The Darkest Craving by Gena Showalter Narrator: Max Bellmore
Length: 12 hrs 57mins
Series: Lords of the Underworld #10
Published by HQN on July 30, 2013
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 466
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Having endured weeks of torture in the bowels of hell, Kane wants nothing to do with his beautiful rescuer, Josephina Aisling. The half-Fae female threatens to awaken the demon of Disaster inside him—a beast he’s determined to kill, no matter the price.
Josephina is hunted by a brutal enemy—her royal family—and Kane is her only source of protection. He’s also the only male to ever set her aflame, and even he succumbs to the heat. But as they navigate the treacherous world of the Fae, they are forced to make a choice: live apart…or die together.
I am a huge fan of the Lords of the Underworld series. I’ve never really paid much attention to Kane, as I’m normally totally focused on the Lord being featured in the book I’m reading. I did feel bad that he always seemed like the outsider, that he was left out a lot because his demon was so hard to control and always seemed to get in the way.
The Fae princess Josephina releases Kane from hell on the agreement that he will end her suffering at the hands of her family. This ends up being an agreement that Kane can’t act on as time goes by and his feelings for Josephina grow.
The world of the Fae is new to the series and is definitely an interesting one. They seem to be out of touch, but hear things about the outside world as if they were watching tv. That could describe how they see the Lords. Kind of like reality TV with sexy action heros. The citizens of the Fae world have even developed fan clubs for the Lords. Of course, Paris has quite a large following. Kane, however finds that he is not even on the radar for his little savior.
I found Kane’s book to be kind of gentle and not as violent as some of the others. I almost want to say tame. Could be I’m reading more dark stuff however, and that could be why I think that. He is possessive, but doesn’t have that whole-hearted aggressive possession the other Lords seemed to have with their mates. Josephina just wants to get away from her family. They treat her as they would a servant and her brother even goes so far as to try and seduce her. She believes that having a Lord of the Underworld on her side can help her. Josephina can take a lot, but she is tired. As her feelings grow for Kane, you can see her spirit rise and her will to fight return. The ending was a whirl-wind of emotions for me that had me holding back tears and wanting to scream for this couple.
Kane gets some help from William (one of my favorite characters from this series) and the presence of his Horseman children can’t decide whether they are there to help or hinder. Having White around worries the characters as a prophecy is out there that suggests Kane is to be with her. Kind of scary considering her brothers and father. I wouldn’t think any man would be too anxious to step foot into THAT relationship! There is also a phoenix who is out to terminate Josephina, so she needs to be dealt with as well.
Torin receives his gift of 24 hours with someone he can actually touch, but he finds there are complications. He tries to finagle the agreement some so that he can do what he can to help his visitor. His attention pretty much gets taken up with her despite the problems the other Lords are facing. He will call on his allies for help, though, when the situation deteriorates to something Torin himself cannot handle.
Cameo and Viola find themselves sucked into a realm and separated after working with the artifacts. Cameo finds herself partnered with an unlikely ally. Could these two be getting a book?
So now we have multiple worlds that the Lords must work between and help to keep peace in. This really opens up the series and gives promise to many more books to come. I really enjoyed being back in this series and eagerly await the next book. It is interesting that the storylines from this series and the Angels of the Dark series work parallel and sometimes overlap into each other. That many books to read involving all these sexy characters created by Gena Showalter!
Read for: Fun
Challenge: 2013 Audiobook Challenge
About Gena Showalter
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, two young adult series--Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles--and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series. In addition to being a National Reader's Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine, she's appeared onNightline and been mentioned in Orange is the New Black--if you ask her about it, she'll talk for hours…hours! Her books have been translated in multiple languages.
She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. You can learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books at genashowalter.com or Facebook.com/genashowalterfan
About Gena Showalter
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of the spellbinding Lords of the Underworld and Angels of the Dark series, two young adult series–Everlife and the White Rabbit Chronicles–and the highly addictive Original Heartbreakers series. In addition to being a National Reader’s Choice and two time RITA nominee, her romance novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan (Red Hot Read) and Seventeen magazine, she’s appeared onNightline and been mentioned in Orange is the New Black–if you ask her about it, she’ll talk for hours…hours! Her books have been translated in multiple languages.
She’s hard at work on her next novel, a tale featuring an alpha male with a dark side and the strong woman who brings him to his knees. You can learn more about Gena, her menagerie of rescue dogs, and all her upcoming books at genashowalter.com or Facebook.com/genashowalterfan
