Hero’s Haven

Haven Daly had a rough start to life, abandoned by her birth parents and raised by religious zealots who try to exorcise her “demons” because of her odd eyes, which are mismatched green and black, she is also odd in the respect that she claims to travel to other worlds in her sleep and returns with unexplained injuries and stories of people she met in those worlds. She escaped from her adoptive family who was certain she was possessed by demons to make a life for herself using her great talent as a successful artist but she continues to move around to avoid being dragged back to the judgement and abuse that was her past. Quade Kayrs is a member of the Seven, a secret group of demon/vampire hybrids who have for millennia guarded the failing worlds surrounding the prison that contains the realm’s greatest enemy, Ulric of the Cyst. When the world he has been maintaining for millennia shatters, Quade is expelled back to Earth, battered and broken, but with memories of Haven, who he had often met when she was visiting her “dream worlds.”
Haven and Quade must get him back to the other members of the Seven with the news that Ulric’s prison world will soon fail while trying to avoid her family, who is STILL trying to exorcise Haven for her own good, and the Kurjans, who want to use her and her special ability to travel through dimensions to help return Ulric to lead their people against The Realm!

This is book 11 in the Dark Protectors series and it absolutely must be read in order or you will be completely confused. This one gives us Quade Kayrs and Haven Daly. Haven has been seeing visions of a man for most of her life. And thinks she is crazy because of it. Quade has suffered for a lifetime to try to keep his people safe. He only kept his sanity because of one person-Haven. And when she pulls him out of that world, all he knows is that he must keep her safe.

I absolutely loved this installment! Quade is typical of all the Kayrs men in being completely alpha but also with a heart of gold when it comes to the people he cares about and what he believes in. Haven has been through so much, and so much of it bad. But she is this smart, loving, and strong woman and I loved everything about her! Not only is there great characters in this book but there is action and suspense along with them. The bigger story ARC is still being pushed along and this one definitely helped and left me wanting more. But I have also decided that I really need a story for Benny!! I love that crazy vampire! I loved every second of it and can’t wait for more!

Bang! Dramatic start right from the beginning. Pulled me in like right now. And it kept right on going on the Intensity Scale. The emotions of the people in the story went high on that scale as well.
I always keep an eye out for this particular author and the books in her series. And once again I was NOT disappointed.
Haven was quite the complex character, having quite the unusual childhood and background. That unusual childhood also helped get the skills that she needed now. Not supernatural ones but things like knowing how to pick a lock and how to survive on the run. Not only was that unusual but also her heritage was as well. Something that she knew almost nothing about. There is an unexpected twist waiting for the reader later on in the book about that. But there were plenty of other people that were on her scent. About the time she thought she just might have some breathing room, another threat appeared.
Quade, what a guy. He’s suddenly flung into a world that he never could have imagined. A modern world with contraptions and weapons that kind of boggle his mind. And the language in this world requires some brushing up on as well. Quade also has no idea on how to contact his family, if any of them are around to contact. That makes for some interesting times.
Haven’s drawings are prophetic genius and you can almost feel their impact as they are described in the story. Speaking of impact, the world building was pretty well done I thought.
Having read some of the other books I knew some of the other people in the story. I was also pretty sure that the Ultimate Enemy wasn’t going to be overcome yet. Many things were taken care of but the Ultimate Enemy (Ulric) has only been held at bay for now. That is a fight for another day.
I think that if this is only as far as you want to go in this series you could still enjoy this book and stop right there and be satisfied. However, if like me you could continue on and see if Ulric gets his comeuppance in the next book.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

2020 is off to a great start with one of my highly anticipated reads from a go-to author!

NOTE: While it is possible to read Hero’s Haven as a standalone, I recommend starting with Vampire’s Faith for a better reading experience

I will admit, some of the heroines in this series made me a little nutty but I absolutely love Haven! All her life she has been told she is either crazy or possessed, and she has finally come to accept crazy as her own answer. Painting is her escape and a means of coping with the visions from her dreams- particularly of one very tantalizing male. Every time life knocks her down, she finds a way to pick herself up and keep on moving forward. And oh boy does she need those skills when her dream world man somehow turns out to be real!

Earth is nothing like the realm Quade remembers but he has lived lifetimes during his time trying to keep Ulric imprisoned. Cars, the internet, and even little things like toothpaste amaze him- and his slight obsession with toothpaste had me giggling quite a few times throughout this story! One thing has not changed, and that is his sense of duty. He knows he has to see the Seven’s destiny through to the end which will likely mean his own death, so he is hesitant to accept that he may have found his mate after all these years. But it is such a tempting proposition that he is battling his own instincts.

Revelations about Haven’s origins, her abilities and her past astonish her but once again she finds a way to deal and adapt with a healthy dose of snarky banter and a lot of paint. And she absolutely knows the best way to push the buttons of one very alpha male intent on imposing his will for her own safety whether she likes it or not.

Hero’s Haven is my new favorite installment of this segment of the Dark Protectors series, hands down! I cannot wait to find out what comes next, but I see a re-read of this one in my not so distant future

ARC received via NetGalley

Hero’s Haven by Rebecca Zanetti
Dark Protectors #11

Quade has been busy keeping a bad guy in an alternate world prison for centuries and believes he is finally going to die and never come back when he is yanked out and saved by Haven. This is their story of running for the lives, fighting to stay alive, being captured more than once and suffering often. There were brutal fights, torture, exorcism attempts, a mating, catching up with The Seven and the mates of some of them, a visit with Hope and some of her friends and a rollicking good read in the end. I did find that the fights at times felt like filler and I wondered how many times a person could be kidnapped but it is a paranormal romantic suspense that forwards the overall plot of this series sand I look forward to reading the next one when it is ready.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington – Lyrical Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

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.

Wow, Wow, Wow!! I absolutely LOVE this series!! I don’t know how Rebecca Zanetti is able to write all of these characters with their own individual and unique personalities and still keep her readers engaged and begging for more!! This story is just another success and I LOVED LOVED LOVED it!!

This story is centered around Quade and Haven’s relationship and let me tell you… it starts off hot and fast and it just keeps getting better!! The dynamics between Quade and Haven are simply fantastic. I love the sweetness and … I don’t know the correct word… maybe ‘honesty’ between Quade and Haven. I found myself (again) laughing, crying, and sucked into this world. I thoroughly enjoyed Quade thinking toothpaste is ‘delicious’ and wanting to acquire more so he could eat it all the time, the nod to the movie Airplane (“Don’t call me Shirley”), and the reference to a rose ceremony. The subtle hints to ‘daily life’, that I could relate to (& I assume other readers will relate to), make this story even more enduring. I love how Quade & Haven both learned to trust and love again throughout this story. Sure, in real life there aren’t vampires, witches, Fae, shifters, etc, however the relationships that are built throughout this series is what makes it so fantastic. If you haven’t read any of the books in this series I would highly recommend you taking some time and diving in to this world… you definitely won’t regret it!! Happy Reading (I can’t wait for the next book in this series!!)

Leave it to me to request an advance reader copy of a novel that’s the eleventh title in a series and also the first novel I’ve read by this author–and, oh yes, it’s paranormal, a romance subgenre I rarely read. Yet, for all the confusion, and unfamiliarity with the many, many different worlds, human and otherwise, realms, dreamworlds, vampires, demons (male and female) fae, immortals, shape-shifters, and hybrids, somehow this novel worked for me as a standalone, although I’m sure it would have rocked my world if I had previously met the large cast of characters, and read the 10 novels that preceded this one. Nevertheless, I still found Hero’s Haven by Rebecca Zanetti to be an exciting, sexy, and suspenseful read, and it gets 4.5 stars from this newcomer to the series. What would have made this a 5-star read for me, and would have also helped considerably would have been a foreword or frontespiece containing a list of the various characters divided by the paranormal group to which they belonged.

To say that this story is complicated is putting it mildly. The heroine, Haven, was just a baby when she was left abandoned on a church doorstep without so much as a note. A pastor and his wife took her in and raised her, but because she was more than a tad strange, they were convinced she was possessed by demons and Haven was repeatedly subjected to all manner of torturous exorcisms, and didn’t fare much better in any of the foster homes in which she was placed, and finally was off on her own while still in her teens. Haven has been beset by bizarre dreams of other fantasy worlds for years, she draws and paints them, and has had some success as an artist. She’s also dreamed of a handsome and tortured man who is trapped in one of the more hellish worlds she visits in her dreams, a man she’s talked to in those dreams, and who she paints when she’s awake. That man is Quade Kayrs, who is an immortal vampire, who has been in this hellish isolation in one of the other realms for many lifetimes. He’s had visions of a beautiful young woman, whose rare visits have helped him maintain his sanity, and when he suddenly finds himself transported back into this world, naked, and in the freezing cold of an Idaho winter, Haven is the one who finds him and helps him. He’s the one who tells her that she isn’t human, but a hybrid fae-demoness, one of a kind, and his body recognizes that she is fated to be his mate for eternity–a story she isn’t quite accepting, especially since she is incredibly independent, doesn’t believe in love, and certainly isn’t ready to spend eternity with a man who isn’t really a human, one who is all alpha-male, and one who hasn’t lived in this world for millennia, since he was born more than 2500 years ago. That’s a lot to take in in a very short period of time, especially since Quade and Haven are being pursued by all manner of paranormal entities, some who want Haven, others who want Quade and his brethren dead. Quade is also hampered by his lack of technological advances in today’s world, family members born since he was last here, and who are now adults with families of their own and mates of their own. and that’s just for starters.

Prepare yourself for the sparks that ignite between Haven and Quade, and fights to the death by all manner of paranormal creatures, kidnappings, explosions, helicopter crashes, running to avoid encounters with other paranormals some of whom want Haven, others who are trying to kill Quade and his kind, dream trips to other worlds which set Haven on a mission to rescue other fae trapped in one of those worlds, the demonic Ulric, who’s also been trapped in a hellish world of his own, and who wants to enter this realm and either rule it or destroy it. There is no shortage of graphic sex or bloody violence in this novel, and as a newcomer to this series, it took me most of the novel to unravel the complicated inter-relationships and drama between these different paranormal beings and sects.

While I highly suggest reading this series in the order written, I will say that for all my confusion, this novel had engaging characters, loads of suspense, a lot of heat between Haven and Quade, even some pretty humorous banter, and it was extremely well-written by new-to-me author, Rebecca Zanetti. I’ll be backtracking to read the preceding titles in this series, even though I rarely read paranormal romantic suspense, this novel and the worlds created within it was such an exciting and suspenseful read that it left me wanting to know more about these characters and how they came to be.

As stated, I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

Haven had been pairing pictures of a strange man for years… but she doesn’t think he’s real. Yo know, since she’s crazy and everything (just ask het “family”). Gage has been dreaming of Haven for what seems like eons… but thinks there’s no way she can be real. After all, he’s responsible for holding one of the dimensions keeping their mortal enemy caged. But when his dimension fails, he’s pulled off ofc danger by none other than he’s dream girl, Haven. Neither can believe the other is real…ite that they deserve the happiness that each brings to the other.

I love Gage and Haven. They are prefect for each other. The storyline is interesting and fast-paced. Plus we get to visit with the other Realm members. My favorite part is Gage and his love of yummy mint toothpaste. LOL

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

In every series there are some pairings that stand out from the rest, and for me, Quade and Haven are one such couple in the Dark Protectors series. I’ve been looking forward to Quade’s story for a while, his situation seemed so hopeless and desperate, and he was so stoic and brave about it all. I really loved that he got to have Haven, and that she got such a wonderful soul mate too, an “archaic” man who says what he actually means. How refreshing. I loved how well Quade understood Haven and tried to protect her, though never making her out to be a weak little damsel in distress. She’s very courageous and determined and holds her own when faced with danger, getting multiple occasions to prove it too. One of the things that also touched me, and though subtle, was still addressed, was seeing Quade reunite with his brothers and the profound emotion all of them felt at that moment. The seven are such an amazing group.
We got a couple of teaching glimpses of Grace and Adare, I have very high hopes for them as well.