I originally got this book to read Scorpius Rising by Rebecca Zanetti but ended up enjoying all four books. They are action packed, fast paced stories that your sure to enjoy.

Phantom Embrace is book 5.5 in Dianne Duvall’s exciting Immortal Guardian series. It tells the story of the Immortal Guardian Yuri Sokolov. Yuri appeared in the prior books, but he didn’t play a central role. Despite this, I hoped he would get his happily ever after. At the end of Night Unbound, I lost hope of that happening, but Phantom Embrace restored it.

The events occurring in Phantom Embrace also occurred in Night Unbound, with one exception: the romance developing between Yuri and Cat. Now Yuri and Cat were an unusual couple. Cat was a ghost residing in David’s House. David is Seth’s second in command. Yuri is one of two immortal guardians who possesses the ability to see ghosts. Yuri, doesn’t make it a habit to converse with the spirits as there is always a downside, but for some inexplicable reas0n he is drawn to Cat and soon they are spending lots of time together.

Armed with the information from Night Unbound, the bittersweet ending of Phantom Embrace offered no surprises. There could be no other outcome, seeing that their happily ever after was the objective. Yuri and Cat’s love story is one of hope. Yuri yearned to find that special someone after spending centuries alone. Cat became that person for him. Cat’s past was tragic and since her death, her spirit found no peace, but all that changed when she came in contact with Yuri. They both provided each other with the companionship and comfort they desired.

Despite the circumstances of their unlikely situation, the feelings they shared felt genuine. Their story encompassed the perfect blend of emotion, tenderness and passion, and it made up for my disappointment from the previous book.

I am used to Kirsten Potter narrating the series, so I was a bit disappointed to learn that a different narrator narrated Phantom Embrace. This is my first time listening to Arika Rapson. She did a fairly good job of giving life to the characters and the scenes. She created different voices for each of the character making it easy to distinguish between male and female and being able to determine which character is speaking at any given time. Her accents, however, were a bit off and could have used some refining.

Phantom Embrace, with its bittersweet ending, delivered a beautiful story of hope and love.

A fast fun read filled with stories you would expect from popular writers. Some were better than others, but they were all entertaining.

3.5 Wine Glass #Review of Phantom Embrace by Dianne Duvall
Crystal's Thoughts:
With a story time-line parallel to Night Unbound in the Immortal Guardians series, Phantom Shadows explores the insurmountable love between the living and the dead.

Yuri Sokolov can see the dead, but he learned early on to never interact with them. Until he sees the deceased sister of a fellow Immortal Guardian. She wonders the halls of David's home and the streets of North Carolina. She enchants Yuri with her endless curiosity, and mystifies him with her melancholy. Cat Seddon fills her endless, lonely days living on the peripheral of the living. Watching over her brother and glimpsing into the comradery of his new family. All that changes though when the handsome Immortal, Yuri, decides to speak to her...

You may be wondering how exactly this story could play out, even as a long-time Immortal Guardians fan I did, but I'll tell you how - beautifully! Phantom Embrace is a bittersweet tale of an impossible love. After all, how could two people form any kind of romantic relationship when they can't even touch one another? Dianne Duvall tackles this insurmountable challenge with flair and precision though, while guiding reader's through a speculum of Night Unbound, and engaging us further into the courage and heart of Yuri. Elocutionist of the series already know that Yuri ultimately meets a mournful end, but that end suddenly has meaning in this novella. Though I cannot say that this story was a favorite of mine from the series as I never quite connected with Yuri as well as I did with some of the other Immortals, I am happy that it was told.

Phantom Shadows is a tale of passion, romance, suspense, and heart-ache. One that alternately had me smiling to myself and gripping the pages. And one that I recommend to any fan of the Immortal Guardians series to try.

NOTE: I read this novella as part of the On the Hunt anthology.

I could not finish this no matter how many times I tried. I won't post a review on a book I couldn't finish.

On the Hunt boring, and confusing. Too much going on for me to enjoy. I love Rebecca Zannetti but this story wasn't as good as what I normally read

Didn't read, didn't realize it was in the middle of a series

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

This book included two of my favorite paranormal authors (Ivy and Zanetti) but to be honest I have never read the other two. I feel like I didn’t enjoy the other two stories because I hadn’t read the beginning of the series. Yes they can be read alone but it seems to have left me a little lost.

Now regarding Ivy and Zanetti. How can you not enjoy their works? They are the queens of paranormal and nothing they write can be bad. This is half stories from the series so I suggest reading the series before reading these but at the same time if you want to start up the series this might be a good start.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.