Guardian angel Selene was so close to becoming an archangel—the supreme of all beings—until she fell in love with Cole, a forbidden dark one. Once she discovers her vampire lover has been kidnapped and the only way to save him is by abandoning her number one priority—Caitlyn, her human charge—there really is only one answer in Selene’s mind, even though leaving Caitlyn unguarded will most likely cause Selene to fall from grace.
But her choice to save Cole doesn’t come without a price…and now Selene is racing against time to not only save her dark lover, but find a way to keep Caitlyn alive as well.
With the help of a new vampire ally, Luke, Selene will push her diminishing angel abilities to the point where her very existence lies in the balance. Now threatened with the chance of becoming a fallen angel or even dying, Selene can only pray she’ll have enough time—and good grace—to save the ones she loves.
UnGuarded, I will say, has potential. The plot is intriguing, the drama is thick and runs through the entire novel, and the writing is well done. I also very much enjoyed the chemistry between Luke and Selene; when it was the two of them, I was sucked in to the story, watching these two visibly pulse with electricity. It was very fun for me! Finally! A love story where the girl/guy doesn't immediately fall in love and forget everything else in the world just because their animalistic urges spoke up... How long have I been looking for this? And even when Selene had a flashback of a moment with Cole, it was adorable and easy to see they were in love.
However. The main character frustrates me beyond belief. As she is an angel, her one care and priority should be Caitlyn, her charge-- this isn't just my opinion, it is in every story with an angel in it I have read, and even some lore --and all Selene cares about is Cole. Now, maybe if you'd met Cole before you hit the half-way mark of the book, or if their was a book before UnGuarded where you saw Selene having to make that decision to not become an archangel, to stay with Cole, then I might be able to deal with her easier. But honestly! She mentions several times how she is willing to die for Cole, because he's worth it, but when the same idea is offered to save her charge's life, she isn't sure. This made me blink and wander off a few times, just because I needed a break from Selene's strangeness. I love angel stories, so I... wasn't thrilled with this change.
Though, I will say, I did like how God wasn't a major WHAP in the jaw for this book. Obviously the matter was mentioned; we are talking angels after all (even though Selene didn't seem like an angel to me and more like a teenage girl, but), but there wasn't a big attempt to rub everything religious in your face. Personally I can't stand that crap, and I'm very glad it wasn't here.
The world crafted here has a lovely little air about it, and though it didn't blow me away, I do think it was a nice little read (even if the characters made me angry, they at least made me feel something, right?). I enjoyed it.
My Rating:
Great review, as always, Lana!
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