Betrayal's Shadow by KH LeMoyne (The Guardians of Eden #1)

First Published: 14 April 2011
Publisher: Digital Crystal Press
Pages: 309
Format: Ebook
Finished Date: 18 January 2012

Blurb from Goodreads

What would you do to save your people from extinction?
What if your race held the key to mankind’s future?
One Guardian will risk hell to change the future.

Descended from the race of Guardians, Turen’s people have survived the last two hundred years, quarantined and isolated. Living in secrecy with no mates and no offspring, they fail to deliver on their ability to replenish and heal human souls through the birth of their Guardian children. Risking his life, Turen chooses capture at the hands of a comrade-turned-enemy to seek answers to change the future.

Mia Bowman has no knowledge of the secret Guardian race. Yet, her uncontrollable, nocturnal summons to Turen’s prison cell and her strong sense of justice leave her with little choice but to help him. She can heed his warning and stay clear of his people’s problems or she can ferret out the lies and unravel an ancient tale of murder and deceit. It will take an ultimate sacrifice to stop the unexpected evil and reverse a fatal ending to the Guardian line.

THE GUARDIANS OF EDEN:
A race of beings created in a Sanctum at the far edge of Eden. Co-existing with mankind, they safeguarded human souls and the promise of eternity—until a virus killed all over the age of eighteen. The surviving children fled to the Sanctum for protection, children raising children without the full legacy of their history and knowledge. Two hundred years of solitude have produced a race of semi-immortals fortified with powers and intellect but lacking the mates who will make them whole and allow them to fulfill their covenant with mankind

My Rating

My Review

Betrayal’s Shadow was an amazing read. Action-packed + sweet romance = great book. I loved reading the book, and I was hooked almost right from the start. When I started reading the book, I didn’t expect much, given that I’m not that big a fan of paranormal romance. But when I read this, I was pleasantly surprised.

Turen is a Guardian. Guardians have special powers and were made to do something related to souls. I have no idea what because it wasn’t discussed in the book, merely brushed over with a few sentences here and there. Basically, they have only one mate where they can reproduce and really fall in love with. Unfortunately, hardly any of them in this age have found their mate. Make that only one. Of course, because this is a romance, Turen and Mia, the female protagonist, are mates, even though the fact is not discovered till later.

Turen and Mia meet in prison. Turen is imprisoned while Mia can somehow travel through time to reach him. Why, it will be explained in the book, albeit in a rather roundabout method. I won’t say more and spoil it for those who haven’t read the book.

The romance in the book was rather sweet. Neither of them ever thought they would end up with each other, especially not in the circumstances that brought them together. However, when they did fall in love, it was so great and so so strong that I really loved it. To be honest, it almost brought tears to my eyes the first time he admitted he couldn’t live without her. That it didn’t matter that she wasn’t her mate (he didn’t know yet). I especially loved the part when he said something along the lines of all the love that he had to give was given to her. You know, it’s just these little things that really make the romance sweet.

I enjoyed the action in the book. It wasn’t too much or too little. All of the fight scenes were shown fully in detail and that I was something I really liked. The pace was good too. However, at times I felt that the book suddenly jumped forward without enough warning and that left me a little surprised at times. But its really nothing much.

The character development and how the characters were depicted was something I really liked. Not once did the characters do things out of the norm. There was good character development and I really liked how Mia grew as a person. At first, she was rather shy, timid and even a little weak. But at the end, she really impressed me with her bravery and strength.

Another thing that I liked was that the book wasn’t too predictable. Sure, I could guess some of the more obvious plot lines. But most of the time, things would happen that I would never have expected. It got a little too much though. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure exactly why that particular plot was introduced at that point.

Though I really liked this book, I’m hesitant to give it a full 5 star rating. Several reasons. The description of the creatures and places in the book left me a bit confused. But then again, it could just be me not being very adept in visualizing from description. Especially paranormal things. I think that took away a bit of the appreciation that I had for the book. This was because I like to be able to see the scenes in my head while reading. And actually I could, its just when the creatures came, that it left me a bit puzzled. But as I said, this could be just me. Another thing I didn’t really like was the resolution. I found it a bit too abrupt. It happened too quickly for my liking. Sure, everything was resolved, but I just found it too fast. And as I mentioned earlier, the souls part was a little confusing. Even after the whole book, I have no idea the real use of Guardians other than them having to take care of souls or something like that. To me, I felt that it really should have been explained, because it is their main duty and why they were created in the first place.

All in all, I found this to be a great book. It had a good plot, and I felt the book was set well for a series. I look forward to reading more of this author’s books. Definitely a read worth taking the time for. I was really addicted by it, and could not put the book down despite having rather pressing things to do. I read it in about 1-2 sittings. Definitely a recommended read, especially to those who enjoy paranormal romance with a lot of action in it.

P.S. If there is any grammar/spelling/typo errors, forgive me. I’m typing this without my specs on and its almost 5, I don’t have full mental capacity now! :P