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

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon review

SPOILER ALERT: This is the 18th book in the Dark Hunter series & while the author says that the books can be read in any order, I like to give fair warning anyway. Just FYI.

Fang Kattalakis is far from a lone wolf. He is a member of a pack, with his brother, his father & several other folks. But he has never desired a female as much as that of Aimee Peltier. Too bad she's not a wolf, she's actually the owner of Sanctuary's daughter. Oh, and a bear too.

Fang wasn't looking for a mate, heck he wasn't even looking for a date when he & some pack members wandered into Sanctuary for a meal. Of course nothing can ever be that simple & when Aimee's life is threatened by roving jackals, Fang protects & defends her, winning eternal gratification from the bears.

As it turns out, that "gratification" comes in very handy when things go sour faster than he ever thought possible. When his own father hands down the execution order for Fang & his brother, the bears are there to nurse them both back to health. Unfortunately the damage to Fang is extensive & he finds himself actually locked in a hellish purgatory with Aimee as his only way out. The unwilling couple form a bond that nothing seems to shake & she manages to save, in more way than one. Their bond, although tenuous, comes in handy sooner than they would have liked when the different lycanthrope groups decide to stage an all-out war. Will Sanctuary survive the battle or will it become a casualty of the young couple's budding romance?

Bad Moon Rising is one of the plethora of books from the wonderfully enchanting Sherrilyn Kenyon. I pick and choose which books of her's I want to read because while they are all loosely affiliated, you do not have to read the previous books to understand the main storyline of the current book you're reading. The first book I read was No Mercy , which comes after this book in sequence, so I understood certain things with more clarity after reading Bad Moon Rising, but nothing that completely altered the book for me. Any way...

Aimee & Fang are a fun couple to watch develop. They really have no intention of being attracted to one another & actively try to dissuade & distract themselves from the other, but they just have no luck. As cursed beings their lives are kind of determined by the gods & the gods have a sick sense of humor when it comes to messing with people's love lives. Aimee is a strong-willed woman who is the only female of the bear clan & is doing everything in her power to keep the family name clear & pure to continue their legacy. Fang is a little haggard, but his rough-and-tumble life is as good as he could expect it to be. Bringing these two smart-mouthed, wise-cracking, hard-headed fools together is one of the most explosive & fun things I've seen Ms. Kenyon do in her books.

The writing is spot on with some great quotes & active story building. The Dark Hunter/Were Hunter worlds are very diverse with a lot of history & details that I can't even begin to imagine trying to keep up with, so I appreciate the effort she puts in to make the story so engrossing. This one was turned turn in steamy romance compared to the first book I read, but there is still definitely some lovin' (of multiple acts) going on between these two characters. As I've continued to say, I'm not the biggest fan of misplaced romance. It has to actually add something to the story in order for me to get behind it. That was definitely the case in this book, so I didn't mind so much.

I'm looking forward to the next book I plan to read from Ms. Kenyon, although I'm not sure if it will be a Dark Hunter/Were Hunter book or if I'll wait for the next Chronicles of Nick book that's due out in February of 2012. I'm stuck. What do you think?

Bad Moon Rising by Sherrilyn Kenyon review

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey

Ellie Spencer is a mostly typical teenager. After her mother's cancer battle, her parents have left her in Mansfield Boarding School while they traipse around Europe. Ellie is taller than most girls and carries a little extra weight, making it possible for her to float around unnoticed by most of the human population. With asexual guy friends like Kevin and a keen interest in the Classics, what more could a girl ask for?

Ellie never expected that a chance run-in with her crush, the mysteriously brooding Mark, and working on a play at the local university would change everything as she knows it. There is something dark and foreboding in the mist around the schools and it may have something to do with people turning up dead. What's a girl to do?

Well. That was different. Guardian of the Dead had a lot of potential. Using New Zealand as a setting is completely out of the norm and totally awesome! I really enjoyed catching glimpses of everyday life & there was definitely a large focus on the cultural history & mythology of the Māori people. Ellie, Kevin, & Mark were very fascinating characters with quite a few dimensions. Ellie was an especially fabulous character because she wasn't a traditional female lead. She had self-image issues, but they weren't the entire focus of her being while still maintaining a form of self-confidence. I feel most girls can relate to this balance.

As I stated though, this book had potential. There was just so much going on in this book. Between self-assessment from Ellie, her relationships with the males, the murderer, the Māori history/culture, and more, I found myself struggling to keep up with everything. It seemed like once I got settled into the explanation of something, we were already moving on to the next thing that needed to be explained. A few points, mostly the "romance," felt constrained and unnatural. This book would have really benefited from being broken into two pieces.

As it stands, Guardian of the Dead was alright. For me, it's really something I could take or leave. If there was nothing compelling me to read it, I feel like I would pass it by. The cover and jacket description look & sound great, but I feel like it failed to deliver what was promised.

Graciously provided by Around the World Tours.

Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey