The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld, Book 1) - Books

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Editorial Reviews:

Product Description
All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member—a man trapped in a hell of his own.

Neither can resist the instant hunger that calms their torments…and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction—and a soul-shattering test of love….

Customer Reviews: Read 74 more reviews...

2 out of 5 stars

I just couldn't get into it... August 31, 2008

This book could have been good if I didn't read the Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward first. The two series are turning out to be very very similar, and to me JR Ward did something that Gena Showalter cannot and that is make her readers fall in love with her characters.

I just could not sympathise with Maddox or Ashlyn. They annoyed me. And I couldn't follow their romance, it just seemed to happen without any real explanation and I didn't believe the chemistry between them.

Yes, I will read the next in the series to see how things develop. But I wasn't impressed with this novel.

4 out of 5 stars

So much better than Black Dagger Brotherhood August 30, 2008
When others were comparing this series to J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, I was a little scared because those books were cheesetastic and terrible. I decided to give this first one a try and liked it enough to read the other two in the series. Sure, a little cheesey, but in a good way. I'd recommended them for a fun/sexy read.

3 out of 5 stars

Beach Reading - Yes, Page Turner - No! August 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

I read quite a few paranormal romance series and needed a new author. This series kept popping up as a recommended series based on my previous purchases at Amazon. The covers were cool and so I went to the author's home page to check her out - and liked what she had to say about writing the books. So I ordered all three books.

If you like to read paranormal romance that borders on a little "unrealistic" or say a little less urban fantasy and more pure paranormal fantasy -- then this series may be for you. I myself waited several months before finally buying this series because I knew that I probably wasn't going to go for the whole premise of a group of warriors having to live with demons inside of themselves because they opened pandora's box. And I didn't.

I never really felt invested in the romance between the two characters in The Darkest Night because I just had a hard time swallowing how the whole plot played out. Or maybe there just wasn't enough development of the characters and their romance -- because of the tons of other characters in the book. I'm not sure.

Now while I did finish this book and found some parts enjoyable - the reason why I wouldn't recommend the overall purchase of it as part of a series is because I simply could not get past chapter one in the second book in the series - The Darkest Kiss.

Bottom line is that if you are a JR Ward fan or of other author's with a similar urban fantasy/romance style. Then you may not go for this series.

3 out of 5 stars

Some Plot Holes... August 20, 2008
This is a paranormal romance focusing on the immortal warriors of the gods who felt slighted when the gods chose Pandora to guard the box of evil instead of one of the other warriors. Thinking to prove Pandora an incompetent woman the warriors opened the box and let the demons loose on the world. The gods punished the warriors by making each of them bear one of the demons set loose from the box. I thought that it was an interesting (and feminist) prospective to the old Pandora's box story.

The first novel follows Maddox who bears the demon Violence. Maddox carries a second curse in addition to Violence. Since he slaughtered Pandora in his first demon rage the gods cursed him to die every night at midnight in the same way that he killed her.

The other main character is a woman named Ashlyn who has heard voices for all of her life. She can hear all of the conversations that have taken place where she is from all through time. This makes her a valuable asset to the people who employ her skills seeking out the paranormal who would normally prefer to remain hidden. It is on a trip to Budapest that Ashlyn learns about the angels/demons on the hill with extraordinary powers. She intends to visit them in the hopes that one of them is able to quiet the voices that she hears constantly.

The warriors that house the demons have been living (so to speak) in Budapest for quite a long time and have become benefactors of a sort to the people. The castle on the hill houses not only Violence (Maddox) but also Death (Lucien), Wrath (Aeron), Pain (Reyes), Disease (Torin) and Promiscuity (Paris). When Ashlyn comes up on the house on the hill only Torin and Maddox are home and Torin will not touch another living creature for fear of the plague that he could spread. So Maddox goes to frighten her off while fighting off his own violent rage since the hour is so close to his death time. He sees she is being followed by four men (hunters) and slaughters them before pouncing on Ashlyn thinking that someone has sent Bait to lure him out of the safety of the castle to kill him. Ashlyn proves to be different from what he expected; she is not scared of him and even seems to cling to him. For whatever reason when Ashlyn is near Maddox the voices go away and she is so grateful that they abated that she won't leave his presence. Of course since he harbors the spirit of Violence this provides some rocky tangle-points but eventually both Maddox and the demon want her and form a truce of sorts to protect her.

While reading this book I was very much okay with the plot line -- it was an interesting plot after all. But in retrospect I just can't see how plausible it is for anyone to remain with Violence or with Violence wanting to protect someone. I also felt an enormous amount of pity for Torin (Disease) because I can't think of a way the author could give him a happily ever after. I also found it amusing that the voices of the past stopped because they were, what scared? of the demon of Violence. As far as I can tell from this first book there are 12 demons within warriors total and only three books. I'm a little sad that not all of them are going to be getting a human romance to counterbalance the inner demon. It was also not addressed how the warriors were going to live once their human counterparts got old and died. It was sort of a depressing realization.

I did order the next book and I'm hoping that at least answers some of those questions...

3 out of 5 stars

A new take on things... August 18, 2008
I liked the concept of this book, it's different from what I normally run across. Once I finished it I immediately went out to find the next book. This series is my new addiction....

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