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Tuesday 3 July 2012

A Review for UnGuarded by Ashley Robertson + eBook Giveaway (Int)

UnGuardedPosted by Guest Reviewer Melanie
Release Date: July 1st, 2012
Finished Date: June 27th, 2012
Publishers: Self Published
Source: ARC For Review
Format: Kindle
Pages: Unknown
Buy : Amazon UK / Amazon US 

Guardian angel Selene was so close to becoming an archangel—the supreme of all beings—until she fell in love with Cole, a forbidden dark one. Once she discovers her vampire lover has been kidnapped and the only way to save him is by abandoning her number one priority—Caitlyn, her human charge—there really is only one answer in Selene’s mind, even though leaving Caitlyn unguarded will most likely cause Selene to fall from grace.
But her choice to save Cole doesn’t come without a price…and now Selene is racing against time to not only save her dark lover, but find a way to keep Caitlyn alive as well. With the help of a new vampire ally, Luke, Selene will push her diminishing angel abilities to the point where her very existence lies in the balance. Now threatened with the chance of becoming a fallen angel or even dying, Selene can only pray she’ll have enough time—and good grace—to save the ones she loves.

The Review: I think the synopsis says it all so I’m not going to re-cap because I wouldn’t be able to add anything extra. So, I really enjoyed this book – I kind of have a love/hate relationship with books about Angels, I either love them or hate them. . . I really liked this but didn’t love it nor did I hate it so I consider it a success for me. I liked the characters Selene especially, I loved that she was willing to risk everything for love and to do the right thing. I love a character that has good morals and who is genuinely selfless even if it didn’t seem that way from the beginning and of course, she is an angel – I would expect no less but ‘the road to evil is paved with good intentions’ and that is a threat that is very prominent throughout the book. Will Selene’s actions cause her to fall and become a demon? There are two main male characters Cole – Selene’s boyfriend – and Luke – who helps Selene in her endeavours. Both seem like likable characters although I was left wanting a bit more something from them because Cole was missing for the first half of the book and the only way we had of knowing him was through a few flashbacks which was fine but I didn’t get to ‘feel’ their relationship so I couldn’t really ‘feel’ why she risked it all for him. Same with Luke, it seemed rushed and I didn’t get why he was so enamoured with her, did he truly want her/care for her? Or was it just because she had let her vampire boyfriend do something that he wanted to do and he coveted her in that way?

The storyline was intriguing; I liked the whole set up with guardian angels each having a charge to guide and that each charge also had a demon steering them in whichever direction they chose – like the angel and devil on the shoulder theory – and that the fallen angel’s became the demons too or ‘dark ones’. I liked that each guardian had an Archangel to answer to, take orders from and be bestowed powers from or powers taken as punishment – Selene’s was good, more fatherly toward her I thought. I liked the worlds that were described- there were quite a few settings- and I liked the gathering together of the different species –Angels, Demons, Vampires, Humans and all of their varying forms and what part they played. It was a quite complicated plot that was weaved here because there were many events that culminate to the ending and I had no clue where this was going or why - which is quite rare in a book and why I liked it so much. Also it was a quite unique storyline, yes we get Angels & Demons all of the time but the way this was put together isn’t something that I’ve read about before.
The pacing was a little off for me in the beginning but once you got to a certain point it ceased to be an issue, I think maybe it was because there was a lot to set up that slowed it down but once everything was in place, it was plain sailing and all out action as you’re hit with all of the revelations that built up throughout. I loved what happened at the end in one way, but not in another and hopefully that means we will be getting a sequel, but what I loved most about this was its message that love can be worth the fall and sometimes it’s a love worth risking everything for and Selene definitely did. 

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19 comments:

Momo O'Callaghan said...

I love it. A whole lot. It's so mystical and eerie and it totally draws me in! And that tinge of purple - big fave!

Ornella Russo said...

The book cover looks gorgeous! It's definitely the kind of cover that just begs you to read it.

Marika Godani said...

The cover is gorgeus, really! I love it! It's really eye-catching!

Marika Godani said...

I'm Yuko86

Ashley Robertson said...

Thanks everyone. I'm told by one of my reviewers "The story definitely lives up to the beautiful cover." If you have any questions, let me know. Wishing you all a happy 4th!

~Ashley (author of Unguarded)

Viki Sloboda said...

I love the cover.  It gives off emotions of loneliness as well as thoughtfulness. 

Ashley Robertson said...

Viki, once you read the book, you'll see how accurate you are :-):
Momo, I was going for mysterious so I'm happy I succeeded in that. The whole book will leave you guessing—and I promise lots of twists and turns that you won't expect!
Ornella, They say not to judge a book by its cover, but how can you not with awesome covers like this? PhatpuppyArt is the mastermind behind the cover and I couldn't be happier with it.

Suzanne @ Paranormal Book Fan said...

I'm getting a bit fed up with angel books now, like you, I either love them or hate them, and lately I'm leaning more towards the latter. But the vampires in this intrigue me. Great review.

I like the cover, wouldn't give the impression that the book was about angels and vampires though, but I like the colouring

SenorSensible said...

I like the cover a lot. It looks like a finished piece of art that I would hang in a suitable room.

Carly Chambers said...

Fab review, Melanie! This sounds really intriguing, I'm glad you enjoyed it! I agree, the cover is stunning! :)

Ashley Robertson said...

Hey Suzanne—Once you read the book, you'll actually think the cover fits perfectly. The angels in UnGuarded do not have wings, they simply orb in a blink of time wherever they travel to. And also, Selene—the guardian angel protagonist—can shift into human form at will, which by doing so she experiences more human-like emotions than other angels. 
SenorSensible—PhatpuppyArt did the amazing cover and she actually has tons of artwork for sale that you could use for artwork in your home, etc. Not just book covers.
Thanks Carly—Should you win the book, or buy the book, I hope you enjoy it too :-):

Have a happy 4th everyone. I appreciate your interest in my new mature YA novel!

~Ashley

Carina Olsen said...

Ohh, the cover is gorgeous :D Love the colors. <3 So pretty. :)

alicia marie said...

i love the cover! i like how it has mixture of darks and light colors on it. very nice : ) 

Ashley Robertson said...

Thanks Carina and Alicia :-):
I'm a sucker for a good cover when I picking out my next book to read—I love to read!—so I definitely kept that in mind when creating my own books covers.

Michael Byers said...

So pretty...and purple :D

Ashley Robertson said...

Michael—I know, right. It sort of matches BPFL's site :-):

Ana Maria Cristea said...

The cover is very beautiful!

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