Demon Bound (The Guardians, Book 4)

This book just seemed to linger in my mind so I had to do a review. Besides, Jake is just so drool-worthy. Meljean Brook's Guardian series just keeps getting better and better! From the previous book I wouldn't have thought this couple would work, but boy, was I wrong. This was an excellent book and the story building including the romantic aspect of the characters was really well done. Unlike the other tortured Guardians, Jake is carefree and a rather young novice who's completed just 60 of his 100 years training when he's hauled off into fighting demons. After killing his first demon, in jubilation, he kisses the woman fighting with him, not realizing who she is, until he lets her go and much to his horror sees a spider creeping out her mouth. (it was one entertaining scene:) That his how he meets the 'Black Widow' Alice, who, he's alway thought was rather creepy in the way she interacts with spiders. (unaware that was her gift). Jake, of course is often impulsive, he cannot control his newly found gifts, and likewise, he simply cannot control anything that comes out his mouth either. This only makes things worse for him and makes Alice think him shallow. And watching how he tries to squirm out of these incidents with Alice, made for entertaining reading. But underneath his bumbling youthful eagerness, lurks a sharp and intelligent mind, with keen insight. Alice is totally Victorian in her outlook and dressing. She's had a tragic mortal life and things aren't any better in her immortal life. She persist in calling Jake 'fledgeling' to keep her distance from him but that soon changes when Michael makes him a fully fledged Guardian. Still, Jake's youthfulness and inane curiosity would not let him leave Alice alone. Thinking he's safe from her since he's not sexually attracted to her, Jake works with her searching for lost temples, since archeology is his passion. He becomes intrigued by her and makes it his duty to find out what makes her tick, and finds a very warm and frightened person behind that frigid and scary persona. And not even realizing it, he falls for her. SPOILER ALERT. Things are not easy for this mismatched couple. Alice, despite herself, is drawn to the Jake who can be rather endearing. He is the light in her otherwise dark existence. But she knows it can never be. Because 120 years ago Alice made a deal with a demon to save the life of her husband by giving him the heart of Michael. At that time Alice had no idea who Michael was, only after she dies and Michael resurrect her does she find out he is the leader of the Guardians. A group of Angel-type beings who work together to protect mankind from evil. She knows there's no hope for her, for if she or the demon dies before she fulfills her bargain, she's damned to eternal purgatory and if she does kills Michael, its murder and she will still end up eternally damned. She can't turn to anyone and is alone and afraid. But Jake refuses to let her isolate herself. So she tri

I'm a huge fan girl of Meljean Brook. My love and respect for her has grown exponentially with each published novel/novella. And while 'Demon Bound' was not my favorite romantic pairing, I'm still in total awe of her world building and characters. For starters, I would not recommend this book to anyone as an introduction to the Guardian Series. I'm afraid that if you never ventured into this world before that you may be utterly lost. First timers should either a) buy Ms. Brook's entire back list now because you should have done it a lllooonnnngggg time ago or b) check out Brook's website and visit the Guardian primer. Here Brook details everything from whose who, places of importance, glossary, timeline, and general plots of each subsequent book to 'Demon Bound'. The primer is also beneficial to readers who have visited Brook's world but need a little recap to get back into the major subplots or to freshen up on all the characters. 'Demon Bound' is the seventh novel in the Guardian Series and is as unique as every other series installment. At the beginning of the novel, Jake Hawkins, a former Vietnam Veteran and current Novice Guardian, is still trying to develop his Gift of teleportation. Suffice it to say, things in the Gift department aren't going well. As a 60 year old Guardian, Jake normally would have had another 40 years to perfect his skills before being noted as a full-fledged Guardian and called to duty. Yet due to the Ascension, whereby thousands of Guardians chose to move on to their respective places in Heaven or Hell, have left the remaining forty or so Guardians to protect mankind, thus requiring Jake's help. Currently, in order for Jake to teleport to a new destination, he first must be scared witless before his Gift will even work. This "technique" is unreliable at best. Alice Gray is a 120 year old Guardian and keeper of the archives in Caelum. Her Gift gives her the power to communicate and draw upon the heightened awareness of spiders, thus her nickname of The Black Widow. Before Alice's transformation, she unwittingly entered into a Bargain with the Demon Teqon. Either bring the heart of Michael (Doyen and leader of all Guardians) to him, or spend eternity frozen in Hell. For the last 120 years, Alice has sought endlessly for a way to get out of her Bargain and the only way she can do this is either have Teqon simply release her, which is never going to happen, or she must find him something that he wants more than Michael's heart. Alice believes that the temples and the female Guardian statue is the key. It is the shared curiosity of the discovery of lost temples combined with their passion for archeology that draw Jake and Alice together. Although Jake was initially scared and creeped out over Alice spider Gift, he begins to learn who she truly is and with this knowledge he begins to fall in love. Jake makes the brave decision of helping Alice find a way out of her Bargain and for this Michael promotes him to a full

First off, the review put together under the title "Another great addition to Brook's Guardian's..." is really excellent and does a great job summarizing the story. I can't add much to that. But I just wanted to put in my "5 star rating" too. I loved this book! I will say that unlike the reviewer I can't say Jake is my favorite over Drifter or Hugh but I will say he is right up there with them!! Jake is a wonderful lead and Alice also is simply fantastic (what an interesting character - I loved the description "sexy creepy"). What a great, great story. As other reviewers have stated, Ms. Brook creates the most interesting and fascinating characters in paranormal literature today (in any literature really). The very best. The characters become so real to the reader that you don't want to leave them after the books are finished! Kudos to Meljean Brook - especially with your last three novels, you have become one of my top five authors and your books are on my must read list!

Brook's latest entry in her Guardian series lands former soldier and novice Guardian Jake, who had a supporting role in both Demon Night (The Guardians, Book 5) and the short in First Blood, in the leading role and introduces the very odd `creepy sexy' Guardian Alice as the women who first repels and later fascinates Jake as he moves from the novice who failed his first assignment to a fulfledged Guardian not to be underestimated. Alice made the sacrifice that qualified her for Guardian-hood during the Victorian period, but not before making a deal with a demon where she promised to deliver the heart of Guardian leader Michael. So now she lives with a Catch 22. If Alice doesn't fulfill her bargain before she or the demon dies, Alice will loose her soul and will suffer an eternity of torture in Hell, but if Alice does the unspeakable and honors her deal, her soul will be equally forfeit for premeditated murder - assuming that it is even possible to kill the powerful Michael. So Alice has lived her Guardian days in fear, and that along with the fact that her weird Gift has marked her - giving her the nickname of "Black Widow"- has helped to keep other Guardians at a distance. But Jake changes everything and when Jake's boundless optimism evolves into the determination to help Alice find a way out of the deal, Alice finds a glimmer of hope that they can win her free from the deal that has her demon bound. Brook is a favorite author of mine. She tells a great story but it is really her characters that bring this tale to life. Jake and Alice are extremely well developed, from their unusual quirky personalities right on down to the distinctive speech patterns that show up in their dialog. On the surface Alice and Jake are a truly mismatched pair, but Alice's straight-laced Victorian exterior hides a sensuous woman and a wicked sense of humor and though Jake has an impulsive enthusiasm and optimism that lends him a youthfulness - and the lack of a social filter that leads truly inappropriate things to pop out of his mouth - he also hides a quick intelligence that makes him insightful and clever. Though Jake's lack of control initially rubs Alice the wrong way, and Jake initially finds Alice quite creepy, their intelligence and love of archaeology give them a common ground and they find themselves slowly developing a friendship as they both are surprised to find what lies beyond their initial perceptions of the other. Though Alice and Jake's relationship and the development of the their odd ball pairing is central to the book, it is their search for a way to save Alice that serves to facilitate revelations which add a whole other unexpected layer to the overarching plot of the series. They uncover more details about the prophesy mentioned in the last book and their discoveries about Michael, Belial and the nephalim promise great things for the rest of the series. There is a great deal to like about Demon Bound. I really loved the resol

Guardian Alice "Black Widow" Grey is upset as she is trapped in a Faustian deal with Teqon the demon. She must give to Teqon the heart of the most revered and powerful Guardian, Michael; failure to do so means eternal damnation for Alice. She knows her thoughts are dark as she considers cutting out the heart of the Doyen Michael. Alice also is well aware how difficult that would be as he has proven to be the mightiest of them over thousands of years demonstrated by the Second Battle when the Seraphim bestowed power to him and the others before their retreat. Guardian Newcomer Jake Hawkins tries to help his mentor Alice by using his teleportation skills. They begin to fall in love, but must find a way for her to escape her deal with the demon without sacrificing her or Michael. The latest Meljean Brooks Guardian romantic fantasy (see DEMON NIGHT, DEMON MOON and DEMON ANGEL) is an excellent entry in a great series due to the dilemma of the lead female. She refreshes the saga with her moral quandary of either her or Michael being condemned for eternity. The rookie Jake is a perfect junior partner trying to help his trainer while falling in love with her. This is another winner as the multifaceted Guardian saga continues to expand in complexity while remaining entertaining. Harriet Klausner