SUNNY: BOOK REVIEW "Entwined" by Elisabeth Naughton

CHARACTERS:
Zander
Callia

SUMMARY:
Zander is an Argonaut, the oldest of the Eternal Guardians, tasked with protecting both humans and his realm from the daemon forces.  He was once in love but was betrayed by his soul mate and now lives with the bitter aftertaste of that affair.  Callia is the King's healer.  She has tried to distance herself from Zander, her first love, but fate keeps throwing them together.  Now faced with a common enemy and a hunt for a loved one, can they put aside the past to make a future together? 

REVIEW:
Entwined is book 2 of the Eternal Guardian series.  This is such an unexpected surprise.  I expect fun.  I expected interesting, exciting, even creative, but I did not expect heart-clenching, heart-felt, and heart-melting.   

"You don't understand.  I didn't want to forget what happened, Zander.  I wanted to forget you.  I wanted to forget how I felt about you..." 

"Is this your way of telling me you finally did?" he whispered. 

"No. I didn't.  I never have.  That's the problem.  It didn't work...Pain isn't freeing.  It's just one more reminder of what you've lost.  And now all I have are these ugly scars. That's what I'll have when this is all over."

I love stories where the characters get another opportunity at love.  I appreciate Zander and Callia's shared history, and was eager to see how they resolve the problem that kept them apart in the first place.  How do they reconcile?  This second chance story goes emotionally deeper.  This misunderstanding HURT.  The assumptions, the lack of trust, the regret make way ultimately, for the redemption.   

"If I had known," he said in a voice thick with emotion, "I would have been there with you.  Every second.  Nothing would have kept me away.  And no one..." His muscles tensed against her.  "No one would have ever hurt you." ... His fingers slid into her hair and he tipped her face to his gently.  But it wasn't anger that plagued his features.  It was regret.  And sorrow. And a grief only she could understand." 

Elisabeth Naughton infuses this emotional journey with a quick-paced suspense. The story is compelling on so many levels.  It just works.  

IN A NUTSHELL:  
Elisabeth Naughton has up the ante with Book 2. A fantastic read, it will entice you to the next book, Tempted.