Review: The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld #5) by Gena Showalter

 

For weeks, the immortal warrior Aeron has sensed an invisible female presence. An angel--demon-assassin--has been sent to kill him. Or has she? Olivia claims she fell from the heavens, giving up immortality because she couldn't bear to harm him. But trusting--and falling for--Olivia will endanger them all. So how has this "mortal" with the huge blue eyes already unleashed Aeron's darkest passion?

Now, with an enemy hot on his trail and his faithful demon companion determined to remove Olivia from his life, Aeron is trapped between duty and consuming desire. Worse still, a new executioner has been sent to do the job Olivia wouldn't....

My Review:

Since reading the last installment of the Lord of the Underworld series, The Darkest Angel, I began reading The Darkest Passion in a similar state to this:

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What did Lysander, the angel, mean when he said he knew what Ashlyn was carrying in her womb and he hoped they were prepared for what was to come? *feels faint*

I tried to quickly read through the pages, desperate to find out what was going on! But I quickly gave into my impatience and searched my e-book until I found this:

"They are strong, your twins," she said, knowing mothers welcomed such news. "Fire and ice. You'll have your hands full, keeping them out of trouble, but you'll be happier for it."

Twins? *staggers around and faints* Good Lord, Ashlyn and Maddox are going to have their hands full! Good thing there’s so many available hands so they can all help with baby duty :)  My curiosity sated, I was just about to start reading the book from the beginning, when my eyes ventured for a bit further and found this:

 

How much to tell her? Only enough to calm her, perhaps. "No. You're progressing slowly. Your children are immortal and require a much longer gestation. But don't worry. As you promised me, I now promise you. Both your son and your daughter are healthy."

So happy that the babies are immortal, but a longer gestation? NOOOOO! Good Lord that means I’ll have to wait FOREVER to finally see the babies born *sad Julie*. With a heavy heart, I went back to page 1 and began reading, The Darkest Passion.

 

In The Darkest Passion, we’re shown how Aeron, the keeper of the demon, Wrath, meets his soul mate. From previous books, we’re told the High Council in Heaven has mandated that Aeron must be put to death for breaking a law (taking Legion out of hell) and Olivia, a Joy-Bringing Angel, is promoted to a Warrior Angel and entrusted to carry out this mandate.

However, instead of killing Aeron, Olivia has spent her time observing him and unexpectedly falls in lust with him. She refuses to carry out her orders and gives up everything for Aeron – whom she’s never even talked to before. As punishment, Olivia is cast out of heaven and is thrown to hell where demons quickly attack her, break off her wings, and abuse her.

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Somehow, Olivia fights her way through them and crawls her way out of hell, ending up in Aeron’s home in Budapest. She tells Aeron who she is and what she’s done for him, telling him:

"I watched you," she continued, "as well as those around you, and I...ached. I wanted you, and I wanted what they had--freedom and love and fun. I wanted to play. I wanted to kiss and to touch. I wanted joy of my own." Her gaze met his, bleak, broken. "In the end, I had a choice. Fall...or kill you. I decided to fall. So here I am. Yours."

Aeron is a bit put off by Olivia’s stalker noble sacrifice, but he quickly feels an irresistible pull towards the fallen angel. For the first time, his demon purrs like a kitty around a female and Aeron can’t help but fall hard for Olivia.

But The Darkest Passion is not all about the enfolding lust romance between Olivia and Aeron. It also has several subplots in it.

1) We FINALLY have some movement in the search for artifacts and discover some new players in the game – The Unspoken Ones – fearsome beings who are imprisoned by Cronus. They promise The Hunters as well as the LOTU they will tell them the location of the remaining artifact/s to whoever brings them Cronus’ head first and releases them from their imprisonment.

2) There’s LOTS going on with Galen. First, he’s managed to merge the demon, Distrust (who used to be hosted by the deceased LOTU, Baden) into another person. That means the LOTU are now free game and can be killed as their demons can just be implanted in different hosts.

Galen also (somehow) finds the Cloak of Invisibility. We also learn that just like the LOTU are being helped by the king god, Cronus, Galen and The Hunters are being aided by the queen god, Rhea (Cronus’ wife who seriously hates her husband).

3) There’s an in depth introspect on Strider’s (keeper of the demon, Defeat) life and past loves. I guess that means his turn is coming up to be featured in his own book? 

4) Gideon, keeper of the demon, Lies, is slowly recovering from the torture session he endured by the Hunters who amputated his hands. He wakes up and approaches a new character named Scarlett (a female LOTU who is keeper of the demon, Nightmares) who is currently being imprisoned by the LOTU, but we don’t hear much from her. You’ll be surprised to find out the connection these two share!

5) Legion is transformed in this book, as she makes a pact with Lucifer so she can win Aeron’s heart. It’s quite funny and heartbreaking to see her fight with Olivia – the stupid angel – as Legion calls her. LOL I was kinda rooting for Legion – too bad Aeron only saw her as a daughter.

6) William – who is so hilarious – gets a new love interest in Gilly – Danika’s young friend. But the legendary Lothario does his best to stay away from young Gilly, not only because of her abusive past, but because Gilly’s under 18. We’ll have to see how long that lasts! LOL

7) We hear back from Sienna – the girl Paris had fallen for – who’s still looming in the background. Hope she makes it to the foreground soon. Poor Paris! ;)

There was SO MUCH going on in this book, it was hard to keep all the storylines in place. I’m pretty sure I’ve forgotten someone, but those are the main ones that come to mind at the moment.

In summary, I enjoyed the love triangle with Olivia, Legion, and Aeron. It was funny and heartbreaking in places, and for some reason I found myself rooting for Legion. Can’t help betting on the underdog – or in this case, the under-demon LOL

I didn’t really like Olivia and she was all over the place with rollercoaster emotions. It was hard to get a hold on her character – sometimes she was crying, then she was super horny, then she’d do something unexpected like spike Legion’s drink to make her pass out. Olivia was just all over the place and giving my girl, Legion, a hard time :(

Speaking of Legion, she completely steals the show (or book) for me in The Darkest Passion. It was hilarious to read her interaction with Galen – whom she decides to take down on her own by acting as Bait and entrapping him with her new body. It was the best part of the book – in my opinion! Certainly lifted my spirits as one LOTU gets killed *sniff sniff* by Lysander. Wonder how Bianka will react to that! LOL

But at least we find out there is a LOTU heaven that Zeus ‘created’ just for them. We meet up with Pandora and Baden in a very funny and heartfelt scene. But never fear – the ending is a happy one – for mostly everyone. Book 6, The Darkest Lie promises to set all the wrong to right, so I’m off to read! Enjoy the excerpt with Legion acting as Bait to Galen :)

 

FINALLY, LEGION FOUND GALEN. He was in a dingy pub in London. She'd been flashing all over the place, from Buda to Belgium to the Netherlands, and now London. The coward had flown himself here and was nursing a glass of whiskey in a shadowed corner. She could smell the ambrosia he'd already consumed; she recognized the sweet scent because Paris always smelled like that, and she knew Galen would be drunk very soon. She had only to wait.

She was too impatient to wait.

Her gaze raked over her own body. She still wore that T-shirt and jeans. They were plain but clean. And though they weren't revealing, her breasts were so large they stretched the material. Several men had noticed her already and whistled as she strolled by. Outwardly, she'd paid them no heed. Inwardly, she'd thrilled at being viewed as something other than ugly, disgusting or at best, something to be tolerated.

She stopped at Galen's table, and he looked up through the dark shield of his lashes. "Go away."

Steady. Instinct demanded she attack first and ask questions later. Resist. Galen delighted in tricking the Lords, in sending Bait to distract them before acting. Today, she would be their Bait.

"You're beautiful," she said, and he was. With his pale hair and pale blue eyes, with his flawless features and sensual mouth, he was every
woman's fantasy. But he'd helped destroy her Aeron's life, and for that he would pay. "I want you." Dead, but she didn't add that part.

He arched a brow. "Of course you do. You can't help yourself. None of you can." He almost sounded...upset by that. "Here's a little news flash for you. No matter what I make you feel, hopeful for a future, a wedding, babies, you're not going to get it from me." There at the end, he'd been sneering. He drained the rest of his drink. "Now go away like I told you. I came here for peace and quiet."

He was the second man to turn her away since her transformation. She couldn't help herself; she slapped him. His head whipped to the side, and a trickle of blood formed at the corner of his mouth. Guess I'm stronger than I thought, she mused smugly. Good.

When he faced her this next time, his expression was lit with interest. "Why did you do that?"

"Perhaps you didn't hear me when I said I wanted you."

"And you thought slapping me would win me over?"

"You're still here, aren't you?"

He studied her before moving his gaze across the bar. "So where do you want me?"

"Bathroom." No witnesses. Not for what she had planned. "And by the way. I don't want to wed you and I don't want your babies. We're gonna have sex, and you're gonna like it."

"Forceful little thing, aren't you?"

"You have no idea. So we doing this or not?"

Those lush lips twitched. "Let me get this straight. We're going to the bathroom, and I'm going to fuck you, and you don't even care to know my name?"

"I'd actually prefer it if you'd keep your stupid mouth closed." Oops. Her hatred was slipping out.

"Well, well. You might just be my soul mate." He was on his feet a second later, his chair skidding over the sticky floor. He didn't say another word as he kicked into motion, arm snaking around her waist and pulling her along with him.

There was a woman in the bathroom, washing her hands, and Galen pushed her out without preamble.

"Hey," the girl cried in irritation. She softened as her gaze raked him. "Hey." Sultry now.

"Stay out or die," he told her flatly. And then he slammed the door closed and whipped around to face Legion.

She trembled, she just couldn't help herself. There was so much heat in his eyes she was momentarily shocked stupid. It was what she'd wanted from Aeron. What she might never get.

One step, two, he approached her. She backed away. Attack now. Kill him. But she didn't.

"Scared?" he asked silkily. "You should be."

She raised her chin, looked behind her--and saw the counter and the mirror. Her reflection stunned her. The fall of golden hair, just begging for a man's hands. The wide, dark eyes so filled with longing. Longing? She wanted him? Him? How could she want Hope? He was her enemy. He was Aeron's enemy.

Strong hands banded around her waist and hefted her up. She gasped as she returned her focus to him. He was already working the button of her jeans. That button gave easily and then he was jerking them off her legs.

He chuckled. "No panties. You are eager for me."

His amusement irritated her--even as it spiced her desire up another notch. That wasn't because of him, she told herself. She refused to believe so. She'd wanted to have sex; that was one of the reasons she'd bargained for this body. She'd expected it to be with Aeron, though.Yet he might never want her that way. Not really.

"Who said I was eager for you? You're beautiful, yeah, but you're just a substitute for someone else." Truth. A truth she liked. She could use him.

Have the sex she wanted and then kill him.

Galen's eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "Is that right?"

"There you go, talking again. I thought I told you how much I hated that."

"You're the one who better watch her mouth." With a growl, he ripped off her shirt. She wasn't wearing a bra, either. He didn't ask for permission, but leaned forward and sucked a nipple into his mouth. A mouth that was hot as fire and had her moaning. In pleasure. This was...wonderful.

Yes. Yes, she'd have the sex she wanted. It would distract him so that she could more easily go in for the kill. That was all the rationale she needed to spread her legs and jerk him into her. His pants-clad erection hit her sweet spot, and she cried out.

Wonderful was not the word to describe that. Perfection was. How much better would it have been with Aeron, then? Aeron. She didn't want to
think about him right now. She only wanted to feel.

"More," she found herself commanding. She arched into him, rubbing herself against him. Her skin was sensitized and only growing more so. There was an ache inside her, a heat like the one she'd seen in his eyes. Both were building.

"Don't even want foreplay?" Galen worked at his pants, freeing his erection. It was big. So deliciously big. Demons often had sex while in hell--with each other, the damned souls--so she knew big was preferred and small ridiculed.

"What's foreplay?" Truly. She had no clue.

He chuckled again. "I like you, female. I really do."

 

Rating: