Marked as the heir to the role as guardian of an ancient and powerful scroll, the heroine never accepted her fate and fought tooth and nail against it. Remembering the day that the scrolls powers killed her mother, the heroine cut ties with her father and brother and moved away, vowing to never again be sucked into the foolish idea of destiny. But destiny has found her. One night at the bar, she receives a package and inside is the damn scroll. This means her father is dead and though she's confused about why, she does feel great remorse over his loss. But as it turned out, her father isn't completely gone. He haunts the scroll and much to her displeasure, that means he haunts her too. But she's stubborn. Despite his urges to forget about her Art and her useless bartending job and force on her training and mastery of the scrolls powers, she refuses. She runs from it as hard and as fast as she's run from everything else difficult in her life, including any deep relationship. Then she meets the hero. He's dapper, cover of GQ worthy and everything about him attracts everything in her. He refuses to be quelled by her standoffish personality and in fact seems to be more amused by her defensive nature. But he soon reveals that in his intention at the beginning to steal the scroll. And despite his desperate urgings that that plan went out the window fast as soon as he laid eyes on her, the heroine finds the perfect excuse to push him away. However, it's clear she needs desperate help. She had the scroll stolen from her, people are trying to kill her and the powers within her are quickly becoming uncontrollable. So she accepts his help to train her when he offers because he can tame the mountain of power inside of her, but also because no matter what she can't seem to stay away from him. This book was a solid 'alright' on the awesome scale. I would have much preferred it not to be in the first person perspective as I wasn't entirely sold on the heroine as a character. I thought her insanely stubborn to the point of stupidity and frankly boring as hell. She just didn't excite me and to spend the entire book inside the mind of a girl who runs away from all her problems than feels hurt when people doubt her ability to achieve was a headache. I read this book on the weekend when I have other things on my mind and in order to push myself to read takes a special book that has something to captive me and this didn't have much remarkable about it. I did like the hero with his whole calm, cool and mysterious James Bond thing going on. And I did like how relentless he was in his push to get the woman he wanted but even he couldn't spark something in the muck. Overall, a lackluster story and one that didn't make me excited to read anything further in the series. ( )

Gabrielle or Gabe likes her life. Painting to keep herself happy and working in a bar to keep her landlord happy she's content with what she has. This all changes when a courier arrives with a package containing a scroll, a task she thought she had run far enough away from. This package also means that her father is dead. But he's not gone, he's determined to train her. There are also other people looking for the Scroll, the main two being her brother and Rhys. However Rhys and Gabe are distracting each other.

I liked the way both main characters were determined to be themselves and tried to solve their own problems before looking for help elsewhere. I enjoyed the read, glad I hunted it up and look forward to continuing with this series. I also like how it uses Chinese mythology. ( )

Quite good. I saw the ending coming a mile away, but I still enjoyed the story getting there. If you enjoy romance with just a trace of paranormal, this isn't a bad book. I definitely developed an interest in the characters and their story. I'll be looking into getting the sequel as well. ( )

A new paranormal voice has hit the market, one that is sure to only get even better as the years go on! And instead of focusing on vampires, like (as others say/complain) a lot of the paranormal romances have been, Kate Perry's Guardians of Destiny Series focuses on a new aspect, a mix of old Asian lore and magic.

Marked by Passion provided a fresh new read, and one that kept me reading from morning to night just to finish! Not many books have that affect one me. Oh sure, I READ from the time I get up in the morning until I fall asleep at night (Excluding breaks, work, etc, of course), but all those hours of reading are not always on the same book. But this time, I didn't want to pick up either one of the other two novels I was working on at the time-- my full attention was focused solely on Gabe's life and sexy encounters with Rhys. (Two words: British Accent!)

Though this was Perry's first novel (for this series, at least), I never would have guessed. From page one, I was pulled into the story, and instead of being lost and confused for a few chapters, like you can be in some paranormal worlds, this one was instantly explained. Of course, Gabe wouldn't have even had to have dealt with this new life if her father hadn't been killed, and the sacred Scroll sent to her, but still. The characters were fairly strong, not weak and 2-D, and I enjoyed a lot of their witty banter and dialogue. The story just seemed to flow, and the characters (along with the relationships) evolved along the way.

Gabe, for example, wasn't some wimpy heroine, which I can't stand to have in a romance. Rhys was a good example of a gentleman. Sure, he gave her more than a fair taste of passion, enough to tempt her, but he held out, not only because of their growing affection (and eventual love), but also because he respected her. She use to be the kind of girl that didn't want commitment-- if she needed companionship, she'd date someone for a few weeks, maybe more for the occasional good relationship she found, and they'd both benefit from it, but she never wanted commitment from them, it was pretty much about sex. Rhys, I believe, realized this and wanted to show that they could have something more than that.

Of course, when they finally did get together, it was pretty steamy. Maybe not erotic romance material, but definitely not some tame excuse for a sex scene either! I think the best part of watching their relationship throughout the book was the sexual tension. Because he'd always refuse her, at least for the first 200 or so pages, their connection and sexual tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife! This, of course, provided more than a few hot mini-scenes along the way, along with some interesting conversations between the two. To me, those things can sometimes be even better than the actual sex scenes, though don't get me wrong, the sex is (usually) a major element that I enjoy reading about,too.

Besides the romance, which was very well done, Marked by Passion also had a great plot line, fast-paced and interesting. Every time you'd think nothing more could possible happen, you'd be wrong. There was a bit of suspense, more than a few surprises, and the glimpse into the Guardians' world was enough to make me crave the next installment, which, sadly, will not be out until winter of 2010 (2010, can you believe it?!). As best-selling author, Jeaniene Frost, said in a review for Marked by Passion:

"A perfect combination of urban fantasy and romance!"

I second that, Jeaniene! That pretty much sums up the book in one short sentence, and I couldn't have said it better myself.

4.5/5 stars! I can't say enough good things about MP, it's simply a great paranormal romance, a new take from a genre that I've always loved, and I am anxious to read any future books from Perry, especially in this series! This one small taste of their world simple is not enough to whet my appetite, and I'm sure that you too will find that it applies to you after you've read the book. In my opinion, it might possible be on of the best 2009 debut paranormal series! Buckle up, and prepare for a fantastic ride with Gabe, Rhys, and all their friends and enemies! ( )

I do enjoy finding new (to me) authors with new ideas. Kate Perry has served up a humorous and entertaining beginning to a new paranormal romance series with "Marked by Passion". In this series, she introduces readers to her version of some ancient Chinese lore. The powers of the world were written on five scrolls by an ancient monk. When he feared their capture by an evil warlord, he distributed those scrolls to five different families...entrusting them with not only the scrolls themselves, but the powers attendant with them. The scrolls and power are to be handed down each generation to the individual 'marked' as a Guardian and they are to be trained and taught and NEVER should the scrolls be brought together.

The series begins with the tale of Gabrielle, or Gabe as she prefers, the new Guardian of Earth. Gabe's biggest problem? After a training accident when she was young where her mother was killed, she has absolutely no interest in the whole 'scroll/power' thing. Added to that, her father and his fanaticism and continuing criticism resulted in Gabe separating herself from the only family she had left...her big brother. So when Gabe, expecting a contract for her upcoming art show, signs for a mysterious package that turns out to be the scroll, her life spins out of control pretty quickly. Enter paranoia and suspicion, not to mention big brother and a couple of sexy men who seem to be vying for her attentions. But are any of these people really interested in Gabe...or just the scroll?

Good first book. I liked the humor and even though there were times I wanted to smack Gabe for her continuing waffling, I'm pleased with the ending. The sexual aspect was actually fairly PG for today's market which may impact sales. I'll be waiting for the next book in the series, "Chosen By Desire" in Winter 2010, to see where Perry may be headed next. ( )