Review--E-ARC The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess by Leanna Renee Hieber

The Goddess: In the beginning, there were lovers: a winged deity of power and light, and a queen of grace and beauty. Phoenix was murdered, his beloved stolen away to the Whisper-world. But their passion inspired the Muses. Through great sacrifice, it could live again. 

The Guard: There are always six, mortal hosts for the divine. Battling spirits through the ages, they defy Darkness, Lord of the Dead. In 1867, a shadow rises. The tide turns against them, and all hope falls on a child of prophecy, an eerie, snow-white girl yet to be born. But her path must be cleared. A Great War is coming, and song, wind and stars whisper that the eighteen-year-old Beatrice Smith must give everything to prepare. 

I received this e-ARC via NetGalley for review

Leanna Renee Hieber's The Perilous Prophecy of Guard and Goddess was a nice prequel to the series. It lets us get an inside glimpse to pretty much all the characters we've met in the past two books and see how everything came to be in the beginning. What led our heroes and heroines to their destinies. It was quite nice.

It took me longer than I thought to read this book, but it wasn't due to the writing or pacing or anything like that. It was a rather nice read. I liked how Hieber is able to jump from different p.o.v.'s in this series without it ever being terribly confusing. Sure it takes a moment to adjust from one character to another, but the transitions are still nice and smooth.

In this novel we learn about Beatrice and other beginnings. We learn about the first The Guard, for it wasn't always Alexi and his companions, it was a good story. What more can I say?

I liked seeing the beginnings in this novel, we see bits of the characters who weren't always front and center in the last two books and again, we learn a bit about them and some of the beginnings. Like the cafe that Josie comes to own. 

Overall it was just a nice read. I like prequels as much as sequels. I like knowing the history and background to an already loved story. There was even a "sequel epilogue" you could say, at the end that is the true ending to the series--as far as I know! And it wrapped things up nicely.

Overall rating 4/5 stars

This title releases May 2, 2011