Night Reigns

Publisher's Summary

In the second installment of Dianne Duvall's Immortal Guardians series, when Marcus Grayden's grief over the loss of the woman he loved causes him to become reckless, he is assigned a new Second, who proves to be immensely distracting. Contains mature themes.

Also listen to the first book, Darkness Dawns: Immortal Guardians Series #1.

©2011 Dianne Duvall (P)2011 Tantor

Great listen!!!!!

I absolutely loved this book. I was not able to stop listening to it. I was so engrossed in this book I finished in a day. If you love romance, vampires, and steamy romance you will just find this book addicting. The story had suspence and intrigue which kept it from being predictable and made me unable to stop listening. I found myself sitting in my living room telling my family to just let me listen to my book. They all know my love for romantic vampire and supernatural genre so they respected my wishes. This book was addicting! I can't wait to listen to the next book in the series.

21 of 22 people found this review helpful

Loved It...

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. This was a really great listen. The storyline is interesting and the romance is steamy (not raunchy, which I like too - but she gives a great balance for those who don't like sexxxy romances) The highlight in this book is the cool little secret revealed about Ami and the development of new enemies to the group. I actually think this one was better than the 1st... and we'll get a part 3 (no release date yet, but I can't wait)

21 of 22 people found this review helpful

AWESOME!

I love this series! If you have questions about it, go through and read my reviews on all four books. Others compare it to Black Dagger Brotherhood, but don't be fooled. Duvall has set up her universe all on her own without borrowing from anybody else. Others call it a vampire story and that's an ok analogy, but these are Immortals, they eat, drink, sleep, they do consume blood and are violently allergic to the sun, they have many, many, talents that we mere mortals only dream of.
In this installment Marcus's friends are worried about him because a woman he has loved from afar for most of his life is now completely lost to him. I won't give away all the details here. Seth decides that Marcus needs a new second and sends Amy to him. Amy was rescued in book one. Both characters are in need of healing and love and find it in each other. There's lots going on in these books and are easy to listen to all in one sitting. I recommend it for adults only due to sexual content. Potter is an excellent narrator. Worth the cash or credit.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Very good!

I really enjoyed this book and plan on getting the next book in the series. I would strongly recommend reading/listening to the first book in the series before this one so you know what is going on. The first book is excellent too.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Great

2nd book was just as good as the first one .... so true about the human race it
makes you want to try harder to be a better person.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Good Book but a Little Preachy

Liked the book but I was a little put off by the preaching of vegetarianism, recycling, etc. It's not that I disagree with the concept, but I don't particularly care for it in my fantasy books. I also found it a little unbelievable that an Immortal would own a Prius. Hot men drive a Jag, Hummer, Mercedes, etc., but not a Prius!
Otherwise, I thought this book, and the first in the series were very good and I plan to buy the third when it is released.

22 of 25 people found this review helpful

Can't Wait for the Next One!!!

I cannot wait until the next one is out! I loved this mixture of vampires, immortals, aliens and romance!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Superb narration but the story... not so much.

I was absolutely blown away by the awesomeness of Darkness Dawns so when I found myself in a reading slump I decided to give Night Reigns a try hoping that it would jump start my book reading engine. Once again, Kirsten Potter's superb narration skills left me hanging on her every word; unfortunately Dianne Duvall's story did not have the same effect. I still thoroughly enjoyed this installment but the chemistry between Ami and Marcus is no where near as compelling as Sarah and Roland's. Even though this novel isn't on the same level as its predecessor it still did manage to get me interested in reading again.

The mystery surrounding Ami's character had my head a buzz with possibilities up until the end when Duvall sheds some light on this enigma. She has both vampiric and immortal qualities and yet I still wasn't able to figure her out without Dianne's help. I enjoyed this side-plot more than the main one. My curiosity was overwhelming and I do love a book that makes you think! After finishing Darkness Dawns I was anxious to learn Marcus' tale but that feeling slowly died as this story progressed. I'm having a hard time putting my finger on what exactly dampened my feelings for Grayden; perhaps it's because the focus was more on Amiriska. Either way, I was disappointed by the lack of attention Marcus received in this installment. He's a fascinating character with a heart wrenching back story and I wish that he'd been portrayed better or at the very least shared the spotlight with Ami.

The main plot is well-developed and ties in with what happened in book 1. Bastien was defeated in the previous installment so Duvall had to introduce a new big bad. Her choice was a good one and really helped with the continuation of the story. The non-stop action and steamy romp scenes that I've come to expect from this series are back for another round in Night Reigns. Plus, readers get a few more snippets as to the origins of immortals and I must say, I like where this series is going!

I've only experienced a handful of books audio-style but Kirsten Potter is hands down my favorite narrator so far. She seamlessly switches between characters while making slight adjustments to her tone so that it's easy to identify who's saying what. I absolutely adored Potter's sound effects; from the vibrating cellphone to the ringing door bell. It's rare to come across a woman who not only makes sound effects but who's actually good at them. I think part of the reason why I'm diggin' this series so much is because of the narrator.

Overall this book left me feeling lukewarm. I enjoyed watching Ami open up and make a home for herself among the immortals and the preternatural battles left me in awe but the romance between the two main characters paled in comparison to what Roland and Sarah shared in the first book. I'm reluctant to give this series up just yet because of how much I loved Darkness Dawns. I'm still holding out hope that this series will bounce back but knowing that Bastien's story is up next has me feeling skeptical. Night Reigns was an enjoyable read but it was no Darkness Dawns.

12 of 14 people found this review helpful

Another good paranormal action filled erotic drama

Paranormal excitement AGAIN. Mostly vampires VS immortals (all with dark hair & eyes) & greedy EVIL humans are fighting. There are still characters of different skin tones, ethnics, culture &TIMES, The struggle with good against evil is blurred when mis communications & understanding cause egos to be bruised & revenge to be had. The writercontinued adding different looking characters with different personalities.The males vary but the females not so much. All pale just with different hair color. I believe this series is worth the credit/money.. The journey of the groups development is interesting..I would have given the series 5 stars but, there wasn't ANY females with dark skin in the series (black or latina). So, I can't imagine myself interacting with any of the characters STILL.. Boo hoo Hoo.. Still hope in the future for series to add diverse female...BUT, the stories are Still intriguing, well written & performed story.. This series is good..

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Avoid this author if offended by patriarchal swill

First off, kudos to Ms. Potter - her reading was excellent, her voice was pleasant and, frankly, if her reading hadn't been as good as it was I would have turned the book off sooner.

Now, I gave the story 2 stars because it has the bones of something worth listening to. There was just a lot of crap that needed to be dropped to get down to those bones. The most offensive of that crap, at least to me, was the underlying assumption that the world would be a better place if we just went back to the bad old days of the manly protector taking care of his (enslaved by law and social customs) woman.

Don't get me wrong: I like burly men with strong protective instincts - when they respect women as being more than just pets with sex-toy perks.

As I stated, Ms. Potter did an excellent job narrating this tale, to the point I was able to just roll my eyes at the cheap-shot pseudo-moralizing about modern American eating habits, city vs. country living rudeness, &ct., and go along with the main plot points - until the patriarchal swill got so over the top I deleted the book with 30 minutes remaining to the end.

If it had been a paperback, I would have used the book for fire starter.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful