Book Faery: The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

A Note:

6/2/13

I once told myself: IF I am accepted into grad school, this blog would no longer be updated. As it turns out, in April, I received news of my acceptance for the Fall 2013 semester, where I will attain a Master's degree of Science in Nutrition.

Running a blog, as many of you may already know, is a demanding side job once the excitement wears off. And once I fell out of the blogging community's loop (have you SEEN how many blogs there are now? Wow!), it was like the kiss of death. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get into a blogging routine once this happened due to the disconnect I felt from the community.

So I took a break. I struggled with the loss and with missing my blog. And then I realized I didn't have to run Book Faery to still be a book reviewer; I could read my books and post reviews online. I'm still a book review blogger, just not in the traditional sense.

I'll still be online. You can chat with me on Twitter, where I'll be posting links to my reviews and talking books. I'll also be posting links to nutrition articles. And if you'd like to connect with me where I guarantee I will post reviews, just add me as a friend on Goodreads.

So that's all, folks! It's been a fun and amazing journey, and I thank you all for listening to my thoughts about books. I hope we all can keep in touch elsewhere :)

Tori

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The Darkest Pleasure by Gena Showalter

Reyes is a man possessed.

Bound by the demon of pain, he is forbidden to know pleasure. Yet he craves a mortal woman, Danika Ford, more than breath and will do anything to claim her—even defy the gods.

Danika is on the run. For months she's eluded the Lords of the Underworld, immortal warriors who won't rest until she and her fami ly have been destroyed. But her dreams are haunted by Reyes, the warrior whose searing touch she can't forget. Yet a future together could mean death to all they both hold dear.…

Obtained: Bought
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Lords of the Underworld
1. The Darkest Night (book review)
2. The Darkest Kiss (book review)
3. The Darkest Pleasure
4. The Darkest Whisper (book review)
5. The Darkest Passion (book review)
My Rating:

Re-read this story.

Story:
Reyes, keeper of Pain, cannot experience pleasure without pain. This equates to bringing pain into the bedroom, drawing out the violent natures of those he sleeps with. Due to this, Reyes has refused taking any future sex partners. Who would ever want to draw out the worst in someone?

All of this changes upon seeing Danika. While he doesn't try to bed her--for fear of corrupting her pure spirit--he does lust after her. This lust conflicts with his desire to keep her safe, especially from a Lord succumbing to his bloodlust, hellbent on destroying her and her family.

My Opinion:
Upon discovering a few years ago that the third book in this series would be about Reyes, I was excited to see the direction Gena would take. How would Danika and Reyes cope with Pain? If you were thinking what I was at the time, she would probably take a kinky direction towards her love scenes, ones that would probably make me gape.

Strangely enough, instead of being mesmerized by Reyes and Danika, this is the book where I originally began to pity and respect Aeron's character. Reyes and Danika were a great read--even if I felt that Danika was a bit whiney and annoying at times--yet it was Aeron's character who resonated with me the most. How would it feel to be that consumed by bloodlust, commanded to kill one of your best friend's lovers? How would it feel to be chained away because you couldn't be trusted?

I admit that a part of me was cheering for Danika to be taken out. Particularly after the incident with the Hunters and her continued rejection. She was so brutal at times, whereas, Reyes was tortured. He genuinely cared for her, yet she kept shoving his feelings back into his face. That is the type of quality that I frown down upon in a person, and in this case, a character. Then again, sometimes I take my frustrations out on the people I care about when I'm stressed out too, so I can't look down upon the woman too much.

With that in mind, I will simply acknowledge that she was not one of my favorites. Ironic that the two human females are my least favorite in the series. Go figure. Despite my initial distaste for Danika, she redeemed herself by the end of the book. Oh, and by the way, the conclusion was a HUGE shock the first time I read this. It also made me respect Paris that much more, too.