The Guardian

Dark-Hunter #20

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Dream-Hunter Lydia has been charged with the most sacred and dangerous of missions: To descend into the Nether Realm and find the missing god of dreams before he betrays the secrets that could kill her and her kind. What she never expects is to be taken prisoner by the Realm’s most vicious guardian…

Seth’s time is running out. If he can’t hand over the entrance to Olympus, his own life and those of his people will be forfeit. No matter the torture, Seth hasn’t been able to break the god in his custody. Then there’s the beautiful Dream-Hunter Lydia: She isn’t just guarding the gates of Olympus—she’s holding back one of the world’s darkest powers. If she fails, an ancient curse will haunt the earth once more and no one will be safe. But evil is always seductive...

Genres: Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Fantasy, Mythology, Urban Fantasy, Vampires

345 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 2011

About the author

Official Author site
Official Nevermore site
Official Deadman's Cross site
Official Chronicles of Nick site
Official Silent Swans site
Official Hunter Legends site
Official Witch of Endor site
Official Lords of Avalon site
Official Facebook site

New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot. With legions of fans known as Paladins (thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her series and who travel from all over the world to attend her appearances), her books are always snatched up as soon as they appear on store shelves. Since 2004, she had placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats including manga and graphic novels. Her current series are: Dark-Hunters, Chronicles of Nick and The League, and her books are available in over 100 countries where eager fans impatiently wait for the next release. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures while Dark-Hunter is also being developed as a television series. Join her and her Paladins online at MySherrilyn.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn

Fan Run International Sites:

Argentinian FB Page 

Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon en Columbia 

Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon en Chile 

Filipino Fans on FB 

France/French 

Italy/Italian 

Portugal 

Soy Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon 

Dark-Hunter Spain 

Spanish

Reviews

[Sophia Triad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seth (Egyptian demigod: Mother human and Father the Egyptian god Set) and Lydia Tsakali (Half Dream-Hunter, half Were-Hunter)

This is one of the best books in the series and Seth has climbed up among the first places of my favorite dark hunter characters.

Set was rejected by his father, his mother and later on by a family of jackals that raised him and sold him to heartless god Noir that drained his power, made him a slave and kept him for thousands of years in Azmodea. There, he was constantly beaten to within an inch of his life, raped, tortured with no reason and became Noir’s bitch guarding Azmodea and running for errands.

One of his jobs was to capture Solin and torture him in order to confess where he has hidden the key to Olympus.
[Solin is the one who converted Arik into a Skotos and later on helped him when Arik came to Greece to meet Geary Kafieri, The Dream Hunter (Dark-Hunter #10)]

Lydia will try to save Solin and she will be captured by Seth who will use her to blackmail Solin. Solin will do anything for Lydia. Of course Seth thinks that Lydia is Solin’s lover but really she is Solin’s daughter and she is also a jackal. Let’s not forget that Seth hates jackals because they betrayed him.

Seth will be very much attracted to Lydia. But he has suffered do much without a touch of kindness, that he really thinks that Lydia will physically hurt him as well when he reaches his weakest moment.
[Sometimes I wonder how much more Kenyon will torture her characters…]

On the other hand, Lydia will be nothing more that kind to him. She will look after him, love him, touch him with affection and protect him.

Seth will be crazy in love with her until he finds out who she truly is.

“One person could make such a difference in someone’s life. Either good or bad. With their actions and words, a single individual had the power to save or destroy another.”

[Alp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.

I knew it would be good, but didn't expect it to be this good! Of course, I normally have very high expectations of this author’s books. But this one! I don’t think it would be exaggerating to say that this installment totally went above and beyond all that I could ever ask for in a paranormal romance novel. The Guardian was thoroughly brilliant! The author wove everything I love to read into this strong story, which had me glued to the pages from start to finish.

I loved the gradual building of a love relationship between Seth and Lydia, I enjoyed all the action scenes in this book. And oh, that surprise plot twist! It was amazing!

If you’re a fan of PNR stories with dark scarred and tortured heroes, then you shouldn’t miss out on this series.

Highly recommended.

[Jen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminded me why I fell in love with Sherrilyn Kenyon. For me, the Dark-Hunter series has kind of lost its way a little bit lately. But The Guardian felt a lot like some of the earlier books that I loved so much. It's technically a Dream Hunter novel, but it brings together many different threads from previous books. We've got many of the Dream Hunter characters we've met before, like Solin, Delphine & Jericho. But our heroine is half Dream Hunter, half Kattagarian... so we've got a healthy dose of Were-Hunter. AND our hero is a slave to Noir, which ties us into the whole Azmodea/ Hellchaser storyline. Plus we get a visit to Sanctuary and a Malachai connection.

If all that sounds intimidating, well, I'll be honest when I say there were times my memory was creaking, trying to remember all the threads from the previous books. But Kenyon does a good job filling in the blanks and bringing you up to speed. And besides, the real draw of this book wasn't all background stuff anyway. Our main couple stole the show.

Seth is part Egyptian God, but was cast out by his parents. He has been rejected and betrayed his whole life, and has spent thousands of years as a slave to the primordial god Noir. He has been tortured beyond any point I could convey to you. He's never known love. In short, he is a super-awesome- dreamboat of a tortured hero.

By the bidding of his master, Seth has been torturing the Dream Hunter Solin to get him to reveal the location of the key to Mt Olympus. But then, Solin's daughter Lydia comes to rescue her dad. She becomes Seth's prisoner, while Solin goes to get the key. As his captive, Lydia spends more time with Seth and gets to see the man behind the mask he wears as Noir's Guardian. And she wants to show him all the love he has never known.

He pulled her hand up and laid it against his chest before he finally explained, "I can perform a lot better for you if you wait until the end to hurt me there."

She didn't know what made her hurt the most, the sincere honesty in his voice or the expectation of pain she saw in his eyes. He spoke as if he were nothing more than a trained monkey with no other purpose than to service her and go.

Her hand trembling, she brushed his curls back from his forehead. "Has no one ever made love to you?"

Scowling, he cocked his head. "Made love? I don't know what that is."

Of course, he didn't. Because no one had ever touched him with a loving hand. They had used him, abused him, and then thrown him away his entire life.

But that was going to change.

I really enjoyed this book alot. Kenyon is sooo good at writing tortured heroes and this reminded me a lot of Dance With the Devil in tone. My only complaint, was that ending felt a little bit rushed. Maybe more than a little bit. But I can forgive it. I really think fans of the series are going to be happy with this one. I definitely was. 4 1/2 stars.


*ARC Provided by St. Martin's Press

[Mimi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Well, color me surprised-I actually liked this book. I only picked it up out of nostalgia- I used to be a real SK fan. Yeah, not so much anymore. This series has been going downhill for a while, IMHO. Too many things/disasters/pantheons. The books have the feeling of not being connected at all, loose ends everywhere, etc. Don't even get me started on Chronicles of Nick. Paradoxes, BS that seriously bugs me and I wish to hell that series never started. This book was marginally better and has restored some enthusiasm for DH.

Right. I haven't read a SK book in a while, but I sure did recognize the formula. A strong tortured hero has been suffering for centuries, has never known kindness, is jaded and cynical. In this case it's Seth, son of Set(the Egyptian) and he's being held as a slave by Noir and Azura(they're also holding Jaden). He's been instructed with finding the 'key' that enables anyone to kill a god and take his powers. The only one who knows where it is is Solin. He kidnaps him and pretty soon the intriguing Lydia comes along to save him.

Lydia is (as always) a strong, kind, gentle heroine that has faith in humanity and will rescue Seth and show him the light(love and happiness). She's innocent, she's made of gold, he falls in love with her. She also carries a secret...

We also see a lot of Jaden and a bit of Thorn here (that goes on the plus side). I really am interested in them and their past/future.

The minus side-we get yet ANOTHER pantheon involved-the Egyptians. I really do think that if there ever was a plan for this series it's been lost and is gone forever. Still, this book has a bit of the old magic, so I'm willing to be somewhat lenient. Still, it felt like the story has already been told many times, it was too short, so, yeah... Still, if you're someone who has lost faith in the series-do try it. It's much better than the last one. Now THAT was a disaster.

I liked this scene.

"Lydia lay there, staring at him as emotions played across his face. In that moment, she knew what he’d wanted to say and couldn’t. And it was okay, because she didn’t need the words. She could see it plainly in the way he looked at her as if terrified he was dreaming and at the same time so hungry that his light gaze seared her.
Taking his hand into hers, she folded his two middle fingers down and spread out his thumb, index finger and pinkie so that they were standing up straight.
“What’s this?” he asked quietly.
“What you’re not saying, but I hear it anyway.” She kissed his folded down fingers and placed hers over his."

FYI, that's how you spell I LOVE YOU in ALL sign languages.

And another tidbit
He was one of the original six primal gods.. This is info that would totally send me into speculative storm earlier. Who are those gods? What defines them? Sadly I'm not very optimistic about SK returning to it. Too many catastrophes approaching that need to be stopped are holding her attention.

[Jilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Color me surprised! After loathing the last book, I reluctantly decided to give this one a try, and lo and behold, I loved it! This one took me back to the reason I liked this series in the first place.

To start with, we actually had likable characters - both the male and female. There is Seth, a demi-god who is stuck in the "hell realm" and has been tortured for thousands of years but can't die. He has been released to retrieve the "key" to Olympus that will give the key-bearer the ability to destroy the Greek gods. He finds out that only one Dream-Hunter, Solin, knows the whereabouts of this key, so he captures him and is trying to torture the information out of him.

Lydia is Solin's daughter and she goes to hell to release her father. Not such a good idea, because once Seth sees that Lydia is Solin's weakness, he takes her captive and gives Solin three days to bring the key or he will kill her. So, Solin is freed, but Lydia is now Seth's prisoner. I like how she handles herself as his prisoner because she is not stupid, and doesn't just immediately get Stockholm Syndrome either. She tries to play it smart. For one thing, she tries to help Seth figure out where this key might be in order to get her release quickly. He has a laptop that he doesn't know how to use, so she helps him (while also getting a quick e-mail out to her father).

Seth, being computer illiterate, is suspicious of her, but she never cowers and shows her personality at the same time.

She gave him a droll look. "What do you do for entertainment? Other than surf online porn, that is."

"I'm not surfing porn." He didn't realize he could do that, but now that she brought it up...
Where would he go to find it? He hadn't had the computer long. Only a little more than a week.


note to self: don't google "online porn jokes" ever again... *shiver*

Lydia soon finds out that Seth is as much a victim in all of this as she and her father. He has never known anything but pain and torture in his thousands of years of existence. Once she shows him how to play music on the computer, he asks her how to see pictures of the sun. It's sweet and heartbreaking.

He was still playing her music while he looked at more pictures of sunlight. Her poor demon. soon she would be gone from here, back home. And he would be...
She choked back a sob at the thought of them torturing him.

I loved how Lydia was so empathetic to Seth, and then to Jaden - who is also a prisoner in hell. Jaden was also mentioned in past books and I really hope there is a story about him in the future. He helps Lydia and Seth escape together at a promise of great punishment to himself. And, talk about some culture-shock for Seth! The last time he saw outside, they hadn't even built the pyramids yet.

After they dress him in jeans and a t-shirt:
"I feel naked in it."

"You'll get used to it."

He wasn't sure he wanted to. It offered no protection whatsoever. "Where do I put a sword?"

Seth's personality was very endearing. He got surly, while at the same time was very vulnerable and sweet. He had no idea on how to handle Lydia either. And, since Lydia had been mute until he restored her speaking powers, she would revert to sign-language any time she got angry with him and it was hilarious.

Lydia broke off into her hand gestures.

"Are you yelling at me now?"

Maahes laughed. "Oh yeah, kid. She's calling you a lot of names."

...

She started signing angry gestures at him. He tried to follow and understand but it made no sense to him. "I've got to learn your language one day." Although, he definitely understood the last gesture she made at him.


there are some hand signals that transcend race, language, and species...

Seth and Lydia's story was one of my favorite in this series. If I had any criticism of this book, it would be that there are too many pop culture references. It is a bad idea to include these in a story because it really dates the book. Just leave them out and it can be a story that is timeless.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book despite the annoying heroine. I LOVE Seth, and I love the fact that he's a tortured hero who has actually done some torturing himself. Usually the supposedly "evil" heroes won't hurt a fly. It ended up not mattering what he'd done because with a past like his, I could excuse him for pretty much anything. Maybe not excuse, but understand. I spent this whole book wanting to hug him. Poor guy actually believed the crap the evil dudes have been spewing, believes he's stupid and pathetic. He could have been unoriginal, but...for some reason he seemed to stand out to me. I can't say exactly why, but I think it has something to do with his vulnerability. It was more...obvious than it usually is and it made him seem more real to me, rather than one of Kenyon's generic heroes.

As for Lydia, I liked her at first but then she started doing little things that bothered me, liking calling Seth "pathetic." Why does she call him this, you ask? Because she thinks it's pathetic that Seth chose to stay in his room and read while trapped in the demon hell realm instead of going out and exploring demon-central. Why is that pathetic? That's just a mean thing to say and did not endear her to me at all. There are some aspects of her personality that I like, such as her loyalty, but I just wish she thought before she spoke.

Lydia KNOWS Seth's past. His past of having a mother who left him out in the middle of the desert and broke his legs by beating him with a hammer so he would be trapped there unable to die while he starved and dehydrated and was pecked at by birds. After this a family adopted him to do all their chores and work for them and then sold him for pennies to a demon who tortured him mentally and physically for 4500 years. That was his life. She knows this. She actually saw it first hand with the help of Jaden, who can see into people's memories. And yet still, she says things like, "You have no social skills. I swear you were raised by monkeys," and then claims not to understand why saying that would hurt him. Is she the absolute dumbest person of all time? Kenyon can't create a heroine that doesn't say stupid things and make unfunny jokes about "where she's going to hide the body" of her hero. Seriously, Lydia contemplates this while having sex with him.

She also has to find insult in everything. Like when Seth called her "lily" in his native tongue and she freaked out thinking he'd called her "Susan." Give me a freaking break. And then she gets pissed when he allows another women to TALK TO HIM. This man had not seen the sun in literally 45oo years. He'd been in the outside world for a few minutes and a women approaches him. Is that HIS FAULT? He's utterly lost and confused. Was he supposed to...what? Kill the random women? And THEN she gets angry when he turns away after she tries to kiss him. She gets pissed KNOWING that he associates kissing with pain and does not understand that kissing can come without pain. She KNOWS this. And she's so self-centered she doesn't even realize it.

Also, Jaden. I reeeeeaaaaaallllyyyy want to know more about him. And I want him to get out of that stupid freaking demon place! Oh, and the end was rushed and took away from the book as a whole. I don't like when a story jumps ahead in time and leaves out important info.

This makes it sound like I don't like it, but that isn't the case. I enjoyed Lydia and Seth's relantionship and I especially enjoyed watching him very slowly learn to trust her. It was so sad how long it had been since he'd seen the sun, so when he finally saw it for the first time in 4500 years it was really a special scene. And even Lydia had her redeeming qualities. I liked the way she used endearments for Seth, because he'd never experienced such a thing, so it was very important to him and therefore important to me as well.

*Cue abrupt ending*

[Vick · Rating 2 out of 5]

If anyone has ever read my reviews before they know I am not a fan of the Main characters falling in love after a half a second to a couple days of knowing each other. It's retarded. It shits on the idea of love. Space it out a little bit... like Wulf's story.. (even though Wulf's story sucked butthole)

So that begs the question: Why do you keep reading Mrs. Kenyon's works when she clearly uses this trope every single fucking time?

Well...It's cause I've invested way too much time reading this series so it's kinda like a malignant cancer.. I can't expunge it.. and I am patiently awaiting the stories for certain characters I like (like Savitar) only to be depressed with a pile of KA-KA DOODIE like when Jess' story came out in . (oh god that was so bad) Or the cameo bits of older characters like Zarek (the only shining light in that nefarious Retribution) and... well Zarek's probably the only one really. I used to like Ash but now he's all foofy foo and Nick is such a effing prick I want to burn him alive.

Soo...Seth and Lydia ... I was not feeling it. Their love was as deep as the pee reservoir in a pregnancy test.
Lydia has a case of the Stockholme Syndrome and a lady-bonAr problem... I mean she was pretty much drooling at him every second then immediately remembering he was a super villianous bad-baddie the next. WHO DOES THAT?? Assholes. That's who. But other than that, completely forgettable.
Seth... Ok, I liked Seth.. His character design anyway..Kabuki?!? Really?!? That's fucking awesome!! Plus, I like miserable characters. But it seems to me that Mrs. Kenyon is trying to out do herself with her Broken-Alpha-Male-Archetype with Seth. He had 4 and a half thousand years..THOUSAND, of demon torture daily. That would leave you A: Scarred to the EXTREMMEE.. and I mean like Zarek pre-Dark-Hunter (castrated, non functioning limbs etc.etc.) so basically...Gumby.. B: retardedly insane like texas chainsaw insane or C: Dead. He had a couple of prominent scars and was a little bit grumpy.

OH.. and I loved (sarcasm) the super huge buildup of the suffering Seth went through went he got tortured and nearly bifurcated by the Phonoi like it was the worst fucking thing EVAR. It was mentioned that Jared had seen every war in the history of time and Seth's "almost split" was one of the worst things? Really?!?! The history of all time? WTF? Have you met THE NEW Theon GreyJoy ?

And did Noir seem a little "off" from what he was in the last Dream-Hunter? I found him to be a lot more frazzled than he was before. Like he lost his cool button and ate a bipolar doughnut. He acted more like a bitchy tween without her twilight fix of the day.

I did kinda like the whole twisticle ending where you thought Seth was gonna play Super-Martyr and Lydia was gonna live in a Ditsy LOLWUT state dreaming bits and pieces of a warm mysterious presence and just staying a relatively dumb character..THen Psyche! They just Deus-EX him outta there.

Overall... It was better than the last 2 Dark-Hunter novels but that's not really saying much since the last two were so god-awful that punched myself into a coma...I guess that would be one way of seeing stars form something. derp.

[Grecia Robles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gracias Dark Hunters por regresarme al redil  👍👌👍👌

Fue un alivio leer este libro después de lecturas tan malas que tuve esta semana y también fue un alivio que este libro me gustara tanto en la era post Ash ya que para mi la serie decayó bastante, Kenyon ha hecho una capirotada antes no me había quejado de sus mezclas pero ahora parecen sin sentido.

Hablando del libro me encantó y pasa a ser uno de mis favoritos de la serie.

Seth me encantó 😍😍😍 ay es que era un ser torturado que nunca conoció el amor pero la ternura y dulzura de Lydia fueron rompiendo su coraza fue algo muy lindo 💕💕y también me rompió el corazón y sufrí por él 💔😭💔😭 por todas las cosas que pasó ya quiero el libro donde Noir tenga que pagar maldito desgraciado junto con la bruja perra de su hermana 😡😠😡😠.

Lo único que extrañé fue a Ash😍😘💕❤ nunca me canso de él, por eso es que la serie ya no es tan atractiva.

Pd. Quiero un libro para Thorn, espero que cuando salga si es que sale y el de Savitar no ser lo suficiente vieja para este tipo de libros. Por que calculando unos 20 años más 😦😣😦😣

[Zeek · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this one we get, Zarek, ...or was it Acheron ? Ohhh yes, Seth’s story. Left for dead by selfish, abysmally cruel parents- one of whom happens to be a god of course- then sold into slavery by the people whom he thought had adopted him into their own, Seth has never known a touch that wasn’t accompanied by pain. Now he is Noir's bitch- Noir being the Leader of this particular part of hell. Seth does what Noir tells him… after Noir uses Seth as his personal punching bag of course.

Noir is after something- the key to destroying the Gods and getting the frak out of the underworld that contains him- and he’s set Seth on a mission to find it.

Seth doesn’t know exactly what his master wants but he knows one thing- it’s his ticket out of the misery he’s been living in for what feels like an eternity. He’ll do whatever it takes to get it, even torture a Dream-Hunter, the man rumored to know where it is. But torture and pain is getting him nowhere- until his answer walks in in the unlikely package of a woman whom apparently is very valuable to the Dream-Hunter.

Now holding the girl hostage till he gets what his master wants, he has no idea she's the key to unlocking his own chains- by the very thing he’s learned to never believe in… trust.

In Kenyon’s latest entry to the Dream-Hunter saga, we get her usual plot just change names, make it shorter and charge an arm and a leg for the the novel. Oh wait, that's still the same, too. (Thank God it wasn’t released in Hardback first or there would have been another hue and cry from the masses.)

That said, I couldn’t put the book down. I don’t know why the formula still works for me, but it does. The only saving grace to the whole thing is that now I wait to get it on paperbackswap.com which means I never pay more then $3 for her books. Hey, the author doesn’t want to put in any real effort, then you don’t get paid for it.

Yeah, that’s right. I’m a bitch. Sue me.

If you're not tired of the formula you'll like this one. It's all about unselfish-love redeeming the pain of the past- and what gal can resist that? :)

[Milica's Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ♥

After the last book in the series which was a disappointment, this one is pure love. Seth ♥

[CC · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one a lot. I am surprised. With characters I knew nothing of, I was apprehensive going in.

Seth had a tragic and sad history. (I swear this author may hate men because most of them are tortured in sick and disgusting ways) My heart broke for him. He was damaged. Seriously damaged. How could you not be after never having a kind word or touch your ENTIRE life. He had no self esteem, but I was ok with his negative thoughts or reactions. They were not excessive nor did they really inhibit the couple from being together. Also his childlike wonder at everything new was sweet.

I liked the heroine, Lydia. She was brave, had a good heart and was pretty open minded. I think she started to become a bit too bitchy towards the end and I was not happy with her temper tantrums when Seth obviously has ZERO experience in dealing with people, relationships, the world or anything else. Give him some slack!!! (she did but she had a few moments where she did not and they irritated me)

There are a couple of things that brought this score down for me.

1) the conflict resolution. Really did not like how this was brought about and then the too quick and easy resolution to the story. The epilogue was short but sweet.

2) after thousands of years of abuse - including sexual abuse. I find it hard to believe that he had no issues with wanting to immediately sex it up with the heroine (even as soon as the same day he was raped). He had issues with kissing. I totally got that. So why no issues with the actual sex? It made no sense to me. Plus I just find it hard to believe that these guys continue to "perform" while being repeatedly raped.

[Laurie Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truthfully, I didn’t want to start this book because I haven’t cared for the last few books in this series. So with my not so high expectations, I kept pushing it back until I had no choice but to read it. When I was done I was wonderfully surprised, I loved it. I felt this was Kenyon back to her old writing self. Yep, you get one very tortured hero;) Kenyon does an awesome job at creating these characters and writing their compelling story. But what I liked most was the Egyptian Gods and story addition Kenyon brought in.

The only real downside in this book is quite full of cruelty. Noir treats Seth worse than a dog. I say it’s worse than Acheron’s book, so beware.

First let me say you won’t get a steamy book like the older ones in this series but Seth and Lydia conditions are completely different. All Seth has even known is cruelty and let me tell you that’s a very long time considering he is older than dirt. (You might think I am aggregating that but I’m not)The thing is he doesn’t know how to love or show love in the right way without causing pain. Lydia finds the patience in helping him find that love while falling for him along the way. Cant’ blame her though Seth is quite the hunk all the way around. You’ll find that these two steams up the last of book.)
All around great characters even the villain gets a good evil role. I loved getting to know Jaden more and I hope that one day he gets his own book.

I recommend this to anyone who has given up on Kenyon after the last few books. This one may bring you back into the Kenyon fold.

[Sharon ∞❥ is an emotional book junkie ❥∞ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Guardian is about Seth who is a demigod but he has been Noir's slave for over forty five hundred years. Lydia is a were jackal who is also a dream hunter and she ends up in Azmodea searching for Solin (another dream hunter) who Seth has captured and is torturing on Noir's orders to try and find the key to Olympus.

I know...that was a mouthful and it can be confusing but it manages not to be in some weird way. I will have to say (IMO) that this is NOT a dark hunter book or a dream hunter book or even a were hunter book....not in the typical sense. Don't get me wrong - there are plenty of dream hunters but unlike the prior dream hunter books, there's not a lot of stuff happening in dreams, just a few scenes. And while Lydia is a were jackal, there is not much were hunter stuff going on either. (although we do get to visit the Sanctuary) And there is NO dark hunter stuff going on At. All. Unless you count a bit part with Zarek towards the end but he's not even a dark hunter anymore...not really. Oh and yes, there is some mention of Nick but mostly of him as being a Malachai.

So, back to the story. I had a hard time with this one. I keep going back and forth between rating it three point five stars or four stars and luckily the ending is what gave it a boost. This story is DEPRESSING!! Zareks? Acherons? a piece of cake compared to this one. Heck, I was ready to kill Noir!! Poor Seth has been beaten, gutted, tortured, abused for forty five hundred years and believe me, you get to hear plenty of details! And there is NO peace until around the last five percent...seriously, it never ends. I did enjoy Lydia and Seth together but the happy times were way too short. Blah....I was really ready to just accept that there was no hope for Seth, he was just too broken but of course, we are talking about a paranormal romance. I did miss the usual snarky humor that is in most of SK's books but there was just no place for it.

I would definitely recommend reading this book if you love the dark hunter world.

Favorite lines:

"Porn?"
"You know? Pornography? Naked women showing off their happy places to lonely men who can't get dates? Or, in your case, guys who live under rocks and never get to see a normal woman's happy place."

and...

"I'm looking for something bad to happen."
She frowned. "I don't understand."
"You can't love me. No one does."

[Mrs.Vishous-Kattalakis-Belikov :::Para Itch Reviews::: · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seth is guardian to the evil Noir. He's been released from his constant torture so that he can retrieve the key to Olympus from Solin. Its said that he's the only Dream-Hunter who knows were the key is. If Noir gets his hands on the key, he and his Azura will rule the world. Time is runing out for Seth....if Solin doesn't break soon, he will go back to the pits and be tortured for all eternity.

Lydia, Were-Hunter and Dream-Hunter, has gone to Azmodea to retrieve Solin from Noir's evil cluthes. When she finally gets there, she's kidnapped by Seth and gives Solin 3 days to retrieve the key or Lydia dies.

How is it that after all of the DH books...this is my favorite?? Because SK is the author thats why!!! Each on of these books gets better and better. You would think since this is like the 21st book in the DH world that by now they would get boring...but no! They just keep getting better!

Lydia was a fierce warrior...being raised by Solin, she would have to be. But I loved the fact that she stood her ground with the scary ass Seth. And poor Seth....he was tortured by his family and everyone he has ever known for 4500 years. I thought Acheron had it bad but I think Seth has him pretty darn beat.

I just LOVED this next book in the series...can't wait to find out what the hell is going on with the Jaden/Jared fiasco...Im on tender hooks now.....I was excited to see some Jaden in this one...

"He's under attack. Are you sure we can't help him?"


Jaden sent her a mocking stare. " Sure lets go get him pinned to Noir's wall for a week, shall we? Im quite certain that will thrill him to no end, and make make us all feel better that you care so much."


'"You don't have to be so sarcastic."


"I can't help it. I sucked sarcasm straight from my mothers breast."

I just love him....

All in all, This was a super winner to me! It really reminded me of why I fell in love with the series in the first place!

[Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. Wish it’d been longer.

[Liriom_Land · Rating 5 out of 5]

En la linea del libro de Zarek o Aqueron.
Intenso, dramático y muy emotivo 😍💖.

[Titinha Scaeiro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seth, está junto ao Zarek e ao Ash no meu coração... 😍

http://www.cronicasdeumaleitora.com/2...

"Quem acompanha o blog, sabe que já não escrevo uma review há um bom tempo, já nem me lembro quando fiz a última, porém O Guardião e principalmente Seth a personagem masculina do livro, merece.

O Guardião, fez-me lembrar os velhos livros da autora, mas principalmente as histórias das duas personagens que mais amo nesta série, Acheron e Zarek.
Quem já leu esses dois livros, irá compreender o que eu quero dizer.
A formula não mudou, continuamos a ter um casal, que passa por todas as peripécias que conhecemos no mundo da Sherrilyn Kenyon, onde ela nos mostra e sempre mostrou, a crueldade de Deuses, homens, demónios, e seres que ela cria, mas há livros que passam do ponto e nos fazem perguntar... "Por quê tanta crueldade?
Só me lembro de fazer esta pergunta em outros dois livros, no Acheron e no Dança com o Diabo, algo me diz que no livro Styxx que ainda não foi editado em Portugal, vou voltar a fazer essa mesma pergunta.
Não que nos outros livros da autora, também não haja uma boa parcela de violência e crueldade, mas neste 3 livros vai para além disso, de tal forma que me fazia querer entrar no livro, pegar neles ao colo e dizer que há mais do que aquilo que eles viveram. Resumo, fazer o que as personagens femininas fizeram, mostraram que há a palavra AMOR, e que eles são merecedores de sentir e serem amados. Por isso ter gostado tanto deste livro.

Perguntam se desenvolveu a história principal, se obtemos respostas às centenas de perguntas que fazemos, não, não nos são respondidas, é nos dada mais informação do que respostas e ainda nos abre mais a curiosidade sobre Jaden e quem ele protege, porém vale a pena ler, pela superação do Seth, por ele.
Bem! Lydia também é uma personagem boa, mas o Seth...

Leiam este livro, claro se acompanharem a série, porque ele vale a pena e esta frase não era dita por mim no que se refere à Sherrilyn Kenyon, há muito tempo.

Agora é ler o seguinte, que parece-me que não é tão 5* como este, esperar pelo do Styxx e "rezar" para que a Saída de Emergência, não tenha a triste ideia que dividir esse livro em dois, algo tão "corriqueiro" na editora! "

[Cindyg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I'm in love with Seth...for a demigod so tortured and misused for so damn long; he sure had a heart of worth.
This is the first dream hunter book that really rocked my world. I loved the cast of characters except for Noir and Azure of course, what bastards they were. Pure evil right to their black souls. And even after what they did to Seth for forty five thousand years he still survived and even though he did not want to feel hope much less love there was one person who brought those dreams and feelings to the surface; Lydia. Damn I liked her; she was a kick some ass and ask questions later just to make sure Seth didn't suffer anymore. She protected the man she loved without reservaton.
When she made love to him the first time it was a beautiful and magical thing; the way it's suppose to be.
Oh there's plenty of action; it's fast paced, and will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Jaden was there and damn I feel for him. I can't wait to get his story. I can't wait for him to find his happiness and his freedom from that bitch Azure and her bastard brother Noir.
If you're already a fan than no doubt you have this book already but if you have any reservations let me assure you that this is one hell of a read...a must read...
Highly Recommend!!

[Michelle the Romance Witch · Rating 4 out of 5]

wow after reading the last book (Retribution) is was putting this one off for a while in case i was as disappointed... man wish now that i hadn't done that.
This felt like a total return to classic Kenyon. I love the story line and the twisted nature of the Hero. What better way to tame a wild beast then to force him face to face with a beautiful and seemingly unattainable "lily". Love the historical references as always and the return to our Greek pantheon as a focus with sidelines in common Egyptian mythos was much appreciated.
The Guardian restored my faith in the Hunter Series. I can now say unequivocally that i do really look forward to the next book in this series.
4.25 stars for this one. Love Love Love!

p.s. are we ever gonna get enough info on Jaden.

[Saly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The last book in this series and even this one is really good, it has gotten my interest back.
Seth was such a tortured soul, betrayed by all in his life and I loved how Lydia got to know him and well healed him. I won't go into the whole mythology of it, Jaden, Thorn etc all make an appearance but I really enjoyed the book.

[Nika · Rating 2 out of 5]

oh the stupidity of main characters! they were written in new adult fashion even though both are several hundreds years old. I think that says it all and none of it good. jeez louise, deliver me from the Angst!

[Wayland Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherrilyn Kenyon changes gears a bit in her Dark-Hunter series (also part of Dream-Hunter, Were-Hunter, and Hellchaser). Leaving New Orleans, and even the mortal plane, behind, most of this book takes place in Azmodia, one of the hell-realms. None of the regular characters from the series even show up until well past page 200. It is the story of Seth, slave to Noir, one of the rulers here, who has been bound in slavery for centuries, beaten and drained of his powers.

Now he's tasked with getting the secret of the Key of Olympus, a way for Noir to gain access to the home of the Greek Gods and destroy them all. To get it, he needs to break Solin, one of the Dream-Hunters. But Solin has a daughter, Lydia, who comes to Azmodia to try and rescue him. Solin will do anything to protect her, and Seth sends him off to find the Key. In the meanwhile, he keeps Lydia as leverage, but Noir isn't likely to react well to Seth letting Solin free from Azmodia. So he hides her in his room.

This being the series it is, they find growing attraction as they share their tortured pasts. Seth has a truly horrific backstory and Lydia is constantly shocked as she learns more and more of his tragic story. Gradually, they find a way to reach past their respective hurts, prevent the Key from falling into the wrong hands, and fight a massive battle with Noir and his armies.

There's lots of teasing, sex, magic, Gods, demigods, and fighting. This far in to the series, you know what Kenyon writes like before you open the cover. I've been enjoying these books, and this was a big change in focus. It was well done, and I enjoyed it.

[Ronda Tutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best story of them all. I don’t know how to explain it but this story showed the true sacrifice of love. It brought me to tears at the end. Seth’s brutal life is heart wrenching from the very beginning. The Author does an excellent job of character building for his broken soul. Needless to say it was heart warming to see his soul saved and brought back to a life of hope and love with Lydia.

It’s interesting that Lydia is the Key to Olympus. However, I’m thinking there will be more to the story later down the line because nothing in this story happens in Olympus. This story is basically about Seth and Lydia’s relationship. My mind wants to know if her title has any truth behind it and if or when she will be the key to killing off Zeus?

I love these stories in this series, the characters always make you want to know more about them and their future.

Excellent Read!

[Aki Ryuichi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ayyyyyy
He decidido retomar la serie... Y bueno, está fue una relectura... Siempre recordé este libro como uno de los mejores de la saga y con la relectura solo he ratificado eso.
Si bien, la escritora tuvo altos y bajos desde una parte de la serie hacia adelante, este fue un alto MUY ALTO ❤️😉😭.

Amo a Seth (a Lydia no tanto 🫣) y su historia solo inicia... Esta novela necesita una saga jajajaja

Siempre recomiendo a mis queridos DH ❤️y todo el mundo creado a partir de ellos 🤩🤩🤩

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is included in the following series: Hellchaser #4, Dream-Hunter #5, Were-Hunter #6, The Entire Dark-Hunterverse #23, and Dark-Hunterverse #31. Lydia Tsakali enters Azmodea to rescue Solin but instead is captured by Seth, slave to Noir and Azura. Seth lets Solin go to bring back the key to Olympus. If Solin fails then Lydia dies. Lydia is a Dream-Hunter and a Were-Hunter (jackel) and loyal to Solin. She is willing to die so that Solin lives.

I liked the characters and the story for the most part. I think it was a good addition to the series.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't know why I took so long to read this book. I really don't. Now I'm so happy that I finally did. This is a Top 3 series for me, and books like this one, are the reason why Sherrilyn Kenyon is one of my favorite Authors. I loved both Seth and Lydia. One of the sweetest couple from the series. Also I got the chance to see some other characters I love. This was a little piece of haven! Can't wait for the next one!!

[Yelania Nightwalker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maravilloso. Amo a Seth! Después de leer Retribution, pensé que era la caída de la serie pero noooo!!! The Guardian recupera la calidad a la que nos tiene acostumbradas Kenyon. Éste pasa a ser de mis libros favoritos de la serie.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars.

This book reminded of me why Kenyon is one of my all time favorite authors.

[✎Stacey "The One Night Biter"]

Little different this one, but still worth the read....

Way to go Ms. Kenyon

[Sofia Teixeira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que saudades! Andei relutante para pegar neste O Guardião, porque nos últimos dois livros dos Predadores da Noite senti que o meu envolvimento com os protagonistas e o seu universo tinha arrefecido bastante. Felizmente, quando peguei neste volume e li os primeiros capítulos, rapidamente me apercebi que teria de fazer uma maratona de leitura, parando apenas no fim. Dentro do universo multidimensional criado por Sherrilyn Kenyon, os presentes protagonistas pertencem aos Caçadores de Sonhos e foi como voltar às primeiras duplas que tanto entusiasmaram e me fizeram ficar viciada nas histórias desta autora.

A trama entre Seth e Lydia foi extremamente bem desenhada. O potencial e as limitações de cada um entraram tanto em choque como ao mesmo tempo se complementaram. Houve dilemas morais, emocionais, dúvidas constantes, inseguranças inimagináveis, mas a intensidade das fraquezas de um correspondia à intensidade das forças do outro. Tinha saudades da forma como Sherrilyn Kenyon consegue explorar zonas cinzentas, mas acima de tudo como usa o sofrimento inimaginável para criar um caminho que culmina no renascer da fénix.

Em Seth temos a personificação de um semideus que foi abandonado e maltratado tanto pelos pais (deuses) como pelos pais adoptivos (chacais). Vendido a um dos piores seres do universo quando era ainda uma criança, a sua missão é agradar-lhe sempre que possível para não ter terrivelmente torturado. Parte das suas funções é precisamente torturar outros para obter respostas. É num desses episódios que conhece Lydia, que aparece para defender o prisioneiro. Usando-a como moeda de troca, rapta-a. É neste convívio forçado que vamos conhecendo e desbravando a escuridão que habita em Seth. Lydia, com uma personalidade fortíssima e destemida, mostra-se alguém à altura do desafio.

Gostei muito do ritmo a que a acção se desenvolveu, incluindo os tempos a que nos foi sendo dada nova informação. A mitologia criada por Sherrilyn Kenyon é tão rica que esta pode-se dar ao luxo de cruzar e intercalar as suas várias componentes. Sendo o vigésimo livro que leio da escritora, não há muito que possa acrescentar em relação a opiniões anteriores, tirando o reforço de que este é um dos melhores dos últimos tempos (isto falando do que está editado em português). E se nunca leram nenhum da autora, lerem este de forma individual não é assim tão mau porque dá para perceber praticamente tudo. Mas um aviso: assim que entrarem neste universo não vão querer largá-lo.