Read Our Lips! Book Review Blog: Review– The Darkest Secret (Lords of the Underworld #7) by Gena Showalter

Keeper of the demon of Secrets, Amun can manipulate the darkest thoughts of anyone nearby. But when the immortal warrior is 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 a 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:

Gena Showalter and I have something MAJOR in common. You guessed it! We are both huge germaphobes! LOL In past books of the Lords of the Underworld (LOTU) Series, she’s been dropping subtle hints, but in The Darkest Secret – Book 7 of the series – her phobia jumps to the forefront as mouthwash, toothpaste, a toothbrush, and a waterfall appear in a cave within hell out of thin air (or thin backpack LOL) whenever needed. I found it extremely funny, but at the same time, my germaphobic side was very thankful!
But I digress. . .

The Darkest Secret is Amun’s (the LOTU Keeper of the demon, Secrets) book. I was disappointed in the last book, The Darkest Lie, as the plotline where the LOTU are searching for the artifacts to find Pandora’s box was left on the side. I’m sad to say that The Darkest Secret is no different, *sad julie*. However, there are two great things going for it.

1) Gideon and Scarlett are nowhere in this book – THANK YOU! They are out on their honeymoon, and I hope it lasts 10 years LOL

2) There is a Happy Dose of William in this book that had me rolling in laughter. Loved it!

I’m obligated to say that sure this book was mostly Amun’s, but he wasn’t the reason I kept reading. In The Darkest Lie, Strider (LOTU Keeper of Defeat) brings back a prisoner, a female Hunter called Haidee (she goes thru several different name spellings). Strider recognizes her as having killed their friend, LOTU Baden – ages ago and takes her to their fortress to question why she’s still alive, since he remembers her being killed.

There’s a huge convoluted plot where Haidee thinks Amun is her boyfriend Micah, and in the confusion, the angels – who have taken over the fortress – realize Haidee keeps all the demons Amun trapped within himself (when he went with Aeron & William to hell and rescued Legion) at bay. The angel in charge – Zacharel – tells Amun that he needs to travel to hell, accompanied by Haidee in order to expel all his demons. How convenient :(

Amun and Haidee experience a lot of things along the course of their journey. But the only memorable thing about their storyline to me was how Haidee fights her attraction for Amun. She tells Amun she can’t start anything with him because *newsflash* she’s not cheater, and in order for her to be with him, she has to break things off with her boyfriend, Micah, first.

Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock, because kissing:

Making out while bathing:

and oral sex:

IS NOT CHEATING! (sign me up for that plan) LOL

But though that was the only memorable mention from the Amun/Haidee storyline, here are the storylines featured in The Darkest Secret I couldn’t get enough of.

William – who is hands down my favorite character in the series (followed by Anya, then Legion) gets a lot of time in the book and he had me in stitches. He’s on a road trip with Strider and Paris, on the search for Gilly’s parents so he can kill them for the abuse they put Gilly through. I’m hoping the next book features more of him. I just see his name and a huge smile comes over my face.

One very interesting tidbit was revealed when Amun and Haidee are in hell, they stumble across four new characters – the Horsemen of the Apocalypse – who were ‘created’ by William who (BRACE YOURSELVES) is actually Lucifer’s brother! *faints* What the . . .?

We also see William fighting his feelings for seventeen-year-old Gilly, but not because of her age, but because William’s been cursed! That’s right – it’s said that the woman he falls in love with will unleash every evil being he ever created and bring chaos to the world! No wonder he’s been keeping her at arm’s length! LOL I can’t wait to see where that storyline leads. More William please! :)
Strider (LOTU Keeper of Defeat) has acquired a new admirer – Kaia, (Harpy sister to Gwen and Bianka). It’s a challenging pair-up since Kaia had sex with Paris (LOTU Keeper of Promiscuity) and Strider can’t look past that! I can’t wait to see how things develop with them.
An extremely short mention is made of Sabin – who has been begging the Unspoken Ones to return the artifact Strider gave them in exchange for Haidee. Can’t wait to see how that turns out :)

I know I keep saying this of every book, but for the Love of God please get back on track and search for those artifacts! *smh* Okay, well if that isn’t possible, then just give me more of William, Anya, and Legion! Love them :)

NOW THIS IS THE SHIT, Strider thought with a slow grin. A few hours ago, Lucien had flashed him and William to Paris. The guy, not the city. Though the evening had only just begun, Paris had been well on his way to ambrosia intoxication, already laughing like a loon.

So rather than cart him off and start hunting Gilly’s parents to play a little game of slice and dice, as planned, and rather than leaving him behind in such a vulnerable condition, Strider and William had decided to take care of Paris— aka down a little ambrosia themselves— and head out as a unit in the morning. Brotherly love and all that.

The things I do for my friends. Not that Strider was intoxicated. He was the sober one. He reclined on a delightfully cushioned lounge in the sprawling ranch Paris had rented. In Dallas, Texas, of all places. Promiscuity had decked himself out, too, wearing a Stetson (weird), no shirt (understandable), unfastened jeans (smart) and cowboy boots (weird again). Dude looked ready to rustle cattle or something.

At least the girls Paris had invited to party with him were more sensible. They wore bikinis. Best of all, as the girls swam in the moon- and- lamplit pool, laughing, playing, Strider was reminded that he’d always preferred females with big boobs and lots of makeup. He was able to forget all about only- a- handful Haidee and how lovely and delicate she’d looked in Amun’s arms. Arms that should have been his. But whatever.

“I call dibs on the topless one,” William said from Strider’s left, throwing back his ambrosia- laced beer. “And the one wearing dental floss.” He’d changed his mind five times in the past ten minutes. As of now, he had dibs on every single female in sight.

“That’s a thong, moron,” Paris slurred from Strider’s right.

They reclined in lounges, too, the only cocks within miles of this little henhouse. The girls were in front of them, some using the concrete rim around the hourglass pool as a dance floor. Gods love this modern era, because the females weren’t afraid to grind on each other.

“If the thing riding up her ass is a thong, whatdya call that string across her nipples?” William countered.

“A string,” Paris said, then nodded as if confirming his own genius. “And by the way, I get first pick since I rounded ’em up and brought ’em here, and I call dibs on the topless one.”

“Where’d you get ’em, anyway?” Strider asked. Funny. His own words were slurred.

“Strip club downtown,” Paris replied, finishing off his latest bottle of jack. “Throw enough money around and you can have anything you want. Except, maybe, fried Twinkies. I can’t find those anywhere.”

William tapped two fingers against his chin. “You had any of ’em before?”

“Fried Twinkies?” Paris nodded. “Only once, but I’ve never forgotten the experience. It’s like heaven in your mouth, man.”

“Fried— Paris, you dumb bastard.” Exasperated, William shook his head. “I meant the women.”

Exasperated himself, Paris splayed his arms. “How would I know whether or not the women have had a fried Twinkie? I only just met them.”

“Dear gods.” William pinched the bridge of his nose. “Have you. Slept with. One of. The women. Before?”

“Oh. Sure, I have. And shit. Why didn’t you say that to begin with?”

“Finally,” William said. “We get somewhere. Who?” Because of his straight-up awesome demon, Paris couldn’t screw the same woman twice. Sure, he weakened unbearably if he failed to roll around in the sheets at least once a day, but that was a small price to pay for unlimited nookie.

“Like I remember,” Paris replied.

“Your cock always remembers.”

“Well, we’re currently not speaking, so... ”

“And we come to yet another dead end.” William’s sigh was somehow as wry as his tone. “You’re just gonna have to take who I give you and deal.”

“Like anyone would pick you over me.”

William blustered over the insult. “You just wait and see. I’ll have every single one of them eating out of my hand.”

“Only if you find one of those delicious fried Twinkies,” Paris snapped.

Strider rolled his eyes. Egotistical morons. Anyone with a set of eyes could see that Strider was the pretty one in their little threesome. His demon immediately recognized the challenge and stretched, gearing up to do whatever was necessary to ensure that statement was true. Win? Down, boy. He didn’t need the hassle tonight.

“Hey, William,” a beautiful blonde frolicking in the water called. “You said you wanted to taste me when I got wet. Well, I’m very, very wet,” she ended with husky entreaty. “Come taste me.”

“You’re not quite wet enough, honey bun. Keep playing, and I’ll let you know when you’re ready.” For all his own dib- calling the past few hours, William hadn’t touched a single female yet.

Strider had, though. He’d already taken the one with blue streaks in her sandy- colored hair upstairs. For forty- five minutes he’d unleashed his sexual needs on her willing body, making her moan and scream and writhe. He’d even made her beg. Clearly, he’d been the best she’d ever had.

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