Sandy M’s review of Guardian’s Keep (Unbound, Book 2) by Lori Devoti
Contemprorary paranormal romance released by Silhoutte Nocturne on 1 Jan 08

I’m fast becoming a Lori DeVoti fan. I fell in love with her shape-shifting hellhounds in Unbound, the first book in this series, last year. Her wolves now have me captivated, and we’re left wide open at the end of this book for more in her world of the garm.

Kol is a garm – half-human/half-wolf protector of portals – and he has protected his portal for hundreds of years. We met him originally in Unbound, and now Kelly, a twin witch, is back at Kol’s bar to make him pay for the death of a friend when. Kol is protective of Kelly from the beginning, although neither of them stop to think about why. Trouble is brewing and Kol feels it, knowing he has to be constantly on guard; therefore, he doesn’t need a pretty, but nosy, witch in the middle of things.

Kelly does have a legitimate cause that brings her back to Kol’s door. Her revenge is something she can wreak on him in the process, especially when she finds out he’s allowed children to be transported through his portal. Her current client is the mother of a kidnapped eight-year-old boy, taken as a pawn to use over his father, Fenrir, the most powerful garm there is. Trying to discover the secret to opening the portal is her first priority in rescuing the child, but Kol never leaves it unguarded.

The more these two are thrown together, the more their attraction grows. The emotion in the book also grows when both Kol and Kelly will do anything to save the other. The scenes that take place on the other side of the portal are quite intense.

Kelly is a strong woman, just like her twin. She knows how to harness her power and doesn’t hesitate to use it. Kol is definitely an alpha character, but I enjoyed how he let Kelly do her thing when they had their backs against the wall. As much as he’d love to coddle her and send her home out of harm’s way, he knows she can hold her own. I like these two together and the other regular patrons of Kol’s bar are an interesting lot – it’s fun to see them a little more in this entry.

While I like this book, I enjoyed Unbound more – the more tortured the hero the more I love their story and Unbound‘s Risk was seriously tortured. But Keep is action-packed, full of tension and suspense, betrayal, love and romance, too.

So far this is a great series, and I’m really looking forward to June 2008’s Wild Hunt, the story of Risk’s son, another very tortured hero.

Grade: B+

See my review of Unbound here.

From the back cover:

Only the strongest guard the portals and gateways to other realms

Kol Hildr had spent the last century battling hellhounds and warlocks who sought to usurp his portal’s magic. A mighty shape-shifter with the ability to change into wolf form, Kol made accessing the powerful gateway nearly impossible—unless you were a witch of Kelly Shane’s talents. She had a score to settle and would do anything to close the portal that led to her unearthly prison. Though an alliance with her compromised Kol’s very purpose, something about the little witch overwhelmed his fierce, battle-worn soul. But when he learned that Kelly’s life might be in jeopardy, could Kol put aside the one thing he thought he valued most—the portal—to journey to the other side and save her?

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:
and coming in June 08, Venge’s story (Book 3), Wild Hunt