Review: Guardian’s Joy by Jacqueline Rhoades

Guardian’s Joy (goodreads.com)

By: Jacqueline Rhodes (author website)

eBook, 330 pages

Published July 11th 2012

ISBN: B008KB0826

Source: Author, for the purpose of an honest review

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Stars- 3.5

Flames- 3

Guardian’s of the Race series Book 3

Best read in order- yes

Joy Justice (JJ) has had a rough life. She doesn’t have anyone that she can count on and when she meets Bernardo ad Tormeo (Nardo) she doesn’t think she can trust him much less love him.  As she learns about Nardo and the Guardians of the Race she discovers things about herself and her past that could come between her and her future.

Nardo has watched his Liege Lord and fellow Guardian Nico find their mates and he wants nothing more than to find a woman of his own.  When he meets JJ he finds her strength and honor compelling and quickly falls for her.  As he fights through the barriers her past has erected he discovers a love that he has only imagined.

I really enjoyed the role reversal in this story. Nardo falls for JJ quickly and has to convince her to give him a chance and believe in him.  JJ has blanks in her memory and they cause her to have panic attacks and not trust what Nardo says and how he acts. He has to work extra hard to earn her love. I liked the fact that Nardo didn’t shy away from his feelings for JJ and was up front with her from the beginning that he wanted to be with her.  On the other hand, once you learn about JJ’s past and learn more about her, it’s understandable why she is resistant to the idea of being in a relationship with anyone.

Once again the secondary characters where great.  They added a lot of depth and humor to the story. I am loving the little pieces we get of the couples from the past books. I like to see how their lives have progressed. I will say that I was surprised by how much time had passed for the characters.  It is mentioned in this book that it had been two years since the Liege Lord mated and his was the first book.  It isn’t really relevant to this review but I was just surprised that so much time had passed.  But given the developments in this story with the Liege Lords funds and other events, that passage of time makes sense. I am very intrigued by the matchmaking cat as well. I have been trying to figure him out but so far…no luck.

I was very happy that this book had a different set of villains than to last two.  I am really enjoying where the story arc is going and I am very interested to see what happens in the next book with Faith and the rest of the gang.