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What is not to like about this premise.It turns out a lot. Worst of all, characters you despise and sex scenes that are painful to read.Where were the author's friends and authors to help her edit and help her to make the stories interesting and fun. A lot of money for a lot of promise.
Dialogue that is bordering on "C" movie cheesey "Me Tarzan, you Jane". After all, paranormal romance gives the author a whole world of fun to play in, not some dark dank depressing dungeon. Plot lines that are choppy and nonsensical.
I bought the first three books in a bunch. Terrible characters. I know that the author has legions of fans and she is laughing all the way to the bank, but when I compare these books to Patricia Briggs, Lara Adrian, Charlaine Harris, Jeannine Frost, JR Ward, they are very very poor and a waste of money and paper.
Paranormal romance, mythical gods and goddess, a cursed bunch of elite warriors and the "women" and "goddesses" who want them and love them. Poor writing.
With a whole new spin on things you will fall in love with this series. You will love this book. If you are a fan of Black Dagger Brotherhood or Midnight Breed Series then you will really love these books too.
But despite all her rage at the warriors who destroyed her life, there is one that she can not break free from - Reyes. Their eyes no longer projected their once gentle nature and they did things, painful things to others that they wouldn't normally do. What Danika does know is that she will never be taken advantage of again. Previous intel has linked Danika to the warriors and the Hunters hope to lay a trap. With each book, Gena Showalter weaves a darker and darker tale with TDP being the darkest.
Danika recognizes it as her right to be that person for Reyes. It sounds weird but she knows that it's pleasure he feels and he needs it to protect others. But selfishly, he will not allow any harm to befall Danika. Her burning desire for Reyes can't be denied any longer but when she makes attempts to become intimate with the gorgeous warrior, all she receives in return is rejection.Reyes swore off women long ago when it became apparent that his brand of sex inadvertently turned his bedparnters into beings consumed by pain. 'The Darkest Pleasure' has proved to be my favorite of the current releases in the Lords of the Underworld series. But her infatuation will not cloud her desire for revenge and Danika is finally given that chance when a group of men - Hunters - share her same hatred and ask for her help.The Hunters are a human faction bent on killing the Lords of the Underworld with the ridiculous belief that by eradicating Pain, Death, Disease, etc., those traits will also be eradicated from humanity. Wanting to save her family at any cost, Danika agrees.When news reaches Reyes that Danika has been abducted by Hunters, he will not let her go again as he did in the past. And while he burns for her, he's also so self conscience of how she's going to feel when she discovers his need for pain.
But he's soon shocked when her desire for him seems to burn even hotter. People should not cut themselves, but she soon feels the need to be the one to inflict his pain. He's never hated himself more when he sees her look of abject horror when she stumbles upon his way to gain release. But in that pain there is pleasure to be found.
After a group of warriors kidnapped her, her sister, mother, and grandmother while they were vacationing in Budapest, it became known rather quickly that the warriors wanted their death with no viable explanation. He will retrieve her from his enemy and make her his, if only for a little while. Reyes knows immediately that the Hunters have asked something from Danika. But when she realizes all that he's sacrificed, she's quick to rethink her judgements. For all intents and purposes, he should kill her.
After everything Reyes has already done to Danika, he's not going to turn her into a monster on top of it all. Reyes, keeper of Pain, is a man tortured by his need for self mutilation. His demon would corrupt them until they were filled with bloodlust. The Lord was summoned by the gods and ordered to kill Danika's family. Feeling his body crumple on the jagged rocks below is the single satisfying pleasure to be had and Reyes knows of only one other that can soothe his demon more than the gruesome promise below - the human, Danika Ford.Danika is on the run.
The warriors will undoubtedly come for Danika and the Hunters will let them take her but with a little insurance by promising Danika that they will find and protect her family if she relays any and all information she can obtain from the Lords. In order to prevent Pain from inflicting it's own breed of violence upon others, Reyes has looked to himself to provide the demon with it's painful desires. Something that changes her role with the Lords of the Underworld.Yet in the midst of searching for her family and coming to terms with her unbelievable abilities, Danika finds herself falling in love with the one man she should hate. Now broke and alone, Danika has no idea if her family is still alive. Still ridden with guilt for freezing up during their kidnapping, Danika vows to herself that she will never again be helpless and spends all her money on self defense classes.
Now, chained and locked in the dungeon bellow the Budapest fortress, Reyes takes Danika to see the man intent on her and her family's destruction.Answers aren't the only information that Danika receives from Aeron. I think Reyes felt so humbled by Danika's acceptance of him but still, his worries that his demon would corrupt her linger and it takes time before he'll allow Danika to have all of him. Although at the moment, the demon's drive for satisfaction is raking through his mind at a cutting rate and it's demands for more and more cause Reyes to resort to throwing himself off the Lord's fortress in Budapest. While I disliked her initial hatred of Reyes, I could sympathize with her reasons. Something about herself is discovered as well.
He sacrifices so much to help Danika. And while her initial reaction to Reyes's need for pain is disgust, it's more in the way of a reaction to the rules of society. He's not holding back because of ego but because of a deep seeded need to protect her at all costs, even from himself.Danika was a strong heroine. But as the gods foretold, with each passing day his bloodlust would grow until he ultimately became consumed with their deaths. It had always felt wrong for her anyway, her hatred of him and the emotion withered quickly when faced with Reyes.
In addition, he promises to take her to the one person that he knows for certain will be able to tell where her family is - Aeron, keeper of Wrath. This man and his friends ruined her life and broke apart her family. But after their rescue and inexplicable release in the States, the four hit the ground running and split up to make recapture difficult. Reyes was a wonderful multi-layered hero. Knowing that the females were innocent, Aeron resisted killing them and instead abducted them until a decision could be made.
The gorgeous warrior haunts not only her dreams, but her every waking hour. Gods know the other Lords want him to.
Each book is better than the last. I highly recommend grabbing this series. You will NOT be disappointed. I just can't get enough of this series. I can't wait till the next book comes out in Sept. That is until they each meet the one women who can tame the beast or in this case the demon inside them. Dark and broody immortal warriors in all out inner turmoil. Great series, lot's of action, great storyline all in all.
Plot holes abound, the romance was just presented-I don't think I ever understood why they loved each other, although they said they did. Now having read these 3 in the series-and I won't touch on the other two here, except to say that I thought #1 was the best at 3.5 stars- I have to say that those people were absolutely right, and I feel sad, because this idea had potential. The author has a good imagination, I think, but it was rather poorly executed. Having read lots of reviews about this series, I eagerly bought all 3. The characters certainly didn't grow and neither did the story. I dismissed that, because I like mythology, in fact I am very interested in it and have studied it for years. Someone, maybe more than one someone, said the plot was far-fetched and ridiculous, in so many words. So the premise for these books sounded tantalizing.
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