Strange crimes aren't new to Constable Dallin Brayden. But as he sits across from Wilfred Calder and hears the story of the incident he was involved in, something doesn't add up. And Wil's reaction to Dallin leaves him even more surprised.
The truth of the matter is that there's an entire history that Dallin doesn't know. At the same time, the truth that Wil has been given isn't exactly accurate. What is certain, though, is that Wil is on the run. And Dallin is more connected to him than he could ever have imagined.

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I enjoyed the world that Carole Cummings created here. There's a rich history, and the unexpected connections between Wil and Dallin makes for an interesting set up. And it gives us, as readers, some great insight into Dallin's character.

What I would have liked to see, though, is a bit more of the relationship development between these two. I'm guessing this is a set up for more in later books in the series, but there's just not that much to find in this first book.

But if you're looking for an interesting and engaging fantasy story with intrigue and rich world building, you'll find it here. ( )

Although the story is firmly grounded in the fantasy genre, complete with a little bit of magic and some glimpses of a deeper mythology, it almost reads like an old-school story of frontier justice, given new life through the elements (if not the setting) of a more contemporary police procedural. It’s a mingling of genres that could be problematic, but which actually works very well. The first time we move from a contemporary good cop/bad cop interrogation, to an old fashioned western bar brawl, to a contest of magical wills and religious prophecies, it’s jarring, but in a way that’s fresh and unique.

One of the things I loved about the book was the sense of mystery that Carole allows to pervade the story, feeding us tidbits of information through the characters, rather than overwhelming us with long-winded asides. As each new element of the fantasy genre falls into place, and is better explored, the story becomes more and more interesting.

The characters here are wonderful as well, although some readers may be put off by the lack of a traditional hero/villain dynamic. For me, that just added to the mystery. Wil and Dallin are great characters who immediately engage our emotions, but it’s not entirely clear on what side of the dynamic they’re fall. Depending on how the story develops, they’re have the depth and complexity to potentially be either hero or villain.

Very much a tortured soul, Wil is a character who not only elicits sympathy, but who also aggravates us almost as much as he does Dallin. As for Dallin, he’s partially the typical warrior-enforcer, but he’s also an outsider – for multiple reasons. The two play off each other very well, creating a tense relationship rides a fine edge, but smartly avoids devolving into the cliché of a mismatched ‘buddy’ partnership. As readers, we naturally long to see their adversarial nature turn to friendship, but I appreciated the fact that Carole avoided the standard plot device of a crisis even to suddenly resolve the situation.

It’s definitely clear that both men are gay, further fuelling our desire to see them come together, but it’s handled very tactfully. Being gay is a part of their characters, but not a driving element of the plot, and not a vehicle for titillation. Personally, I would love to see something more intimate develop between them in further instalments, but the story definitely doesn’t rely on that as a tease or a hook.

A wholly fulfilling story, with a lot of potential, I definitely can’t wait to see where Carole takes us next. ( )

Guardian is an interesting first book. I really liked it, but am only giving it 3.5 stars because this first book by itself just isn't a complete story. I'm very glad I waited to read this book until all three books were available for sale, and doubly glad I already bought the book 2. :) The series feel very promising. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the series. ( )

There were many reasons why I didn’t approach this book sooner, fantasy is not really my cup of tea, alternative reality world-building sometime it’s too long for my taste, starting a more than 300 pages book knowing this is only book 1 in a trilogy not always appeal me… and one by one the author pointed out how my reasons were wrong.

First of all the fantasy genre; sure this is a fantasy novel, the world is totally out of the imaginary of the author, names, places, wars are maybe loosely connected to a XIX European century, but that’s all; what puzzled me at the beginning is that, the first scene is about a police detective (Dallin, constable since apparently we are in an simil-like European environment) questioning a witness of a murder. How the reader is prepared to the scene, with the constable speaking with his boss, the setting, the attitude of the police department, even the crimes, it’s all resembling a today contemporary setting. Then piece by piece (Wil for example is working in the stables of an inn) we realize that outside that questioning room, there is a world that probably stopped more or less 200 years before (in modern time counting), and so the reader is “slowly” taken back to that time.

Second point the world-building: as said before, it was not confusing, or boring, since basically the reader was given the info when necessary and piece by piece, not all together trying to prove the setting was complex and original. Sometime that is the mistake of many authors, trying to dress to impress their novels. Here basically Carole Cummings takes her time, and not even at the end of the book everything is clear, probably since this is not really the end, but simply part 1 out of 3.

Last point the length of this book, not short at all, in comparison to the knowledge there are other two coming. That is something that actually was soon forget since, just the first scene, when Dallin questions Wil, takes almost 50 pages or something, and so the reader soon realizes that, following the flow, they are leading easily to the end of the book and prepared to the following book and then to the next.

I read a quite heated complaint that this book was “yet again” a M/M romance with a feminine character (Wil) being the “wife” and a masculine character (Dallin) being the “husband”, and that is not realistic since gay men don’t take “role”… sorry but that is wrong for so many reason. First of all this is not a M/M romance, there is very little romance at all, probably just a glance or two, some innuendo on sex when Dallin was trying to understand if Will was a prostitute, but a) I didn’t feel then any sexual interest in Dallin for Wil, b) Wil is not a prostitute and then sex completely disappeared from the picture. There is no sex, very little romance, and I would hardly define Wil and Dallin a “couple”, maybe something will happen in a later book, but for now, this is a Fantasy novel, Young Adult probably since there is not sex. And so even the feminine or masculine characterization is out of question, if you really want to be pedant, this is a Guardian/protégé story, as, by the way, the same title suggest.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1610401182/?tag=elimyrevandra-20