Book & Audio Review: When Darkness Comes by Alexandra Ivy

When Darkness Comes
Author: Alexandra Ivy

Narrator: Arika Rapson
Series: Guardians of Eternity (Book 1)
Publication: Zebra Books (March 22, 2013); Tantor Audio (June 3, 2013)

Length: 9 hours and 21 minutes; 383 p.

Description: A woman finds danger and desire with a vampire demon in this “sizzling paranormal romance” series debut by the New York Times bestselling author (Savannah Russe, USA Today bestselling author of Beyond the Pale).

The day Abby Barlow broke a priceless vase, she thought she might lose her job. She had no idea what she was in for. In just a few hours, she's survived an explosion, watched her employer die, had a startling dream, and now she finds herself in a seedy Chicago hotel with the sexy vampire demon Dante, whom she both desires and fears.

For centuries, Dante has stood as guardian to The Chalice, a mortal woman chosen to hold back the darkness threatening to overtake the world. A terrible twist of fate has now made Abby that woman. Three hours ago, Dante would have used all his charms to seduce her. Now she is his to protect in an epic battle between good and evil—and a desperate race to save their love.

My Thoughts: This is the first book in the Guardians of Eternity series. It stars Abby Barlow who finds herself in the middle of an urban fantasy world when her employer is murdered by wizards and her employer's power is transferred to Abby. Her employer had Dante, a vampire, bound to her by witches. When the employer dies, the bond switches to Abby.

Abby is a survivor. She was both abused and neglected as a child and has grown up to be tough and self-sufficient. She isn't very trusting and is baffled when dumped into a world with vampires, demons, witches and wizards. Luckily, Dante is there to protect her. Dante has had more than 400 years as a vampire. Quite a few of them were spent bound to an employer he was forced to guard and who couldn't be fed from. He was eager to be free when she died and not interested in being bound to Abby at first. 

Abby had developed quite an interest in Dante while she was working for her employer and Dante more than returned the interest. While they are on the run, their attraction blooms into love and includes quite a few hot love scenes. 

I really liked Abby's quirky voice. The story was fast-paced and engaging. Between Abby's need to come to terms with her new role and attempts by various villains to either kill or capture both her and Dante, the action was non-stop. The book was narrated by Arika Rapson who did a good job with both the voices and the pacing of the story. 

Favorite Quote:

Keeping low to avoid the branches that blocked their paths, they scurried through the dark. Dante with his usual elegant silence and Abby crashing behind him like a bull elephant with a tranquilizer stuck in its butt.

I bought this one June 30, 2018. You can buy your copy here.