The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)
by Gena Showalter
Summary: His powers - Inhuman...
His passion - Beyond immortal...
All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member -- a man trapped in a hell of his own.
Neither can resist the instant hunger than calms their torments... and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction -- and a soul-shattering test of love...
Though they carry an eternal curse, the Lords of the Underworld are irresistibly seductive -- and unimaginably powerful...
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Source: I purchased a paperback.
Review:
After being disappointed by a string of books, I decided I needed to read something both fun and well written, so I picked up The Darkest Night. It was definitely the right book for me. I was relieved by how much I loved the premise, the writing, and the romantic setup. It was a nice break from the disappointing and somewhat mediocrely written books I’ve been reading lately.
In the Lords of the Underworld series, warriors were paired with demons after the opening of Pandora’s Box. They were immortal and their punishment was to be paired with a demon of some sort of sin. Maddox, the main character in the first book, was paired with Violence. His demon was hard to control and resist, making him quite the violent man. Ashlyn, a human woman, studied the paranormal, was cursed with hearing conversations in any spot she stood in, and sought relief/cure. The mysterious men in a fortress in Budapest called to her and she ended up in the woods surrounding their house.
I loved the premise. One, it was dark, I expected violence, and I loved the connection with Greek mythology. I also loved the idea of demons inside of immortals because they were all cursed with some affliction and were unable to tame the demon. It was such a unique idea and I thought it was well executed. I’m definitely a fan of Gena Showalter’s writing. She writes in a way that is descriptive and captivating while also being easy to read and somewhat light.
There were many times where Maddox failed to use complete sentences, which kind of made him seem more caveman than man, but considering how cut off from the world the warriors were, it didn’t bother me much. I felt like ease in conversation was probably not something he was used to. And in other.. moments, I feel like most of us probably don’t use complete sentences, anyway.
The Darkest Night was definitely a guilty pleasure paranormal romance, but I loved the writing and it was such a relief to me after being disappointed by other romances. I’m glad I bought the second book for the Kindle, because I’m hooked. I definitely recommend the book. It wasn’t over the top graphic or ridiculous. Maddox was a little caveman-ish, but he wasn’t really an asshole at all like a lot of grunting alpha male leads. He was actually kind of sweet.
Labels: paranormal romance, Review
