Darker Than Night

I felt this book was not as action packed as the previous two, but I thought Lenox did a great job building up the relationship between the hero and heroine. Selene was not a very likable character in the first book. She tried her best to sabotage the relationship and her fetish with venomous snakes was a bit distracting. Then there was the eating pages from books. I truly did not know how Lenox was going to manipulate the text to put Selene in a more favorable light for the readers. Yet, she did. Lenox brought out the inner beauty of the character and showed (not told...authors totally ruin things when they tell and not show) us her background and reasons for her quirkiness. Roarke was a prefect addition to the storyline. His background about his previous life and having to overcome it sound very heartfelt. Also, the mystery to solve in the story really kept the pace of the story going. I highly recommend this series.

Even trapped in a forced sleep to hold off her Transcendence, Selene's mere presence in the Raven's Tower of London sanctuary haunts Roarke, master of the Shadow Guard warriors. But when Selene is given a vaccine that hopefully will prove to be a cure to that dire fate, Roarke is not at all prepared to face the temptation Selene presents when she awakes. And Roarke's ancient vow, born of guilt and sorrow related to his past, will be sorely tested when the pair are isolated at Roarke's no-wheres-ville castle while Shadow Guard ruling council tries to determine if Selene is guilty of two murders and while they wait to see whether the vaccine will fail and Selene will turn into a monster. I can say that I really did not at all like Selene in the previous books, but I thought that Lenox did a good job with Selene here - much as Mark improved from the first book to the second. As side effect of the vaccine Selene's Shadow Guard powers are in hiding and Selene laments the loss of the advantages she had taken for granted: power, strength and healing and this return to mortality puts Selene back in touch with her humanity. Also Selene's back story and the reason for her fear of attachments, serve to give her a sympathetic vulnerability. Selene even has moments when she's nice *gasp* and much of the oddness and cattiness which made Selene so unlikable in the past are left behind. The romance in Darker than Night, for the most part, builds nicely between Selene and Roarke. Roarke struggles to keep to his vow of eternal misery, however he is having a difficult time fighting his centuries old attraction to Selene and Roarke has to keep remembering to distance himself each time he forgets and succumbs to the temptation Selene embodies. Roarke's internal struggle adds a few odd hitches to the romance- the most pronounced, ends a really steamy scene on an unpleasant note and another minor nit, Roarke's decision to finally let go of the past didn't feel well motivated to me. While I liked the romance, the back ground story in Darker than night is sort of tacked on to the end, our H/H are clueless as to the enemy lurking nearby, and the whole thing ends with a rushed resolution to the series arc of the past three book that I found less than satisfying. However nits aside, the book delivered a nice bit of steam and some cameos from past characters - Leeson being my favorite - so I still enjoyed Darker Than Night.

Rourke, Lord Avenage, is the immortal Ravenmaster of England and, for centuries, he's been attracted to the bewitching immortal warrior Selene, daughter of Cleopatra. In the last installment of Kim Lenox's Shadow Guard series, Selene, who is one of the guards, sacrificed herself to save the people of London, risking a descent into madness. Now she's under surveillance. She's accused of murdering a helpless prostitute and one of Rourke's ravens, and Rouke is her keeper. From the haunting opening night travels to Queen Victoria's garden party (where we meet the Grande Dame herself), to the gothic castle that the couple retreats to, the connection between them builds. Selene is an assertive and dangerous seductress and a truly unique heroine. She's an eccentric creature who keeps deadly snakes as pets and devours curls of paper from novels. But for the first time in her existence, she's vulnerable. Rourke knows he shouldn't take advantage of the situation, but when a rival for Selene's attention arrives, Rourke can't help being jealous or resist the urge to stake his claim on her. Unfortunately, a dark past makes it almost impossible for him to give himself over to love. And the danger from the other world is drawing nearer. A dark nemesis is on the rise. With characteristic suspenseful and evocative writing, Kim Lenox brings us another fascinating tale that's both romantic and chilling. This terrific historical paranormal is one you won't want to miss!

Shadow Guards' Ravenmaster Lord Avenage attends the Queen's tea party to obtain royal permission to remove sleeping Shadow Guard Countess Selene from the tower. Rourke's explanation to Her Highness is that his unit lacks the manpower to guard Selene, the only female member, and contend with Tantalus. Knowing she was put to sleep purposely so she would lose her sanity, Rourke conceals his agenda from the Queen as he has been dreaming of the woman, who sacrificed so much for London. The queen and her council agree to have Rourke personally guard Selene, daughter of Cleopatra and a Shadow Guard while Lady Black plans to awaken her and use a vaccine that should control the evil lurking inside her "patient". The plan goes astray when Selene awakens holding a bloody knife while a corpse lies nearby. As she panics that the evil has taken over her, Rourke calms her down and escorts her to the council where she will be interrogated to determine her mental state and whether Lord Avenage can control her. The latest Shadows Guards' thriller (see Night Falls Darkly and So Still the Night) is an enjoyable romantic fantasy as a doubting Rourke, in spite of eight centuries as an immortal, is unsure he does the right thing when it comes to the woman haunting his dreams. Fast-paced throughout readers will enjoy the tale of the two Guards as the hero wonders who is the one threatened by madness and the heroine sees his look at her as hesitation re evil killer or eternal love. The Lenox mythology burns brighter though it remains Darker than Night. Harriet Klausner