Deliver Me From Darkness: Paladin Warriors, #1 by Tes Hilaire

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Published: 2/07/2012

Buy links: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

Rating: Entrée









Once a warrior of the divine light, a Paladin descended from the ranks of angels, Roland was now a soulless creature of the night fighting a daily battle with his animalistic hungers. When his only remaining friend from his days as a Paladin drops a unconscious and filthy woman in his pristine bed he is stunned to discover that she is his one true mate. But the discovery comes too late, he has no soul to share with her and all he can offer her is protection and a heart in pieces.



Karissa woke in a strange place and the memory she had was of being chased by creatures from a nightmare. Fleeing to the man her grandfather had said would protect her seemed to have not turned out as well as she’d hoped. He has left her in the bed and at the mercy of a vampire, the same as the creatures who murdered her beloved Papa. But Karissa has a trick or two up her sleeves, she may not have fangs or super human strength but she’s nobody’s midnight snack.
 
I knew from the first page that I had picked a winner with this book. It starts off with Roland obsessing about the cleanliness of his home being ruined by the dirty human female he is being forced to harbor. A hero who's a neat freak, I love it.  My absolute favorite surprise from this book though, is the fact that the women are great. Strong, fierce and independent with smart, snarky attitudes and mouths with absolutely no quit anywhere in there bodies. Karissa the heroine has the attitude that even if I can't kill you, I can destroy your stuff....just love that. And there is a secondary female Gabby, who is a vampire who refuses to drink blood. She is a straight up star. 

This book is about a turning point for the Paladins and their war against the darkness. If they stick to their old beliefs that all vampires are soulless evil creatures, they are going to lose the strongest weapon at their disposal. Roland has bought into their beliefs and sees himself as a monster unfit and unworthy of love or salvation, truly a tragic hero.... my favorite kind. Deliver Me From Darkness would be an outstanding book for the wonderful characters alone, but they merely are vehicles used to enact this multilayered and compelling story (The last thirty pages of which will have you biting your nails to the quick). Let me tell you, I found it hard to believe that this was Tes Hilaire's debut novel, she had her system down pat. Sometimes there's too much romance or too little and sometimes the flowery euphemisms make me want to wretch, but every element in this book was spot on. It was just graphic and sexy enough to add to the story and not detract from the fact that the vampires, demons and merkers are about to take over the world.   I loved everything about this book and want to see a LOT more from Ms. Hilaire.