susan and Stanislav fit together nicely and have a strong physical connection, but It didn't feel totally believable with the amount of trust and dependency they put on each other so quickly. Now having said that, Stanislav doesn't know who he is for a good portion of the book, so some of the trust and dependency can be contributed to that. I still would have liked a deeper build up to everything.

I loved the action scenes, they fit with the rest of the series nicely. The storyline was nice and entertaining. There was danger and mystery involved. I loved how easily the rest of the Immortal Guardians reacted to both Stanislav's return and Susan's addition to his life. I would have loved to have the team more involved in the book, but Stanislav needed that time to tell his story.

I look forward to seeing what comes next for the Immortal Guardians we already know and to seeing who else joins their family next.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )