Dianne Duvall - Death of Darkness

Seth has led the Immortal Guardians for thousands of years. With them fighting by his side, he has protected humans from psychotic vampires, defeated corrupt mercenary armies, defended military bases under attack, and more. But the latest enemy to rise against the Immortal Guardians has proven to be a formidable one, wielding almost as much power as Seth. His goal is simple. He wants to watch the world burn. And he will use every means at his disposal to accomplish it. Seth and his Immortal Guardians have succeeded thus far in staving off Armageddon despite heartbreaking losses. But they have never before faced such danger. Seth has only one wish: to protect his Immortal Guardians family and ensure the continuation of humanity by defeating his foe. But then Leah walks into his life and sparks a new desire.
Leah Somerson has suffered losses of her own. It has taken her a long time to rebuild her life and find some semblance of peace. Then one night a tall, dark, powerful immortal with what appears to be the weight of the world on his shoulders stumbles into her shop, and everything changes. Peace and contentment are no longer enough. Now she wants more. She wants to find happiness. She wants to erase the darkness in Seth’s eyes and replace it with love and laughter. She knows he’s different in ways that make most fear him. Even some of his immortal brethren keep a careful distance. But Leah will not. Nor will she shy away when danger strikes. 

Comment: This is the 9th installment in the Immortal Guardians series by author Dianne Duvall. The first books were published with a traditional publisher but the more recent ones have been self published. I've liked some more than others as it usually happens with long series but I do appreciate the constant dedication to details of the lives of the characters.

In this story we finally have Seth as protagonist, he who has been the mentor and main caretaker of all the immortal guardians, someone others look up to. Seth has been quite alone, however, for centuries, since his wife and young children have been murdered and he has dedicated his existence to his friends, the immortals he considers his family and the protection of innocents.

Leah is a sort of friend of the family since Ami (heroine from book #2) had her child and they frequent Leah's children's store to buy things. Since Seth and the guys have been targeted by an enemy that keeps sending vampires for them to battle, Leah is now used as a pawn too, considering how she and Seth have been closer lately. 

Will they both face their tragic pasts to find happiness together?

When it was revealed Seth was the next main character to have a book and a HEA, I was quite happy as were many other readers. It's common that authors tend to leave the main characters in series with a big cast for last but it was great mrs Duvall made things different.

I was really looking for to this book but I confess I created some expectations in my head of how this was supposed to go, I imagined some things. If the story was amazing and I was proved wrong on my assumptions by a better story, that would be fantastic. However, the reality was different and although I liked almost everything about the story, including the heroine, I just didn't like how the romance between Seth and Leah happened.

This is, therefore, the element that made me think the most. Seth is such a powerful guy, he has the weight of the world in his shoulders so it would be good he could have a mate/partner that would help him live the simple things more, someone who could be there for him.

Leah is described as being 46, she had a tragic past similar to Seth's so it feels like she was "created" to fit in with Seth's lackings, namely, someone who would understand and not demand things from him. I get it.

However, the romance was not passionate nor edgy that would convince me they were falling hopelessly in love. I imagined someone like Leah but in a different place in life, perhaps even a gifted one that would fight her new life and Seth could be there to guide but fall in love with.

Leah just felt too plain and obvious and she was so easy to portray as a motherly figure I struggled to like her as Seth's mate.

Leah herself was a good person and funny but I just think her character was staged too much to complement Seth's.

Apart from my personal views, the story was well done, not always fast paced but since I like stories where we get many people, mostly known ones already and I've invested emotions in reading about them, this was a win-win for me. It seemed too many characters had air time but in a book with more than 400 pages and where the enemy is common, it was just fun to see them all and for a while to have a glimpse of the domestic side of their lives.

The plot itself moved along very nicely. There were some dragging parts but closer to the end several things happen, and some discoveries are made. I'd say only one detail surprised me. I mean, not that it was already known, but some things have been inferred so much I just don't think any reader was really surprised by every new information we got in this book.

Some urgent situations were also solved in this book. I wonder which path the author is going to take when it comes to the battle against the vampires but if the series starts focusing more on the known characters and their lives and not the battle scenes, the better for me...

All in all, this was a good book, many chapters I read very eagerly and many scenes I liked a lot. The romance wasn't as special as I hoped it would but in the end it's just fine Seth got his HEA.

Grade: 8/10