Rating: 4
Steam: 3
PoV: dual, 1st person
Series: Hopeless Blessed #3
Genre: paranormal romance, MM
Tropes / tags: fated mates, found family, suspense
Hell would freeze over before I gave Jeremiah a chance. Never again would I chase after someone who was running from me. Never again would I debase myself to win someone over. Never again would I open my heart to someone who didn’t deserve it. Jeremiah had made his choice. I was dead to him, so he was dead to me.
I pretty much devoured Noah and Jeremiah’s story in one go, I love some good grovelling and Noah certainly made Jeremiah work for it!
I really enjoyed Lark Taylor’s take on slow burn / grovelling and fated mates! Jeremiah was not ready to meet his fated mate and the first meeting between him and Noah didn’t go well at all. While it didn’t take long for Jeremiah to realise that he’d messed up, the hurt he’d caused Noah was very real, and it wasn’t something Noah was going to easily forgive.
Their actions and reasonings made sense considering that they both had some hefty baggage, and their pasts tugged hard on my heartstrings. Noah especially was the kind of character that I was instantly drawn to once he appeared in the series, and I’d been looking forward to learning more about him. I liked that he stood up for himself, not willing to enter a relationship with someone who wasn’t entirely committed to him.
The story turned sweet and swoony after the initial situation, and Noah and Jeremiah had me smiling through their dates and text messages. Jeremiah was determined to show Noah that he could commit and be a great mate to him, and their feelings slowly grew as they got to know each other. It was so easy to become engrossed in their story, and the romance and emotions had me completely captured.
Guarded was a great addition to the Hopeless Blessed series, and I really enjoyed Jeremiah and Noah’s story! There was quite a bit of suspense towards the end, and I can’t wait to see more uncovered about the corruption within the angelic units. With the way Lark ended things here, Rami’s story can’t come soon enough!
“The first time I saw you was the first time I truly understood the difference between angels and demons,” I confessed quietly. “A being as beautiful and precious as you could never exist downstairs.”
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