Her Guardian Angel

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Synopsis

Suzanne is Memitim, an earthbound, guardian angel whose new job is protecting Declan Burke, a human bodyguard. When her heraldi malfunctions and doesn't alert her that her charge is under attack by a demon, she must think outside the box in order to keep him safe. With the help of her angel friends, Suzanne sets herself up in an earthly mansion, complete with a persona as a wealthy heiress who is being stalked and needs Declan's help. That way she can keep an eye on him 24/7. However, she's already half in love with Declan, and although she took a vow of celibacy upon entering the Memitim training program, being in such constant close proximity to him wreaks havoc on her emotions and her libido. But if she gives in to her feelings for Declan, she'll never be able to Ascend when her time comes. Lately, though, Suzanne has been missing the human life she used to have and isn't sure that losing out on Ascending would be such a bad thing. But first she must figure out a way to draw out and defeat Declan's enemy.

As the illegitimate and unwanted son of a politician, Declan Burke had a rough life growing up, but he found the family he'd craved during his military service. After losing his best friend on a mission, he's all about protecting people, and to that end, he now works for McKay-Taggert Security as a bodyguard. His latest assignment is hottie Suzanne D'Angelo, an heiress with a stalker. However, from the moment Declan moves into her mansion, he has a gut feeling that something is off about her. Weird things he can't explain keep happening and then they're attacked by a monstrous creature that looks like something out of the comic books he's deeply fond of. Once Suzanne finally tells him the truth, it's a lot to take in, especially since there are things he doesn't remember doing in the past, like fighting in a apocalyptic war and pissing off a demon in the process. As they grow closer and begin to fall for one another, Declan and Suzanne must go in search of answers to a mysterious tattoo he got while drunk in order to find a way to defeat the supernatural enemy that wants him dead.

Review

Her Guardian Angel is the sixth book in Larissa Ione's Demonica Underworld series, which is a spin-off or sub-series of her greater Demonica world that follows characters who live in the Underworld, and it's the seventeenth book in the larger combined series. It also has the added perk of being the second book in a multi-author crossover series that's based on Lexi Blake's Masters & Mercenaries. Suzanne is a Memitim or guardian angel whose assigned Primori is a human named Declan. We don't know what his importance is to humanity, just that he pissed off a powerful demon by killing another demon while he was serving in the military. Something special about this demon prevents Suzanne's heraldi from alerting her when Declan is in danger, so the only way she can think of to keep him safe is to stay with him 24/7. Since she can't really do that without rousing suspicion, she comes up with the idea to use a mansion that the angels maintain on Earth to pretend to be a socialite in need of a bodyguard and hire Declan for the job. The only problem is that after protecting him for the past year, she's already half in love with him and the close proximity only makes it that much harder to keep her Memitim vow of celibacy. If she breaks her vow, she'll never be able to Ascend when the time comes, but she's not so sure that's a bad thing anymore. If they're to have any kind of future, though, she'll first have to keep her charge alive.

Suzanne is a mere seventy-five years old, which has earned her the hated nickname of "baby angel" from her brother, Hawkyn. She's only been in Memitim service for the last fifty and Declan is her first Primori. Unlike most of her Memitim siblings who had terrible upbringings in the most difficult of circumstances, Suzanne had a great life with her human family before finding out what she really is. A part of her misses that life, and she doesn't feel strongly drawn to her work as a Memitim. Instead she prefers to spend every minute she can cooking and has even started a social media cooking show, which she loves. But at the moment, her cooking is secondary to her work protecting Delcan. Even though everyone warns her that being around Declan full-time will be a serious temptation, especially for someone who has already developed feelings for her Primori that could make it harder for her to keep him safe, she can think of no other way to accomplish that besides living with him when her heraldi malfunctions. With the help of the Unfallen angel, Cipher, she creates a persona for herself as a rich heiress with a stalker who needs a bodyguard and specifically requests Declan for the job. After one of her siblings dies a virgin after waiting for eons to Ascend, Suzanne isn't sure she even cares about Ascending anymore, so she's already decided that if Declan shows any interest in her, she's going to live life to the fullest and find out what she's been missing. Luckily for her, Declan is as attracted to her as she is to him, so things turn steamy very quickly. But even if she can avoid getting into major trouble with the Memitim Council, she'll have her work cut out for her figuring out how to draw out and defeat Declan's enemy. I really liked Suzanne. She's sweet and kind, but also confident. She seems to know what she wants out of life and goes after it without fear, while putting her life on the line to protect the man she loves.

Declan is the illegitimate son of a politician who never wanted him or acknowledged him in any way. His mother wasn't much better, so he was on his own for most of his time growing up. He basically had the poor childhood that Suzanne didn't have, giving him shades of a tortured hero. Once he was grown, he found a different sort of family in the military, where he threw himself into his work of protecting people. However, he lost one of his best friends on a mission and that has stuck with him. Now he works for McKay-Taggert Security and his latest assignment is protecting heiress Suzanne D'Angelo from a stalker. The woman is a hottie he can't seem to stop thinking about, but after a bad experience with a previous client, he doesn't want to end up getting used again. But soon he can't resist her seductive innocence. From the moment he moved into her mansion, though, something about her seemed off to him. Weird things that she can't seem to explain in any logical way keep happening. Then one day they're attacked by a monstrous creature like something out of the comic books he loves. After that, she finally tells him the truth which is even stranger than fiction. He fought in an apocalyptic war that he doesn't remember and somehow managed, as a mere human, to kill an incredibly powerful demon, something no one can explain. He also has a mysterious tattoo on his back that he got while in a drunken stupor that seems to be alive. Once the truth is out, Declan and Suzanne go in search of answers, but they're going to need all the help they can get to keep both of them alive until their enemy can be neutralized. I kind of have a thing for bodyguard heroes, so I really liked Declan. He's got that alpha protector vibe, as well as being more on the dominant side in the bedroom, both of which are also very appealing. At the same time, he has a touch of geekiness in his love for comic books and superheroes, which I loved and which I think helped him to be more accepting of the extraordinary things that started happening in his life.

Because Her Guardian Angel is part of both the Demonica world and the Masters & Mercenaries world, it has a slightly different flavor than the previous Demonica books. We get plenty of the angels and demons readers have come to expect from this series, but at the same time, it mostly takes place in the "real world" as opposed to Sheoul-gra or the hidden fantasy world it usually occupies on Earth. While I've never read any of the Masters & Mercenaries books, I could tell that there were several characters who crossed over from that series, as well as some of the main characters from the other books that are part of this crossover sub-series. There were a couple of times, I wished I'd had a little more knowledge of those characters and their stories going into reading this, but at the same time, it wasn't hard to follow either. On the Demonica side of things, there are appearances from Azagoth and Lilliana (Azagoth) who are still working out their issues as more of Azagoth's offspring come to live in Sheoul-gra, and Suzanne's full brother, Hawkyn, and his mate, Aurora (Hawkyn). Wraith (Passion Unleashed) has a brief but fun cameo. We also get more of Unfallen angel and computer geek Cipher (Cipher) whose part in this story ends on a cliffhanger leading into his book, which is the next in the series, and we learn a little more about the mysterious Jim Bob.

Overall, I really enjoyed Her Guardian Angel. I think Suzanne and Declan made a great couple, and their story had everything I've come to expect from the Demonica series: action, adventure, steam, and of course, romance. As with all the books in the Underworld part of the series, it's on the shorter side. Although one of the longer ones, it still clocks in at short novel/long novella length. As such, the story isn't quite as developed as the longer books. Things happen rather quickly, both in the romance department and in the way that certain plot points get resolved. It certainly wasn't a deal-breaker for me, though. I could feel the emotional connection between Suzanne and Declan and I like how things wrapped up for them. I'm also intrigued by where things seem to be heading for the series. The crossover with Masters & Mercenaries made it interesting as well, and has piqued my interest enough to possibly give that series a try, too. So all in all, Her Guardian Angel was a very fun, steamy and romantic read.

Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, including a scene involving light bondage and a bit of spanking, that could be objectionable to sensitive readers.

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Larissa Ione

Themes

Bodyguard Heroes
Men in Uniform - Military
Tortured Heroes