Book Stats:
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: HQN Books
Release date: November 1st 2007
Series: Lords of the Underworld #2
Source: Personal Shelf
Reviewed by: Tynga
Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository
She has tempted many men...but never found her equal. Until now.
Though she has lived for centuries, Anya, goddess of anarchy, has never known pleasure. Until Lucien, the incarnation of death--a warrior eternally doomed to take souls to the hereafter. He draws her like no other. And Anya will risk anything to have him.
But when the merciless Lord of the Underworld is ordered by the gods to claim Anya herself, their uncontrollable attraction becomes an anguished pursuit. Now they must defeat the unconquerable forces that control them, before their thirst for one another demands a sacrifice of love beyond imagining...
Lucien, the Keeper of Death, is known amongst his brothers for his legendary calm. Carting souls to both Heaven and Hell all day requires some detachment if you hope to retain some semblance of sanity. His carefully woven calm will shatter though when the Goddess of Anarchy enters his life, hoping to sway him. Little Anya is rather successful, but Chronus, the God of Gods, has other plans and orders Lucien to kill her, or else…
The Darkest Kiss is the second installment in the Lords of the Underworld series and it was another good one. I liked the first book because it introduced us to the amazing Lore Showalter created, but the romance lacked sincerity. The Darkest Kiss though put the Lore a bit on the back burner and offered a full blown romance to enjoy! Don’t get me wrong, our demon-possessed heroes are still on a quest to freedom, fighting Hunters and battling their inner demons, but the romance between Lucien and Anya take the front row and I enjoyed it.
Lucien and Anya’s relationship is doomed from the start, what with Chronus asking him to kill her from the get go. Lucien has been attracted to her since she helped his brother Maddox at the end of the first book and she’s been stalking him since Chronus threatened her to send him after her, Lucien’s scars and demeanor growing on her. Their first meeting in the flesh was electric, but Lucien can’t believe she’d be attracted to his damaged body and is convinced she’s playing him. Both of them have serious self-confidence and trusting issues which makes for some seriously entertaining courting. They spend their time pushing each other away, trying to kill each other, yet kissing with fiery passion. Both of them extremely attracted to the other, yet unwilling to give in, keeping actual sex scenes to a minimum level but passion levels sky high.
As I mentioned before, the series plot arc took a background role in this installment and this book’s focus revolved around Lucien & Anya. Will they end up killing each other? Will they succumb to the passion? Will Anya cave in and offer Chronus what he wants to save her life? How would they trick the god to get out of this mess unscathed? The whole story is about this huge dilemma and I have to say I was really surprised with the outcome.
On a side note, I really like that the model on the cover as mismatched eyes like Lucien, but where are his scars? He is suppose to scare women away, yet he is all pretty on the cover.
I truly like this series, but I have to say, I don’t enjoy it as much as the Black Dagger Brotherhood or the Immortals After Dark series. It’s definitely worth getting your hands on though if you like romance and some Greek mythology. The Lore is really what set this series apart from others of the same genre and I really like it!
i started this series and can't wait to get into it. thanks for the review
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that IAD is better than LOTU, I'm not a fan of BDB (read the first three books and it was enough) mainly because the Lesser plot is simply ridiculous. The LOTU story arc is very good and only gets better as the series progresses.
Hope you enjoy the rest.
Thanks for your input! Ill def keep reading :)
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