The Darkest Torment by Gena Showalter Narrator: Max Bellmore
Length: 13 hrs 40mins
Series: Lords of the Underworld #13
Published by HQN on May 31, 2016
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 512
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Driven to his death by the demon of Distrust, Baden spent centuries in purgatory. Now he's back, but at what cost? Bound to the king of the underworld, an even darker force, he's unable to withstand the touch of another...and he's quickly devolving into a heartless assassin with an uncontrollable temper. Things only get worse when a mission goes awry and he finds himself saddled with a bride—just not his own.
Famed dog trainer Katarina Joelle is forced to marry a monster to protect her loved ones. When she's taken hostage by the ruthless, beautiful Baden immediately after the ceremony, she's plunged into a war between two evils—with a protector more dangerous than the monsters he hunts. They are meant to be enemies, but neither can resist the passion burning between them...and all too soon the biggest threat is to her heart.
But as Baden slips deeper into the abyss, she'll have to teach him to love...or lose him forever.
I’d been waiting a long time for this book to be released. I am a HUGE Lords of the Underworld fan as well as Gena herself. I was excited just to be in this world again. I was not crazy about the main hero. He was not someone we had heard a lot about or spent much time with. In fact, I feel like it has been so long between the books that I really don’t remember much beyond the fact that he was stuck with Pandora in this other world.
Hades played a very interesting role in this book. He is supposed to be this terrible bad guy, and he is to an extent, but I could feel undertones of something that could possibly be feelings there. He is the puppet master for Baden and Pandora. Issuing tasks that they complete in hopes of getting their bands removed. These tasks also create a bit of competition between the two who were already competitive with each other to begin with.
One of Hades first tasks brings Baden to the wedding he interrupts and steals the bride. He refuses to believe her excuses on\why she was getting married but Baden is surprised though that he seems calmer with Katarina around. After Katarina , he brings her to Budapest to let her heal. She really sinks into herself. The cause of her depression is heartbreaking. The other women all try to get her functioning again. I didn’t really see Katarina’s reaction as a weakness. I found it more relatable. In an attempt to lift Katarina’s spirit, she is presented with a task that many of us deal with in her situation. But Biscuit and Gravy worm their way into her heart and she is able to put her training skills to work. It gives Katarina something to focus on.
Katarina quickly learns the best way to deal with Baden, and I think I was a little put off with how she goes about it. She has skills from her dog training that I will admit work for Baden, it just seemed like her applying methods of how she would train a dog to Baden was kind of insulting. I do not know why that bothered me so much. This was my one big issue with this book and her character.
Katarina gets a surprise gift from Biscuit and Gravy which leads to some great negotiating with Hades. She is in a wonderful position!
It’s taken me a long time to write the review for this because initially I wasn’t blown away by it, but the longer it stews, the more I appreciate a lot of what happened. We have news on a Will & Gilly that I found hard to swallow. Not pleased about what is going on there, but it is going to make for a great story. After I’ve let the book settle in my brain, I’ve finally decided that I did really enjoy it and am SO excited to get to The Darkest Promise in a few short days.
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
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