HERO’S HAVEN (Dark Protectors #11) by Rebecca Zanetti- a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 21, 2020

He’s her darkest fantasy. . .

After years of struggling, Haven Daly has finally accepted that she’s nuttier than a fruitcake. Why else would she see visions of a beautiful but tormented male every night . . . and actually believe she can talk to him, even feel his touch? But thanks to those dream journeys, she can paint images nobody else on earth can duplicate. In each brush stroke, she captures the blatant masculinity and raw desire in his eyes that promise he’s coming for her…and soon.

She’s the light that keeps him going. . .

Quade Kayrs has already suffered a lifetime of pain and torture. Completely isolated, he kept his sanity thanks to one beautiful female, a vision with kind emerald eyes. In the end, her soft voice led him out of hell. Now, naked and alone, he’s in a strange world that bears little resemblance to the one he left behind. All he knows is Haven. All he wants is Haven. His final mission? To protect her from the evil hunting them both—whether she likes it or not .

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REVIEW: HERO’S HAVEN is the eleventh instalment in Rebecca Zanetti’s adult DARK PROTECTORS paranormal/ fantasy romance series. This is vampire-demon hybrid, and one of the Seven Quade Kayrs, and artist Haven Daly’s story line. HERO’S HAVEN can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading the series in order for back story and cohesion , especially this particular arc of the series focusing on the group known as the Seven.

SOME BACKGROUND: A thousand years earlier, a number of immortal warriors went through a ritual that, if they survived, hardened their bodies against attack, a ritual meant to create a group of Seven known as The Shield. The Shield was created to protect the world from an evil race of vampires known as the Kurjans, their sect group known as the Cysts, and ultimately a rogue warrior once considered a friend- Ulric-a male of immense power. To protect the human race, Ulric was captured, and along with two of the Seven, was encapsulated in one of three spheres for all eternity. As the warriors search for the ‘Keys’ to perform the ritual, the ‘Lock’ must be protected in order to take down the evil that is hoping to take over the world.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Quade and Haven) HERO’S HAVEN focuses on Haven Daly, and her ability to journey to other worlds in her sleep but one world in particular finds Haven rescuing a man she has come to know through her fantasies and paintings. With Quade’s rescue and return to the Earth realm, the Seven have to wonder if Ulric’s return is inevitable or if there is a way to keep Ulric trapped in the world to which he was sent. As Quade navigates the unfamiliarity of the modern world, Haven’s obsession and compulsion to paint reveals the people, places and worlds of everyone involved. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Haven and Quade, and the potential fall-out as more than one person/being has targeted Haven for who she is, and what she can do.

Haven Daly has no idea about her heritage, a heritage that makes her the focus of the supernatural and humans alike. Believing she suffered with mental disabilities Haven has always struggled with a direction in life. Having been abandoned as a baby, and raised by religious zealots, Haven’s earlier years have been fraught with torture and abuse. Discovering the who and what of her DNA, Haven’s independence and need to run will be curtailed by a man who knows Haven is his intended mate. Quade Kayrs hasn’t seen his brothers in hundreds of years, and with his return to Earth, Quade discovers that all is not well in the war with the Kurjans and Cysts. Now that most, if not all, of the bubbles meant to house the Seven have ruptured or failed, the possibility of Ulric’s return finds Quade battling to protect the woman with whom he has fallen in love, or entering the dreamworlds to destroy Ulric’s life.

The relationship between Quade and Haven begins long before our couple have met. Haven’s need and compulsion to paint and dream pulls Quade into Haven’s life, and eventually back to the world and family where it all began. Haven is a strong, independent woman who has had to live on her own for a very long time, and Quade’s need to ‘protect’ and ‘control’ pushes all of Haven’s buttons. But Quade’s refusal to claim Haven as his mate finds another potential suitor desperate to claim Haven as his own. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful secondary and supporting characters including Realm King Dage Kayrs and his mate Emma; Logan and Mercy, Ronan and Faith, Benjamin Reese, Adare O’Cearbhaill and Grace, Hope Kayrs-Kylwood and her besties Libby and Paxton; Ivar Kjeidsen and Promise Williams; Dayne, leader of the Kurjan nation, and his brother Terre; as well as Haven’s mother Allison, and cougar shifter Pierce.

HERO’S HAVEN is a story of family and betrayal; vengeance and war; discovery and revelations. The premise is fast paced, engaging and intriguing; the characters are colorful and energetic; the romance is fated and seductive. The back and forth banter between Haven and Quade is humorous and fun, as Quade struggles to navigate the new world, and his addiction to mint flavored toothpaste.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Fated
Claimed
Tempted
Hunted
Consumed
Provoked
Twisted
Shadowed
Tamed
Marked
Teased
Tricked
Tangled
Talen
Vampire’s Faith
Demon’s Mercy
Vengeance
Alpha’s Promise

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti has worked as an art curator, Senate aide, lawyer, college professor, and a hearing examiner – only to culminate it all in stories about Alpha males and the women who claim them. She writes contemporary romances, dark paranormal romances, and romantic suspense novels.
Growing up amid the glorious backdrops and winter wonderlands of the Pacific Northwest has given Rebecca fantastic scenery and adventures to weave into her stories. She resides in the wild north with her husband, children, and extended family who inspire her every day—or at the very least give her plenty of characters to write about.

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