Lords of the Underworld: The Darkest Night

The Darkest Night is the first book in the Lords of Deliverance series by Gena Showalter and, man, do I like the premise for this book! Seriously, it's friggin' awesome.
The series is about, you guessed it, the Lords of the Underworld. These guys once served as the immortal members of Zeus's army. They were the fiercest of the fierce, the baddest of the bad. And yet, for some reason, they were passed over for the job of protecting a box containing the most evil demons in existence. That job was given to a woman named Pandora (see where this is going?). To say that their egos were bruised is an understatement. In retaliation for this slight, the warriors stole the box and opened it, freeing the creepy-crawlies from their prison. The gods were obviously pissed, even more so when no one could find the damn box to stuff the demons back in. Since Zeus and Co. couldn't allow the demons to roam free, they cursed the jackass warriors to house the demons within themselves. Thus, the Lords came into being and the warriors needed to learn how to control their demon halves. 

See what I mean? Isn't this such a cool idea for a book? I absolutely adore it when authors incorporate the whole Greek mythology thing into a story. 

Before I tell you about the book, let me first introduce you to the Lords:

Maddox aka Violence.

Torin aka Disease. 

Lucien aka Death.

Reyes aka Pain.

Aeron aka Wrath.

Paris aka Promiscuity.

We meet these guys in the first half of The Darkest Night. The next half-dozen rock up during the second half of the book.

Sabin aka Doubt.

Gideon aka Lies.

Kane aka Disaster.

Strider aka Defeat.

Amun aka Secrets.

Cameo aka Misery.

Now... on to the book. The Darkest Night is Maddox's story. As the keeper of Violence, it goes without saying that it's going take someone spectacularly brave, or stupid depending on your politics, to take this guy on. Adding to his already exceeds-the-weight-limit baggage, Maddox has an additional curse to deal with: Because Maddox killed Pandora, he has been sentenced to die every night at midnight in the exact same way that he killed Pandora, only to revive in the morning to endure the whole process all over again. Like I said, lots of baggage. 

Our leading lady, Ashlyn isn't exactly average Jane either. Ashlyn can hear every conversation that's ever taken place in a given area. That's a lot of chatter, and has pretty much driven her to the brink of madness. So, when she travels to Budapest for her job and she hears about a bunch of strange men living on a mountain who are capable of extraordinary things, she hopes that they'll be able to help her. She climbs the mountain in the middle of a blizzard (the dumbass) and runs into Maddox. The attraction is immediate and intense, even though they both try to resist it.   

Honestly? I thought this book was just this side of good. I know, right? After all the fanfare, I just thought it was, meh...? I enjoyed the story, but the leads didn't really grab me. The time frame for this story irritated the crap out of me to be honest. Like, seriously? They fell in love after two bloody days? I had to pretend it was taking place over two weeks (not much better, I know) to preserve my peace of mind. Another thing I noticed was that these boys punch the wall a lot when they're cross. Like, a lot a lot. I kept thinking that the way things were going, they should have their house collapsing around their ears any second.

Despite this, I really enjoyed the secondary characters. I'm dying to learn more about the other Lords, and what their respective torments are. In addition to the Lords, we meet Anya and Danika. Danika, for some reason, has been targeted by the gods, who have instructed Aeron to kill her. She and Reyes have sort of been making goo-goo eyes at each other. We don't learn much about Anya but she's going to be Lucien's HEA, so we'll obviously get more of her in the next book. 

While I didn't love this book, I love the idea for this series, and I'm definitely going to get my butt into gear so I can catch up. I'm about eight books behind. 

 

Black Dagger Brotherhood Series: Lover at Last

I don't know if you guys picked up on this, but I was pretty excited about Lover at Last coming out. I think I was pretty subdued...

No?

Anyway, I finished it the other day but I had varsity related stuff to deal with so I didn't get a chance to tell you guys just how FREAKING AWESOME it was!!!

Warning: there will be fangirling. Lots and lots of fangirling.

Blay and Qhuinn... these boys just broke my poor little heart. The WARDen didn't pull any punches, and right from the beginning she started pulling on your heartstrings. The prologue was just so damn sad! And the emotional torment just kept on coming. There were times where it seemed like Blay and Qhuinn were never going to get their shit together. It was so stressful! Just when you thought they were making some progress, meeting each other halfway, then BAM! Misunderstandings, a lack of communication, and the WARDen's refusal to make things easy on her readers had me sitting on the edge of my seat. These two worked so hard and they only got their HEA riiiiiight at the end. But, holy crap, was it worth it! Honestly, the way this book ended had me choked up and I almost never cry while reading. I cannot remember reading a more beautiful HEA.

Now on to the side stories: since this is J.R Ward, there were a lot. I'll discuss them all separately.

  First there's the whole Layla/Xcor thing. I have always liked Layla. And now I like her even better because she's discovered her backbone! Man, I got such a kick to hear Layla going all grrr... on Phury. She was fierce! 

In the Old Language, she hissed, “If any harm shall befall him, I will come after you, and find you where you sleep. I do not care where you lay your head or who with, my vengeance shall rain upon you until you drown.”
That last word was drawn out, until its syllable was lost in more growling.
Dead silence.
Until Doc Jane said dryly, “Annnnd this is why they say the female of the species is more dangerous than the male.”

As for Xcor... he had me feeling really conflicted. One moment I wanted to give the guy a hug, the next I wished somebody from the Brotherhood would just stab the bastard. I kinda hate him for messing with Wrath, but his response to Layla is just too damn sweet. It's like, why can't you all just get along?!?!

Speaking of Xcor and his Band of Bastards, we now know all their names. We obviously have Xcor, the leader of his merry band of crazies, and Throe, his second in command; Zypher, the group's resident can't-keep-it-in-his-pants, and the three cousins, Balthazar, Syphon, and Syn. The last gent's name isn't actually Syn, but he's so bad they all just call him that.

Then we have Assail and new girl, Sola Morte. I can't decide if I like Assail. He's... a little sociopathic, if I'm honest. While this isn't outside the norm for the WARden's leading men, he seems a little bit nuttier than the others. I also don't like that he has any form of cooperation with the Lessers going on. Nuh-uh. Not cool. Assail's really hot but he's just a little too aggro for my liking. I think I like Sola. She seems like quite a toughie which is nice. I like it when Ward gives us strong heroines. Most times it seems as though the guys have majority shares in the whole badass enterprise.  

Now to my favourite side story: Trez and Selena. Trez and his brother iAm have been in the BDB universe for a while, but we haven't really learnt a whole lot about them. I'm happy to announce that the WARDen is working on rectifying this. These boys... wow. They sizzle. That's about all I can say. We don't know much about Selena either besides the fact that she's a Chosen, so I can't decide if I like her or not. What I loved about this particular side story was when Trez met Selena for the first time. It was just too freaking adorable for words. For most of Trez's perspective in this book, you see him acting like an utter manwhore. To see him getting all tongue-tied over Selena was just so "awww..."-worthy" and also so funny. I was hee-hawing like a donkey. I'm glad I read this part while nobody was home, otherwise I'd have had some explaining to do.

I just want to share a few of my favourite quotes from the book with you:

Here, John Matthew and Qhuinn are in one of those 24-hour stores and spot a cardboard cutout of the Biebs... I don't really have anything against the guy, but this was funny.

"The little shit is everywhere." To prove the point, he motioned to a greeting card display featuring Short, Cocky, and Fifteen-Minutes-Are-Up. "I swear, that kid is proof the Antichrist is coming."

This is the scene where Blay comes out to his mom over the phone. It was such an emotional scene, I got a lump in my throat while reading. This is how every parent should respond in this situation.

"...as long as you're happy, that's all I worry about. I want for you what you want for yourself."

*sniffles*

I am so damn sad this book is over. I think it may well have been my favourite book in the series. Easily. But I have a feeling that the next book is going to blow this one right out the water. You've undoubtedly already heard the news about whose book is going to be next, but even four days after the announcement I'm still excited as fuck!

It's titled The King, and no prizes for guessing who it's going to be about. Also the WARDen said that there's a strong likelihood of some of our old favourites getting another book. If you want to check out what else was said at the signing go here. 

Scandalous Brides: A Beginner's Guide to Rakes

A Beginner's Guide to Rakes is the first book in the Scandalous Brides series. I absolutely adored this book. Seriously, this is a prime example of why I love reading. An awesome story line, a kickass leading lady, and a charming bad boy hero. 

Our leads are Oliver Warren and Diane Benchley. These two have a past, and as a result are somewhat... hostile towards one another. Diane has learnt the hard way that you can't rely on anyone but yourself. Her husband was a compulsive gambler who gambled their wealth away, leaving Diane destitute. But that's okay. She's got a plan to get back on her feet, and it involves a very unwilling Oliver. 

Diane plans to profit from the very vice that left her penniless. She set on opening a gentlemen's club, but in order to do so she needs... an expert's assistance. That's where Oliver comes in. Oliver has spent most of his adult life frequenting gambling halls and gentlemen's clubs, so if anyone knows how they operate, it will be him. 

These two spend more than half the book bickering. Given their history, and Oliver letting Diane down in a big way, their relationship is rocky to say the least. I have to be honest here: I loved the cracks and barbs these two flung at each other. Diane wasn't one of those insipid heroines who just fell at the hero's feet. Oliver disappointed her when she needed him most, and she wasn't ready to simply forgive and forget. I think Diane may well have been my absolute favourite female character in a historical romance. In fact, in the face of Diane's sheer awesomeness, Oliver was somewhat overshadowed. Don't get me wrong, I really liked the guy. I just thought that maybe Diane was a little too much for him to handle. 

An example of Diane setting Oliver back on his heels happens early in the book, when they're discussing the opening of Diane's club. See, Diane doesn't want some typical gentleman's club. She wants her club to stand out. The best way to do this, she thinks, is to employ an all-female staff. This is a little snippet of Diane's conversation with Oliver:

"That explains the lady butler at your door. You do have an elderly fellow in your stable, however."

"I never said men aren't capable of shifting manure. You seem supremely well suited for it in fact."

The first thing that went through my mind at this point?

Once the problems were solved though, these two were an absolutely adorable couple. I loved this story, and I highly recommend it for anyone looking for a historical that doesn't follow the same old patterns.