Great read, for those that don’t like cliffhangers this is. This is Grace and Lucien’s story. When a guardian is disgraced and begins tracking to find the killer of the woman he loved and his child, he finds Grace. Read their story

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you for allowing me to review

The Fallen Guardian is dark, gritty, and totally unputdownable. Gracyn James is that girl, fierce, broken, and dead set on vengeance. After losing her family in the most brutal way, she joins The Inciters, a street-level vigilante crew handing out justice to the scum of society. But Gracyn isn’t just out for justice, she’s chasing the truth about her past, especially the father who ruined everything.

Enter Lucien Ward, a fallen Guardian, now the Angel of Death, with smoldering energy and a seriously haunted past. When their paths collide, it’s explosive. Literally. Her faction is destroyed, and she's forced to work with the very guy who might be her undoing. The tension is immaculate, the chemistry is combustible, and the stakes, off the charts.

Gracyn has a mysterious power bubbling under the surface, and Lucien might be the only one who can help her survive it. Or he might be the final nail in her coffin. Either way, watching them circle each other while chaos unfolds is thrilling. This book is packed with action, tension, and twists that will leave you feral in the best way.

I'm not sure where to start with my review because it was a DNF for me. This story told to much instead of shown and I just couldn't get past the first few chapters. The main characters didn't intrigue me and I understood going into this it was a paranormal romance but it was more cringe than anything and just turned me the wrong way.

The Fallen Guardian kept me intrigued till the end. Following the FMC Gracyn as she discovers who she really is, and the power she possesses. Lucien, the MMC, is the fierce Seraph Guardian who will pull at your heartstrings and can’t help but be protective of Gracyn.
I am excited to see what’s next as the series continues! I hope that we get more of the side characters stories, and of course Lucien and Gracyn.
Overall this book was a fun fantasy read. I do wish that there had been more backstory and world-building though. The main plot was interesting and I definitely wanted to know more. Hopefully as the series continues there’s some more development of the overall world and what’s really happening.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚Rating*ੈ✩‧₊˚
3.5/5 Stars
(Rounded Up)

˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗Tropes˗ˏˋ ♡ ˎˊ˗
🪽 Insta Lust
⚔️ Hidden Identity
🪽 Forced Proximity
⚔️ Tragic Backstory
🪽 Multiple POV

𓂃🖊Notes and Highlights-

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･”’You can’t think that I stay in your good graces or that I’m a virtue from God.
He kissed her cheek. ‘Definitely not the first one.’
She narrowed her gaze. ‘I’m not a virtue either.’
He tilted his head. ‘Maybe you are.’
‘How so?’ No one ever saw her like that before, especially not her.
He shifted her on his lap. ‘Maybe you are my saving grace’”°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

💭 Thoughts-
To start, I thought this book was definitely a pretty solid book and a good read, I just had some problems with it that made it difficult to read and enjoy. First off the pet name… I literally could not and will not ever like it. It was literally “little bull” like what is that?!? Like what is it with authors nowadays just coming up with pet names by doing little ___ insert random animal like I get that in ouabh they had little fox, but that had a whole purpose and reason and everything this was just like no just no. There are so many cute little pet names a book can have, but few can even pull it off that well, and this one definitely did not pull it off. I also just wanted some more explanation and world building going on because I felt that was definitely lacking with the overall book. All in all though, a good book that could be better, but I did enjoy and would recommend.

Now Playing:

⊹ ࣪ ˖Vigilante Sh*t By Taylor Swift˖࣪ ⊹
0:01 ❍─────── 4:28
↻ ⊲ Ⅱ ⊳ ↺
Volume: ▁▂▃▄▅ 85%

(Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)

DNF at 20%. I was initially drawn in by the beautiful artwork of the cover which is stylistically reminiscent of lots of my favorite fantasy/paranormal romance books. Unfortunately I felt that there wasn't enough explanation of the world building for this setting to make much sense to me and the dialogue/insta-lust from the MMC was a bit off-putting. I sense that there is an interesting mystery that is to be revealed about the FMC but I just can't bring myself to continue the story to get to the point which is likely towards the end of the book because the story is not gripping me.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book. I didn’t make it past the first chapter. The cover is gorgeous but the writing was not.

This book was fast-paced and very enjoyable, with a good mixture of plot and spice. I especially loved the tree scene, which was so hottttt!! The two main love interests stand on opposites sides of a war and start off as enemies but things quickly change as they bond over their need for revenge and overcoming their own grief. I found it to be a unique take on angels and demons, without all the religious details/background getting in the way. It’s multi-POV and includes POV’s outside just the two main characters. Ends in a mild cliff hanger.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would recommend to others, my biggest criticism of this book is that there is not clear indication of whose POV it is before and it can sometimes a little confusing. I think headings would be especially useful to denote whose POV it is.

Book Review: The Fallen Guardian
⭐️⭐️⭐️
(Tropes: Enemies to reluctant allies, revenge arc, Angel of Death, hidden powers, morally gray love interest)

The Fallen Guardian had so many elements I usually love—vengeance, a morally gray love interest, high-stakes fantasy, and a heroine haunted by her past—but unfortunately, this one didn’t fully pull me in.

Gracyn is fierce, determined, and driven by grief and revenge, and Lucien, the fallen Angel of Death, brings that tortured, mysterious energy. Their dynamic had potential, and I really wanted to fall in love with their journey. But the pacing just felt off, and I found myself putting the book down more often than I wanted to.

The world-building was dark and intriguing, and the themes of redemption and hidden power were solid—but that emotional spark, that urgency to keep reading, just wasn’t quite there for me. It felt like something was always about to happen, but never fully did.

It wasn’t a bad read by any means—just not one that left a lasting impact. If you enjoy slow-burn fantasy with complex lore and morally gray tension, this might land better for you.

A 3-star read for me—not a favorite, but I’m glad I gave it a shot.

DNF 21% in. Oof. I'm not surprised at all that the average rating for this is below 3 stars because just the small amount I read was hard to get through. Since I didn't finish it, there's a chance the world building gets better further along, but it's nearly nonexistent in the beginning. The way Lucien keeps repeating "the female", "releasing a breath I didn't know I was holding", and randomly getting aroused by the FMC in the most random/inappropriate times gave me the ick. I really tried to stick it out but after that I was completely disinterested. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

The Fallen Guardian has a great base concept! I love a vigilate, angels and demons, and a mystery. I think the largest struggle was world building, I think a lot more detail was needed to make the story less confusing and also help immerse us into this world. I was excited for this book as I loved the Angel series by LA Weatherly and felt this could be a more adult take on Angels but it did ultimately not connect with me because I felt confused and just disconnected from the story,

I absolutely loved this book! The cover had me hooked and I’m so glad I got the chance to read this!

Thank you, NetGalley, Dawn Chartier and Xpresso book tours for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the plot, and the twists! I did however have a hard time getting sucked into this one. Something about the dialogue made it difficult for me to feel invested. I didn’t feel the tension or connection I hoped for between the FMC and MMC.

DNF@ 18%

The world doesn't make any sense to me. And the writing and inner thoughts of the characters are repetitive and cringey.

I really wanted to love this one and was excited to see a new take on a fantasy romance. However, I struggled - I wouldn't say that it had anything to do with the writing or premise. I feel like maybe this book just wasn't for me right now, but I will likely give it another try in the future.

It took me a bit to catch on to the terminology in this story and to understand the class system of Seraph, Sadara, Wings, and Inciters and to gather that they were all varieties of Angels with different abilities. Aside from the world building kind of lacking the story was well written and had me in the edge of my seat the entire time I read it. Gracyn ""Cyn" or "Grace" all the same person by the way is the FMC who at the start of the story was a lost soul trying to belong to a group of anarchists called the Inciters. Before long she would be found by MMM Lucien, a Seraph who couldn't immediately tell what Gracyn was with his special Seraph abilities so he took her back to their headquarters. The chemistry between these two was almost instantaneous despite Gracelyn initially being Lucien's captive and gawd is it HOTT. If you enjoy found family, touch her and die jealousy, exhibitionism, enemies to lovers this is definitely an amazing read. You won't be able to put it down. Warning-the cliffhanger is absolutely excruciating! I cannot wait for the second book and you won't be able to either.

The Fallen Guardian is a Romantasy following the story of Gracyn James and Lucien Ward. I really liked the idea of the book and reading the description got me looking forward to getting started but unfortunately that’s where the excitement finished.

It was really hard to get into this one, there was little to no world building and the characters were never brought to life. As others have said this just fell flat and the execution wasn’t there. I feel there the FMC was all over the place and her character came across very juvenile in her conversations. This is a 2.5 stars from me

Thank you NetGalley and Dawn Chartier for the Arc

1.5 ⭐

I think, like many other readers, we saw a lot of potential, but it fell flat for most of us. It could have used more world-building, nothing made much sense to me at the point where it felt too superficial. I know we can't expect too much from a first book of a series, but I just wish it was a little more focused on the world-building. I couldn't get invested with the characters and their relationship to be honest. The dialogues felt weird and awkward.
So yeah, I wasn't expecting much and I'm mostly disappointed.

I have to admit, I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I picked it up based on the blurb and thought, “Why not?” But it wasn’t until after I finished that I realized this wasn’t a random entry in the middle of a series—it was the first book in a brand-new series. And while that’s exciting, it also posed some challenges as I went through the story.

While the plot had great potential, I felt like the worldbuilding was lacking. We get snippets of the characters’ backstories, but a lot of important details about the world, the Seraphs, and the Inciters were left underdeveloped. As the first book in a series, I expected a bit more fleshing out of this world, and I’m hoping future books will dive deeper.

The Fallen Guardian was an enjoyable read with an intriguing premise and potential for future development. While I appreciated the story and character dynamics, I felt the worldbuilding and character depth could have been more robust. With the way the book sets up future storylines, I’m curious to see where the series goes from here.

It had potential but fell sooo flat. The concept was decent but the overall story and characters felt under developed. There was no world building. I couldn’t pinpoint the date/era until it was mentioned. The dialog consisted of one sentence conversations and felt superficial, awkward and juvenile. There was no flow. “His phone started ringing on the coffee table. He walked over and picked it up.” The FMC was going through it. I mean she was all over the place and when a new life altering event happens or new information came about it was “I can’t think about that now” and then on to the next scene. Character development was poor and there were randoms. Collin? Just randomly popping up every now and then. Drake? I didn’t have feelings about it because I didn’t know him well enough. I think we were supposed to be sad but there was just too much going on and not enough detail or time spent with each character to form attachments.
I was just all over the place and not great.