Bound by the demon of Doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern... until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.
Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she'd fall for a kind human who wouldn't rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora's box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love....
My Review:
I was completely confused with The Darkest Whisper. Up until this book, Sabin (the keeper of the demon, Doubt) has been – at least to me – a background player, second to the Lords of the Underworld (LOTU) who reside in Budapest. True, he is the leader of the LOTU who reside in Greece, but he’s been nonetheless more or so in the background. To catapult him into the foreground and have an entire book dedicated to him before we get to know the rest of the Budapest LOTU was most disconcerting.
Adding to my confusion was the fact that The Darkest Prison (LOTU #3.5) doesn’t factor at all into this story. as we don’t see any mention of Atlas nor Nike anywhere. *sad Julie*
Also, up until now, the LOTU were being threatened with several enemies trying to find Pandora’s box, and the immortal warriors were trying to locate hidden artifacts to find Pandora’s box first. However, in The Darkest Whisper, this central story plot was completely put on the backburner and we were instead exposed to the inner workings of a new supernatural being – the harpies.
The beginning of the book showed great promise, though, starting with the LOTUs searching for clues to one of the artifacts needed to find Pandora’s box, when they come across several female supernatural creatures their enemies (the Hunters) were experimenting on. Some harrowing details the female prisoners had to endure are revealed, and we learn that several of them were impregnated by the Hunters.
But that’s not all – we learn this is not the first time the Hunters do something like this. There is a school full of supernatural children the Hunters have been breeding and raising to help them against the LOTU.
As you can guess, one of the prisoners is a harpy – Gwen – said to be the most dangerous one of all. Then instantaneously *cue harp sounds and angelic voices singing* Gwen puts aside all the traumatizing rape episodes she was witness to, and immediately falls in love with Sabin. *sigh* I just couldn’t buy this.
Not to mention Sabin ‘falls’ for Gwen as soon as he sees her, too, but not for love. He sees her as a great asset in the war against the LOTU’s enemies since she decimates a Hunter in less than a blink of an eye in front of him. But somewhere along the way, he decides to see her as a woman instead of a weapon – very romantic. ;(
But this wasn’t why I couldn’t get into this book. What got to me were the never-ending details on the harpies. On and on they went – how and what they ate, how they slept, their reproductive system, the way they chose mates – Good Lord it was exhausting! LOL
The rest of the LOTU characters hardly make an appearance as the whole book is taken over by the harpies – Gwen and her sisters. I was all set to give this book 1 Kiss when we find out that Torin (LOTU keeper of the demon, Disease) has found a very creative way to have a sexual relationship with none other than Cameo (female LOTU and keeper of the demon, Misery)!!! *faints*
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh6bxhsYoJ1qbgk6go1_500.jpg
This had me all in a tizzy and the small passages whetted my appetite to see more of Torin and Cameo’s relationship.
Another interesting (and small detail) was that someone is watching Aeron (keeper of the demon, Wrath). It seems to be an angel as his demon adoptive daughter, Legion, can’t be around him when this godly ‘presence’ is with Aeron.
But the principal savior of the book for me was an appearance by Anya at the end of the book. You’ll be at the edge of your seat when she, along with several LOTU warriors, go to Chicago in search of this ‘school’ where the Hunters have placed the supernatural children and try to rescue them.
I’m hoping the next book gets back on track and we go on the hunt for some artifacts! :)
Torin, keeper of Disease, sat at his desk, but he faced the door of his bedroom rather than the monitors that linked him to the outside world. He’d watched the SUVs pull into the driveway and had instantly grown hard. He’d watched the warriors emerge and had had to palm himself to assuage the sudden ache. Watched as one by one they’d entered the fortress. Any moment and—Cameo slipped quietly inside his chamber and shut the entrance with a soft snick. She flipped the lock, and for several ticks of the clock, kept her back to him. Long dark hair tumbled to her waist, curling at the ends.
Once, she’d allowed him to twirl a few of those ends around his gloveless finger, careful, so careful not to touch her skin. It had been his first true contact with a woman in hundreds of years. He’d almost come, just from the feel of those silky strands. But that small touch was all she’d permitted, all she could ever permit and all he could ever risk.
Actually, he was surprised they’d risked even that much. With his gloves on, sure. The chance of infecting her was nil. But tendrils against skin, silk against warmth, female against male? That required bravery and trust on her part and desperation and foolishness on his. Hair wasn’t skin, but what if he’d slipped? What if she’d fallen against him? For some reason, neither of them had been able to make the consequences matter.
Last time he’d touched a woman, an entire village had been wiped out. Black Plague, they’d called it. That’s what was inside him, swirling in his veins, laughing in his mind. For years afterward, Torin had scrubbed his skin until the black blood poured from him. Cleansing himself of the virus proved impossible, however. Over the ensuing centuries, he’d learned to suppress the constant feeling of being dirty, tainted, hiding it with smiles and wry humor, but never had he suppressed the longing for what he couldn’t have: companionship. Cameo, at least, understood him, knew what he was dealing with, what he could and could not do, and didn’t ask for more.
He wished she would ask for more, and he hated himself for it.
Slowly she turned to him. Her lips were red and wet, as if she’d been chewing them, and her cheeks were flushed to a dusty rose. Up and down her chest lifted and fell in quick, shallow pants. His own breath blistered his throat.
“We’re back,” she said on a wispy catch of breath.
He remained seated, arching a brow as if he hadn’t a care. “You’re unharmed?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Take off your clothes.”* * * * *
Rating:
gotta start this series
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