ARC Review: Wicked Road to Hell by Juliana Stone

Wicked Road to Hell 
(League of Guardians #1)
by Juliana Stone 
Mass Market Paperback, 377 pages
Expected publication: April 24th 2012 by Harpercollins
ISBN13 0062022644
ARC Courtesy of Publisher

With the legions of the underworld gathering and chaos close at hand, Sorcerer Declan O’Hara’s deadly skills will be tested. But nothing will sway him from his duty, not even her… 
Rescued from eternal darkness, vampire Ana DeLacrux owes her life to a mysterious stranger who asks for only one thing—her absolute allegiance. She serves this master without question until Declan, the one man who can make her forget her vow, returns. His magic is stronger, darker…more compelling than ever. His blood awakens a hunger she must resist, or risk deadly consequences. 
As Ana and Declan join forces, the streets of New Orleans become a dangerous place for both humans and the otherworld. And the most dangerous place of all is a road Declan’s traveled before…the wicked road to hell.

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Crystal’s Thoughts:
With a unique blend of darkness and light, Juliana Stone will ignite your curiosity with this new and wickedly exciting paranormal world!


If you’re familiar with Juliana Stone’s Jaguar Warriors series then you’ll remember the tall, dark, sexy, sarcastic and tortured sorcerer with an unrequited love, Declan O’Hara. His father, a dark sorcerer, was the main villain of the Jaguar Warriors. Declan has fought hard not to follow the same path as his father (His Darkest Hunger)  but when he is thrown into hell and tortured by the sadistic demon, Lilith, the lines between light and dark start to blur. (His Darkest Embrace) Rescued by a quirky Serarphim known only as Bill, Declan now serves him as a Seraph soldier but Declan isn’t fully dedicated to the cause until he watches the one woman he has ever loved killed by the hand of his father. (His Darkest Salvation) 


With the League of Guardians readers are introduced to these distinctive soldiers of the Serarphim and their mission to keep the fragile balance between dark and light.  Declan’s current assignment is to locate a teenage boy before demons do, extract him from his current protector and deliver him to the Serarphim. But Declan receives the surprise of his life when the boy’s protector turns out to be the same woman he watched die two years ago…
After centuries of life as a vampire, Ana DeLacrux’s ended. But she was given a second chance by Bill, who Ana serves without question until she runs into Declan O’Hara once again. Danger and desire collide when Ana and Declan are reunited once more. No matter how much Ana wants to finally give in to her passion for the tempting sorcerer though, she knows it can never be. A relationship between them is forbidden by her kind and each of them battle dark secrets, but they will go to hell and back for each other and the innocents that they protect. 


Fans of Ms. Stone’s Jaguar Warriors will not be disappointed with the continuation of Declan O’Hara’s story and the start to the League of Guardian series, and will most likely be begging for more. I know I was! I swooned for Declan the moment he landed on the pages of His Darkest Hunger, that man just did it for me and I have been eagerly anticipating his own story ever since. I have to say, I was not disappointed. I had a lot of questions about Ana and her spurning of Declan’s attentions and they were all answered here. 
Declan of course was a truly captivating hero. A strong, determined fighter who is no-doubt an alpha, Declan came to life on the pages. The tension in his relationship with Ana kept me teetering and the chemistry between them *fans self* was delectable. Ana herself was surprising to me because I didn’t think I would like her going into this book but she ended up being a fierce and caring heroine who I quickly became engaged by. 
Ms. Stone wove a gripping tale of magic and adventure with flaming love scenes and heart-rending suspense. 


The plot moved at a good pace, keeping me intrigued. I was slightly confused by the little details concerning the League, Seraphs and Seraphim at first, and by the end I still had a few questions but the world Ms. Stone has built is unique with an intriguing twist of Good vs. Evil. I enjoyed the fact that just because you are classified as evil doesn’t mean you can’t do good – and vice versa. Also, after reading the Wrong Side of Hell I was a bit saddened not to see any friendly hell hounds or hear anymore about the characters from that novella but over-all the vast array of characters and the premise of the entire series is exciting, and I can’t wait to see how the Mark of Seven plays out, will they lead the world to an apocalypse? As with every book from Juliana Stone that I have picked up, I loved it and recommend this fabulous author to everyone who enjoys dark paranormal romance. Just a little note though, if you want the whole picture to Declan’s story I would recommend reading the Jaguar Warriors trilogy before picking up Wicked Road to Hell. 

Rating: 4 Wine Glasses