Darkness Unbound (Dark Angels, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Oct 18, 2011 Valerie ~ Val Hall ~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, 2011

First book in the Dark Angels series takes place several years after the Riley Jensen Guardian series, based in Melbourne, Australia.

The child that was introduced in the Riley Jensen series has grown up. 20 years later Risa Jones is making a comfortable living as a partner in a very trendy restaurant, RYT’s, catering to the sup community. Risa has made some long time friends and roommate in the form of Iliana, a horseshifter and Tao, a werewolf fire-starter in a converted high tech warehouse.
Ris First book in the Dark Angels series takes place several years after the Riley Jensen Guardian series, based in Melbourne, Australia.

The child that was introduced in the Riley Jensen series has grown up. 20 years later Risa Jones is making a comfortable living as a partner in a very trendy restaurant, RYT’s, catering to the sup community. Risa has made some long time friends and roommate in the form of Iliana, a horseshifter and Tao, a werewolf fire-starter in a converted high tech warehouse.
Risa’s occupation is twofold, by day she runs the restaurant and occasionally makes visits hospitals when her mother succeed in cornering her to go. Being half-Aedh she can walk between worlds and communicate with the souls of the sick, helping them move on or live. It’s on one of those visits at the hospital to the young daughter of an old client of her mother’s that she finds a terrible discovery: the soul of the little girl has been torn out from her flesh. This sets the stage for her adventure and her meddling with the sword carrying reaper Azriel stalking her.

The people: Risa is half Heli werewolf, half Aedh that enables her to see reapers and walk the gray plains. The reaper Azriel, who has synced himself with Risa’s chi, follows her around in hopes that her absentee father will contact her so that he can stop his evil plan. Iliana, a witch and clairvoyant dodging every attempts by her parents to fix her up with a nice stallion because she has not the heart to tell them she is a lesbian. Tao, chef extraordinaire of RYT’s when he can be pried from the bed of his latest conquest. Stane Neale is the computer genius and cousin to Tao. Lucian Dupont is Rias’s love interest, a cast out Aedh with more than meets the eye.
Riley, her brother Rhoan and Liander make an appearance. Can you believe it, with 5 kids the house is never dull. From the Directorate’s side, Jack’s sister becomes a prominent character in the story.

Thoughs: . Risa is not as wolfie as her Aunt Riley and it’s full of new twists so it feels like a different but familiar series. The battle is on another plain so to speak so there is less cool spy gadgets needed. Most of this book is really setting up all the different fractions and players to be incorporated in the Riley universe. The pacing is not affected with all this information and keeps the action going. As I have come to expect of Keri Arthur, there is sexy, smoking hot loving of course. Risa has little battle training so it's not fair to expect a kick-ass heroine like Riley (even if I did). The intrigue and conspiracy is less thick so I am hoping that Darkness Rising evolves more. I am curious to see what the second book is like and the third is out in a few weeks.
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Mar 25, 2019 Sandra rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: witch-magic-fae, pnr-uf, own, keri-arthur, vampires, shifters, aussie-author

This series is a spin off of the Riley Jenson, Guardian series and takes place about 20 years later.

Risa Jones, half werewolf half Adeph, pseudo niece of Riley Jenson, likes running her restaurant, RYT, with her friends Illiana, horse shifter & Tao, werewolf with fire capability. She doesn't want to get involved in Directorate business.

But lots of people are following her, including a full Adeph warrior, Azriel, the head of the Directorate, hired thugs and all asking the same question ~ has she ...more

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Jan 16, 2011 Michelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: keri-arthur, read-october-2011, autographed, 2024-rare-edinburgh

This is the first in the spin off series from the Riley Jensen Guardian books. When we last saw Risa she was a little girl who helped Riley return from the grey fields, now she is all grown up.

Risa, like Riley, is a half breed. Half werewolf, half Aedh she has some unique abilities. I forgot just how easily Keri can draw you into her worlds and make you fall in love with the characters. This was a one sitting book, I was hooked by the end of the first chapter and I went on an emotional rollerco ...more

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