Darkness Dawns: Immortal Guardians    by Dianne Duvall Order:  USA  Can Zebra, 2011 (2011) Paperback, e-Book Read an Excerpt      Reviewed by Martina Bexte When music teacher Sarah Bingham finds herself battling insomnia, she decides to head outside and work in her garden. At first she attributes the odd noises coming from the woods to a confrontation between predators, but that notion is soon dashed when she realises that a couple of thugs are systematically torturing a man to death. Realising that dialling 911 would be too little too late, Sarah wades in with her garden shovel, takes down the thugs and releases their victim, determined to rush him to the nearest ER. But seeking medical treatment for his monstrous injuries is the farthest thing from Roland Warbrook's mind. All he needs is a fresh infusion of blood to heal his myriad wounds, the sooner the better, for he knows that Sarah's intervention has only postponed the inevitable. His enemies will soon be on the hunt again. But what to do about his human saviour - and why does he find himself so attracted to her? He has been alone for over 900 years - he could never ask this lovely creature to enter his dark and treacherous immortal world. Roland soon learns however, that the timid music teacher has the heart and soul of a lioness, ready to give her life to protect his. It's always fun to discover a debut author who puts a fresh spin on a currently popular paranormal concept - an immortal brotherhood tasked to guard the human realm against their more evil counterparts. Duvall offers a fast-paced plot, nice moments of humour while still maintaining her dark tone, and secondary characters whose back-stories herald interesting things to come. Roland and Sarah are both very appealing leads. Her reaction to what he and his brethren represent, and the fact that she finds herself falling in love with him, is very human, although, ultimately, their HEA is rather derivative. Darkness Dawns is an engaging and entertaining introduction to Duvall's Immortal Guardians world, one I look forward to visiting again in future instalments. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Romance books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews