The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter
Title: The Darkest Secret
Author: Gena Showalter
Series: Lords of the Underworld, #7
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: HQN (Imprint of Harlequin)
Date Published: March 29th, 2011
Edition: Paperback
Rating:

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 Review:

When we left off in the last book, The Darkest Lie, Amun absorbed many demons when they ventured into hell to rescue Legion; and now he’s going mad because of it. The Lords have no choice but to lock him up in his room in order to keep the darkness from spreading to others. An army of angels have come to guard over him and are threatening to kill him to keep everyone safe if they can’t find a way to expel the demons (excluding Secrets) from him. In the meantime, Haidee, the hunter who long ago killed one of their friends, Baden (keeper of Distrust at the time), is being held prisoner by Strider. When both of their “prisons” become neighbors, they discover a surprising and powerful connection between them that is both undeniable and mind-boggling.

First going into this book I was extremely excited to learn more about Amun. He has been such a huge mystery throughout the series because of his inability to communicate through talking (due to the risk of letting out secrets his demon has discovered). So I was very much looking forward to getting to know the sexy and quiet demon. However, when it comes to Haidee, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to like her at all. In fact, I’ll admit I was pretty set on hating her throughout the whole book. It actually kind of reminds me of the situation with Chase from Dreams of a Dark Warrior, in that I just could not see how this was going to work out with me liking this person.

But despite my initial hesitations, I actually ended up really like Haidee and understanding what happened all those years ago to make her do what she did. Obviously, I won’t divulge what that is, you’ll just have to read for yourself to find out. ;) But, I think Gena did a great job bringing Haidee’s character into the light and enabling us to love a character who I’m sure most readers were set on hating from page one.

Now my one problem with this book is that it was lacking in the action department. Whereas the past several books have been moving towards a larger direction as a series, this one was kind of stagnant in that area. The entire book was really just about the romance; and almost all of the overlaying series plots were removed from this book. I’m not sure why that’s the case and it was a bit of a disappointment not to learn more about the bigger picture at all. But, at the same time, Gena did a really good job of keeping me interested in the romance and still loving every page!

On the positive side, I loved the vacation between Strider, William, and Paris. That was just fun all around and I’m always laughing when William is on the page. Gotta love him! An interesting little thing happened for Paris on said vacation as well, and I’m really excited to see if we learn more about that in the next book (seeing as Paris’ book is after Strider’s). I also am loving the blooming relationship between Strider and Kaia.

Verdict:

Overall, another great book in the series. It’s not my favorite in the series and I think that the action and bigger picture stories could have been drawn on a bit more. But despite those things, the romance between Amun and Haidee was both smoking hot and endearing at times. I’m looking forward to reading about Strider’s story next. After all the emotional turmoil he went through in this book, he deserves his HEA next for sure!

4 Hearts More Reviews Goodreads | AmazonPurchase Links Amazon | Book Depository | Barnes & Noble

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You Slay Me by Katie MacAlister

Aisling Grey is a courier enjoying a free, work-related trip to Paris when she learns she's a Guardian. That's a keeper of the Gates of Hell, for those who don't know. She finds this out from Drake Vireo, who's scrumptiously sexy-at least in his human form. Now Drake has stolen the package Aisling was sent to deliver, and she must track him down, get the package, and try to resist the passion boiling inside her.

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