New York Times bestselling sensation Gena Showalter enthralls with a dark, tantalizing world of humans, otherworlders, powers beyond imagining, and a seductive vampire undone by his insatiable hunger for one woman. . . .Growing up poor on New Chicago’s meanest streets, Ava Sans had two options: be the predator or be the prey. No contest. Now, working for Alien Investigation and Removal, she’s been ordered to capture the biggest, baddest warrior of all—a vampire too beautiful to be real, with the abilityto manipulate time. Once the leader of the entire vampire army, McKell has been deemed savage and unstable, spurned even by his own kind.To McKell, humans should be nothing more than sustenance. Yet the petite, golden-skinned Ava is a fascinating contradiction—vicious yet witty, strong yet vulnerable, lethal but fiercely loyal. Against his better judgment, McKell craves that loyalty, and much more. When the chase leads to seduction, McKell and Ava will race to discover the truth about his past. But the answers will come at a price, even for a woman who thought she had nothing left to lose. . . .
Obtained: Author/Publisher
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series:
1. Awaken Me Darkly
2. Enslave Me Sweetly
3. Savor Me Slowly
4. Seduce the Darkness
5. Ecstasy in Darkness
My Rating: 
My Opinion:
I received an ARC thanks to Gena, Jennifer, and Pocket Books.
So, here's my big confession: I haven't read any of the earlier Alien Huntress novels except for the novella in the Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter anthology, DEEP KISS OF WINTER. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I didn't want to read them, it's just that I never had a chance to. Plus, the first two books were going to be combined into one (I believe it was DARKNESS ETERNAL?) and released sometime this year, so I figured that would be the perfect opportunity to start. Except the release got pushed back.
Anyway, I was somewhat familiar with the AH world thanks to the novella, and figured that bit of knowledge would suffice. It did. The beauty with Gena's books -- aside from making me laugh until I cry -- is that one can read them out of order and still get a general feel for the overall story arc. Sure, there will be references to past events, and you'll probably wonder what happened, but I think Gena supplies enough information so that readers can piece things together.
I'll admit that a lot of the couples held very little meaning for me, which is somewhat disappointing since I know if I read the AH series from the start, I probably would have been thrilled that they made an appearance. Either way, I now have even more of a reason to read this series from the start, which I plan on doing!
My favorite part about ECSTASY IN DARKNESS was the lightheartedness. Ava and McKell constantly tease each other, and it happened to be these moments that truly made them a unique duo. McKell wasn't the angsty hero typical in PNRs. He was selfish, possessive, and grumpy. He knew how to extract revenge on the humans around him -- including Ava. He was arrogant, but knew when to tone that arrogance down when dealing with Ava. And Ava, the feisty little minx, knew exactly which buttons to press when it came to McKell. Despite being insecure, due to a rocky past, she was rough and crazy. She didn't take crap from anyone. She helped McKell form a soft side, and I loved the entire process.
The ending was somewhat strange, and took some adjusting to. Once I got over the initial weirdness, however, I actually liked it. It did, however, feel somewhat abrupt.
Spoiler Alert
Highlight the black box to read the spoiler
What truly disappointed me about the ending was the fact that the reunion felt slightly rushed. I wanted to see Ava's transformation from human to vampire, since we know it will happen. Instead, the two make love, but are never "officially" mated. Maybe I'm just curious to see how and if Gena would handle an actual transformation like that.
End Spoiler Alert
ECSTASY IN DARKNESS is great as a standalone novel. I'm sure it would be even better as part of the series. I loved reading this, and Gena's writing, once again, got me out of my reading/reviewing funk. Highly recommend checking this novel and series out if you can -- especially if you're looking for a hilarious read.
- Paperback - 512 pages
- Price: $7.99
- ISBN 10: 1439175772
- ISBN 13: 978-1439175774
- Released: October 26, 2010
- Gena's Website
- Buy it via the Publisher
- Buy it via Amazon
About the Author
Book Faery- I am also a fellow Gena Showalter fanatic along with love this series. I am especially looking forward to seeing how Gena breaks down McKell's walls around himself and have him showing some love to someone else!
ReplyDeleteI am curious though- How could someone like myself (an avid book reader) be able to access and review books even if the books are ARC? This has always just been something of a dream of mine to be able to read and tell the strenghts (or weakness) of a story to other readers like myself. If you could reply back when you have a moment I would appreciate it very much. Thank you and have a nice day!
Hi punkey, thanks for stopping by my blog!
ReplyDeleteIf you're not a book review blogger, you won't be able to attain access to most review books. Bloggers get a lot of books for free because we basically give an unbiased review of the books and help spread the word... for -- you guessed it -- free.
First, you're going to need a book review blog. You're not going to get review requests right away, especially because when you start out, you're an unknown. That's why at this point, you'll be reviewing books you either got from the library, or bought. But once you start building a following and get your name out there, people will come to you for review requests. You could also request books, but you might not always be successful early on.
It's best if you choose a genre or category to focus on. As for Gena's books, I was spreading the word about her release, that's why they sent me an ARC of ECSTASY IN DARKNESS :)
I would suggest only pursuing this path if you genuinely want to review books. If you're doing it just to get free stuff, people will figure you out right away and your blog will lose credibility amongst the blogging community.
Anyway, I hope that helps. Feel free to email me if you have any other questions!
Book Faery- Thanks for the helpful suggestions! I truely do like to read the books along with share my oppinion with others about the books I have read. Since I read the "Twilight" series by S. Meyer, I became very estatic about the books and talked with my co-workers about the series (for them to read or they would just ask if this would be a good read for their kids). If I can help get the word out for these authors along with sharing my opinion with others to help them decide to start a series or a book (or even getting some people to read a book that normally dont read even a map!) then I am all in and loving it along the way. I just figure if any of the ARC's do happen to come my way it is just icing on the cake!
ReplyDeleteAlso I did go out and buy "Ecstasy in Darkness" as soon as I could but I have another book to finish before I can start this one! I am writting my review of the current book right now on my blog page and also to get some more post out there I am also currently working on a post for Gena's book series for "Intertwined" since I just finished those books!
Have a good day and if you would, come check out my site and add me as a friend:
www.punkey00.blogspot.com
God Bless!