Gideon’s Story

www.read-that.com book reviews

Gideon is the Keeper of the demon Lies. He cannot under any circumstances tell the truth without being in immediate, excruciating pain. He was trying to reason out where he had seen the woman the Lords were holding captive in their dungeon and not getting anywhere. He couldn’t figure out that when the sun come up she was to put it bluntly; dead to the world. When the sun started its descent, she woke up. While trying to find out answers to some of the things she told him before she was “lights out” and having to lie to get those answers, he was getting no where. He had decided that he did know her from somewhere and while jogging his memory and getting her to talk, he would take her somewhere else. She had told him that they were once married while she was in the dungeon of the gods. She is the daughter of Rhea. She also carries the demon of Nightmares in her.

Gideon seems to have some emotions for Scarlet besides annoyance. She acts like he’s going to break her heart just like before, so keeps her distance.

Meanwhile, with the other Lords. Aeron is hellbent on finding where Legion is in hell. She was sent back when he lost his head literally. He was able to come back to help his fellow warriors but minus his demon. He still had his woman, Olivia, an angel to help as well. He couldn’t leave Legion in hell though. He took William and Amun with him. Amun is the keeper of the demon, Secrets. He hardly talks at all because he harbors everyone’s thoughts and secrets and is afraid to start talking and let loose some of those. He can wipe out someone’s memory and retain all their information, which is why Aeron needed him. He was their link in finding who was keeping Legion and hopefully get her and get out.

This story was really hard to read. It is in Gideon Speak. Which is everything you say is turned around. I got into it though and was blown away by all the intel on the Lords and the Hunters. Showalter’s mind is a piece of art. Her imagination is off the charts. When Gideon would say something but mean something the opposite, it was repeated that way so as to not confuse the reader. Once I got the hang of that, I was off. Not my favorite of the series but definitely worth reading. I give it 4 1/2 stars. Only half a star off for the confusing beginning. All in all, another great addition to this whole series.

Aeron’s Story

www.read-that.com book reviews

The warrior Aeron is the host to the demon, Wrath. He can’t help himself when he is around someone who has done wrong. If a man has beaten his wife, Wrath has to make him pay for the damage he’s done. Aeron was saved from his blood lust by two different people. Legion, a demon from hell, helped him cope with being held captive by his own friends to keep him from killing four women that Cronus demanded of him. Only Paris, who houses the demon, Promiscuity, making a deal for Aeron’s life instead of the only woman he ever wanted more than once. Once his desire for those women’s blood was diminished, was he allowed to live among those of his greatest allies. His little demon, Legion was around always until in order to learn from their enemies did she have to spy in hell. Also when Aeron was being watched, Legion couldn’t stand to be around.

Aeron had known for weeks that he was being following all the time. He made many threats for that person to show and have it out, to no avail. Along with all that, Aeron felt responsible to Paris for what he (Paris) sacrificed and had to take care of him. When a woman came out of nowhere broken down and bleeding from some cut on her back, Aeron thought that Cronus gifted him with a woman who would torment him just like he asked. Only he asked it out of sarcasm. It didn’t take long to figure out why this woman was here but Aeron didn’t know why this angel would give up her wings and her life in heaven to keep him from dying. Olivia was cast out for not accomplishing her task of killing Aeron for bringing a demon to earth. Evidently demons are bonded to hell unless someone powerful enough can break that bond and then that demon is bonded to the one who broke those bonds from hell.

Once Aeron gets a visit from Olivia’s mentor, he knows that she has been given a two week pass and can come back to heaven but he will still have to pay with his head. He tries to keep her at a distance but even his demon is content around her. When Legion makes a deal that goes all wrong, will Aeron sacrifice his one true love to save all his friends?

You have got to read this one. I thought that Aeron was going to be the only one who wouldn’t find his true mate. I was wrong but I won’t tell you who that turns out to be. You have to read it and find out. The plot was fantastic and the twists and turns will keep you on the edge of your seat. This book will leave you begging for more.

Sabin’s Story

www.read-that.com book reviews

Sabin is a warrior possessed by the demon, Doubt. Him and his demon are great together in battle, making everyone second guess their actions and such but when it becomes personal the two clash badly. Sabin refused to be with a woman since the last one committed suicide after being with him. He blames himself but it was actually his demon putting those negative thoughts in her head and also the fact that her husband is one of the leaders of the Hunters. The Hunters are a group of people that think the world would be better, safer, and kinder if the demons and the Lords no longer existed. They are quite an erratic group. When the Hunters killed a warrior named Baden who housed the demon, Distrust, the warrior died but the demon was set free to reek havoc until it found another host. When the Hunters learned this, they were forced to try to capture the warriors and not kill. When Baden was killed, the warriors went on a rampage, killing many and more Hunters than ever before along with innocent humans that got in the way. When half the warriors had had enough and just wanted peace, they decided to go one way. The other half which included Sabin as their leader stayed hunting the Hunters and killing as many as possible. The two groups of warriors come together for the same cause and when the reunion comes to a head, they were able to come to terms with it.

Gwen is an immortal as well and scared to death of her darker side. While spending an entire year caged up by the Hunters, she is finally rescued by Sabin and the warriors. She wasn’t the only female being held there in that prison and with everyone being scared of her, she was forced to watch the Hunters rape and beat the other women until they gave birth to a half immortal, half hunter in which they steal away so they can grant their wish to start an army capable of defeating the warriors. Once being rescued by Sabin, she feels more than gratitude. She can’t figure out why she has all these mixed feelings.

Sabin does his best to keep her at arms length but also use her to further the warrior’s army. Especially when he sees the damage she can do as her dark side comes out. He vows to train her as long as she’ll help out the right side. He wants her with a passion that he can’t understand but is afraid his demon, Doubt will break her down even more, therefore tries not to act on his lust.

I was up and down with this one. I wanted to jump in this book and smack some sense into both of them. Of course it was a great book and I enjoyed every minute of it. Showalter needs to keep it up!

Reyes’ Story

www.read-that.com book reviews

Reyes is a Lord of the Underworld and houses the demon, Pain. He aches for only one woman, Danika Ford. Reyes met her when she was kidnapped by the Lords since Aeron was told to kill Danika and her family. He was refusing to kill them but the blood lust came and he had to be locked up. While Reyes was trying to keep one of his best allies from killing the woman that he loves dearly, he seems to have some feelings going on that he has no idea what they are.

Danika has been plagued with dreams. Some were delicious about Reyes but others were about demons and hell. She hasn’t had a wonderful life and now that she is on the run because the Lords want her and so does the Hunters. The Hunters want to know why she was captured for so long and not killed. The Lords want to know what her dreams mean and wanting to keep Aeron from killing her. Once the Hunters have Danika kidnapped, Reyes decides to move the earth to find her and bring to the fortress to be with him and safe.

While all the warriors are fierce and willing to kill for each other, they are loyal and caring and have a humanity about them. Even though they are part demon and are immortal. Danika realizes that for some reason she only feels safe around Reyes and wonders if she could give him the pain that he requires to keep his demon content. Can Reyes control himself enough to give in to Danika?

I felt so much emotion with this book. I felt sorry for Pain and for Danika but also wanted to smack some sense into them as well. I guess having a hard life makes you second guess everything and as for Reyes, I’d bet that women in general are just foreign to him. This storyline runs about like the others but there are twists and turns that will catch your breath and throw you off your guard. I loved it!

]]> http://www.read-that.com/fantasy_books/book-review-gena-showalter-the-darkest-pleasure/feed 1 http://www.read-that.com/fantasy_books/bookreview-gena-showalterthe-darkest-kiss http://www.read-that.com/fantasy_books/bookreview-gena-showalterthe-darkest-kiss#comments Tue, 22 Jun 2010 16:00:46 +0000 chanchan http://www.read-that.com/?p=712 Continue reading →]]> Lords of the Underworld

Lucien’s Story

www.read-that.com book review

Lucien is possessed by the demon of Death. Ever since the Warriors for the Heavens stole and opened Pandora’s Box, the Gods felt the rightful punishment to be was to house the demons the warriors let out. Lucien, along with 11 other warriors received this punishment along with being sent to the earth to live among humans but they’re still immortal.

The Hunters are a group of people that think if the Lords and their demons inside them weren’t alive, then there wouldn’t be disease, death, violence, wrath, among others. Their ideas are based on those they loved and lost to these things from free will not from the Lords. After killing one Lord already, they realized that they cannot kill the demon, it only runs amok and reeks havoc in it wake. Now they try to capture the Lords and contain them until they figure out a way to extract and contain their demons. Since it has been centuries since the Gods condemned them, the hosts cannot live alone. The demon would survive but the man wouldn’t.

Lucien was given a task by the Titan God, Cronus. He was sent to kill the Goddess of Anarchy, Anya. Anya is chaos in a word. She’s beautiful and out to find a way to be happy and have fun. When she gets bored, chaos reins. It seems that Cronus thinks that she’s too much a liability and wants rid of her. Or is that the real reason? Lucien didn’t want his friends to suffer for something he was responsible for, so he was off to kill her. She wasn’t easy to catch or contain and he soon felt a strong attraction for her but couldn’t sacrifice those he loved. While trying to outsmart the gods and also find the artifacts needed to find Pandora’s Box, Lucien is over his head. He might be a warrior but none of his weapons or training taught him how to deal with love.

What a rush. I have so enjoyed this series that I will have to read them again soon. This whole storyline is right up my ally. I love having separate books for each of the warriors and not leaving out the other characters. There is a great plot throughout and surprises along the way. It’s humorous to see these tough as nails warriors being reduced to putty in their woman’s hands or mouth. There is sex but not too much. I think that Showalter has the perfect amount in her writing skills. Definite Kudos to the author. Great Read

Maddox’s Story

www.read-that.com book reviews

The Lords of the Underworld began as warriors chosen and made by the gods to be their guardians. Being too proud became their downfall when Pandora, another guardian warrior, was chosen to guard the box of evil. The warriors, feeling slighted, chose to steal the box and open it. They figured that would show the gods that Pandora wasn’t the right warrior to chose. All come apart when the demons inside the box were released. The gods meted out their punishment by making them each host a demon inside them. Also their downfall included being forced to live among humans. After centuries of living for their demons, the warriors seemed to grasp a hold of humanity to an extent. Maddox was further punished since his demon controlled him to kill Pandora by stabbing her six times. Now every night at midnight his two fellow warriors must chain him to his bed and stab him six times and send him to hell for torture until morning. He dies every night just to do it again the next night. His demon is Violence. He has to have Reyes, the warrior/demon Pain, stab him and Lucien, the warrior/demon Death, take him to hell.

Living among humans has been hard especially with the Hunters always trying to kill them. When some of the warriors split up from disagreement, Maddox and his few went with Lucien while the other warriors continued to chase the Hunters for justice from killing one of their one. Maddox just wanted to be left alone and have some semblance of peace. Once the Hunters come around and bring a woman that Maddox cannot resist, things really start to get crazy.

Ashlyn has been hearing conversations her whole life. Something like eavesdropping but it could be a conversation from 20 years ago. It only takes her a moment to walk in a spot to hear everything that was said there. It has been driving her crazy. She works for an Institute that studies the paranormal. She finds them and the other take care of everything else. She didn’t know that there was anything out of the ordinary going on. When she heard about the warriors living in a castle, her determination to find them and see if they could help her either take the voices away or teach her to control them was overwhelming. She headed that way. The way she met Maddox was extraordinary but he was able to take the voices away just by standing beside her. She was dumbfounded and couldn’t speak for a time and just relished the silence. When he has to go because it is getting closer to midnight, he takes her to the castle for some reason that he doesn’t even understand. When the other warriors find out about her, the chaos begins.

You have got to read this one. I was enthralled with it. I haven’t been able to find the second one, The Darkest Kiss, yet but the book store is only a few hours away. I was on the edge of my seat throughout this whole story. I love the idea of warriors having to live life among people that don’t understand them, Hunters wanting to rid the world of their evil demons, and a woman coming into the mix to turn their whole world upside down. I just love it. The details that Showalter puts into her characters is excellent. A definite read.