Guarded (Hopeless Blessed Book 3) by Lark Taylor

What happens when you finally meet the one fated to be yours and instead of rejoicing along with you, he flies as far away as he can?


From the blurb:

Your fated mate is supposed to be your other half. The one you’re destined to be with.

If that’s the case, why did mine run away from me?

Noah

I spent centuries wasting my love and attention on someone who didn’t want me. I had to leave my angelic unit to break free of his hold.

Now, with the Seraphim, I’m finally happy. My ex is in my past, and I’m looking towards my future. One where, if I’m lucky, I’ll meet my fated mate. The one who is meant to complete my soul. There won’t be any question as to whether he wants me or not. That’s what fate has led me to believe.

But that’s not what happens.

The demon who’s meant to be mine takes one look at me and flies as hard as he can in the other direction. It’s a reminder of what I’ve been through in the past.

I’m done chasing men who don’t want me.

So, when Jeremiah realises his mistake and comes grovelling, I’m not in the mood to listen. Why should I, when every time I let someone in, I get hurt?

But I’ve underestimated just how stubborn demons can be. Little by little, Jeremiah erodes the walls I guard myself with.

I just wish I knew if I could trust him with my heart.


Guarded is a thrilling angel x demon MM PNR romance. The third in the Hopeless Blessed series, each book follows a different couple. While they can be read as standalones, they are best enjoyed in order.


Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:

"𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝙼𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚑 𝚘𝚛 𝙴𝚣𝚎𝚔𝚒𝚎𝚕. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚝𝚑.

𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍.

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍."

Jeremiah sure screwed the pooch when he chose to run off on Noah at the end of the previous book, but I am happy to say he made up for it in spades. I figured there was more going on when it came to Jeremiah 's reluctance to settle down with his mate and I turned out to be right. I could even understand his hesitance after learning his truth, but the problem was so could Noah. He never wanted to be the one to hurt another, especially if that person was the man destined to be his.

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚜𝚘. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎. 𝙱𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚎."

I liked that Noah didn't give into Jeremiah right away once the demon got his head out of his rear. A doormat Noah was not. It took time for him to hear his fated out and I think the only reason he did was due to being encouraged by friends. I also do not think he expected anything positive to come of them having a discussion, so I imagine he was surprised when he learned the full truth.

"𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢, 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝."

Guarded is an apt title for this book because it described Noah to a T. And who can blame him after what he endured in the past? But Jeremiah is a stubborn demon, and he consistently put in the work to show Noah he was serious about making amends and proving his worthiness as a mate. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship progress and then blossom into what it was meant to be all along. Jeremiah's list was also the sweetest thing I've read in a while. It made me smile every time he added another entry. I love this universe that Lark has created and I am eager to see what Rami has been up to next in Enchanted.

SNik's review:

Third in series (Hopeless Blessed), can be read as a standalone but might be more fun if read in order. Paranormal. Fated mates. Slow burn. Dual POV. 

Jeremiah may have run from his fated mate, but now he’s back and willing to do anything to get the archangel Noah to forgive him. Noah isn’t interested in giving his demon mate a second chance, but understanding Jeremiah’s fears has Noah deciding to see, if given time, Jeremiah would choose him above everything else. 

Nothing in this story can happen without Noah’s forgiveness and goodness. His willingness to let Jeremiah into his life and give them a chance at love is a testament to his perseverance in overcoming being treated badly in the past. I appreciated that Jeremiah was fully committed to being with Noah, and once he came to terms with how his idea of freedom changed, he didn’t hesitate to commit to Noah and understands that Noah should determine the terms of their time getting to know each other. I really enjoyed their courtship, the steam, and their active support of each other to overcome their past hurts.

Angel's review:

••Opposites Attract •• Angel/Demon • Fated Mates • Past abus3/trauma discussed • Mental health representation (from a side character) • Found Family • Miscommunication • A notebook full of reasons why Jeremiah fell in love with Noah.


I'll be honest in the beginning of this book it took me a bit to get into this story, I think that was mainly because of how much was going on at the start, (which is not a bad thing) along with the MC's just not having all the relevant information as to why certain things happened. Again, not a negative it just took ME a bit to get into at first, however, once I did oh my gosh I couldn't get enough.

Lark is know for her angst driven plot lines and I think this might be one of her angstier books yet, Jeremiah and Noah struggled to find their footing with how they felt, and after Jeremiah flew away from Noah, Noah was angry and upset with the Demon.. (Rightfully so.) There were times where I thought Noah was going to keep Jeremiah at arm length the whole time, but thankfully after these two (finally) communicated and was honest about their pasts and put everything out on the table, that's when I could finally see a future for them.

We don't always get appearances from past characters so it's always such a lovely surprise to get to see characters we got to know and love come back. I really enjoyed getting to 'see' the characters from the earlier books make a reappearance in this book, it's such a fun way to really tie in all of the books Lark has created within this world about Angels, Demons, humans, wolves, and vampires falling in love.

Now I've talked about how great the characters are, the miscommunication trope, the happy surprise of seeing past characters, but now I want to talk about the scene that the plot was leading up to. The crescendo if you will. I have to say despite being familiar with Lark's writing I was wholeheartedly not prepared for Jeremiah to literally get kidnapped! And where he got taken to broke my heart, but THAT scene, that scene in particular where Noah was fighting to get to Jeremiah there was a certain moment where I honestly didn't know which way the story would go. Things seemed very dire for them but in true Lark fashion, she made sure they made it out alive and gave them their (literally) hard fought HEA.

That's the thing about Lark's writing, she loves creating characters we get attached to and incorporates angst and certain scenes that break our hearts in pieces... But she makes sure to pick back up those pieces and tapes them back together by giving the characters we've gotten to know their HEA's. And that's why I keep coming back to Lark's work, that and because I just genuinely enjoy her stories.

I have to add, I'm very curious about Quill. I truly hope he gets his own book at some point as I'd love to know more about him. As is, I think Rami's story is up next, and after the way this book ended I'm VERY interested in knowing what on earth happened to his mate..

Guarded is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription