Deliver Me From Darkness, Tes Hilaire

Spring into Spring with a new series!  This month's feature is book one of Tes Hilaire's Paladin Warriors series, Deliver Me From Darkness.  Since I'm going first I'll give you the cover blurb...

BLURB:

A STRANGER IN THE NIGHT...

He had once been a warrior of the Light, one of the revered Paladin. A protector. But now he lives in darkness, and the shadows are his sanctuary. Every day is a struggle to overcome the bloodlust. Especially the day Karissa shows up at his doorstep.

COMES KNOCKING ON THE DOOR

She is light and bright and everything beautiful—despite her scratches and torn clothes. Every creature of the night is after her. So is every male Paladin. Because Karissa is the last female of their kind. But she is his. He may not have a soul, but he can't deny his heart.

REVIEW:

Nice little teaser but it does not come close to doing the book justice and is in my opinion a bit confusing. I wished they had given the male's name in the blurb. Karissa first shows up at the door of a Paladin named Logan and he in turn brings her to another Paladin's door named Roland.  I spent the first good bit of the book wondering which male the blurb was referring to.  It eventually became clear that Roland is the main character but I wished that the blurb had just come out and given that clue.  Other than that it sets the stage nicely.

Now that we have cleared that up - on to the story.  This is a very complex world much like the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series.  Basically the Paladin were once angels who volunteered to become protectors on earth.  They were at one time a significant force but due to a propencitiy for their offspring to be male they eventually bred themselves to near extinction.  There are several evil entities that they battle to protect humans and in turn have to protect themselves against, vampires being one of them.  Prior to the book, Roland was attacked by a vampire and unwillingly turned.  It is due to this that he is no longer considered a Paladin by the elders, although since he is the first of his kind to have been changed it isn't all together clear to everyone in the race what this means  - does he still have a soul, is he now evil?  He was sentenced to be executed but his best friend, Logan, refused to carry out the order and has been seeing him in secret ever since.  During the vampire attack on Roland, the last known female was killed, leaving their race forced to mate with humans, causing a constant dilution of the blood line with every generation.  

It is at this point of dispair over the future of their race that Karissa surfaces and becomes known to them. She has very little understanding of all of this, only that she is forbidden by her grandfather to go out after dark because the evil entities might discover her and that if anything should ever happen she must find a man named Logan Calhoun to help her.  Reaching maturity and needing to assert her independence, she breaks her promise to him, venturing out after dark and accidentally get's followed home.  This oversight gets her grandfather killed, sends her running to Logan for help, all the while being chased by a horde of evil creatures.  She is thrust into a world where she is completely out of her element.  Knowing that she will be pursued against her will by every Paladin who learns of her existence, Logan brings her to the safest place he knows of, Roland's home.  But upon realizing he is a vampire she feels anything but safe.  As time passes she realizes that she is attracked to Roland but struggles with who he is.  This growing confusion over her emotions forces her to ask Logan to move her to the Paladin Haven.  Unknowing that she is leaving the only place that she is truly safe, Logan presents her to the council who quickly realizes what she represents for the future of their race -  she is the prized brood mare.  Every Paladin immediately starts jocking to mark her as their's even though they instinctively know she is not there destined mate. Roland is but he refuses to claim her because in his mind he no longer has a soul to give her.  

Realizing that she stepped from the frying pan into the fire she flees the Haven, venturing back into the human world only to run into the evil that are scouring the streets to find her.  During all of this she comes to realize that Roman has only ever told her the truth and that he was really the only one that she could trust.  Luckily Roman finds her before she is captured.  Now they must work together to find a place where she will be safe and find a way to stop the threats that surround her at every turn...and of course work out what future they have together.  

It sounds like a gave a bunch a way but this is a very complex story full of twists and turns.  This is obviously the start of a very long series.  All in all, this is very well written story and I'm excited to read the next one.  The characters were interesting and the world was well thought out.  Definately worth a try if your looking for a new series to try.

If you missed it please scroll back to yesterdays post to read Tes Hilaire's Guest Post.  AND please check back in with us next month as we all way in on the newest in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series as our book of the month!

RATING: Four Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries!