Beginnings

The Guardians of Vesturon #0.5

by A.M. Hargrove

You met the Guardians of Vesturon in Survival and Resurrection. Now read about how their parents, Rowan and Annalise met in Beginnings, the novella prequel to The Guardians of Vesturon. Learn more about Rowan and how Annalise unwittingly captured his heart and how his chance meeting of her took him on a journey of forbidden love.

Genres: Romance, Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Fiction, Aliens

52 pages, ebook

First published March 26, 2012

About the author

One day, on her way home from work as a sales manager, USA Today bestselling author, A. M. Hargrove, realized her life was on fast forward and if she didn't do something soon, it would be too late to write that work of fiction she had been dreaming of her whole life. So she made a quick decision to quit her job and reinvented herself as a Naughty and Nice Romance Author.

Reader, Writer, #WalterThePuppy Owner, Dark Chocolate Lover, Ice Cream Worshipper, Vodka Aficionado, Coffee Drinker, she believes coffee and ice cream should be added as part of the USDA food groups.

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Reviews

[Tana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginnings, Prequel to the Guardians of Vesturon by A.M. Hargrove

This is a fantastic prequel to the Guardians of Vesturon series. A.M Hargrove gives us a look into how Rayn Yarrister, the first-born son and Leader of The Guardians parents met and fell in love.

Rowan see's Annalise working in the cafeteria and notice how beautiful she is, Rowan couldn't stop thinking about Annalise and knows he has to have her.

Knowing that he is the first born and is to become the leader of Vesturon he would not be permitted to mate below his station.

Annalise was from the working class family and she was beyond beautiful. This is a love story and how it doesn't matter who you are or even who you love when you find the right person you will do anything in your power to be with the one you love.

You can download this for free at:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...

[Midu Hadi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, cute love story.
It was love at first sight for Rowan and Annalise.
He was mesmerized by her beauty and she was amazed at the lengths he would go to be with her.
Rowan `s behavior towards the Elders and his father's response to it were both hilarious.
Enjoyed it!

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Source: Downloaded for free from Amazon.)
This is the story of Rowan and Annalise and how they met and became a couple. It is the prequel novella to the ‘Guardians of Vesturon’ series.

I’m sure A. M. Hargroves is a little confused as to why I even read this book, as she knows that Books 1 and 2 didn’t exactly float my boat. However, I wanted to see what this was like, primarily because it was the character of Maddie that drove me nuts in books 1 and 2, and as Maddie wasn’t in this one, I thought that I might appreciate it a bit more!

Damn was I right! Goodbye Maddie, and hello Rowan and Annalise!
The romance between Annalise and Rowan was beyond lovely. I can only imagine how difficult it must create a romance in so short a story, but boy did the author achieve it! The anxiety as Rowan waited for Annalise to meet him, his pounding pulse when he sees her, the way he wants to pull her into his arms was just magical.
I loved that the story actually felt like a real story rather than a novella which I sometimes think gloss over too much important stuff, and there was more than just the bare bones to it. Time was made to go into detail about Rowan’s training in becoming a guardian, and to bring his parent’s points of view on the relationship into focus too.
I have to say that as the story progressed Rowan did get further and further towards arrogance rather than strength, and his consternation over being called ‘cute’ was a little silly.
Overall this book was a winner though. Thanks so much for this great prequel novel A. M. Hargrove!
8 out of 10.

[Fiona (Titch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

WOW, no wonder it runs in the family with both First Borns lol. I am very happy that Rowan stood up for what he believed in as well as Rayn did against his father. The old saying "Like Father, Like Son" comes to mind when you read these 3 wonderful books of A.M. Hargroves. No one will be disappointed.

[A.M. Hargrove · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was awesome :D LOL

[Vicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginnings is the prequel to The Guardians of Vesturon, which I have yet to read. I saw this and thought it would be good to read so I could decide if I want to read the book or not.

I had no idea what this book would be about, but as it turns out it's a sweet romance about two people who, according to society, do not belong together. Annalise is a kitchen maid and she works in a cafeteria. Rowam, however, is the son of the "Great Leader." As luck would have it, Rowan has his sights set on on Annalise (he must have her) but they live in a caste system where they are forbidden to be together.

I can't say much more except that Rowan does something to try to be with Annalise that shocks everyone: the elite of society and the poorest of people.

Read the prequel to find out what Rowan does and if he and Annalise ever get to be together.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novella felt like a Saturday morning cartoon. Unrealistic, cliche, flat, and silly. I like the general idea of questioning authority and plowing through the blockades of social structure in pursuit of true love, but come on, this guy willingly throws his life away just to marry a girl he doesn't even know. Silly stuff. Two stars because the writer has promise as far as syntax, diction, and grammar go...

[Mauna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good to read about Rowan and Annalise. Rowan sure took the bull by the horns and delt with things! I am ready for the third book.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - English Ebook

Review follows later

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 - 3.5 Stars - Can't really decide D:

Seeing as how I read Books 1 & 2, and part of 3 before I read Beginnings, I suppose I had some a good amount of insight towards Rayn's parents' situations. However, I only knew of a basic level, so Beginnings provided me with more material to read and ponder upon...

Anyways, what I like best about this book is the fact that it made me sympathize more with the Rowan's situation. At a first look, Rowan's initial attitude towards Rayn was a bit cold and cruel. I suppose after reading this, I gained more understanding of the Vesturions' government system, as well as what one has to go through if they are of royalty or want to make a change.

Beginnings was also a nice reminder to me about the rest of the series. The style of the writing was similar, as well as the plot, although there were also distinctively different elements. It was like reliving my past reading experience, but in a more renewed way.

My only complaint was that there is another issue of insta-love. I'm starting to think it's part of the Vesturion's culture or genetic system, but falling deeply in love with Annalise and to go as far as demanding to petition the government seemed a little extreme. Nevertheless, his relationship with her was still cute(:

Overall, if you enjoyed the rest of The Guardians of Vesturon series, or are just looking for a cute, different, and short PNR read, I recommend to you, Beginnings!

[Caedy Eries · Rating 5 out of 5]

Title: Beginnings: Prequel to The Guardians of Vesturon
Author: A.M. Hargrove
Rating: 5/5

Summary: Annalise is a member of the working class. She works in the cafeteria. Rowan, soon to be leader of Vesturon sees her and falls in love with her. However, since she is beneath his station he is not permitted to marry her. This is a fantastic love story that tells the story of Rowan and Annalise parents to Rayn Yarrister.


Review: This is a heart-felt love story. Telling the story of how Rowan and Annalise, parents to Rayn Yarrister met. This is a story of individuals who conquer society’s boundaries, fall in love and ultimately create a family. It is a fantastic prequel to Survival and Resurrection, the next two books in the Guardians of Vesturon series. This story inspires hope in fairytale type love, that when you find the right person for you, you will be willing to do anything and everything within your power to be with that person.

If you have any questions, comments or recommendations you can contact me at simplicity.kindreth@gmail.com
My reviews can be found here:
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[Susan Ashcraft · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Alexyon Rayn Devvan)Rowan Yarrister IV is a tall handsome man with black hair and green eyes. He is the son of the Great Leader and certain things are expected of him. When he lays eyes on the beautiful blonde who is the kitchen maid, he reminds himself that she is not of his class and therefor not an appropriate mate for him. But she makes his heart sing and he wants her as his mate for life.

Annalise Drakkar is a gorgeous blonde haired, blue eyed woman who is of the serving class and is afraid to be seen with Rowan. She needs her job badly and if it is reported that they were seen together she could lose it.

Rowan and Annalise know they are a perfect match for each other, even though they are of different classes. They are prepared to fight the system for as long as it takes so that they can be together. With everyone against their union it is going to take a miracle for them to be together.

A great short story that is good as a stand alone story and even better as a prequel to the Guardians of Vesturon Series.

[Jalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the prequel to Survival and though I didn’t like the first book (I gave it 1 star), I picked this one up because it fit into a reading challenge I’m doing. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this much better than the first one. I didn’t like that their really old fashioned way of speaking was mixed with more modern words. It was confusing. And why do these characters have to have so many names? Rowan is good. Five names plus a number is excessive. Their training was kind of rough. I did think it was nice that Rowan didn’t care about Annalise’s station. It was nice to see a future “king” not care about who he fell in love with. I could see how maybe some other people would like this. It’s like a knight rescuing his damsel in distress, but this book just doesn’t do it for me. I’m just not a fan of this author, I guess.

[Juls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rowan what a man!!! He may have been higher up in the social latter but that didnt stop him from falling and eventually getting the woman, who happened to be way below his status, as his mate.
Rowan didnt even know Annalise but knew he had to have her. She became his everything, his reason to live and breathe.
Ms. Hargrove's did an amazing job describing Rowan's view of Annalise. I could really see her beauty as I read about her.

I really wish this had been longer but talking with the author revealed that this short was written to show a softer side of Rowan and he really is a sweetie!

I really look forward to the rest of the Guardians of Vesturon Series.

[Sitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short YA paranormal romance story involving Rowan the next future leader of Vesturon and Annalise his mate and later wife. The sequels were out before this story, either one falls in love with the place and morals of Vesturon or not. I did, though-totally from the beginning. I don't want to think of my life for the last 6 months without these romantic stories, thanks to A. M. Hargrove for bringing back the feeling of butterflies in the time of war.

[Jennifer (random jendsmit) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this - I liked Rowan's conviction and his stick-to-it-ness... ok now I'm just making up words :)

Series review will be posted on www.passionatebookdivas.com :D I will post the link as soon as I have it all ready and posted!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books, read all three cant wait until the next one!!!

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Addison · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This sweet novella prequel introduces the love story of Rowan and Annalise, parents of the Guardians we meet later in the series. It’s a tale of forbidden love, unexpected destiny, and the moment when duty collides with heart—laying the emotional foundation for everything to come.

[Sherry Fundin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginnings will introduce you to the characters and customs of the Vesturons. Just because they are aliens, doesn't mean we can't relate to many of their ways.

I had already read Survival, Book I of the Guardians of Vesturon Serives, so I was familiar with the characters.

I found Beginnings captivating, because as a fan of A M Hargrove's and the Guardians of Vesturon Series, I truly wanted to know Rowan's story. I wanted to know why he was so hard on Rayn's choice of a commoner for a mate, when Rowan, himself, had married a commoner.

Royalty is no different today, so I didn't find the situation odd or wrong. It is just the way things are. Royalty is expected to act differently than the rest of us.

A M Hargrove has a way of drawing you in and making you feel as if you are there, sharing the thoughts and feelings of her characters. They come alive in her writing and you will laugh and cry as you travel through the series, going through their trials and tribulations.

Love crosses all boundaries and will not be denied.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Do you believe that love can conquer all?

3 STARS - Would Recommend To Others

The reason I gave it only three stars is because it is background, laying a foundation for what is to come. It will help us to understand and relate to the characters better.

There are no bells and whistles. Even though Rowan's life is no picnic, it didn't have me on the edge of my seat waiting for the next shoe to drop, but is well worth the read to get to know the ways of the Vesturon

I picked the book up free from Amazon.

A.M. Hargrove

[Laura Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thrilled when the this book was released. I’ve read the entire Vesturon Series and this back story about Rowan and Annalise and how they met was like cheese cake with strawberries drizzled all over it. A sweet, tasty morsel to satisfy my craving for more.

When Rowan first lay eyes on Annalise, he was a goner. But when he approached her, she discouraged his advances.

First-Born and lower- born were not allowed to fraternize and Annalise could lose her job, or maybe worse if caught even speaking to Rowan.

But Rowan is not to be denied and sets out to change the out of date , prejudicial laws set by the Council of Elders, not just for him, but for everyone. Even standing up to his father, the Great Ruler of Vesturon.

I tore through this book in about an hour, not pausing until the end.

I admired Rowan and his fight for change. He was dogged in his determination and so tender with Annalise.

Annalise will melt your heart like she did Rowan’s when he gazed into her eyes. She’s gentle but not timid and supports Rowan’s fight.

It was also interesting to read about Rowan’s training as a Guardian. It was very brutal and reminded me of what soldiers go through in our special forces elite units.

I couldn’t imagine being tortured until I broke, and that’s knowing that they really won’t kill you. Scary stuff.

Now that I’ve read Beginnings I just may have to read the whole series again. I remember just how much I love this world and its many characters.

When you read The Guardian’s of Vesturon series you’ll see how these two loving people instilled their self-confidence and strong beliefs in their children.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is my first Guardian series book. As a prequel, I was expecting to be introduced to the characters and to the world of Vesturon. Instead, it was a very short summary of how Rowan met Annalise and their consequent unification after convincing the Elders of Vesturon to change the caste system.

So little was told to make me care for the main characters, thus I even care less about their romance. It feels like there are gaps in the story where I should've "seen" and been convinced of what's happening between them. With only Rowan's POV in the whole story, Annalise's feelings came as a surprise and was hard to accept because there was no prior demonstration on how she felt for Rowan at all. I just have to take the author's word that she loved Rowan. Vesturon itself is briefly described as "one of the greatest powers in the universe" and a few more general idea that didn't impress me. The story's brevity really did nothing to elaborate and evoke sympathy. I'm really crossing my fingers that this prequel is not an indication of the kind of writing style that is found in first book of the series.

[Elisabeth Wheatley · Rating 5 out of 5]

After winning the rest of this series in a blog tour giveaway, I let them all sit on my Kindle app, alone and practically forgotten, for months. Then I finally went to pick this one up and oh, mama! I’m a disciple of this author! This is a novella, so there isn’t a whole lot I can say about it without being spoiler-ific, but don’t worry, I’ll still gush.



This is the story of Rowan and Annalise, the parents of the male love interests in The Guardians of Vesturon books. It starts out with young Rowan—future ruler of the planet—noticing a pretty young girl of the servant caste working in the cafeteria. In spite of knowing what a bad idea it is, he asks her permission to meet her in private. Things get out of control from there and the two find themselves deeply in love with plenty of powerful people who forbid their unification.



This story holds a few similarities to Romeo and Juliet, except that it ends much better and is far more believable. Oh, and it’s FREE! So go download it, read it, and I dare you not to read the rest of the series!

[Shelly Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first story that I have read from this author so I've not read any of the other books in this series. Since this is the prequel to the series, I figured it would be a good way to get a quick feel for the style of the author to see if I might be interested in trying a longer book. If this short story is any indication of how the longer books are written, then I am definitely going to have to give them a shot because this story was really very good.

This story was short and sweet. In a short amount of time you were introduced to an entire world, a handful of colorful characters, and a cute love story. You quickly became absorbed in the story the author was telling and before you knew it, it was building up to a climax and then it was all done and wrapped up so well that all you wanted to do was hurry up and get the first full length novel to see where it would take you.

All in all, I really liked this short prequel and I am looking forward to exploring the other books this author has written.

[Disincentive/Feta · Rating 3 out of 5]

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I think it's really hard for me to write this review when I haven't read any book in the series besides the prequel.
The idea was amazing. I'm usually not interested in books about aliens, but this one somehow kept me really interested. It was really short, so it's hard to say anything about story. It focuses on love story, but there is some politics in the background - I wish it would be a bigger topic because relationship in Beginnings was simply boring. If you don't care about cheesy and sweet love, it's almost perfect. Easy to read and touching important topics. :)
I honestly wanted to like it as I saw almost all of the bloggers really hyper about it, but I'm more neutral - maybe just because I haven't read the series before?

[Maghon Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know that this is a short story prequel, but it was actually written after the first two books were published. However, I cannot say much about this because I really don't wanna give away all the goodies, but I will say it gives a major sense of character insight, and it's so well written-like I expected anything else! I loved seeing this side, as it's how it all started! To fall in love, and stand up for what you believe in, even if it's against society's norms! It just makes me all happy and mushy inside! So I say read this one, and then read the whole series while you're at it :)

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This prequel to the Guardian's of Vesturon tells the story of how Rowan and Anelise met and the struggles that they faced in uniting. Their situation is alluded to in the other books. It was interesting to learn that Rowan was responsible for removing a caste system on Vesturon. We also got a little bit of insight into Voldruk. I didn't really care for his character in this book, but that is most likely because of how he acts in further books.

[Cheryl M-M · Rating 2 out of 5]

An add on to the Vesturon series, which takes a closer look at Rowan and how he meets his mate.
I wasn't overwhelmed by it, indeed I thought it was the usual man meets superbly beautiful female and wants her..now. Some of the dialogue was a little B movie over the top dramatic and Rowan seemed a tad hyper hysterical.
It was pleasant enough, but lacked any real drive or extra nuance to drag me in.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this was a cute love story, even though the instant love didn't really impress me. I liked how protective Rowan was of Annalise. It will be interesting to see what happens in book 1, since this was just a setup for it. This story is about an alien planet, which isn't my favorite topic, but it was still cute.

[Mutated Reviewer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't care if this book was trying to make me like Rowan, because I don't think I ever will. he's a Dick. and this book proved to me atleast, that even though he has his sweet moments, he always has been and always will be a Dick. I also wish that we could have gotten to know Rayn's mom a little better. I feel like she was more of a background character than anything else..