Review: Bewitch the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #18)

Bewitch the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #18)

by Alexandra Ivy

Blurb:

Only one drastic mission can tempt Kyi away from the peaceful woodland where the dryads raised her: killing her mother. Xuria’s beauty masks a bone-deep evil that has enslaved fey for centuries with the help of a powerful stone. A hundred years ago, Kyi almost succeeded—until one meddlesome vampire destroyed her chance. With rumors that Xuria has emerged from her secret realm, Kyi’s determined to try again—despite the vampire who is now focused on destroying her.

Locke has been waiting over a century to avenge what he believes was Xuria’s death. Discovering the sorceress’s raven-haired fey daughter was the assassin is a surprise—until her story of Xuria’s treachery begins to ring true. Working with Kyi is one solution—and the relentless heat simmering between them is a hint that they may be fated as mates. But even a destined love will have to wait as they now struggle to defeat Kyi’s twin sister, who has a chilling plan of her own . . .

Themes:  Paranormal, Vampires, Fey

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

The fascination I developed for this series long ago has yet to fail as the series continues to twist and turn in new and unexpected directions. In this newest addition of the Guardians of Eternity series Alexandra Ivy takes on a journey of two people that have been enemies for centuries, though neither of them realized they were played by their true enemy.  This series has become increasingly complicated and while each story can be read as a stand alone, I honestly don’t recommend that as you will feel a little bit lost along the way.  Kyi has finally decided to take the step to leave the safety of her dryad woodland in order to finally defeat her biggest enemy—her evil and conniving mother.  She failed once due to the intervention of a vampire that she has never forgiven.  Vampire Locke lost his mate that fateful day and when her killer emerges he locks onto her signal (sorry couldn’t resist the pun😉) in order to finally avenge his mate’s death.   When they finally come face to face, instead of the battle to the death they both anticipate the truth begins to emerge and they learn that they were both tricked all those years ago by their shared enemy, Kyi’s mother, and that Locke wasn’t her mate at all.  As they work together to defeat Kuria, once and for all, Locke begins to suspect that his mate is really the saucy and sweet by turns Kyi he believed was his enemy all these years, but ‘fool me once…” and all that so he doubts his instincts, until it's almost too late.  Can Kyi and Locke trust their hearts and instincts in time to work together to win the battle and find love everlasting, or has their foe defeated them long before they ever had a chance? I really enjoyed this story, the barbs and back and forth between Locke and Kyi giving their story an interesting kind of wicked foreplay as they learned the truth of their relationship to one another.  Locke was obviously lost and in need of his mind being cleared before he could open his heart, but he never truly hurt Kyi which I found sweet and I enjoyed watching him kicking ass. Kyi was the type of woman we all aspire too, stepping up to do the impossible because no one else can or will, even though it’s not in her nature.  The romance in this one was not the main focus for sure, which was a bit of a letdown, but has honestly become the trend in this series, with the focus instead being on the epic battles and ultimate takedown.  There were of course some interesting side characters that were brought on the scene that I loved as always and I am looking forward to more in the series soon.  Ivy always takes us for a roller coaster ride of emotional and dramatic action that keeps you glued to the book from start to finish.

*ebook provided by publisher (via NetGalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.