Thursday, May 19, 2011

Review: The Darkest Night - Lords of the Underworld #1

Title: The Darkest Night - Lords of the Underworld #1
Author: Gena Showalter
Publisher: Harlequin Books
Goodreads | Amazon


Description:
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. .
Review:

I am really loving paranormal romance! I believe the Sookie Stackhouse series is the only other paranormal romance I have ever read before this one and Dark Lover, and I've been missing out! I love a good young adult book, but sometimes it's nice to add in something a bit more mature. This book is definitely for adult readers, as nothing is really left to the imagination. ;)

I loved this book from the very first sentence!

Ashlyn was such a neat character! I really liked her. She has the ability to hear what every person has ever said at the the spot she is currently standing. It's completely overwhelming and has taken up her whole life, making her lonely and somewhat of an outcast. I felt scared and alone right along with her.

The warriors were fascinating! Each one has a different demon that he shares his existence with, and is constantly battling to not let it over take their life and destroy everything around them. The Darkest Night centers mostly around Maddox, who shares his body with the demon Violence.

When Ashlyn and Maddox meet, the chemistry is captivating! I loved every minute of their stories as they intertwined. It was steamy and forbidden... and just yummy!! Love, love, loved it!

What a fantastic fantasy world Gena Showalter has invented! I must read every single book! Each one centers around a different warrior, and I'm eagerly anticipating reading about each of their fates! 

The books in the Lords of the Underworld series. There are a few mini stories as well :

The Darkest Fire (a mini prequel)
The Darkest Night
The Darkest Kiss
The Darkest Pleasure
Dark Beginnings (bonus material and a few short stories)
The Darkest Whisper
The Darkest Passion
The Darkest Lie
The Darkest Secret
The Darkest Surrender (to be published later this year)
The Darkest Facts (a series companion)

The next book in the series:

The Darkest Kiss - Lords of the Underworld #2
I'm reading this one right now, and it's just as awesome so far!

5 comments:

  1. Oh I love this series, and Paranormal Romance in general. I actually just read the newest on in this series. It's really good! :)

    If you're new to PNR, let me suggest two of my favorite series': Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole (AMAZING, she's a fantastic writer. Period), and Black Dagger Brotherhood by J.R. Ward.

    Sookie is more of an Urban Fantasy though since it's mainly from one POV. But, if you like UF too, you should definitely try Night Huntress by Jeaniene Frost. Another awesome series.

    Okay, I'm done! lol So glad you're coming over to the DARK side (pun intended). ;)

    ~ Sarah ♥ I'm Loving Books

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  2. Hi Sarah! :)

    Yeah, I just read the first book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood, it was awesome!

    I'll definitely check out the other books you've listed. I've never heard of the Immortals After Dark before.

    LOL! There are too many genres! I'll have to look up the difference between them all. I guess I can see how the Sookie Stackhouse series would be more Urban Fantasy then Paranormal Romance since it has less sex and romance and stuff (and I had no idea POV would determine genre). Homework time!

    You're silly with your little pun. :) love it.

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  3. Oh do check out Immortals After Dark for SURE. If you like a little bit of humor in your books, she's good for that too. Not so much making fun of the genre or anything, but just sarcastic people with funny moments. It's such a fun series. I highly recommend it.

    Okay this is how I see the difference between PNR and UF. They're very close sometimes and some book seem to be a bit of both, so I generally just lump them together anyways...But for future reference...

    In a Paranormal Romance, the overall theme is about romance. There may be other over/under-laying stories that are going on in the background, but the primary focus is on the hero and heroine getting together in the end. There is also almost always a different hero/heroine combination in every book in the series and each book has to have it's own little HEA for the hero/heroine. Also, generally in PNR it will jump back and forth between the hero/heroine's POV so we can be inside both their minds. It will also sometimes have other people's POV to set up for the next books. But that's how that goes.

    For Urban Fantasy books there can be (and usually is) a romance going on IN THE BACKGROUND. So there's a bigger story going on and the romance is secondary to that story. It generally is in the POV of one person (usually a female) and the relationship between the hero(s)/heroine is spread out throughout the series and not lumped into one book.

    I don't know if any of that helps, but yea, there's my 2 cents on that. lol The difference between the two also becomes much more clear the more PNR/UF you read.

    Alright I'm done...for now. :-P

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  4. btw...I think that was THE longest comment I've ever posted. SORRY! lol

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  5. Sarah- you can leave long comments whenever you want! :) I love it, it's ok.

    I'll definitely go take a look at Immortals After Dark then. It sounds awesome!

    Thanks for clarrifying! That totally makes sense. The Sookie books are definitely more story with romance thrown in, and the Lords of the Underworld are more romance with a story.

    ReplyDelete

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