I enjoyed this one. But I feel the other books in the series are better than this installment. I really connected with the stories in Book 1 & 3. This one was harder to get into. This time around the love interests where Kyoko & Toya. They have a very push and shove relationship, that's really interesting. I have never been a big fan of Toya's, and I was hoping he'd grow on me but it just didn't happen. He's very frustrating. But what man isn't. Real or Fictional. ( )

Kyoko is an ordinary college student who has realized an extraordinary destiny. Reincarnated from the Maiden of the Guardian Heart Crystal Kyoko has been charged with the quest of finding the shards to make the Crystal whole once more. Unfortunately, evil sects of demons are also determined to own the crystal and will stop at nothing to do this. For their nefarious purpose the demons have chosen to possess Hyakuhei, former guardian of the crystal and love of Kyoko's maiden ancestor. Luckily Kyoko is not alone on her journey. Five immortal brothers have carried on the heritage of protection of the crystal and of Kyoko. As her journey has gone on Kyoko has grown to love all of the brothers, but the passion of her heart belongs to only one, Toya. Cursed with a dark side of his own, held back only by the ceremonial daggers he carries, Toya returns her affection hundred-fold, but both are afraid to admit their feeling to the other. However, when Toya's oldest brother, Kyou, decides that he also wishes Kyoko for himself Toya is determined not to give Kyoko up without a fight. Trapped in a love triangle, Kyoko has no desire to be further cause of conflict between the two strong willed brothers. With time running out and demons closing in Kyoko makes her choice of mates. Unfortunately fate is not always kind, turning love to obsession and thrusting Kyoko from past to present believing she has betrayed the very reason for her existence.

When I first ordered this book I really wasn't sure if it was a young adult story, romance or fantasy. Now, if I were to choose a genre I would say it lands firmly in the fantasy category. I found the story to be very unique involving time/dimensional travel, demons, romance and horror in an easily read and engrossing manner. It only took me a day and a half to read this 400+ page book. There is some word and tense confusion which could have been corrected with a little extra editing, but I didn't find these mistakes to be hugely distracting from the story. It is also obvious from the language that the author enjoys both manga and romance, which I certainly appreciate since I read both of these genres avidly.

One thing I did notice is that the story kind of lands you in the middle of an already ongoing adventure. This leaves you guessing a bit at what happened in the past. I'm not sure if this is because this is a middle book in a series, or if the book was written this way purposely. I do know this is part of a series, but unfortunately I can't figure out its placement in that series.

Overall I really enjoyed this story very much. It is certainly a fantasy with an emphasis on romance which is a preference to me in the fantasy genre. I think this book works well as a stand alone story if one wanted to try this author and series. ( )