Title: Destiny’s Mark (The Guardians of Eden #3)
Author: K.H. LeMoyne
Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 5 stars
Review copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
The only difference between fate and destiny is choice.
Tsu Halan, Guardian defense master, has honed his skills and waited patiently over the centuries for the covenant’s promise of a mate to share his soul and a family to cherish. Close enough to taste fulfillment, the dark echoes of the past threaten with danger and death.
Jai Dashkov harbors her own painful secrets of harsh betrayal and tender loss. Her desperate search to reclaim her life doesn’t allow room in her heart to deviate for love.
Together they are stronger than apart, but the promise of the covenant is a perpetual test. One that Tsu and Jai must conquer in time or suffer an eternity for their failure.
GENRE: Adult Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance
THE GUARDIANS OF EDEN:
A race of beings created in a Sanctum at the far edge of Eden. Co-existing with mankind, they safeguarded human souls and the promise of eternity—until a virus killed all over the age of eighteen. The surviving children fled to the Sanctum for protection, children raising children without the full legacy of their history and knowledge. Two hundred years of solitude have produced a race of semi-immortals fortified with powers and intellect but lacking the mates who will make them whole and allow them to fulfill their covenant with mankind.
I’ve reviewed a few of K.H. LeMoyne’s books before, and enjoyed reading them every single time. K.H. LeMoyne succeeds to bring something new to the table in every book. It’s obvious, in Destiny’s Mark that once again, she’s done her research and has come up with an unique, original story that kept me on the edge of my seat. She doesn’t deliver sloppy work: what you get is a strong, detailed, realistic setting with three-dimensional characters with their own sets of flaws and insecurities, exciting lore and background story, a fast pace, and excellent writing skills. I doubt these features were even more prominent in this book than in the previous ones in the series.
There are two main characters this time around. The first is Jai, who didn’t have a happy childhood so far. She got pregnant while she was still a teenager and her father, against her wishes, sold her baby. Now she’s trying to find her daughter, but that’s not as easy as it sounds. The private investigator she wants to hire costs heaps of money, and even though she’s worked hard for years to earn that money, it still may not be enough. Then on her way to work she gets mugged, all her money stolen, her dreams of finding her daughter shatterd. She’s saved by Tsu and his sister Quan.
Tsu is a Guardian. That means that he’ll only find one soulmate during his lifetime, and if he has children with said soulmate, they’ll become future Guardians, fulfilling an ancient prophecy. He’s waited for centuries to find that perfect mate, meanwhile perfecting his skills. But it’s beginning to wear on him: he longs for someone to love and cherish, and for a family of his own. From the moment he meets Jai, he knows she’s destined to be with him. But he also knows that Jai is reluctant to accept other people’s help, and it may not be easy for him to find a way into her heart.
Quan wants to open a refuge house for abused women, and she hires Jai to help her, thus allowing Tsu and Jai to grow closer, and discover their feelings for each other.
The settting is China, Hong Kong mostly. And I loved it. Why? Because it doesn’t happen very often I get to read a book taking place in China. And it’s obvious the author has done her research, from the typical names to the work ethics to the way Chinese society differs from Western societies. Even though the book is fantasy, it had a contemporary setting that made me feel like I was standing right in the middle of Hong Kong at times. The fantasy part of the book was really well-done too. I like the lore behind the Guardians, and I was glad to discover even more about them in this installment.
I loved Jai’s personality and how she developed into a stronger character as the book progressed. I also liked how she was unwilling to give up the search for her daughter, no matter what happend. She was my favorite character, even though I liked Tsu a lot as well. He didn’t have an overly dominant personality, like we sometimes see with ‘alpha males’ in adult romance novels, and it was refreshing for once. He didn’t try to tell Jai what to do every other page. He wasn’t your typical hero, but he made a great hero nonetheless.
I would recommend this book to all fans of original, unique adult urban fantasy / paranormal romance. It’s a great, thrilling read with a heartwarming romantic story at its core.
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