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 trapp ed 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 . . .
Maddox and his brothers are Immortals from ancient Greece, each of them carrying their own burden to pay for opening the Pandora box eons ago. Our dark hero is also cursed, an extra gift from the Gods for his misconduct. Shuffling through a meaningless life, they hate but accept their Fate, until something disrupts their fragile equilibrium. The Gods are threatened, Hunters are invading the Lords’ refuge and a woman sets passions ablaze. Are those changes for better or for worst?
The entire lore in this novel was a breath of fresh air in a literature full of vampires, werewolves and angels. Immortals sharing their bodies with demons, constantly fighting for control is rather interesting and opens up to so many possibilities. And Gods and Titans fighting for supreme power over the earth? Definitely unheard of. The first novel felt like an introduction to the entire Lore and I’m sure there is much more to discover in the following books, but it grabbed my attention that’s for sure.
The characters have a lot of potential, each Lord have their own curse, linked to their demon, personality, and strengths. One of the thing that bothered me a bit though, is that the two main characters fell for each other way too easily and even though the passion was described and worked perfectly at some points (see shower scene), it sometimes felt fake and superficial. I just felt like something was off, compared to lets say, the instant passion main characters have in the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. It didn’t stop me from enjoying my read, but I’m hoping the passion will feel more sincere in the following books.
Even though there is almost 400 pages to this book, the plot flew by at the speed of light. Every development felt natural and I appreciated how surprises unfolded. Showalter takes you on a ride and you don’t see anything coming, and just like a rollercoaster ride, it’s over too quickly.
The end surprised me in some way. I was expecting the “save the day” moment, but not in the form it took place (if that makes any sense?). The end is opened and leaves lots of room for speculation, so I’m glad I have the second book at hands reach, to cut short on the torture. Overall I loved the Lore, characters have a lot of potential and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series!
Lords of the Underworld
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Book Source: Personal shelf
I really love this series, and in my opinion each book gets better and better. I still have The Darkest Lie to read yet . I can't wait because I absolutely love Gideon.
ReplyDeleteI just reviewed this book on my blog a few days ago. I thought the story was good but now that you say it the romance between the leading man and woman did feel a little odd at times but the shower scene was great.
ReplyDeleteI just felt that a lot of information and new characters were introduced and I hope in the future ones that there isn't going to be the huge amounts of backstory that this book had. I have book 2 and 3 on hand so I guess I will find out soon enough.
Great review.