As Annika, Sawyer and their four friends hunt for the mysterious 'star of water', the goddess Nerezza sends a terrifying foe to destroy them. It seems there is no place for love and desire at such a dark time. And so Sawyer tries to protect Annika by pushing her away.
But true love cannot be denied. And in a battle between the dark and the light - it might be the only thing that can save them from a terrible fate.
Comment: This is the second story in the Guardians trilogy by Nora Roberts. As it usually happens with her romantic trilogies, we've met the six main characters in the first book and now in this second, after a couple found an HEA, we have another one forming, leaving a third one for the last book.
In this book we have the story focusing on Sawyer and Annika, and after the sudden meeting and learning how to be in a group which took place in the first book, these two are ready to work on their attraction despite the fact they are both quite laid back and not looking to add to the demands the group faces. However, it seems their being together is connected to the task the group needs to accomplish even if Sawyer might feel he is taking advantage because of how Annika has lived so far.
However, even those doubts have to be in second plan because their enemy is not resting until their task is failed. Will they be able to win another round before the final battle to achieve their goal?
I think this was a good example of how Nora Roberts divides her trilogies. In fact, not many of the books in her trilogies would be read as standalone stories. Yes, they have beginning and end but rarely enough form to be individually appreciated. On one hand, this proves she knows how to divide things properly but it can also be a fact it might mean the stories are really just one big one split into three parts and lately that has become too obvious (while comparing to older trilogies).
That aside, I can say this was a good story for me despite the things that didn't work as well. I still think the book, as several of hers in the recent years, presents things in a practically pretty perfect package. I mean with this that the story flows and the characters are well thought but everything they do and don't do, every step and situation is possible because of how perfect the author created these things. It doesn't feel like the characters nor the situations they were in could be that possible or realistic.
Everything is too easy for the characters, especially silly simple things like needing to fly from one country to the other or finding accommodation and with a simple phone call, all is solved. Ok how annoying it would be to have pages on these issues but... the characters don't seem to be as human as we our, even despite their special abilities since this is a slight paranormal romance trilogy.
I liked Sawyer and Annika. They are both friendly people and not suffering from any of the usual traits of romance heroes and heroines when it comes to cliché types.
Sawyer is not an alpha male looking to get his plans come alive just because he thinks he knows best and Annika is not afraid to step out of her shadow nor is she a femme fatale that can't commit. Both are, instead, good people just trying to be part of a team while still maintaining quite innocent and simple personalities, even though both are special in their own way.
In this second story we also have a meet with the bad guys who try their best to defeat out heroes and it felt like they could have done so but thankfully, everything is solved. I found it interesting we had such detailed descriptions of what was going on since that is usually something reserved for the suspense books of the author.
I'm obviously glad nothing too bad happened to the main characters but it was a good scene to see how they reacted to something so negative and we were treated to a believable reaction in my opinion.
I can think of different elements that weren't very well achieved but I had a good enough time reading this and I still feel like reading the last one. I confess the feel of urgency to read a book by the author like I felt when I first "discovered" her is no longer the same. However, this couple, Annika and Sawyer made it very intriguing to keep reading. I think this story was only successful for me because they are both good protagonists.
It's difficult to explain my feelings better but I have to say part of the interest of these books is what they made me think of while reading. It's just knowing sometimes I'll be entertained.
Grade: 7/10
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