Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Guardian of Darkness by Kathryn Le Veque

Publisher & Release Date: Dragonblade Publishing, January 4, 2014  

Time and setting: 1200, England

Genre: Historical Romance/Medieval Romance

Length: 374 pages

Heat Level: 1 Scorching Hot Flame

Rating: 5 Gold Crowns

Book Description:

1200 A.D. - After decades of warring between the Lairds of Kerr and Prudhoe Castle in Northumbria, a tentative peace is reached. The Lady Carington Kerr is sent to Prudhoe as a hostage to ensure her father’s good behavior, and a more reluctant hostage there never was. 

Small and dark, with emerald eyes and a luscious figure, she is as gorgeous as she is fiery. Enter Sir Creed de Reyne; a gentle giant of a man, he is, by nature, calm and wise. He is the ice to Carington’s fire. As Carington resists the attempts to keep her in her English prison, Creed is placed in charge of the captive as both jailer and protector. 

But Creed is also as reluctant a protector as she is a hostage; six months prior, he had been given the important assignment of escorting Isabella of Angoulệme from France to England as the bride of King John. Isabella, a woman-child of twelve years, was smitten with Creed from the start. When he spurned her advances, she fabricated a story of Creed’s indiscretions against her and brought the king’s wrath upon him. Creed fled to Prudhoe and straight into another assignment guarding a firebrand of a young woman. 

Creed soon discovers that Carington is far different from the petty child who would become queen and against both his judgment and his wishes, he falls for the Scots lass. Suffering through tragedy and triumph, Creed and Carington have a love that only strengthens with each passing moment. Even when Creed is forced to flee for his life and leave Carington behind, their only thoughts are of being together again. 

With Isabella and King John closing in, Creed and Carington must fight for their very survival as two countries and a kingdom seek to separate them.

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Vikki’s Musings

A friend of mine has a blog, Booktalk with Eileen, and she does quite a few audio book reviews. She has done several of Ms. LeVeque’s books, and since I love a good medieval, I decided to find one to read/listen to. I found Guardian of Darkness on a free promo through Amazon and was able to add the audio for a great price. I am so glad I read this book. This is a fantastic medieval romance! Since this book has a detailed book description, I will not do a synopsis. It would be redundant.

Ms. LeVeque writes beautifully with a great deal of emotion. In fact, I did not just tear up a few time, I had tears rolling down my face. When Carington’s horse had to be put down, I became very emotional. It is a very moving scene. There are other scenes that also moved me greatly.

Even though, Ms. LeVeque tells much of the story in omniscient point of view, I was still able to connect with Carington and Creed. Normally, I feel as if I am sitting on the sidelines watching when omniscient POV is used, but that was not the case with this book. I was pulled into the story from the first page and remained so until the end.

Guardian of Darkness is an excellent example where external conflict enhances the story. While there is some internal conflict, the external ruled this story, bringing the hero and heroine closer as they try to overcome their many trials.

I loved the romance between Carington and Creed and found it believable even though they do fall in love incredibly fast. Since my parents experienced love at first sight and it lasted throughout their marriage, I do believe in it, which helped greatly. What I liked about this story is that it spans over months, allowing me to see their love continue to grow and flourish. I absolutely loved the epilogue since it gives a look at them after many years have passed. I found it vastly satisfying.

I also listened to the audio version performed by Brad Wills. I thoroughly enjoyed his narration. Ms. Wills does a fantastic job distinguishing the many voices, especially the children. That is a huge feat for a male. Now at times, he did speak a bit fast making it difficult to understand every word, but not enough to take away from my listening pleasure. I will be looking for other recordings by Mr. Wills.


Guardian of Darkness is a riveting tale filled with an emotionally-charged love story and plenty of suspense. That is a winning combination for me. I highly recommend this incredible book to all who enjoy medieval romance. I am confident that you will enjoy it as much as I did. Happy reading!

3 comments:

  1. Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!! I hope it is the first of many you read from me :)

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    1. It will be! I enjoyed meeting you at RWA15.

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