Alien Guardian's Vow

Nyxari Bondmates #3

by Ava York, Bella Blaze

They told me not to touch the ruins.
They didn’t say anything about touching him.

I came here to fix a broken system—
not to be trapped underground with a Nyxari warrior whose touch sets my skin on fire.

Varek is everything I shouldn’t sharp, disciplined, utterly off-limits.
He doesn’t trust me. I can’t afford to want him.
But when a collapsing ruin forces us closer, the tension between us burns hotter than the failing tech around us.

Every brush of his hand, every clash of wills, pulls me deeper into dangerous territory—
where survival means trusting him with my life...
and risking my heart for something even more perilous.

The world above us might be falling apart.
But down here, it’s not just the ruins breaking open—
it's me.

Stranded on an alien world. Bound by ancient power.
Each step toward survival forges a bond no heart can escape. Don't miss the next book of the Nyxari Bondmates!

248 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 27, 2025

About the author

Reader, dreamer and frantic scribbler. I really do believe that love conquers all... and make terrible things for my characters to survive to prove it! (insert evil laugh here)

Reviews

[Cat · Rating 3 out of 5]

They never ate anything!

They are stuck underground for days, then escape injured and tired, but no mention of hunger or having anything to eat for the whole book. It isn’t clear how Hammond could construct something other than a shack out of crash parts or have the knowledge about how to siphon energy from alien tech. At one point, Rivera tells Varek that her first name is Becca, but there is a section (possibly typos) where it says, “”Rivera, he murmured, using my first name in a way that sent shivers down my spine.” Later in the book, she uses the same description but with the correct name, “Becca. His voice was a low rumble that sent an unexpected shiver down my spine.” I also have no idea what Rivera looks like, but that’s perhaps just a pet peeve of mine when main characters are not adequately described so I can have a full mental image when reading.

[Emily Pennington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rivera and Varek . . .

Rivera, a human engineer, was trying to work on a faulty circuit board but a sharp pain in her head made her drop her soldering tool. A small tremor shook the room, sharp enough to rattle her collection of tools. Her pain increased. Why was everything always malfunctioning? A stronger tremor came this time and a tool she just repaired fell off the table and shattered. This wasn’t seismic settling but more like system instability. Mirelle approached her, saying she needs someone to investigate energy fluctuations near the dangerous ruins where ancient tech was known to lie dormant. Something changed there recently. Rivera’s experience is more than the Nyxari possess, and Mirelle has noticed that the living stone and the healing chambers all emit energy signatures that seem to negatively affect Rivera’s markings more intensely than others since she can’t filter them out. And she assured Rivera that this was not just “busywork” because if these tremors continue to worsen, the entire settlement could be at risk. She also would be glad to get away from Varek and the way he looked at her. She will soon have to trust him with her life. Will they discover the damage Hammond’s experiments have done and will it continue to cause further damage underground and put them all in danger?

[TheBodiceRipper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about 85% action and 15% romance, and most of the love scenes are written so obliquely, you can't even tell they're having sex til it's almost over! The first half is mostly spent standing at various computer consoles shouting engineering jargon while all hell breaks loose, while the second half is nonstop action à la Saturday matinee serials.

Also: This book is definitely not readable as a standalone. Sometimes you can drop into a sci-fi series in the middle and figure out what's going on from context. Not this one! You've got major characters mentioned right and left with no backstory, barely any physical description of the lead characters, and numerous cultural references and past events that are never explained.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of errors in this book. Rivera’s first name is Becca and she gives it to her love interest. He realizes this is special and he treasures its use. She says he has her permission to call her Becca when they are alone. However, someone forgot this or wrote a huge section of the book forgetting about this. There is even a part where he calls her Rivera and she likes it when he says her first name. What? It went downhill from there. Well someone didn’t proof read that part or any of the other references to her first name use but in print is Rivera. Very annoying. It also looked like multiple repeats of the same scene with a few minor changes. Also annoying and boring. I would have given it 4 stars if it didn’t have the last 2 problems that covered more than half the book.

[Holly Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ava York’s Alien Guardian’s Vow is a great mix of romance and tech talk! This is book 3 of the Nyxari Bondmates and brings human Rivera (Becca) together with Nyxari Varek. Still fighting Hammond’s militaristic mishandling of the ancient tech below the planet’s surface, the two go underground to see if they can stop the destruction of the planet being caused by Hammond’s drilling and attempting to hook up human Claire to the ancient ruins. On the way the two learn that when they mesh sexually, they can overcome the tech. What a way to save the day?

[Carmen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Reprieve

Dang, can we just get rid of Hammond and find a new protagonist? Rivera and Varick start out as adversaries because he believes humans are reckless and useless. But getting trapped in ruins forms a bond between the two that won’t be denied. The urgent need to stop the crazy Hammond and rescue Claire was full of danger, injuries and passion. I enjoyed the story but I’m really looking forward to that megalomaniac getting what he deserves.

[Juanita E. Arp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book, the storyline is well written and the interaction between the characters is wonderful. I can't wait to read more from this author. I received this book as a Free ARC copy to read and I voluntarily leave this review

[Janina s. Asselin · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

This was awful. The writing was confusing and jumbled. I was forced to skim just to get through. All for naught, I could not finish this book. I have no interest in continuing the series as the writing is awful. Sorry.

[Alaska love · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read🌟

Rivera and Varek are now in the ancient ruins trying to stop the disabled components from failure. Only to find that Hammond is causing the problem. They must find and rescue Claire before it's too late. Enjoy

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alien Guardian's Vow. #3

This series is very good and interesting. This book was a little heavy to read. It seemed to be very(too) involved. The characters were realistic and so were the events but it seemed just too much.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! The intensity of danger, action and reluctant interaction between the two main characters is absolutely unbelievable. Subtly the resentment changes grudgingly to respect for each other. And still the threat increases.

[Myra Wray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again I found a good read in this book. I would not mind more stories in this series. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy.

[Lauri · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I just lost interest 35% in and gave up. I felt no connection to the characters and the running story through each book in the series had I think become stale.