The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter review

This is the 2nd book in the Lords of the Underworld series. Fair warning, SPOILERS may follow.

Now that we've met Violence & Death, how about Pain? Reyes has been feeding Pain steadily over the years. He was fortunate enough to find a way to sate his demon without hurting others, but not fortunate enough to refrain from hurting himself. The easiest way to manage Pain is to give it exactly what it wants; whether that's jumping from the top of a building while his body slowly repairs itself or simply slicing away at the flesh is all dependent about the amount of stress.

Reyes has been at his threshold of tolerance ever since Danika came into his life. A torturous temptation that he could never taste without ruining, she was condemned to die by the hand of Reyes's fellow Lord Aeron. Despite this edict, handed down from the gods, Reyes chose to pursue & protect her. The best way to do that though is to keep her close by his side. But Danika's not as weak as Reyes feared & she's putting up one hell of fight, especially since only she knows who she's really working for.

This series just keeps getting more involved & more exciting with each book I read! Each time I read a book I think, "I'm not sure I really like this guy" & by the time I'm half way through the book I'm as madly in love with his as the other women. Gena Showalter does a phenomenal job of character portrayal & story building. You think you know a character based on how he or she is seen by others (and occasionally by him/herself) but then you read a chapter or book dedicated solely to them & you find that there are facets you haven't seen before.

The characters continue to play off each other very well, bantering like friends & foes. The best part of building this series is watching the new relationships form when new characters are introduced. There is a history between all the gods, titans, Lords & Hunters whether we know it or not. I find that the women are the pivotal characters because they move the story along without tying it up. They are the catalyst for change in an otherwise static world. I'm not saying without the ladies there would be no interactions or exchanges, I just think they would be flat.

A fun, steamy romance with enough sexual tension to take you right to the edge & drop you, The Darkest Pleasure continues the feast that is the Lords of the Underworld. I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the books!

The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter review

The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter review

This is the 2nd book in the Lords of the Underworld series. Fair warning, SPOILERS may follow.

Lucien houses the demon of Death. He is like Charon is that Lucien is the ferryman for the newly dead into their afterlife. He differs from Charon in that Lucien gets to go to heaven & hell. After centuries of ferrying souls to their final resting places, he was content to be alone so that he would never have to ferry another lover to either location. To prevent women from ever desiring him, Lucien intentionally marred his face so that no one would ever want to get close again. Unfortunately Anya isn't just anyone.

Anya, the goddess of Anarchy, is on the run. Since the Titans took over the Mount (and imprisoned the gods & goddesses) she is avoiding drawing too much attention to herself. With Lucien though, she's doing just the opposite. She's doing everything in her power to attract him & despite his constant cold shoulder routine, she is relentless in her pursuit. She's aware of his curse & doesn't mind at all, considering she has a pretty big curse of her own that she's not willing to share.

All of their bantering back and forth may be all for naught if they can't work together against the Hunters that are constantly plaguing the Lords. With little regard for themselves, these two are destined to find some measure of happiness. In this life or the next.

Gena Showalter continues the non-stop action that I'm enjoying so much. We pick up where we left off after The Darkest Night and start to move deeper into the plot of the story. I don't really mention what Lucien & Anya are working on together because there is just way too much detail to go into in order for you to understand. It would be way easier to read the books. Seriously. Basically the Hunters are the "bad guys" that want to exterminate the Lords by returning their demons to the box they came from. Unfortunately that has the nasty side effect of killing the Lords. Therefore, the Lords (and those feisty women helping them) are trying to stop the Hunters from gaining the upper hand.

These main characters were a little more extreme than the last ones. While Anarchy can sometimes facilitate the necessity for Death, the two are not mutually exclusive. Lucien is a brooding, dark, pensive kind of personality while Anya is bubbly, conniving, & jovial. She does have her Debbie-downer moments, but she tends to bounce right back from them. They are both highly developed characters that never cease to intrigue & bewitch me.

The writing continues to be strong. Again, there are sexual situations, but not as much (or as graphic) as in the first book. I find myself being more & more drawn into the story & the Lords' lives. I'll be very happy to see what's up next in their battle for survival!

The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter review

The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter review

Maddox is a god among mortals. More precisely, he is an immortal warrior created by the gods. As one of the most elite & powerful warriors to ever grace the mount, Maddox was a relatively content man. He & his comrades shed blood when needed & enjoyed female companionship when it suited them. All that changed when Maddox & his friends were scorned by the gods' preference for Pandora (another immortal warrior) to transport the box of oppression carrying the most atrocious demons that not even hell could contain. Their vanity cost them everything.

When they opened the box containing the demons, all hell broke loose. The demons were crazed from their captivity & entered into each of the warriors. Now each one must bear the eternal burden of carrying such demons as Promiscuity, Pain & Violence. Maddox was settled with Violence. In his thousands of years with his brotherhood of damned warriors, known as the Lords of the Underworld, Maddox has learned to contain & tame the demon as much as possible. There are definite signs of Violence in their remote fortress in Budapest, but no more than to be expected of warriors. What he doesn't expect, especially after all these years, is to find someone the demon doesn't want to kill, maim or even hurt.

That person turns out to be Ashlyn Darrow. A woman with an extra-sharp sense of hearing, so sharp she can hear any & every conversation that has ever occurred where she is currently located no matter the time, date or year, who is in Buda doing some research for a corporation she believes to be helping those with "special" abilities. Despite her boss's warning, Ashlyn treks toward the fortress hoping that the mysterious Lords can help her tame & control her hearing.

When the two meet on the snow-covered embankment there is an intense silence that neither can deny. The voices are silent for Ashlyn & the demon is silent for Maddox. What that means for them is unclear, but Ashlyn's boss is none too pleased at her disobedience & intends to prove his point against the Lords.

This was a doozy of a read! I devoured this book in less than 24 hours because I just couldn't get enough of these characters! The Lords are unlike any other possessed character I have ever read. Now it's possible that I just haven't read enough, but we can't be sure. :)

The torturous relationship of Lord & demon is so raw & incisive that I was completely drawn in to their world. Of course, since this is a romance novel, all the Lords are especially hunky in their own ways. Most of them are ridiculously muscular with a striking visage. The main female in the role is a trim, but toned woman that most men would faun over. While I can get tired of these stereotypical roles, the writing, characterization & plot development overrode any annoyances I might have perceived. Again, this is a romance novel so there are some sex scenes that vary from taught & tame to wild & a bit raunchy. If you're in the mood for that, read on; if not, feel free to skim/skip ahead as I do. ;)

The Lords of the Underworld presents a unique history & presentation of the gods. There is A LOT of back story, that is surprisingly well-handled. I didn't feel bogged down in history so much that I couldn't enjoy the action! A fabulously fun read, The Darkest Night is the first in a continuing series by Gena Showalter that I fully intend to see to the end.

Have any of you read these books? How did I miss them?! What do you think about the romance? Is it on par with the genre or a little more/less than is typical?

The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter review