While Ernie wasn't my favourite, I enjoyed this one simply for the unique world building and concept!
I also liked that the romance didn't detract from the story.

I was delighted to receive a copy of this book, part of the Immortal Dealers series by Sarah Fine, from NetGalley and the publisher to read in return for an honest review.
I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Serpent, and was pleasantly pleased to pick up the next installment of Ernie Terwilliger's adventure now that she was completely in charge of her deck. Well as in charge as Legs, the serpent of the deck, allows her to be. Ernie is learning what her deck is capable of and does find herself trying to work out how to deal with the Forger as he sends a job her way.
This book also explores what has happened to Ernie's father, a previous Dealer, and Ernie finds herself in a whole other dimension as the mystery of his disappearance unravels. Fine does a great job of world building and it is good to see many of the characters from book one being built upon in this story.
I would have like to have seen a little more of Gabe, Ernie's love interest from book one, as I really like their chemistry and the potential of their relationship. I kept looking for him to leap into the story and he wasn't there quite enough for me.
What rings true for me is that Ernie is an imperfect hero - she doesn't always get it right and she tries hard to live by her ethics. Book three will definitely be a story to look forward to as Ernie continues to evolve.

This book was just as great as the first! Ernie is transported into another realm where she starts to lose her memory, but needs to find her way back to save those she loves. We find out more about her dad and Virginia (The Chicken Dealer), which has brought so many twists and turns that it’s hard to put down. With the ending that it had, I can’t wait until the next book is released!

One of the things I love in a fantasy novel is a unique magic system, and this book really delivers - 'dealers' have a special deck of cards which perform certain actions, these can be combined (limited only by the dealer's imagination) to form a huge variety of spells.
The book was mostly enjoyable, although the pacing was a little slow at some points, and there was less opportunity for magic 'battles' - which are fun because they showcase the skill required by dealer's in the use of their decks.
The twist at the end was interesting enough that I'll probably get the next book when it comes out.
Overall, not especially gripping, but an interesting urban fantasy novel nonetheless.

The Guardian is a second installment in the Immortal Dealers series. Well, I actually enjoyed this book more than the first book, but honestly it’s still not a great read for me. In every book, I always find something missing in it. It doesn’t have that wow factor. The characters were okay-ish but it does have an interesting story-line with a unique concept and that’s why I’m still sticking to this series. As a newbie dealer, Ernie’s adventurous journey continues in this sequel.

The book starts off with Ernie’s first mission as a dealer somewhere in Ukraine. Gabe is once again absent from her life. In the previous installment, while saving Gabe’s life, Ernie merges her card with Gabe’s and it creates a new card which builds a unique bond between them. Though they’ve defeated Duncan, they still have a major threat named Virginia, a dangerous power hungry dealer. She wants to become the next forger by defeating the current forger Andy, but first she needs the forger marks which was safely hidden in Gabe’s care. While fighting Virginia, Ernie gets pushed into another dimension. To find a way back to her home, Ernie needs to search for her father who’s been missing from their life for twenty years.

Ernie is not my favorite protagonist but she’s pretty likable. After the events in the first book, She’s finally getting used to being a dealer and her bond with her diamondback deck grows strong. She still likes Gabe even though he’s reluctant to return her feelings. Gabe is still being a broody guy and wants to deny his attraction to Ernie. The romance in this book is very light because it’s not the central focus in this series. If you’re looking for an urban fantasy read with strong romance then you might be disappointed with this one. As for the supporting characters, I didn’t care much about them, but I really liked the new guy Kot.

The plot was interesting filled with magic and adventure but the pacing seemed slow in most parts. I’ve skipped some pages because I was getting bored. It took a long time before things started to get interesting. I’ve enjoyed Ernie’s adventure with Kot in another dimension. It’s too bad that he wasn’t the love interest. I liked the action and adventure. There were some surprising twists especially the last one. Though this book answered some questions, it left us with even more questions. The writing style was good. As usual, this book was written in third person POV. The magical concept in this was very creative but it was very hard to grasp. It took some time for me to understand how everything worked.

Overall, it was a good read but nothing exciting! The book was finally concluded with an interesting twist and I might check out the next book when it comes out.

I started this series before but did not finish the first book. This book in the series intrigued me and I am pleased that I stayed with it. There is magic, dueling and romance. This book has a female main character and good pacing. It hooked me enough that I might give the rest of the series another try.

3.5★ rounded up

I received an eARC of this book via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of this review.

When I received an early copy of The Guardian by Sarah Fine, I couldn’t wait to start it. In fact, I stopped reading what I was on so that I could immediately start this one. And y’all it did NOT disappoint! Picking up a few months after the events of The Serpent, we find Ernie trying to right a wrong before being swept away by another immortal dealer for a not so fun adventure.

I should note that if you have NOT read "The Serpent", there may be minor spoilers to that story in this review. Read at your own risk.

Ernie’s Immortal and Lonely
Ernie is exactly how I remember her. She’s a fighter, has a strong moral code, and is still searching for her father. While she thought he’d left her as a child, she’s now learned that he was forced to and also became an immortal dealer in the process. Now that Ernie has inadvertently followed in his footsteps, she’s determined to find him. It beats the alternative….missing Gabe.

So one of things I found myself struggling with in this installment is that none of the characters I was excited to explore and see more of were present, particularly Gabe…you know the love interest. This made for a long read if you were expecting more romance, which I kind of was. However (without spoiling anything) the relationship between Gabe and Ernie becomes more relatable and realistic as the book progresses.

A Splinter Dimension
Yep, Fine went there. In this installment, Ernie learns that Earth is not the only place when she gets thrown into another dimension after an encounter with the Chicken dealer. It was an interesting twist, kind of like a pocket dimension with a Frankenstein-ish atmosphere. A majority of the book takes place here and a lot of backstory about the dealers is revealed when Ernie finds something she has desperately been looking for.

Final Thoughts
Overall, while I enjoyed The Guardian, I didn’t love it like I did The Serpent. Too much was missing until the very end. But that ending….it was explosive (no pun intended). I’ll definitely be watching for the next one and hope that Fine builds on what she introduced in the first two installments. If you enjoy urban fantasy with a taste (and I do mean just a little taste) of romance, I highly recommend it.

Ernie is back in this second book of the series. She is thrown into another dimension by an enemy where she makes some very interesting discoveries after having a little bit of time adjusting to her new deck and being a Dealer. Yes, I am being a little vague as I don’t want to spoil this book; the book has many things happen in here I don’t want to give away. I enjoyed this book a little more than the first one and I did get to be more comfortable with the universe and the different type of paranormal (which I find wonderful). However, I still don’t feel too much of the connection between Ernie and Gabe. I just want to yell at him sometimes for his attitude, and I can find him a little bit of a wet blanket. However, I really did enjoy this and was stunned at the end as I don’t know what is going to happen to the Dealers now. I will definitely be picking up the next one. Highly recommend! I was provided the e-book which I voluntarily reviewed.

The Guardian is the second installment in author Sara Fine's Immortal Dealers series. The story continues the adventures of Ernestine "Ernie" Terwilliger who has become one of the Immortal Dealers after the events of the first installment. She has been given her first solo mission by Andy, the Forger, which takes her to the chaos ridden area of Russia and Ukraine. In all reality, Ernie has only had her full deck of cards for amount 8 weeks now and she is getting used to the power behind them and what she is able to do with her cards.

Ernie, by the way, is the Diamondback dealer having won that honor in the first installment. Ernie has some other issues as well. The first is the desire to find out what happened to her father who disappeared 20 years ago thanks to Virginia. The second is to find out why Gabe has been incognito for almost 2 months. The third is to prepare for anything when it comes to another Virginia aka the Chicken Dealer who betrayed Ernie and her friends in the previous story, and is pretty much the most dangerous character in this series.

Ernie's confrontation with Virginia ends up with her being sent to an alternative pocket dimension. The story takes some interesting turns in this world which I won't spoil. I will say that there is a giant Grasshopper and a rogue dealer and some moments where you have to wonder if Ernie is going to be stuck in this dimension just like her father apparently was thanks to Virginia. One could say that both the rogue dealer, and the key secrets she learns leads to an action packed second half of the story.

Other than Virginia, the other main villain of this story is Andy, the Forger, who loves to use his Immortal Dealers to stir up chaos. Ernie's connection to Legs, the Diamondback snake, has grown into an interesting relationship where the snake is very protective of Ernie. One of the main reasons I like this series is that Ernie isn't all over the place with where she stands. She's really not all in when it comes to creating chaos. She rather stop the chaos and those who are responsible for it.

My one major disappointment with this story is th angst and ongoing conflict between Ernie and Gave, another Immortal Dealer called Kestrel. They don't spend all that much time together in the beginning, but they end up together more so in the second half, and the final gut wrenching chapters. There is a pretty big shake up that happens in this story which leads to my curiosity as to what the author will come up next, and how it will further affect Ernie and Gabe's future together.

An enjoyable follow on from the first book in the series, this book progresses the macro plot in an interesting way, though I didn't find the micro plot as interesting for this particular book. I also think the mechanics of the world insofar as there are so many cards that can be played doesn't always fully work. That being said, I'm planning on continuing the series and I appreciate the uniqueness of the premise

Well this took an awkward turn.

So, nothing I enjoyed about book one was present in this second instalment. The heroine was even less appealing than she was in THE SERPENT (like, downright annoying, frustrating, and totally whiney, though, hey a lot less reminiscing about her Spartan days), we spend half the book in a whole new area of this <I>Immortal Dealers</I> world (sorta), and the only mildly interesting part of this entire book was the ending.

All the characters I was excited to see more of and explore the strange and complex and conflict-y dynamic, well.. none of them really stepped up in THE GUARDIAN. It was all just drama and frustration. And lets not even talk about the romance. Throw in some boredom (seriously, every chapter was rewarded with like twenty minutes of phone time, which meant this took a while to get through..) and I'm just all around disappointed.

If this is a trilogy, I will probably snag the final book but if this is to be an expanded series, I won't bother. I'm super sad because I have read a lot of great things from Fine, though granted a few have left me wanting, but the switch from book one to two in this series was so drastic that I'm just at a loss right now.

This one star is probably a bit harsh but I really can't find it in me to round up.

I am really enjoying this series. I think the magic system is really interesting, essentially using a special desk of cards with actions that can be combined to form spells by the "dealer". There weren't as many opportunities for magic battles in this one, because our heroine is trapped in an alternate world - and I was a bit disappointed with the results of her reunion with someone else trapped there. But the ending! It really opens things up for some interesting possibilities in the next book.

Loved reading the engaging, paranormal second book in the series. When Ernie is thrown into another dimension, she tries to find her father, her cards are unreliable, she starts to forget things, can't tell who is friend or foe, and is running for her life. Read the highly recommended and wonderfully written fantasy book full of action and intrigue.

This book is a very good book. I did not read the first book of the series so I was a little lost at the beginning. I pushed through that and then it was very intriguing. I am sure some of the background from the first book would have answered some of the questions I had that distracted me throughout but even with that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I will try to read the rest of the series, but it is not at the top of my list. The book has some very deep characters who continued to develop throughout while the main "couple" get frustrating quickly. I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys fantasy books.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series The Serpent with its never give up heroine and quite unique take on the paranormal. The idea of ‘Dealers’ connected to a deck of cards that is personified by a creature of some kind really caught my imagination and as there’s an arc going through about chaos and how it’s manipulated by these immortals I was extremely keen to see how things would progress.
Ernie is our heroine and everything that’s happened to her is because her missing father was a Dealer. Ernie is obviously on the hunt to find him but she’s unfortunately made a very powerful enemy and this story takes her far away from everyone she knows to a dimension where her memories quickly fade. Ernie might be new to the life of a Dealer but she’s already bonded with her deck and Legs the snake who fiercely guards it but in this dangerous world not even Legs can help her and time for Ernie and those she cares about is quickly running out.
Yes I still enjoy this world the author has created but unfortunately there’s a couple of things in this story that prevented me giving it a higher rating. The continuation of a romance between Ernie and fellow Dealer Gabe just felt really off and at times I saw him more as an enemy in disguise than someone who actually cared about Ernie. The other thing that I really struggled with was Ernie's father, no spoilers but what we learn about him just made him seem pretty unlikeable and I’d wanted a character with substance who could feel like a worthy parent to Ernie. Now all that being said this was a cracking story with so much imagination put into the action between the Dealers. As this book ends there’s a huge shake up in the hierarchy of the Dealers that will obviously have repercussions making the next book a must read for me.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

Meh

This series isn't bad, but it is aimed at a younger audience and I find them dull, in part because only a few of the characters are developed very far. At least here we retire two of these one-dimensional beings and give a couple more people new powers, hinting that the next book might go off in some new directions. I'm not sure I'll read it though.

I would give this book 3 stars because it can sometimes be hard to follow if you don't read the first book. It was also a little boring in some parts. The ending was really interesting and I found myself excited to find out what was happening. I would read the next book in the series because I'm curious of the fate of some of the characters. I didn't like the main character, Ernie, I couldn't connect to her at all.

I also found the entire premise of "card dealers" very strange. Maybe I'm just missing some important information because I didn't read the first book but immortal card dealers who travel the world seems very strange.

Thanks for the early review copy!

I recommend this novel to fans of science fiction novels. It was well-written and interesting novel.

I enjoyed the first book of this series, The Serpent, back in July, so I was happy and grateful that I was approved for the ARC of this sequel.

We are back with Ernestine “Ernie” Terwilliger as she is trying to find what's happened with her father and figuring out her relationship with another Dealer, Gabe. Her attempt brings her to another dimension when another power-hungry Dealer hurtles her there. Ernie needs to find her way out of the dimension before losing her memories and being victim of dangerous grasshopper monster.

I don't know how to review this without spoiling the story -- basically because my reaction to this book RELATES closely to a number of plot twists. So forgive me, in advance, if I mistakenly spoil something.

There are several a couple of updates with this universe that makes my jaw dropped. First of all, we finally find out about what happened with Redmond Terwilliger, Ernie's father. I was quite satisfied with that plot.

Another one is what happened with Virginia, the Chicken Dealer, who betrayed the team in the last book, and Andy the Forger, who is hungry for chaos and has made life hell for the Dealers. I seriously wonder what will happen in the next books because of this -- what will the repercussions be for ALL of the Dealers. It's exciting and concerning at the same time.

In terms of Ernie's romantic interest with Gabe, I'm still unsure about how I feel about it. Gabe is 'missing' in most of this book because Ernie is thrown into another dimension. And I believe they still need a LOT to talk about their feeling and how they will take the relationship forward. So, I guess we shall see how Ms. Fine deals with it in the next books.

All in all, it's a great sequel. Hope to see book #3 somewhere in not-too-distant future

A very good sequel to "The serpent": if you have liked the first book of the series you'll probably like this one as much.
I appreciated some nice inventivity for the middle part, with a strong atmosphere and an interesting point of view.
I also like that the author doesn't drag for books and books some situations and managed to close some of them.
The relation between Ernie and Gabe evolves in a credible and nuanced way, I liked the new characters, especially one who's not quite what we would have believe at first (nebulous l know, but no spoils!)
To be continued :)