Wednesday, December 25, 2013

The Darkest Passion (Lords of the Underworld #5) [Aeron & Olivia] by Gena Showalter

This is the 5th book in the Lords of the Underworld series this one telling the story of the tattooed Aeron keeper of Wrath and Olivia the [Fallen] Angel. 

Aeron has always been the guy who saves others, taking care of others, he was never one to show his feelings or his weaknesses. So when Olivia first "appears" meaning, when her presence is known to him he does his best to threaten her since her presence inflict pain upon Legion the she-demon who followed him when he was chained near hell and has become not only his comfort but he also considers her family, like the daughter he never had (and will never have).

Olivia was a Joy Bringing Angel, she loved her job and wasn't that excited to find out that she was "upgraded" to a Warrior Angel (by the request of her mentor Lasyter whom we met on the previous Novella - The Darkest Angel). Her first mission as a Warrior Angel is to kill Aeron who broke the law by freeing Legion from hell. he didn't know he did that but as it seems they formed a bond between them enabling her to free hell and be wherever he is. Olivia has been intrigued by the Lords of the Underworld which is why she was given this task, but she cannot do it since ever since she started following Aeron she felt connected to him and didn't want to do him any harm (translation - she fell deeply in love with him but at that point she wouldn't have admited it).

Since she refused to kill him she was cast down from heaven into hell, her wings got torn by demons (who also tortured her for a while) until she dug herself out and presented herself to Aeron who didn't know what to do with her - besides telling her (again and again and again) GO. He can't bring himself to getting attached to her. what more Lasyter (which turns out to be the biggest jerk on the series - yes, including Galen - at least he is true to himself, who he is, what he wants for himself and for others) makes a deal with him that he will show Olivia that being mortal is not worth it so she will return to Heaven and for that "help" he would petition the council to bargain for his live. Not that I believed one word that ass of Lasyter told Aeron.. 

Little by little Aeron falls for Olivia and she is lost in her obsession to have him which at times I found pathetic..  there is a thin line between being a strong woman who knows what or who she wants and willing to do what needs to be done to get him and a pathetic woman who embarrasses herself so the guy will notice her.. in my mind Olivia crossed that line.. I really didn't see what he found in her.. and what she found for him might have been worth it.. but that's no excuse because by then he already fell in love with her (I'm not writing what it is since it will be a HUGE spoiler, just saying she does him and the guys a bit "favor").

To top all this mess Legion does a REALLY stupid pact with the devil which shows two things: (1) she is dumb. SO unbelievably dumb! (2) She doesn't care about anyone except for herself (yes, that means she cares little for Aeron, at least that's how I see it). The whole deal is SO off I don't know what she thought and she behave litteraly like a child - like Aeron sees her. It's amazing she doesn't give a shit about his friends which he valued highly - he would gladly die for them and she would gladly kill them if they got in her way. I used to like her, I did, but in this book every scene she was on I just wishes someone would take her head off.. that not to mention the stupid thing she did near the end when she decided to help Aeron (for ONCE in her miserable life) and what she did was.. I have no words. NO WORDS.

This book gets 4 stars because I LOVE AERON and just feel sorry for him the women he is surrounded by. It was really sweet the meeting he had in the last chapter of the book. It brought a sort of sad smile to my face and I was sorry there wasn't another chapter (or an epilogue) showing what happens next. I have the next book waiting for me but if I wouldn't have I think I would have been a bit bummed that this is the way it ends. 

We have a sub plot with Strider who I think we haven't had as a POV before and if we did it was a small part, here we see him a bit more and have a really nice story of him and a guy named Dominic. I loved how it ended.

We get a "reunion" between Scarlet the keeper of Nightmare and Gideon. In the previous book he wishes he would have meet someone possessed by Nightmares and here we are - he actually meets her! But the little she agrees to tell him drops him from his feet. Next book will be his so I'm really looking forward to learning about the two of them. 

In the end of the book there is a reference to Sienna, the woman Paris is obsessed about. I wonder if we'll get to meet her again before his book or not. It was kinda strange actually. wasn't sure if I got why what happened needed to happen that way...

Also we get another artifact.Bringing us closer to finding the box and we also learned more about what can be done with it (for the better and for worse).

All in all it was an OK book in the series. I already love the warriors and their women and love the setting. I think we had the action we needed and more about the stupid obsessive hunters, more about the Titan and Galen, but the main romance between Aeron and Olivia, paired with Legion? so and so


Additional Details: Kindle Ebook, 443 pages, 22-24 December 2013 / On GoodReads
 
 
ABOUT THE MC
 
Aeron / Wrath [BUDAPEST CONTINGENT]
Height: 6'6'' 
Hair: Military-cropped, brown
Eyes: Violet
Butterfly tattoo: Middle of back
Other distinguishing marks: A pair of black gossamer wings hidden by slits in his back when not in use. Face and body are covered with tattoos of war scenes, weaponry and the demon’s victims. Two eyebrow rings.
Preferred weapon: Subject does not discriminate and embraces any weapon at his disposal.
Demon culpability: Wrath ostensibly preys only on victims it considers deserving of punishment. However, this pretense of meting out “justice” is clearly the demon’s twisted attempt to rationalize its killing sprees and evil deeds so it can continue to cause harm without consequences.
Notable background: Subject was taken over by bloodlust due to a curse of unknown origins and nearly killed human female Danika Ford in addition to her maternal grandmother, mother and older sister. Though the bloodlust seems to have passed, subject continues to be considered a menace to society.
Achilles heel: Subject views himself as godlike and humans as fragile and beneath him; however, his current determination to repay his fellow demon Paris for deeds unknown might prove a weak spot to be exploited. Subject is also devoted to the female demon minion Legion and has sworn to protect her from harm. Additionally, subject appears to be having apparent hallucinations that an invisible presence is spying on him.
Objective: Use subject’s devotion to fellow Lords and the minion Legion against him. Recon team is also determining ways to turn his hallucinations to the Hunters’ advantage.
 
ABOUT THIS SERIES
 
Lords of the Underworld is a Paranormal Romance series by Gena Showalter which follows 12 warriors who carry inside them a demon. The warriors are "good" or rather, they aren't bad, but the demon they carry inside of them does it's best to try and do evil through them. In the past, when the warriors were just given the demons they couldn't control them but now most of them just want to live their lives in the peace they can have.  

In each book one of the warriors finds his HEA. Every woman has a special ability or have some special connection to the world around them. 

There is a global plot continuing as each book progressed. First there are the gods. This series uses both the Greek Gods as well as the Titans but there are more supernatural being out there (like Angels who appear in the spin-off series). Second there are "The Hunters" who try to destroy the warriors, blaming them for the troubles of the world (in their eyes committed through the demons that live inside them).

The world building of this series is amazing. There is a lot to learn about the powers that keeps the world at his balance. As the series progressed we learn more and more about them and the spin off series "Angles of the Dark" gives another angle of what happens in the heavens. 

NOTE - I stopped reading this series in the 11th installment. Up until this book this series was one of my favorites, but since that book was HORRIBLE I decided not to continue on. Later on there was a HUGE issue with the author with a rather strange decision in changing a promised and much anticipated coupling.
 
Books:
0.5 The Darkest Fire [Geryon & Kadence] (published 1 April 2008) ★★★★
1. The Darkest Night [Maddox & Ashlyn] (published 3 May 2008) ★★★★★
2. The Darkest Kiss [Lucien & Anya] (published 1 June 2008) ★★★★★
3. The Darkest Pleasure [Reyes & Danika] (published 1 July 2008) ★★★★★
3.5 The Darkest Prison [Atlas & Nike](published 14 July 2009) ★★★★★
4. The Darkest Whisper [Sabin & Gwen] (published 1 September 2009) ★★★★½
4.5 The Darkest Angel (in Heart of Darkness) [Lysander & Bianca] (published 22 December 2009) ★★★★★
--- The Darkest Facts (published 1 May 2010) ★★★★★
5. The Darkest Passion [Aeron & Olivia] (published 21 May 2010) ★★★★
6. The Darkest Lie [Gideon & Scarlet] (published 2 July 2010) ★★★★★
7. The Darkest Secret [Amun & Haidee] (published 29 March 2011) ★★★★★
8. The Darkest Surrender [Strider & Kaia] (published 27 September 2011) ★★★
9. The Darkest Seduction [Paris & Seinna] (published 28 February 2012) ★★★★★
10. The Darkest Craving [Kane & Josephina] (published 30 July 2013) ★★★★★
11. The Darkest Touch [Torin & Keeley Cael "The Red Queen"] (published 25 November 2014) ½★ (DNF 55%)

 

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