Review: Resurrection(Guardians of Vesturon #2) by A.M. Hargrove

I was fortuitous enough to receive a free copy of Resurrection from the author, A.M. Hargrove.

Warning : If you haven't read Survival(which is book #1), then I highly recommend you to not go any further. You wouldn't want to spoil the fun for yourself!


Rayn Yarrister, first-born son and Leader of The Guardians, has been imprisoned on Vesturon for breaking their most sacred of covenants. He is suddenly jolted by Maddie's telepathic pleas for help, as her life hangs in the balance. Can he alert The Guardians in time to save his soulmate? Or will he face his trial alone and broken without his one true love? In Resurrection(Book 2), The Guardians of Vesturon are facing their biggest challenges as Earth is threatened by an invading species from a distant planet intent on destroying it for its resources. The Guardians, as protectors of the universe, have been assembled to defend not only Earth, but other vulnerable worlds as well. The Yarrister family is threatened by an unknown entity intent on discrediting them. Will they uncover this plot in time to save themselves from ruin? Will The Guardians succeed in stopping the Xanthians, or will Earth be invaded and ravaged by this marauding species?


Review
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Resurrection picks up where Survival left off, with Maddie fighting for her life. Separated into different parts, we are given many perspective's(from Rayn, Maddie, the Yarrister's and even some new characters) that it helps the story become dimensional, rounding it out and ultimately letting the reader connect to each character. The questions that were left unanswered and the suspicions that everything wasn't quite as it appeared, get answered and brought out into the light as we learn new facts.

The characters are further developed as the perspectives interchange within the story. Rayn is the same protective, unconditionally loving man that readers first melted for. Maddie is the same accident prone, sometimes beyond innocent, indecisive girl, but she starts to transform as the story progresses. She makes the decision to change, ultimately finding herself and becoming a confident, independent woman. She undergoes many hardships, but Maddie's new way may be more agreeable to some readers. The change in Maddie is welcomed, turning the story from slightly great to fabulous, but unfortunately Rayn and Maddie's relationship hits some turbulence, leaving the reader in a gut-wrenched state.

The plot line has many twists, leaving the reader to grip the pages as they are left with events that are extremely unexpected. There is never a dull moment as we learn new qualities about all of the characters and watch the story unfold from our viewpoint. The time line of the story allows for everything to flow naturally, not rushed or forced. It adds major points to the overall feel of the book. The sub-plots merge nicely with the entire story, giving it meat. Resurrection is packing way more emotion than Survival, making the feelings it provokes palpable. The reader will be drawn even more into the story, not wanting to let go until the end, maybe even beyond that. A.M. Hargrove knows how to successfully draw in her readers and leave them satisfied, once again!  


Resurrection is available from Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Review of Survival by A.M. Hargrove

                                                                                                                                                     Survival(Book 1 of The Guardians of Vesturon) by A.M. Hargrove

While on a backpacking trip in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park, nineteen-year-old Maddie Pearce finds that her world has been thrown into a vortex and is madly spinning towards the impossible. Abducted by a mad psychopath, Maddie narrowly escapes with her life. But that is only the beginning. Her mysterious rescuer introduces her to a world that Maddie has difficulty accepting as reality. Will this strikingly gorgeous stranger be the key to her future or will she return to her mundane world, scarred from her experience? Follow Maddie as she is forced to make difficult decisions that carry her to mysterious places.

Review
31/2 Stars!
Survival is adequately titled, for it is a story about a girl, Maddie, that has an almost uncanny strength(mentally and physically) to survive an onslaught of events. An intriguing and new view about beings from another world, the Guardians. It was refreshing, fun and even thrilling at times. Survival is written in four parts(or Books), the first is where we get introduced to Maddie Pearce as she begins a new adventure at collage. Maddie is honest, cunning, perceptively smart, fierce at times and very determined. Although she is written as a nineteen year old, she comes across younger and inexperienced in some aspects of life. Some readers may find this endearing where others might be slightly frustrated. We also get a look at the psychopath, Darryl, that forever alters Maddie's life. Where Maddie's part is full of emotion, Darryl's is lacking. Not only is it a character change, but the perspective changes from first-person to third-person allowing the reader to get a feel for this crazy, unstable person and what drives him. In Book 2, we get to delve into Rayn's psych, where we get some history about Vesturon and the Guardians. We also get to start with Rayn as he meets Maddie, a positive choice from the author, which gives us more insight into his character and his struggles than if his part started where Maddie's left off. Rayn is honorable, strong, extremely smart and such forth. He is one of the perfect 'heros' that us girls like to read about. Rayn's perspective gives Survival a well-rounded feel and I think the story would be lacking without his thoughts. Although, this is a romantic tale about survival(from many things), I think the readers will feel that this seemed to be more of a back story, setting up plot for the second installment, Resurrection. A good back story, but still a back story. There wasn't a solid sub-plot of evil to overcome until there was only a quarter of the book left. And there was no ending to that sub-plot because it was just beginning, to be continued in the next book. Some may argue that Darryl and his evil ways were a sub-plot, but he disappears until he is needed and ends up leaving the readers with a huge cliff-hanger. There were also things that were mentioned that were just that, mentioned. They were never looked into or explained or brought into the story, but they leave you asking questions like "is that an important detail to keep track of?". A.M. Hargrove does a successful job of drawing her readers in and keeping them interested. I'm almost positive my questions will be answered in the next book! I can only imagine the dilemmas that will be present in Resurrection. Lucky for us, Resurrection is currently out and available for us to snatch up!

Survival is available at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble.


Happy Reading!
Julie