Tori's Review: The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

Paperback: 416 pages 
Price: $7.99
ISBN: 978-0373775491
Released: March 29, 2011
Publisher: Harlequin
Author's Website: Gena Showalter
Buy it: Amazon 
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 (book review)
4. The Darkest Whisper (book review)
5. The Darkest Passion (book review)
6. The Darkest Lie (book review)
7. The Darkest Secret

Keeper of the demon of Secrets, Amun can manipulate the darkest thoughts of anyone nearby. But when new demons possess him, the immortal warrior must be chained and isolated to protect those he loves. Death is his only hope of release—until he meets Haidee, a fellow prisoner whose beauty and hidden vulnerability draw him into a reckless test of his loyalty…

Haidee is an infamous demon assassin, raised to despise Amun’s kind. Yet how can she hate the man whose touch sets her aflame? But to save him, she must give herself body and soul…and face the wrath of a powerful adversary sworn to destroy her.

My Rating:

My Opinion:
I'll admit that I was not excited for Amun's story. Much like Gideon, I never really connected with this Lord. Nevertheless, I read the book (especially after what happened with Sabin), hoping that I would change my mind about the hero.

THE DARKEST SECRET started off well enough. Amun is tortured, Haidee saves him, they want to fuck. This is the typical start I've come to expect from The Lords of the Underworld series. I even began enjoying the duo and their interactions... until Amun transformed from someone I could grow to like into another typical angsty hero. Unfortunately, after this moment I was unimpressed for the duration of the novel.

I think the only reason why I remained interested in Amun/Haidee for so long was because Amun did not start angsting. Because he acted somewhat "normally" (for a Lord), I could overlook the lack of passion and tension between the hero and heroine. Once he got emo, I lost patience. It was a repeat of Gideon and Scarlet and their "woe is me" attitude.

There's a trend with all the lords: they angst, they blame themselves, they try to stay away from the heroines, they make a mess, and then they finally realize they can't live without their woman. Perhaps it is because I read LIE and then SECRET back-to-back, but all the angst had me rolling my eyes and skimming Amun/Gideon's scenes.

Strider's POV saved THE DARKEST SECRET for me. If I did not have moments with my favorite Lord, I would have DNFed this book (like I was so incredibly tempted to do with THE DARKEST LIE).

Also, I'd just like to say this: I know that this series is a paranormal romance. I know that there is supposed to be a HEA (happily ever after) by the end of each book. It's expected with romances, I know. But... I don't feel emotionally invested anymore. Someone dies or almost dies and I think to myself: eh, whatever... it'll all work out in the end, so why should I care?

That is an issue.

Another thing is that I feel like the last two books severely lacked is:

A) the emotional impact that their predecessors had on me. Even when I hated Danika, I loved reading about her and Reyes. Same with Ashlyn and Maddox. Could it be that Gena's starting to lose her touch now that the series is so long? I hope not.

B) anything important. I felt like with the other books I *needed* to know what happened in past books in order to understand what would happen in future titles--especially regarding the overall story arc (which was pretty much ignored two times now in favor of the romance). I would have understood Amun's story without reading Gideon's, and I think when I read Strider's story, I could probably have understood it without reading Aumn's.

Complaints aside, THE DARKEST SECRET wasn't a bad book, but it definitely wasn't my favorite either. Hopefully Strider's story will rekindle my faith in the LOTU series. I'd recommend reading this just for Strider's (later) parts alone.