The Darkest Pleasure

The keeper of pain definitely deserved some love♡

You will love this book. If you are a fan of Black Dagger Brotherhood or Midnight Breed Series then you will really love these books too! With a whole new spin on things you will fall in love with this series!

When her first book came out, one reviewer said this series was J.R. Ward rip-off. I guess the person was referring to the tortured hero and the heroine who sets him free. If that's the case, I could list a lot more books that fit that description. This is romance and most in this genre follow a formula. Over the years, I've read a ton of books in this field. I usually don't favor one sub-genre over the other. I search for something particular in each book and originality isn't it. I look for that emotional pull that is so strong, the reader can feel it physically. If the book is part of a series, I also judge how the author blends in other characters without distracting from the hero and heroine or the story itself. In my opinion, not all authors are able to pull this off. Not only does Showalter do both, but she does it with a masterfully. The three books in her Lords of the Underworld series are THE DARKEST NIGHT, THE DARKEST KISS, and THE DARKEST PLEASURE. Most the time, readers can skip around in sequence - not so with this one. Each book builds on the last, so read them in order.

Gena Showalter just keeps on getting better and better with her extraordinary Lords of the Underworld paranormal series for HQN in Book #3, THE DARKEST PLEASURE (July 2008). In the Lords Of the Underworld's Budapest fortress, Reyes is always hurting himself since Pain is his constant companion. Centuries ago, Reyes and his fellow immortal warriors let all the demons of the world out of Pandora's Box and Reyes ended up being the Keeper of Pain. In Los Angeles, Danika Ford is in disguise, broke and working at a greasy diner to try to escape the Lords, who had previously kidnapped her, her sister, mother and grandmother in Budapest and then let them go. However, Aeron, the Keeper of Wrath, has been ordered by Cronus, the King of the Gods, to kill them because they might know too much. So Danika and her relatives were forced to split up and flee for their lives. Meanwhile, Reyes, who is enamored of Danika, has imprisoned Aeron so he will not murder her. Unfortunately the Lords aren't the only ones who are after Danika, since the evil Hunters want to find her to help them destroy the Lords. When Reyes hears the Hunters have captured Danika he goes to her rescue, kills some Hunters and brings her back to Budapest. Unbelievably Danika seems to have a calming effect on his Demon Pain. The only problem is Reyes can't make love without there being pain involved because his demon finds it pleasurable. In the meantime, the other Lords are out searching the globe for the three remaining artifacts: the All-seeing Eye, the Cloak of Invisibility and the Paring Rod, they need to find Pandora's Box that will put an end to their demon curses. Will Danika be able to save her family and still remain with Reyes and what about her strange visions and paintings she creates? And poor Paris, Keeper of Promiscuity, who has made love to countless women but is pining for the only one who has ever rejected him and is lost to him forever? THE DARKEST PLEASURE is the ultimate pleasurable paranormal romance not only for its amazingly clever plot twists, its delightfully witty dialogue but also for its infinitely touching love story between the dark tortured, Reyes and the angelic feisty, Danika, who's finally able to tame him and his inner demon!

Great as a continuation of the series. Great on its own. Look forward to the next book........So far I have liked all 3 books in the series.

At the beginning of the series I was a little let down by the Darkest Night, but I have to say the last two books have been absolutely amazing. I think The Darkest Pleasure is my favorite book in this series, the level of detail is great and in the end everything really pulls together. All I have to say is keep them coming and it is going to be painful to wait till May 09' for the next book. Oh well...I will just have to read Acheron a hundred times till then.