Kiss of Darkness: A Dark Paranormal Romance (Curse of the Guardians Book 1)

Hardly any chemistry between the characters, world building with so much going on it is hard to keep track. Could have done it better. Most of the time I had to keep checking what is what. Terrible execution of a possible good plot.

The good:• This story had potential. It’s a classic enemies to lovers (he’s prejudice against her kind bc of past family-related trauma).• It had those delicious “tell me who did this so I canunalive him” vibes and push/pull romantic tension.The meh (mild spoilers)• the mmc is kind of dense. She tells him she isn’t exactly what he thinks and he just doesn’t seem to care there’s a difference? Or he doesn’t get it/why it’s important? Idk but his prejudice still stymies him even when he’s aware of it and how she’s different. It’s a little annoying.• he still acts kinda mean to her even when he’s helping her which is usually prime enemies-to-lovers vibes, but this felt different. Usually in those sceneries they’re still enemies and the meanness is bc of that, but in this one he clearly likes her/is holding her close, or carrying her off to his bedroom to recover and insisting he protect her while still telling her that her power is offensive and that she’s creating drama. Sir, what? She saved your butt. Shut up! It was confusing.• loose ends were tied up in 3 seconds during the epilogue but they were major plot points. It kinda felt like the author got tired of writing about certain elements of the story and just wanted to wrap up. Like the romance was cemented, so everything else wasn’t worth writing about? Kinda disappointing.• things never took an emotional deep-dive. I constantly felt like it was on the cusp of being really good, but wasn’t emotionally deep enough.Sex was ok.. nothing to write home about. 2 scenes in ~300 pages.

This is a new take on urban fantasy, with the usual vampires and fae with added druids and witches. A little on the predictable side with the romance, but the story was a good one and I am interested to see where the series goes!

This is a new author for me but I really enjoyed this story with it's unique storyline. I always love enemies to lovers, forced proximity books and the fact it's pnr just tops it off for me.Kyra is not your typical black witch there's a uniqueness to her abilities, one she must hide for otherwise she'd be hunted and used for it much like her parents did and her 'boss' though he pretty much blackmailed her into working for him or reveal her and the power to the magika council.Xander is a druid/guardian and he hates nothing more that black magic and along with it witches, but when Kyra begins receiving threats at her home she notifys her 'boss' but he waves it off thinking she's looking for a way out of their agreement. When she's attacked at her home she freaks out and goes to the guardians looking for her friend a fellow witch seeking protection, the head of the guardians places his second Xander in charge of keeping an eye on Kyra, somthing he openly complains about. Xander might not be able to stand Kyra but his beast on the other hand wants nothing more than to claim her. Kyra's boss has always looked for ways to make himself stronger using her powers and the covens at his will but when he steps into uncharted territory he crosses a line Kyra isn't willing to support and so she tries to flee but Frederick isn't so willing to let his powerful pet go and will go to any means to bring her back under his thumb, leaving Kyra no choice but to reveal everything to the guardians including her true power. A slave to her own powers since birth Xander eventually realizes their upbringings aren't that different and his initial impression of Kyra was all wrong, perhaps not all witches are vile, some like him have done anything to survive. He'll go from wanting nothing to do with her to doing everything in his power to keep what he and his beast see as his.Definitely Recommend Reading 📚

The storyline and characters are quite good and it should be a really quick and easy read however the spelling and punctuation, at least on the kindle version makes it difficult to follow.

This book was so good, the love/hate feels going on had me screaming, crying, then cheering them on. I usually prefer series to stand alone but I have to say this book does not disappoint. If you want an epic quick read where the plot is finished, this book is for you!