Knocked down 2.5 more!

I managed to get two more books read and almost a third in the last 36 hours. I read the first two of the Dark Guardians Series by Rachel Hawthorne and started the third. They are young adult novels about werewolves living in a National Park near the Canadian border.

I enjoyed the first book a lot and I was eager for the second. As much as I enjoyed it, there were many plot points that aggravated me. Some of my favorite authors write there stories as if they were real life. The lovers may end up together but they may have a lot of things against them if they do. Not true in these books. The main plot of each book seems to be neatly tied up by the end except for the plot line tying all the books together. Without giving too much away, let me explain one scene that pissed me off.

(Okay this does contain some *Spoilers* so if you want to read the book, don't read ahead. If you do, I warned ya so maybe put it back on the shelf for a bit until you forget what you read here...)



The scene begins with the heroine of the novel returning with her chosen. Not the boy her wasp parents wanted for her but a blue collar mechanic's son they would never bother to even cast their eyes upon except that he's a Dark Guardian. Instead of angrily demanding she fix it, they welcome her with open arms and say their chosen boy for her explained and they were just glad that she was happy. They all hug and make cutesy small talk. Right. And each night I transform into a superhero and fly on a purple unicorn to fight evil sea turtles. I don't think so. In the real world, her parents would have been ticked and maybe even disowned her. She would have probably never spoken to them again in return. (At least for a book or two) But no, we got rainbows and happiness. Even the spurned boy isn't all that upset. He's just annoyed he wasted time on the girl. (And a tattoo unfortunately!)

Back to my overall impression of the books? I still like them. I just wish the author had thrown more obstacles in the way of "true love" to make it more interesting. Because out of all the Young Adult fiction I've read, these come the closest to being for middle grade girls than for high school/college girls. I originally picked up YA books to get away from the increasing amount of erotica sneaking it's way into my urban fantasy section at the bookstore. I wanted detailed worlds with unpredictable plot lines where yes, the guy might still get the girl, but you never knew exactly how that would pan out and you didn't have to skip two or three chapters of R-rated loving to get to the next part of the story.

So if you want a nice light read to give you a break from the emotionally heavier stuff of Kim Harrison and P.C. Cast of late, these are perfect. If you're looking for something between these and say Kim Harrison? I can't recommend Rachel Caine enough. Her Morganville Vamps are my favorite reads of the last 6 months. She'll keep you guessing all over the place!

Ta ta for now!