Guardian

The Prometheus Project #2

by Claire Delacroix

The Eyes of the Republic are Everywhere.

The victim of what she believes is a malicious kidnapping, seer Delilah Desjardins quickly realizes that her abductor is on a mission to save her from assassins. Rafe, a fallen angel, must ensure that Delilah, blessed with the gift of foresight, reaches her true calling as an oracle for the Republic--and if his divine calling results in a more earthly relationship between the two of them, well, he doesn’t mind that at all.

Drawn to Rafe, but fearing the loss of her gifts should she surrender to his charms, Delilah knows she has to leave him. But fleeing his guardianship sets the assassins on her trail again. As Rafe races to save Delilah, he knows he isn’t just saving her for the good of the Republic, for the angels, or for the future--he’s saving her for himself.

Genres: Angels, Romance, Paranormal Romance, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Dystopia, Futuristic

358 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 25, 2009

About the author

New York Times bestselling author Claire Delacroix sold her first book in 1992, an historical romance called ROMANCE OF THE ROSE. Since then, she has published over sixty romance novels and novellas, and has also been published under the names Claire Cross and Deborah Cooke. She has an honours degree in history, with a focus on medieval studies. She is an avid reader of medieval vernacular literature, fairy tales and fantasy novels.

For books written under the pseudonym, Claire Cross, see:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

For books written under Claire's own name, Deborah Cooke, please see:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

In October and November 2009, she was the writer in residence for the Toronto Public Library, the first time that the library has hosted a residency focused on the romance genre.

Visit her two websites here:
http://www.delacroix.net
http://www.deborahcooke.com

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Reviews

[Starfire · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the concept for this book, and the plot as described had SO much potential for a dark urban-fantasy-cum-SF (the dystopian world vaguely reminded me a cross between V for Vendetta and Nalini Singh's Changeling/Psy universe, which is never going to be a bad thing), but I just found the author's writing style didn't work for me personally.

Said style feels very exposition-heavy to me, and there were several scenes where the characters would interact with each other, and then the POV character's thoughts would, in effect, repeat exactly what just happened again in a kind of "Cliff Notes for readers who weren't paying attention the first time around" summary. It's entirely possible that this style works for some people, but I just started to find it frustrating after a while.

I was thinking of slogging on with it anyway in case the characters drew me in enough to stop noticing the stylistic niggles, but the book's due back at the library in two days and I honestly don't feel like I'm enjoying it enough to renew it for a second time :-S

So yes, alas, this will officially become my first DNF for 2010. 4/10 as a subjective rating from me - other people might well enjoy it far more though.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

This still shouldn’t be a romance series. The intrigue and post apocalyptic storyline is really interesting and entirely too relevant to current events. But I feel like the romance distracts from the story and allows for some of the world building to be muddled.

[TinaMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rafe is a fallen archangel Raphael, he doesn't remember who he was and has embraced all earthly pleasures.

[Stephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delilah Desjardins is a Shade with a secret. She is the one true oracle of the Republic but when she tries to reveal herself for who she really is, Delilah is caste aside and is soon running for her life. Before Delilah realizes what is happening, she is taken captive by what she first thinks is a hunter out to take her in but she soon discovers he is her only hope for survival. Raphael has no memory of his past. All he remembers is his mission and that is to make sure Delilah is officially seen as the oracle of the Republic. To accomplish this they will need to learn to trust each other if they are to survive the coming obstacles and treachery.

Delilah is the daughter of Lilia who is the heroine in the first book of the series. She was taken from her mother at birth because of a third eye and marked as a Shade. A Shade is a human born with some type of birth defect or mutation. They are labeled as Shades and treated as slaves and experimented on. Delilah escaped this fate and was sent to the Citadel of the Daughters of the Light of the Republic nine years ago. The Daughters plan to name a false oracle but Delilah knows that it is her the angels speak through and will not sit quietly by and let this happen. Delilah is confident in the fact that she is the true oracle and will do anything necessary to get people to believe it. I liked that she wouldn't let anyone take this away from her and she was also a compassionate person that really felt for her fellow Shades. Her unyielding faith in the angels was admirable. Even in the darkest situations she believed. The problem I had with her was no matter what Raphael did, she didn't trust him and it bugged me because I felt he more than proved himself. She was attracted to him but I felt her love for him came out of no where and didn't feel genuine.

Raphael has been on earth for a few months and has enjoyed his share pleasures along the way. He will not apologize for the fun he has been having and I liked him for all his faults. He wasn't too keen on completing his mission at first but once he saw Delilah it all changed. It was lust with him at first but he fell for her a lot faster than she did for him. I wasn't a fan of these two characters together but separate, they are wonderful.

Ferris is also a Shade and a friend of Delilah's. He is mute but he won't let that stop him from helping his friends and keeping a promise to one of the very few people who was ever good to him. I really hope to see him in future books. Where there are angels there is bound to be the devil. He makes another visit to the Republic in Guardian. He is dark with matching wings, well built and every bit as malicious as you'd expect. Like in Fallen, he is trying to recruit an angel to his side. You know he has something wicked planned and I'm both anticipating and dreading to see what he has in store.

I felt Guardian was even better than Fallen. The frighting world of the future is expanded in the 2nd installment of this series and light is shed on some of the darkest corners of the Republic. Secrets are being revealed and hero's are rising but will it be enough to survive the coming storm? I look forward to starting Rebel and finding out.

~Stephanie G

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second book in the Prometheus Project series takes us back to the post-apocalyptic world where angels are real and visit earth, church and state have become one, the US landscape is barren and scarred in a lot of places, the fashion has gone back to the historical era where it isn't uncommon for men to wear codpieces and cloaks, and women had to have all skin covered and where corsets and veils. This installment follows the fallen angel Rafe as he indulges in all the sensations earth has to offer and resents that he has a mission he doesn't fully understand and an all consuming terror of failing, and Delilah the daughter of Lilia the SHADE hunter (book one). Delilah is a shade and she knows she is the true oracle for the Republic and she is determined to take her rightful place. She has an uphill battle ahead of her; she is a shade which means she is pretty much a slave, and when she displays her ability to have visions in a very public fashion her life is put into danger by people high up in the government who want a fake oracle they can control. Rafe finds himself in the same location as Delilah, though he doesn't understand and resents the compulsion to be there. He witnesses her vision and sets out to save her when she is whisked away to be silenced. From then on they are running and hiding from the hunters after them and along the way they discover a chemistry between them and Rafe's past. His memory had been wiped so he didn't understand what his mission was (besides the drive to protect Delilah and place her as the true Oracle for the Repulic), but when it is revealed that he is a fallen angel all the pieces fall into place. When Rafe is captured by the shade hunters, Delilah sets out to save him. At that point in the story, once they come together passionately and the aftermath of that moment, the story was very much a page turner and the scene in the train when she confesses her love to a drugged out Rafe, priceless! I enjoyed the story and I like the post-apocalyptic world that Delacroix (Cooke) has created. It is well described, detailed, and complex. The characters are developed. Some of the plot details are a bit slow going and their romance story does take a back seat to the rest of the plot as a whole (a corrupt unnamed entity out to silence Delilah, and Rafe's drive to see her seated as oracle taking a precedence over everything else. I look forward to books 3 and 4 and more of the story of who are the wraiths and whether they are good or evil.

[Jill Dunlop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Guardian is the second book in Claire Delacroix's Fallen Angel Trilogy. Delilia is the daughter of the heroine from the first book. The world she lives in is 100 years or so after a nuclear war. People who have been affected by the radiation are known as SHADES. These shades are without rights and treated as though they are inferior to normal unaffected humans. Delilia has been labeled a shade and was taken from her mother as an infant. She has lived her life down in the underground serving as a slave to the Daughters of the Light, a group of women raised similar to nuns. Rafe, a fallen angel has accepted a mission to see that Delilia is rescued from her servitude and fulfills her destiny as the Oracle for the Republic.

There is a lot happening in Guardian and readers may easily become lost if they haven't read the previous book, Fallen. Guardian is unusual in that the book takes place in a post apocalyptic world in the future, yet it’s as if it has reverted back to old customs. Women have to be covered from head to toe and there is slavery. Technology is very advanced and everyone has to wear a palm - think smart phone implanted in your hand. Religion also plays a large part in people's lives, but has become corrupt. Hence the need for Angels to interfere.

Delilia is a young heroine at nineteen and Rafe is older an Angel who has been around since the dawn of time. Usually, these huge age gaps annoy me, but that wasn't the case. Mostly because Rafe, even though he is old, is new to his human body. He is experiencing humanity first hand and it's like he is a kid in a candy shop. The new sensations he experiences such as sight, touch and smell are all new and exciting. He loves sex and spends lots of time learning about it. He is very fun and impulsive. He likes puzzles and games. He is definitely not a stodgy, doddering old angel.

Delilia is the more serious of the two. She hasn't had much fun in her nineteen years of life. Unfortunately, no pleasure was to be hers, she spent much of her time drugged and undernourished. Her and Rafe are on the run throughout this book and it has very grim overtones much of the time. Delilia never loses her hope in humanity, even though she has been treated poorly. So, things aren't always so grim and this book does end well. A few things are left hanging and I imagine they will be wrapped in the final installment. I am definitely hooked.

[Bookaholics · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Guardian by Claire Delacroix
Futuristic Paranormal Romance – Sept 29th, 2009
3 Stars

The Guardian is the second book in Claire Delacroix’s futuristic paranormal fallen angel’s trilogy.

Clair Delacroix’s fallen angel’s trilogy starts with the first book The Fallen which should be read first in order to truly understand the series and enjoy the story with its many interesting and unusual characters.

The Guardian tells the story of Rafe a fallen angel who is sent on a mission to save Delilah Desjardins a seer who has the gift of foresight. Rafe must ensure that Delilah survives long enough to reach her true calling to become the Oracle for the Republic but to do so Rafe is forced to kidnap Delilah in order to keep her safe. While on the run from those who would keep Delilah from her true destiny Rafe and Delilah are strongly drawn to each other and despite Delilah’s attraction to Rafe her fear of the attracting and how It will affect her gift as well as her fear for Rafe’s safety cause her to flee from his protection causing Rafe to race after her in order to not only save her for the Republic but also for himself and his own heart.

Claire Delacroix does an excellent job of weaving a new futuristic world for us that is very different from what we know and has all sorts of interesting and fascinating aspects to it. The Guardian’s characters of Rafe and Delilah are both very intriguing as well as being compelling and it does make you want to know what their futures will hold. The only difficulty I had was that the storyline was so complex that (I had not read the first book.) I had trouble orienting myself and think this really took away from the pleasure of reading this book.

If you like paranormal romance as well as futuristic stories this is the book for you.

Reviewed by Mary from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ernsthaft, was war das? Es hat zwar ein bisschen verwirrend, dafür aber actionreich und rasant begonnen und die Verwirrung schreibe ich der Tatsache zu, dass dieses Buch der zweite Teil der Reihe ist und ich Teil 1 nicht kenne.

Die ersten Probleme kamen dann mit dem Auftauchen Luzifers und der absolut nicht nachvollziehbaren Idee der Protagonistin, mal eben alleine gegen das Böse anzugehen und das auch schaffen zu können ^^

Und dann plötzlich (wir sind auf Seite 240 rum) beschließt sie, dass sie dem Helden nicht vertrauen kann, dass er sie verraten wird und eigentlich für die Gegenseite arbeitet, dass sie ihn unbedingt loswerden muss und ihn dafür mal eben verführt, dass er Schuld ist, dass ihre ach so durchdachten Pläne nicht funktioniert haben, dass die Engel schon wissen werden was sie tun und sie führen werden und ich weiß nicht was noch für ein Mist. Und keine zehn Seiten später: "Och Mist, ich schaff das nicht alleine und ich brauche ihn doch und ich muss ihn finden. Oh, wer ist das? Vielleicht hat er mich ja schon gefunden! Äh nein, leider nicht." Argh!!! Wie doof kann man nur sein?

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Prometheus Project Book Two

After being welcomed into the human world by Lilia Desjardins, Rafe knows only that he must install Lilia's daughter, Delilah, as the new Oracle of the Republic. He finds her at the ceremony meant to choose the new Oracle, but the daughters of the light have set up a false Oracle instead. When Delilah reveals herself and is rebuked for it, Rafe knows he must take her away. Delilah has only ever known the harsh hand of the hunters and the daughters, so when Rafe shows up and doesn't even know who he's working for, she knows she cannot trust him. She runs, only to find out that her allies are not the ones she expected.

If you're looking for a post-apocalyptic, political intrigue with romance and angels, this is the book for you.

Copy gifted by the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Tez · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are so many fascinating things about this futuristic post-apocalyptic setting: The radiation poisoning, birth defects, the Society of Nuclear Darwinists, the Republic, the technology, the Frontier, the pleasure fringes...it's hard NOT to be passionate about this brilliantly researched world.

But with highs this high, anything less than awesome has nowhere to hide. even Delilah admits she can't think properly with Rafe around, and that pretty much explains why romance in fiction rarely works for me. But I still pick up the books, hoping to read of nifty worlds with fascinating plots, even if the characters do piss me off.

In short, you may want to both hug this book and throw it against the wall.

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very well-written, interesting, fast paced book that featured romance and adventure. Set at the end of the 21st century in a repressive society, Delilah is on the run from people who want to prevent her from taking her place as the Oracle of the Republic. Rafe is a fallen angel who has given up his wings to come to Earth and help Delilah become the Oracle. Rafe doesn't remember his life before coming to Earth and Delilah life on the run keeps her from being able to trust. They are drawn to each other despite the danger. This is the second book in a series with related characters, though it can be read as a stand alone story. I can't wait to read the next book in the series! Copy gifted by the Publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Jeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in this exciting series truly delivers. We meet Delilah and Rafe in a action pack race against the forces of evil. Delilah is the daughter of famous Shade hunter Lilia Desjardines and was taken away at birth because she had the "third eye" birth defect that classified her as a SHADE. Rafe is a fallen angel sent to earth to ensure Delilah is named the next Oracle to save mankind. This story was exciting from page 1 and didn't stop till the end. The characters are so strong and their love is poignant in this darkness. The plot held many twists and turns and was expertly crafted. I highly recommend this book for an exciting fast paced read.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did enjoy first and this second book too, it was not like other books too much information or too boring,Its great to read and I suggest everyone who wants to read fiction science this is a great paranormal trilogy,Its romance, fiction, religion of course Angels which I love the most.I liked all the characters that were connected all together, It was well formed.I won't talk more I'm going to start reading of third book Rebel hope I will like that as much as I liked this.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one a lot more than the first book. Still well written with great characters and a good story line. But with having already read one book in the series, the learning curve for the world was not as rough. Made it much easier to enjoy the story.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I should have known I wouldn't like this...I hated the 1st one. I guess I just liked the idea of hot, sexy angel men that had nothing to do w/ being Jesus-y. Couldn't get into this one either.

[Renee Rearden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. I'm not so much into the techno aspect of furturistic worlds, but this was interesting.

[Mitzi]

Won autographed copy

[Rosetta Henderson]

just started it to day will let u know all about it july 10 2001

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was much better than the first. Still wouldn't recommend it unless you like overly religious reading.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up book 2, wished I had read Book 1 first, would have increased enjoyment.

[Chris Coulson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book!!
Loved reading this book. It's the second book in the series and at the end your want to read more! It's well worth the read.

[Cher · Rating 3 out of 5]

completely silly romance novel but it's post-apocalyptic and has angels in it so what can I say

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

will keep you on the edge of your seat!!!