Guardian

The Guardian Trilogy #1

by S.B. Rodgers

It’s been almost a year since Abby Shepard’s once-perfect life crumbled into little more than a nightmare. Dumped, bullied and abused, the seventeen-year-old has all but given up hope. Little does she know that her father died protecting a family secret; a secret that has the forces of good and evil battling to claim the power lurking just beneath her skin.

Genres: Angels, Demons, Paranormal

218 pages, ebook

First published January 30, 2012

Reviews

[Shera (Book Whispers) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Angel and Demons are a lethal combination right now in the paranormal YA genre, one that I've had a really tough time getting into. If it isn't shallow main characters, creepy stalker love interests who stare at their beloved, poor plot lines, or even down right crappy writing. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand is the first YA Angel book I've actually loved and I was craving another fix. Good thing Guardian was waiting for me!

It was a rough start with overly long sentences and the overly descriptive beginning. As soon as the mechanics and plots of Heaven and Hell kicked in I was hooked. Heaven and Hell both want Abby. The mystery is whether they want her dead or alive. Lucifer is the King of Hell and Satan is actually his diabolical wife. The two scheming and plotting was first rate—no poor plot here. Not only did I love the idea of Lucifer and Satan being separate beings, I loved that even Angels might not be all good. This book is witty, dark, slick and sexy—the perfect combination.

Abby is the poor soul caught up in the middle who's at the end of her rope. Her father remarried to a horrible woman with two demonic sons—not really demons—and then her father dies mysteriously, leaving her to the abuse of her new family. Not to mention the abuse of her entire school after a horrible breakup from her ex-boyfriend—who really is a demon. This is a chilly modern day Cinderella story of abuse. Abby is at the brink of suicide and Heaven finally intervenes sending Gabriel as her Guardian. Soon the demon who was sent to steal her soul and the Angel sent to save it find out that there is more to Abby, something her dad died to protect.

The love story here is well done, which is saying a lot fro me since I grew tired of love triangles a long time ago. Raph is the demon sent to steal Abby's soul after making him fall in love with her he breaks up with her in a way so cruel I actually blushed with embarrassment and anger for her. Even though that happened before the book starts the authors do a wonderful job building it into the story line, and amazingly enough making the readers fall in love with the tortured demon. Gabriel is the perfect counter to Raph. He's there for Abby and brings her back from the edge. There's a lot going on in the plot so the romance doesn't get as much page times as other novels would take, but the authors somehow pull it off. The romance is subtle and real enough that I can fall in love right along with Abby.

Despite the overly obvious names for the Demon and Angel love interests, there's nothing average about the love story being weaved here. If you're not into that sort of thing then the politics of Hell and Heaven will keep you captivated. There's murder, torture, and all kinds of dark and seedy things to keep a reader glued to the pages. The cast of characters are very memorable and not only did I find myself caring about the good guys, the bad guys captured my affections in a twisted way. This is the perfect book for fans of the Angel genre or those who haven't been able to quite get into it yet. Be prepared to stay up all night with this one!

Sexual Content: While there's nothing too graphic there's no doubt that sex—rough and cruel—is going on with the demons and maybe some adultery. It's pretty dark but readers shouldn't be nervous about it, or parents.

4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.

Originally posted at Book Whispers, including review of authors!

[Marie Colon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang it

If I remember correctly someone decided that this book was the best I think no I absolutely agree with them

[Lana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Abby Shepard had a near perfect life until at seventeen everything turned upside down for her, her home life since her father's death was in shambles, and her life at school became unbearable. She was bullied till breaking point, and it seemed as though someone wanted her to end her life. Raph had been her boyfriend, or so she thought, until he stood her up infront of all the other students and made a fool of her. Turns out Raph is a demon sent by Satan herself to acquire Abby's soul and take it to Hades. However the forces of good, the angels, got to know of this dastardly plan and a guardian, Gabe was sent to look out for her. Abby was too broken to trust anyone, and when her home was sold by her stepmother making her also homeless, it took all of the guardian's powers and that of his family to protect her from herself. Why is Abby so important to the forces of good and evil, what is so special in this girl? I guess we all have to read the following book to find this out. This is a very exciting book, and one which might just take a different turn in the 2nd book as unexpected moves are happening from the dark side. I hated Memmon and his dogs, he is cold and scary, but maybe he too will get what's coming to him! The school bullying is as usual unsufferable, but unfortunately one which is happening more and more in our urban societies nowadays. I look forward to continue reading this series!

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good book

I like the twist on good verus evil and how angels were sent to protect a seemingly normal girl but then you get all the twist and turns! I can't wait to see what happens next!

[Nancy Easton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

This book is absolutely amazing. The characters are Spell binding in well-written. I'm a little hurt that I can't find the next in the series, but I will continue to look. I cannot wait to see where she goes next with us.

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Storyline pulls you in and makes you want more

Had a hard time putting this book down. Can't wait to read the next book. Need to know more about Abby's story

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, a tale of angels protecting Abby from the demons trying to steal her for Lucifer. Where oh where are the next books in the series??

[Kinuski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cliffhanger

[Lindsey Perry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Good story, a bit confusing because of all the point of view jumping. The characters are great, but like I said- the point of view jumping is really confusing.

[Carol Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this, shame you cannot get next book

[✯ baya ✯ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I haven't read anything from this author before - I'm not sure what's up with the glowing reviews but I'm just going to say it how it is with hope other readers will consider if this is the kind of story they want. This book had great potential and I really enjoyed the beginning - it started well, but then came a lot of issues.

Positives
- Great world with different types of angel classes and powers
- Great descriptions of the angels - loved the writhing tatoos and twisted ropes type thing on their arms. Lovely and magical.
- Great set-up with the story
- Good action and clear shift of voice with each character
- Rich, varied world with plenty of well thought through motivations behind the characters' choices
- Great power couple in Satan and Lucifer, but their 'air time' was poorly used

Negatives
- This isn't a romance. The romance is not the main part of the story.
- The hero, and the rest of the angels, are incompetent. I wouldn't trust them to protect me if I was being chased by demon dogs! Although they have incredible powers, they fail every time imo. It's actually the soft-hearted demon who is the hero of this story because he is actually there when Abby needs him and gives up everything for her sake. Whereas the angel characters actually decide to go shopping and head to a ball in the middle of a 'DEFCON 1' type of circumstance?! And then, tell her to run away on her own to safety... because of course that'll be safe! Not one angel stayed at her side? All 6 had to fight and leave her to get on with her escape.
- Because there isn't enough time spent on the romance, the love between Gabe and Abby feels superficial. I feel like 'of course she would love him, he's the only one that's been nice to her'. Based on her inner dialogue, there's nothing about him that she finds interesting or endearing apart from his looks and the fact that he's nice to her.
- The writing is poor - lots of telling and over-explaining things that are obvious. Exclamation marks and block capitals everywhere.
- Some of the scenes do not move the story forward or develop character. They're just a waste of time (although they do contribute to the world-building), especially when we're in Hell and not learning anything we don't already know.
- The blurb is misleading. Not once does the story mention anything about the secret her father died for. The whole thing is surrounding the fact that Abby is some kind of special being
- What Abby is, however, is never revealed. It feels like the author holds this back purposefully since many of the characters know what she is but never say it. the characters that don't know what she is are happy to mull along without making any effort to find out. Its obvs a strategy to pull us into book 2.
- There are too many POVs and as such the scenes are short and jump all over the place. Sometimes its a little while into the scene before you even learn who you are reading about - this works sometimes, doesn't work other times.
- At 75% in, a whole load of new characters suddenly show up and we're suppose to remember who they all are, what powers they have and what their connections are to each other. All of this distracting from the supposed romance that supposed to be happening, and highlighting how incapable the hero is to look after his own charge (or supposedly the woman he loves).

I really did enjoy the creativity of the world so I don't think I could say I disliked the book. The book should be under Paranormal or Urban Fantasy not Paranormal Romance. I won't be reading on with this series but hope this writer improves in the future. I would be interested to see what other worlds they are capable of.

[Liz at Fictional Candy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abby is a teen girl, not unlike Cinderella. She lives with her stepmother and twin stepbrothers. Her dad has died. Her step family is horrible to her, and her brothers even extend their retched treatment to school where she is bullied on a daily basis. And we’re not talking teasing and such, we are talking hardcore mean, down and dirty, make you feel worthless bullying. In fact, that’s what sparks this whole story off. The bullying has become so horrible that Abby is going to do something about it. She is done dealing with everything that is awful in her life and she is going to just…give up.

Reading Abby’s story I really felt so badly for her, it was so emotional and raw. I wished I could just reach through the pages and tell this poor girl that is does get better and life isn’t always as it is in high school. That bullies are not as strong, cool, pretty, smart, popular and terrific as they want people to think they are. I wanted to tell her that there is always hope and help, and if you give up you are making a permanent decision on a temporary situation. The authors (yes, plural!) did a wonderful job portraying Abby’s sadness and despair. Her character leaped off the page and I could see her right in front of me.

But the universe has different plans for Abby, and she most certainly is not alone. Sure, there are evil forces on Earth that are working against her on a daily basis, making sure that her bad days become worse days. But now the angels are going to get involved, and Gabe is coming to help her. Sorry Raph! You might be a bully (and a demon), but now you are going to have to pick on someone your own size!

This story was really wonderful. It had so many terrific elements, I’m not even sure where to start. I’ve gone over Abby, so lets move on to Gabe, her guardian angel. He’s going to enter high school and help her realize all is not lost, then its on to the next mission. Right? Right, cause its so cut and dry and all that easy. Sure. Yep. Heheheh. Oh Gabe, I love how much you are going to learn while on Earth.

The characters in this book were all fantastic. Seriously. Not just Abby and Gabe, but Raph (short for Raphael) and Satan and Lucifer and Mammon, Gabriel and Michael… Sara and Becky, the authors, did such a thorough job with these characters; I can’t wait for the second book to be released so I can get back in touch with them all. Oh, and here is something that I thought was utterly fantastic and perfect and awesome…. Satan is a woman! Ta-da!!!!

There isn’t a whole lot more I can say about this book without giving some major spoilers. There is a school dance that has some really fabulous scenes that I just adored. I’ll never look at mirrors the same. And this is just a great story all around. There is a lot of action, and a great arc and growth in all of the characters. There are some funny moments and some touching moments, and of course some “oh no!!!!” moments that will have your eyes speeding through to find out what happens next.

[Gina - What She Read · Rating 4 out of 5]

Be at Behind A Million And One Pages on 27 April for a exclusive review AND interview of Guardian! Join the blog tour!



A great novel by the sisters! Sometimes throughout the novel it felt like it didn't pull me in as much as it did some parts. The constant change in persona as well starts to get a bit too much, because as we start learning about one character, we instantly get changed to a whole new string of characters that are associated with one. So we start getting a little confused. It is still a great novel. The way that Abby's dilemmas are in fact, what we think should be like. Her life is terrible and we reach out to her, as well as try to find out why and exactly how she became like this. We get snippets throughout the novel as to her former relationship to Raf, as well as the Twins. We get very curious throughout the novel as to the secret that we hear about in the blurb as well as try figure out why Abby is so special.

We get so caught up in whether Heaven and Hell want her alive or dead. Half of Hell wants her dead, where the other half doesn't, and the same with Heaven as well. We get a new ring to Satan. We always think of Satan as a he. Yet in this novel Satan is a she, and she happens to be Lucifer's wife. In the very general male dominance of Heaven and Hell that we hear of constantly, this is a fresh breath as it's not just male dominated, we get a new spin on things where females are just as powerful and we actually hear about them in Heaven and Hell. We hear about some that are fearless and notorious warriros, as well as the likes of Satan (or Satinel).

There is a minor love triangle in this novel, between Abby with Raff and Gabe. But it is not THAT bad. It's bearable, for others like me that HATE LOVE TRIANGLES. So it does appeal to all audiences. If you love love-triangles, then you do get your dose. And if you hate love-triangles, then it is played out in a way that makes it a love-triangle, yet so much as it isn't infuriating.

[Shy The WidowMaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing,amazing,amazing is what I will say about this book. This book was more than just the typical angel versus demon book. This book started off fast paced and stayed that way. We jump right into the action by meeting Raph who we learn has orders from is master to steal a soul. We find out the soul belongs to Abby. I feel so sorry for Abby and wish I can make her life easier. She is picked on day in and day out and bullied. The author does an amazing job in showing us all these emotions. I find myself feeling the despair and pain Abby feels. We come to discover that Raph is a demon and we meet the angel Gabe. Of course Gabe is so swoon worthy and loveable. I love the fact that we get a glimpse into hell through the eyes of Satan and Lucifer. I loved the constant pull that Satan and Lucifer had towards each other and how they played their parts in the story. Gabe has some help from his side in the form of some powerful angels one being Gabriel his dad. I love that we got to see the conflicted side of the angels and demons and everything wasn't so cut and dry.The battle we witness is just the beginning of this tale. We are left with some amazing cliffhangers also with Gabe and Abby. I can't wait to see what will happen in the next book.

[Suzanne Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I read it on my Kindle for free from Kindle books.

This book is well written and keeps you reading to find out what is going on and why. I fell in love with the characters, even though it is written on the teenage level, I found it to be interesting. It ended with a big cliffhanger and unfortunately Amazon does not seem to have book #2. Very frustrated right now.

Definitely worth reading but only if you can find Thief book 2.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down.

This was really sad at the beginning. I hope to find out what she is and what really happens with Raph and Gabe in the next book. Please keep us posted. If she was a little older it's almost be like a reverse harem. But the possibilities are endless for the future. ;))

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not my normal genre, but I thought the separation of Satan and Lucifer into 2 people was a stroke of genius. The angels are funny and the demons are very mean. I'm hoping the authors publish the next volume soon. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

[Lorena · Rating 5 out of 5]

An addictive read. I couldn't put the book down once I started. I haven't felt this way about a book since the Twilight series!

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Once I started reading, I found it hard to stop. A fun, exciting read!

[Blzwmn2011 · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great read!
The ending was so intense, I can't wait to find out what happens next.
Very entertaining, thank you :)
p.s. Aiden is such a funny character, loved him!

[Riv]

Received for review.

[Brittani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brittani

Love it it was so good I want to read the next one but I can't buy it at all I don't have any money

[Joi Baldwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guardian

When is book 2 coming out? This is an awesome book, but released 2012......book 2 should be out already? I would love to know what happens next! ☺

[Felecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story.