Betrayal's Shadow (The Guardians of Eden, #1) by K.H. LeMoyne

Mar 10, 2013 Paula rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: r2r

R2R: Betrayal's Shadow (The Guardians of Eden #1)

(I received this book, in exchange for a review)

Turen, a Guardian, is on a quest, to save his friend. His people are in decline, no new births, no new matings, for hundreds of years. The women have been been placed in cryo, to better protect them against the outside world and the possibility of contracting the virus, that killed so many of their elders. Guardians are to help to human race, by delivering their souls when they give birth, but not to...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Stacy Eaton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a new author for me, and I feel in love with the cover. It is what caught my attention and led me to download the book. The first few chapters were a bit rough for me to get into, but once I started figuring out who people were and got used to the creative names, I got sucked in.

I loved the characters of Mia and Turen. Loved the conversation, the boldness and the way they interacted with each other. I was glad that the author created a female lead who could be an equal to her mate. There...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Becket Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, own

Betrayal's Shadow takes the Eden story and turns it on its ear - somehow in a way that is easy to imagine. LeMoyne sets up her paranormal backstory in a way that is easy to believe and lets the reader sink into her characters and their complex interrelationships from the very first page. Particularly when you consider how much of the novel takes place in Turen's prison cell, LeMoyne demonstrates her talent at pulling the reader into her descriptions and dialogue without the story feeling drawn o...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Flame rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-challenge-books, paranormal-romance, great-but-not-perfect

This review is also posted on Always a Booklover.

Betrayal’s Shadow was an amazing read. Action-packed + sweet romance = great book. I loved reading the book, and I was hooked almost right from the start. When I started reading the book, I didn’t expect much, given that I’m not that big a fan of paranormal romance. But when I read this, I was pleasantly surprised.

Turen is a Guardian. Guardians have special powers and were made to do something related to souls. I have no idea what because it wasn...more This review is also posted on Always a Booklover.

Betrayal’s Shadow was an amazing read. Action-packed + sweet romance = great book. I loved reading the book, and I was hooked almost right from the start. When I started reading the book, I didn’t expect much, given that I’m not that big a fan of paranormal romance. But when I read this, I was pleasantly surprised.

Turen is a Guardian. Guardians have special powers and were made to do something related to souls. I have no idea what because it wasn’t discussed in the book, merely brushed over with a few sentences here and there. Basically, they have only one mate where they can reproduce and really fall in love with. Unfortunately, hardly any of them in this age have found their mate. Make that only one. Of course, because this is a romance, Turen and Mia, the female protagonist, are mates, even though the fact is not discovered till later.

Turen and Mia meet in prison. Turen is imprisoned while Mia can somehow travel through time to reach him. Why, it will be explained in the book, albeit in a rather roundabout method. I won’t say more and spoil it for those who haven’t read the book.

The romance in the book was rather sweet. Neither of them ever thought they would end up with each other, especially not in the circumstances that brought them together. However, when they did fall in love, it was so great and so so strong that I really loved it. To be honest, it almost brought tears to my eyes the first time he admitted he couldn’t live without her. That it didn’t matter that she wasn’t her mate (he didn’t know yet). I especially loved the part when he said something along the lines of all the love that he had to give was given to her. You know, it’s just these little things that really make the romance sweet.

I enjoyed the action in the book. It wasn’t too much or too little. All of the fight scenes were shown fully in detail and that I was something I really liked. The pace was good too. However, at times I felt that the book suddenly jumped forward without enough warning and that left me a little surprised at times. But its really nothing much.

The character development and how the characters were depicted was something I really liked. Not once did the characters do things out of the norm. There was good character development and I really liked how Mia grew as a person. At first, she was rather shy, timid and even a little weak. But at the end, she really impressed me with her bravery and strength.

Another thing that I liked was that the book wasn’t too predictable. Sure, I could guess some of the more obvious plot lines. But most of the time, things would happen that I would never have expected. It got a little too much though. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure exactly why that particular plot was introduced at that point.

Though I really liked this book, I’m hesitant to give it a full 5 star rating. Several reasons. The description of the creatures and places in the book left me a bit confused. But then again, it could just be me not being very adept in visualizing from description. Especially paranormal things. I think that took away a bit of the appreciation that I had for the book. This was because I like to be able to see the scenes in my head while reading. And actually I could, its just when the creatures came, that it left me a bit puzzled. But as I said, this could be just me. Another thing I didn’t really like was the resolution. I found it a bit too abrupt. It happened too quickly for my liking. Sure, everything was resolved, but I just found it too fast. And as I mentioned earlier, the souls part was a little confusing. Even after the whole book, I have no idea the real use of Guardians other than them having to take care of souls or something like that. To me, I felt that it really should have been explained, because it is their main duty and why they were created in the first place.

All in all, I found this to be a great book. It had a good plot, and I felt the book was set well for a series. I look forward to reading more of this author’s books. Definitely a read worth taking the time for. I was really addicted by it, and could not put the book down despite having rather pressing things to do. I read it in about 1-2 sittings. Definitely a recommended read, especially to those who enjoy paranormal romance with a lot of action in it.

P.S. If there is any grammar/spelling/typo errors, forgive me. I’m typing this without my specs on and its almost 5, I don’t have full mental capacity now! :P
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Jun 30, 2011 Beverly rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My thoughts:
This incredible story is not your average tale of good versus evil. This story is so much more than that. It is a story of the seduction of power and it's ability to taint vision and truth. The horrifying reality of a twisted sense of commitment and a covenant gone wrong. It is a story of struggle and sacrifice on a journey to find the truth buried in betrayal, and the price of failure is extinction.
We are introduced to a woman (Mia) who finds herself involuntarily drawn into the te...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Jonel Boyko rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-installment-of-series-to-read, loved-it, series-to-follow

LeMoyne employs a smooth writing style that highlights the action and simmers through the downtime in the story. The minute transitions in writing style between the different types of scenes really draw the reader into the story with little effort. The tension in the story plays out through the words used and mode of storytelling employed during that section of the story. The same can be said for other emotions that are prominent in certain scenes.

Not only does LeMoyne’s writing style draw you...more LeMoyne employs a smooth writing style that highlights the action and simmers through the downtime in the story. The minute transitions in writing style between the different types of scenes really draw the reader into the story with little effort. The tension in the story plays out through the words used and mode of storytelling employed during that section of the story. The same can be said for other emotions that are prominent in certain scenes.

Not only does LeMoyne’s writing style draw you in, but so does her subject matter. This is one of those stories that goes beyond being unique. She doesn’t just give an old subject a new twist, but rather, takes a completely new subject and runs far with it. It was enthralled and intrigued throughout. Sure, there were a couple of times where the story was a little dense as new theories were laid out and various events were explained, but being the first novel in a series on a previously unknown topic this is unavoidable. Even while this was happening the story still held my full attention and once these theories were laid out the story was off and running and I couldn’t put it down.

This story had a rather large cast of main characters, but each and every one was well developed. They also all had important roles to play and were developed to suit a specific role and purpose. I loved how varied the characters in this novel are. They are so different personally, physically, and in abilities. Their names are all unique but memorable, and easy to remember. This helps the reader keep this widely varied cast of characters straight without having to rack your brain for that really cool, weird name that you just can’t remember.

This was a phenomenal beginning to the series as well as a brilliant standalone novel. By the end I couldn’t put it down and was thanking my lucky stars that there was a sequel since I can’t wait to spend more time with the brilliant characters.

Please note that I received this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.(less)

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Mar 15, 2012 Hazel G. (I ♥ Mr. Grey) *Craves the Angst Reviews* . rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: paranormal, paranormal romance

Recommended to Hazel G. (I ♥ Mr. Grey) *Craves the Angst Reviews* by: R2R - PR&UFF

Shelves: paranormal-romance, erotica, romance-suspense, adult

Betrayal's Shadow is the first book in The Guardians of Eden series by K.H. LeMoyne. I read this book as part of a R2R with Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Fanatics! As always, a gracious thank you to the wonderful moderators of the group as well as a huge thank you to the author for allowing me to participate!

Synopsis:
Turen is descended from a secret race of people called the Guardians. Tradgedy is something his people are very familiar with so Turen set out to try and figure out why th...more Betrayal's Shadow is the first book in The Guardians of Eden series by K.H. LeMoyne. I read this book as part of a R2R with Paranormal Romance & Urban Fantasy Fanatics! As always, a gracious thank you to the wonderful moderators of the group as well as a huge thank you to the author for allowing me to participate!

Synopsis:
Turen is descended from a secret race of people called the Guardians. Tradgedy is something his people are very familiar with so Turen set out to try and figure out why the latest string of unexplained events has turned one of their very own against them, but he finds things are not as they seem for any of them! Betrayed and now living out his days being tortured in a cell by a man he once admired and thought of as a brother, his hope is dwindling quickly. Mia is a freelance journalist who has just buried her estranged husband after a bleak marriage. Her life is as normal as they come... that is until one night she finds herself pulled out of her mundane existence and mystically thrown into Turen's captivity nightmare. Drawn to this stranger and the mystery that surrounds his past and his people, Mia, with the help of Turen, tries to survive in secret, the visits to this brutal environment she now finds herself forced to each night. She also unearths dangerous information about Turen's people that someone has already killed for and she might be next.

Review:
This book was pretty great! It started out a little confusing but by the third chapter it picked up rythm and speed and turned into an amazing story about two people trying to overcome amazingly difficult odds to be together. This action packed adventure has plenty of romance and mystery with a strong story background to build from. The main characters, Turen and Mia are passionate and lively, their allure fascinating to read. I could feel the push-pull of their relationship and it delighted the senses. I also liked the authors twist on what we would call angels, making them an advanced familial race instead of untouchable angelic creatures. I really liked the sub-characters and their back stories. I liked the unique names each character was given and the powers or special talents each character possessed. It was just a good read with lots of emotional backing and great story telling!

Questionable Plot Holes:
There were a few things I didn't understand, that if answered or explained better, I would have given this a 5 out of 5 star rating. (view spoiler)

Conclusion:
All in all, this was a great start to a potentially amazing series. I'd love to see more from these characters and learn more about the Guardian race! There's a book two that I will definitely be purchasing to read in the next couple of days. I look forward to seeing where the author takes this incredible world that been created.
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Mar 12, 2012 Pat rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, romance, series, urban-fantasy, series-r-us

Slow start for me but I believe that was more on me than the author. This ended up being a 4star read for me.

Mia Bowman’s overnight dreams resemble nightmares. In reality is she’s transported nightly to help entrapped and tortured Turen, a premier warrior of the Guardians, a race hidden from humans. As his covenant decrees, Turen protects Mia from being discovered and used by his captors as they work to unravel a mystery currently plaguing his race dating back to the systematic elimination of h...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Thedaydreamer3 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In the beginning i wasn't really into the book.Read the first part of the excerpt.It's the beginning of the book(Turen's POV ) .A prison with sociopaths and creepy creatures aren't really my thing,but 20 pages in... and I was completely hooked :) .Actually the first thing that interested me was the difference between Turen and Mia's situations/lives.It was like putting white and black together.. (You can figure this stuff from the excerpt)

It all started with a betrayal and this book is like de...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Shana (ReadingVixen) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's amazing, what sleep and dreams can do for a person. Who knew one could find love that way? :-) "Betrayal's Shadow" by K.H. LeMoyne has a very interesting premise: there are these...well, I can't rightly call them "angels," but they are the Guardians of human beings, who watch over and protect us, without our knowledge. They are secluded in this place ironically called Eden, and the main male character, Turen, goes after one of the former Guardians, Xavier, who pretty much lost his mind when...more It's amazing, what sleep and dreams can do for a person. Who knew one could find love that way? :-) "Betrayal's Shadow" by K.H. LeMoyne has a very interesting premise: there are these...well, I can't rightly call them "angels," but they are the Guardians of human beings, who watch over and protect us, without our knowledge. They are secluded in this place ironically called Eden, and the main male character, Turen, goes after one of the former Guardians, Xavier, who pretty much lost his mind when his wife and child died. There is a mystery as to how his family died, and Turen wants to try to bring him back into the fold. Well, Xavier isn't having that; he left Eden and became a drug warlord, wreaking all type of havoc in the human world. He basically has his men beat Turen senseless and throws him into a prison cave.

Enter Mia, the female main character. She's a basic human, who doesn't realize she has a little "extra" until she dreams and somehow finds herself in Turen's prison. The process is actually called "folding," which is like tracing or disapparating or phasing, or something like that. It's a pretty cool process, and all of the Guardians can fold to another location. Needless to say, since Mia isn't familiar with any of this, she approaches Turen VERY cautiously at first. After "folding" several times, and helping Turen out as best she can, they learn more and more about each other, and wind up caring more for each other than they realize.

The backstory, world-building, and intrigue in this book is amazing. You can almost picture yourself in the situations Mia goes through. There are many monkey wrenches thrown into the mix for good measure, and the true villain in the story was who I thought it would be, although I liked HOW the villain's machinations caused the Guardians much grief.

I hope this is the beginning of a series, because I really want to follow the story, to see where the Guardians go from here. Great work, K.H. LeMoyne; I'm waiting for the next one... :-)
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Mar 10, 2012 Penumbra rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Anyone who what's to read something more than the usual romance book.

Shelves: 251-plus-pages, read-to-review, drugs, format-ebook, erotic-het, erotic-paranormal, erotic-romance, erotica, free-ebook, het, het-romance, main-character-likeable, main-couple-likeable, own, paranormal, pov-adult-female, pov-adult-male, pov-switches-viewpoint, pov-third-person, romance-predictable-plot, read-in-2012, romance, secondary-characters-likeable, series, series-first-book, supernatural-abilities, r2r-pn-and-urban-fantasy-fanatics, publisher-digital-crystal-press, abuse-cruelty, angst, character-damsel-in-distress, character-mates, children-or-pregnancy, hurt-comfort, injury-illness, paranormal-romance, published-2012, sex-hot, violence

I was given this book to read through Read 2 Review, thank you.

This story is told mostly from the point of view of Mia, the female protagonist, and Turen, the male protagonist.

This book was interesting in that it wasn’t just a love story between two people, but it was also a mystery with many other intriguing characters. It was a romance story, but much more. That in itself puts it above the usual romance fodder that is out there.

(view spoiler)...more
I was given this book to read through Read 2 Review, thank you.

This story is told mostly from the point of view of Mia, the female protagonist, and Turen, the male protagonist.

This book was interesting in that it wasn’t just a love story between two people, but it was also a mystery with many other intriguing characters. It was a romance story, but much more. That in itself puts it above the usual romance fodder that is out there.

(view spoiler)[

The beginning of this book was confusing. We jump into the story as Turen is being held prisoner, and he’s getting beat up. Until Mia first pops up into Turen’s cell, the story didn’t make sense to me. I had a difficult time figuring out what was going on, and couldn’t get pulled into the story, it appeared undefined and slow. I found the beginning awkward to read and I was hoping that it didn’t continue on the way it was. Luckily the story started to make more sense once Mia folded into Turen’s cell. Oh, and the word fold reminds me of the Guild Masters in Dune that folded space for their transport ships.

The author did a good job with dividing up the POV’s by chapter, or with paragraph separators. However, I did find a few instances where the POV change switched suddenly from paragraph to paragraph without warning. I needed to re-read what was happening in order to find out which person was currently speaking.

I liked that the author had Mia learning and training with her new abilities. Mia doesn’t all of a sudden turn into Superwoman; it was obvious Mia trained to do the things she did. Too many stories with female heroines don’t let a woman’s super abilities develop, they’re almost instantaneous. So I think the author did a good job with this aspect of Mia’s character.

I liked Mia, until she told Turen she was pregnant. Mia up to that point was intent on searching for answers and improving herself by learning fighting techniques. She was a smart woman that turned into a “fragile piece of china” once she told Turen she was pregnant, no matter how much she denied it. She got all dewy eyed and was no longer as spunky during the rest story of the story. Gone was the ‘warrior’ that Turen fell in love with and instead there was a person that was known for her ability to read the Archives and as Marcus’ mother and Turen’s mate. In Mia’s place for a strong female character came Breit, one of the guardians. It’s a shame the author turned Mia into a damsel in distress and had her pretty much fade into the background.

The conversations that Mia and Turen had in Turen’s prison cell were interesting. I liked the growing relationship between them, although I think it probably went on at least one scene too long. I was getting bored and wondered when they were going to escape.

Usually I don’t think het sex is very good in stories but the sex in this was pretty good. Although I did think it odd that it was sort of one sided. It was Turen doing all the sexy time stuff to Mia, which I don’t think is very interesting since women like to participate and do stuff ‘to’ men also. I would have enjoyed the sex scenes more if Mia actually did things to Turen other than running her fingers over his mark or just kissing him. So, yeah, the sex scenes could have been more equal.

I think the author could have been less obvious with the foreshadowing. It could have been more subtle and smoother.

For instance, there were a couple of events that happened in the book that I didn’t see a purpose for. The first was when Xavier shot Turen up with loads of drugs, specifically to make him lose his control. I can see that the author wanted to use this so that Turen would lose control around Mia and they’d then have hot sex, but it’s a poor ploy to lead up to the sex. It would have been better if there was a purpose to Xavier shooting Turen up with the drugs. There’s no interrogation, nothing, it’s just used to set up the sex scene. It’s like the author got lazy and didn’t want to bother to create a reason Xavier gave the drugs, or another way to get Turen and Mia to have sex.

The next event that happened that I found irrelevant, was when Turen saved Marco’s sister from being sold by Manny to his friends. The whole scene with staking out Manny’s house and rescuing the girl appears to have been a set up for later in the story when Turen uses his power of fire to save Mia and Marcus. I think that the Tucson scene could have been eliminated and instead, used the event when Turen found out about the scorch marks in the garage. He would train Mia there and explain about the fire then. The readers would learn about both of their fire abilities and the unnecessary scene with Marco’s sister could have been cut.

The author did a pretty good job pacing out the story to keep me interested, not to slow except for the beginning, too long in the prison, and saving the sister. I didn’t like that Mia faded into the background once she had the baby and her character turned into a pretty useless character. The people and scenes were easy to visualize. There wasn’t excessive flowery description and neither was the story lacking in description. I liked this book despite the few things I mentioned in the review. I give this book four stars.
(hide spoiler)]

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Sep 29, 2011 Brandi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was one of the best in urban fantasy that I have read in a long time. A really long time. It's hard for me to give a book a five star rating; it really has to stand out and above other books that I've read of the genre and even above books in other genres. For a while I have been shying away from urban fantasy books; they just seemed...off. But this book was a wonderful change from what I have been reading. At first I didn't get what the backstory was all about and almost abandoned the book...more

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Mar 17, 2012 Jenne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2012

Turren belongs to a race that has lived in secret among humans since the begining of time. They aren't immortal but live for a very long time. His people are dying out though. A virus wiped most of them out and the ones that survived can't seem to mate and reproduce. All of the females have been put into hybernation to ensure their safety. Turren manages to get imprisoned by a rogue member of his race.
Mia is getting over her husband's death and betrayal. When she falls asleep she somehow mangag...more

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Mar 11, 2012 Daphne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: eye-on-the-series, other-paranormal, surprisingly-good, erotica, r2r

Betrayal's Shadow - This my friend is my type of read erotica with a plot. Vengeance and Romance.

This book is about Guardians whose purpose is to save human souls. This race is becoming extinct after a virus killed many and it is said that they cannot procreate unless its from their destined mate.

Turen a loyal Guardian goes in search of answers and finds himself imprisoned. After many weeks of torture he is visited by Mia in his solitary confinement cell. She questions the reality of the situa...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Heather Wiese rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Really liked this one! It's the first book I have read by this author, but hey, sexy man on the cover and an interesting book description and I'm in!

Turen is a "Guardian" a race of human-like beings who have enhanced senses, enhanced healing abilities and special powers. Their job is to heal human souls (although it wasn't really explained how...) by the births of their children with their true mates. About 200 years ago their people were mostly killed off by a deadly virus and only those under...more Really liked this one! It's the first book I have read by this author, but hey, sexy man on the cover and an interesting book description and I'm in!

Turen is a "Guardian" a race of human-like beings who have enhanced senses, enhanced healing abilities and special powers. Their job is to heal human souls (although it wasn't really explained how...) by the births of their children with their true mates. About 200 years ago their people were mostly killed off by a deadly virus and only those under the age of 19 lived. They retreated to a place called Sanctum in isolation, cut off from the outside world. Their leader, Xavier, after loosing his mate and child goes insane and took off, leaving another, Salvatore, to take his place. Salvatore then put all the women in stasis to "protect them," and instituted harsh guidelines for the men. No one has found a mate nor has a child been born in all that time.

Turen never believed that Xavier truly abandoned them so after multiple attempts to meet with him to talk (Xavier is now some sort of drug lord who attacks his own people), Turen gets himself captured (ehhh...not the best of plans buddy) to try and learn more information. What he gets instead is months and months of torture.

Mia is a human who finds herself falling asleep one night at home and waking up in the prison where Turen is being kept. At first she thinks it's all just horrible nightmares, but then she realizes she is actually there in person and after her initial fear, begins talking to Turen. They form a friendship and mutual attraction, all the while Turen is insisting she stay away so she doesn't get hurt.

Mia, being strong willed, wants to help Turen, and sets out to figure out what is really going on as best she can. Against all belief, she determines it might just be a fellow Guardian who has betrayed them. She finally is able to break Turen free, but not without consequences that leave her on the run for months. When Turen and Mia finally reconnect their reunion is very sweet, but there is still danger lurking everywhere.

I loved Turen, he was a warrior at his most vulnerable (imprisoned, tortured, chained so he couldn't use his powers, starved) and his every instinct was to protect Mia, even when he briefly thought she was a plant by the guards. He was so gentle and sweet to her! I loved the affection he shows her all the time. Mia had just been hosed by her soon-to-be-ex-husband and yet when confronted with this man who needed her, didn't hesitate to help him. They form a strong bond that not only changes them both, but has far reaching effects for the Guardians.

There is a second book I just downloaded and I hope the series continues! :)(less)

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Mar 30, 2012 Dale Ibitz rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mia Bowman's sucky, cheating husband is having a child with another woman before the divorce papers are even final. Under a lot of stress, she starts having exhausting, life-like dreams where she's transported to a prison with a drop-dead gorgeous hunk of a man. The hunk of a man is Turen, a celestial guardian of man-kind. But it turns out that Mia just might be the one saving Turen.

This book is solid. It has action, it has great characters, it has romance, it has sex, it has torture, it has goo...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Brianna Kilcrease rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First Line: "A sonic crack followed by searing fire along Turen‘s shoulder blade shattered his resolve."

This series is full of so much potential! The idea of this story is brilliant and exciting. Guardians who are immortal and each have their own special power. Mates are for life, and they get a special mark that shows their bond. How cool!

It took me around three days to actually read this book. That was because I only had the PDF file and had to read it on the computer since PDF files usually...more

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Mar 15, 2012 SarahSmith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received this as part of a Goodreads group Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Fanatics: Read to Review giveaway. This book started out a little slow. The first night I picked this up I probably got only a few chapters in before I put it down. Honestly it was a little boring at first. I figured that had to do with the set-up/background information that inevitably has to be thrown in for (1) new readers, so they aren't completely lost if starting in the middle of a series, or (2) in this case...more

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Mar 13, 2013 Laurie: Almost Faemous rated it 4 of 5 stars

Original review posted on my blog Almost Faemous

I received a copy of Betrayal's Shadow from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First I gotta say I love the cover of this book, ok moving on it took me a looooooong time to get into this book. I'd start reading it get lost go read another book come back in a day and repeat the process all over again. It also has more of a scifi element than I usually read, robotic guards and mutants and if I am honest I still haven't figured out e...more Original review posted on my blog Almost Faemous

I received a copy of Betrayal's Shadow from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review.

First I gotta say I love the cover of this book, ok moving on it took me a looooooong time to get into this book. I'd start reading it get lost go read another book come back in a day and repeat the process all over again. It also has more of a scifi element than I usually read, robotic guards and mutants and if I am honest I still haven't figured out exactly what the hell the guardians do. That being said once I got about a third of the way through it it started getting much much better.

Turin is a Guardian a race of long lived people hidden from humans with special powers and technologies. Awhile ago a virus nearly killed all of them, only the children survived, and the path to rebuilding their society had some bumps along the way...big bumps. The Guardians only have one mate that they can conceive children with and due to the virus almost all of their women are in cryo stasis.

The mate of one of the Guardians along with their child is killed and he goes a little nuts, and is pretty much at war with the other Guardians, as the book starts Turin is chained up in his dungeon and being tortured. Mia is a regular human whose husband had just died and whenever she falls asleep she finds herself in Turin's prison.

Ok so what I did like was the relationship between Turin and Mia, they had a lot of problems thrown at them and watching Mia learn about Turin and his race was pretty cool. I also really enjoyed the intrigue once you figured out who the hell everyone was. What I didn't like was figuring out who the hell everyone was. I am a lazy reader, I am also a fast reader so I had 14 days to read and review the book and it took me 13 to start it and 1 to finish it. The foundation and world building could have been a lot better I kept getting confused in the first third and putting the book down. That being said once I got past that I thoroughly enjoyed Betrayal's Shadow and I would love to read the next one the series has a lot of promise.

3.5/5(less)

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Mar 23, 2012 Maghon Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2-review, paranormal

As always I would like to thank R2R for allowing me to participate and read for a review :) I was a little on the fence when I signed up to do this one because it sounded like another fallen angel story- but I was WRONG! I can't call the guardians angels and I can't not call them angels either, for they are the guardians of the human race. Them being on earth protects the people living here.

In the beginning, it starts out with Turen, in his cell after being captured and trying to figure the pie...more

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Mar 23, 2012 Kenecia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Kenecia by: R2R

At first, I found this book to be very confusing and almost put it down. I'm not one to give up on a book, no matter how bad, no matter how difficult. So staying true to form, I pushed through and I don't regret it.

This book is about Guardians, a race of mystical people I didn't know existed until a few months ago. And though these appear to be slightly different than the previous, the base is still the same. They live for an extremely long time, have powers, and are awesome!

This may be a roman...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Sutton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: paranormal-urban-fantasy

First off, let me say I’ve never written such a challenging review. Why was it challenging? Because the story is just that good. I looked for something that wasn’t quite up to par, and I couldn’t find it. This story really has it all. It offers a distinctive blend of elements that all mesh perfectly to reveal a tale of deception, compassion, love, betrayal, amazing courage and strong convictions. Who doesn’t love a hero who’ll sacrifice himself, and a heroine who’s not perfect, but his perfect m...more

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Apr 03, 2012 Bryer Cole rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, my-r2rs

I really really wanted to like this book and in a lot of ways it was awesome. However, I just couldn't shake the waves of grammatical and spelling errors, the overwhelming and unrealistic portrayal of love and the strangely and disturbingly pornographic sex scenes that did not in ANY WAY fit in to the rest of the book. Not to mention, every time after that, when they showed what should be innocent affection, I got a sludgy gross feeling because not only was the love hilariously and laughably ove...more I really really wanted to like this book and in a lot of ways it was awesome. However, I just couldn't shake the waves of grammatical and spelling errors, the overwhelming and unrealistic portrayal of love and the strangely and disturbingly pornographic sex scenes that did not in ANY WAY fit in to the rest of the book. Not to mention, every time after that, when they showed what should be innocent affection, I got a sludgy gross feeling because not only was the love hilariously and laughably over the top and cheesy, but that paired with the words (view spoiler) it just came across as gross and kind of funny at the same time. There was just absolutely no realism in the love aspect at all.

Now I understand that some view sex as a physical way to show love and that it has the potential to be a beautiful and respectable thing. If the sex scenes were sweeter and less detailed, it probably would have fit in perfectly with the mooshy gooshy love. But just how raunchy, graphic and badly written porno they turned out just makes it seem like they were thrown in there because the author was particularly "lonely" that day if you know what I mean.

Also you can definitely tell that this book was under the female influence. Anything and Everything revolves around how precious women are, how much they need to be protected, but conflicting messages also say that they are strong and courageous without really showing me that in the main female character, she freaked out over a bunch of things and only really showed courage a couple of times and only when her darling lover was there to fortify her desire to help. Oh, please.

This whole book was just laughable at best. GREAT premise and I really wish those two things were toned the hell down or taken out of it because the story itself is interesting. All in all, it gets a two only because I liked the underlying story. I just hated that I had to dig through a swamp of stiff and lusty penises, gyrating hips, hard nipples and lovingly passionate embraces which no evil could touch because of their love for each other. Gag. Will not be rereading this, but if that's your thing then more power too you and I hope you enjoy.(less)

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May 24, 2011 L.J. DeLeon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

What would you do to save your people from extinction?
What if your race held the key to mankind’s future?
One Guardian will risk hell to change the future.

Betrayal’s Shadow is book 1 of The Guardians of Eden series. The guardians have a unique history. They were created to guide humans in their development. Until they meet their mate, they are immortal. Once mated, they live normal lives and have two children, a son and daughter. These children carry the souls of humans.

It is into this hidden wor...more

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Jul 19, 2011 Sarah (Workaday Reads) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Turen is a Guardian, a race similar to humans, but with added powers and responsibilities. They replenish and heal human souls when they reproduce. Along with heighten senses and the ability to "fold" (teleport), each Guardian has control over a specific ability. Mia is a regular human who suddenly begins visiting Turen in his prison cell. He is being held captive by a fellow Guardian, a man who lost all control when his mate and child were killed. Mia feels compelled to help Turen, but will thi...more

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May 19, 2012 Sandy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This story is a romantic, sensual urban fantasy and a wonderful read. The story takes the time to develop instead of just dumping all the information in the first chapters. That makes for a slower pace at the start, but it picks up speed by chapter three. Turen is captive in a dungeon of sorts in order to redeem a fallen colleague of his super human Guardian race. He has gone to great lengths to help his people and is now trapped despite his special powers. Mia literally just appears in his life...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Betrayal's Shadow (The Guardians of Eden #1)
by K.H. LeMoyne (Goodreads Author)

"What would you do to save your people from extinction?
What if your race held the key to mankind's future?
One Guardian will risk hell to change the future.

Descended from a race of Guardians created in the far edges of Eden, Turen's people have survived the last two hundred years, quarantined by plague to Eden's Sanctum. Risking death to save his people from eternal damnation, Turen chooses capture at the hands of his...more Betrayal's Shadow (The Guardians of Eden #1)
by K.H. LeMoyne (Goodreads Author)

"What would you do to save your people from extinction?
What if your race held the key to mankind's future?
One Guardian will risk hell to change the future.

Descended from a race of Guardians created in the far edges of Eden, Turen's people have survived the last two hundred years, quarantined by plague to Eden's Sanctum. Risking death to save his people from eternal damnation, Turen chooses capture at the hands of his enemy to seek answers to change the future. Living in secrecy with no mates and no offspring, they fail to deliver on their covenant for mankind, the ability to replenish and heal human souls through the birth of their Guardian children.

Mia Bowman's full human lineage decrees her off limits for knowledge of Guardian's secret race. But her uncontrollable nocturnal visits to Turen's prison cell and her strong sense of justice leave her with little choice but to help. She can heed Turen's warning and stay clear of his people's problems or she can ferret out the lies and unravel an ancient tale of murder and deceit. As the complications escalate, the two forbidden lovers race to stop a fatal end to the Guardian line. But it may require their ultimate sacrifice to stop the betrayal and save the Guardian race."

I just love a book that will give me something new to wrap my imagination around and Betrayal's Shadow certainly delivers. I liked Mia and Turen and found myself rooting for them throughout. Their strength of character was impressive. Turen unwilling to give in even under torture and Mia never deserting him even when she barely knows him and it could cost her life. There is intrigue, mystery, betrayal, triumph, and love. I feel the story was well written and the character, as well as the world building was well done. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the paranormal genre. I won this book in a giveaway and am very happy I had the opportunity to read it.

Denise Z
(less)

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Mar 14, 2013 April Alvey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow I am in love with this book Turen is in a lot of trouble but he is trying to keep alive in that prison. Mia went yo sleep one night and found herself transported to a room where she sees a man being tortured when its over she wakes up in her own bed thinking shes loosing her mind. After the second time of being transported to that strange mans cell again she knows shes not dreaming. Turen begs her not to come back but mia has no choose in the matter and knows she has to save him. This book h...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Betrayal’s Shadow by K.H. LeMoyne

I really liked this read. The story started out a bit slow for me. Once I got past the first couple chapters and the backstory and intros were made, I was hooked. Turen is a Guardian who saves human souls. He is in prison to get answers and bring a friend back into the fold. Mia is a human, who is compelled to Turen in her dreams. Turen doesn’t want Mia in danger but she takes her life back. Mia does what she has to do to save Turen and herself. Paranormal story...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Kristine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Review also found in bookcrazyangel.blogspot.ca

LOVED LOVED LOVED the story. VERY WELL WRITTEN!

The book's recipe which makes it a fantastic book:

1. Great writing style that just kept me captivated throughout the book.

2. Great storyline with full of mystery and suspense which kept me at the edge of my seat.

3. Very sensual romance that made me blush here and there.

4. Great characters that the readers will grow to love and hate

5. Great concept about the Guardian Race, their Mates, and their speci...more

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Betrayal's Shadow (The Guardians of Eden #1)

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