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India Press Store - The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld, Book 1)
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List Price: $6.99
Our Price: $3.16
Your Save: $ 3.83 ( 55% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: HQN Books
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780373772469
ISBN: 0373772467
Label: HQN Books
Manufacturer: HQN Books
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 384
Publication Date: 2008-05-01
Publisher: HQN Books
Studio: HQN Books
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Paranormal Romance
Comment: All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member - a man trapped in a hell of his own.
Details:
The Lords of the Underworld carry with-in them the demons from Pandora's box. Violence, Death, Wrath, Disease, and so on. The reason they are burdened to carried these demons inside them is that they foolishly slain Pandora and then released the demons onto the Earth thousands of years ago, the God's in returned cursed each of them.
Maddox harbors Violence and not only does he have to continuously attempt to control a seething blood thirsty demon in his soul he also happens to be the Lord of the Underworld who dealt the death blow to Pandora - because of this he has a added curse, to die every night at midnight for eternity the way Pandora did - stabbed 6 times in the chest. He lives a life of solitude with some of his brethren in the hills of Hungary, outside of Budapest. He seldom goes into town because of fear of his own temper and the death curse. Occasionally, Paris - the Lord who harbors the demon Promiscuity brings a female caller for Maddox, who he takes in the woods on all fours, desperately afraid to prolong the act or linger to long because of Violence.
Ashlyn hears voices, voices from the past. Any where and every where she goes, its driving her mad. She comes to Budapest on business for a institute that studies the paranormal. She hears the voices, voices thru the ages describing the immortals that live in the castle outside of the city. She hears that they may cure or help people - that they are possibly Angles. Out of desperation she decides to journey to the castle spontaneously. Night descends on her and its winter - terribly cold.
Meanwhile Maddox and only one other Lord (Disease) are at home. Disease sees on the cameras rig outside the figure of a women climbing the hill to the castle. Maddox decides that it is best he go outside to either save the female from the cold or figure out if she could be "Bait". Bait (women) used by "Hunters" the enemies of the Lords who seek to rid the world of all evil, and believe that the Lords are pure evil and should be removed from Earth by any means.
When Maddox comes across Ashylen he is immediately intrigued, one because he only sees a women every couple of years and two she seems to be totally blissful next to him. Not afraid, not disgusted. She clings to him because only at his side do the voices stop. Unwilling to kill or harm her he brings her to the castle where she unfortunately witnesses his death.
Maddox and Ashlyn are then trust into a unexplainable world where nothing makes since for either of them. For every reason that they should separate there is every reason why they shouldn't. Meanwhile the war wages on with the Hunters and they are caught in the middle.
Great characters, great ideas, unique. After reading this book you immediately want to know more about the other Lords - this series keeps you wanting. Its also not your typical story - the Pandora's box twist is awesome!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great, but I wish there was more
Comment: I enjoyed this book very much. I like the idea of having demons inside people, and I enjoyed reading the story behind how they got there. The hunter aspect and the paranormal company described was interesting, but there wasn't enough of that. For once I was so interested in the story that I skipped over the romance. I knew there was chemistry, I knew people would get together, but all I wanted to find out was about demons and hunters and gods. So my opinion is that this book would be much better as a fantasy story than as a romance. I enjoyed this book and will continue to read the series, even if the stories are romance novels with a bit of an interesting plot.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An Average Start to a Good Series
Comment: This is a good series for someone looking to read a different kind of paranormal romance, one thats hot and engaging.
That being said this is not the best of the bunch. It has wonderful portions...and really annoying ones.
The Plot:
The Lord of the Underworld are men cursed to house demons within themselves. Maddox is the keeper of violence. He is also cursed to die a painful death each night only to be resurrected each morning. Ashlyn is a woman with a psychic ability-she can her the conversations that took place in an area in the past. She works for an institution that studies paranormal creatures. But her gift causes her great pain-she cannot tune out the voices. Than she meets Maddox and finds that his touch can offer her much needed silence-and well as untold passion.
The Best Stuff:
The plot, the ideas, and the world. The use of Greek mythology is clever and entertaining. The other characters that are introduced are also captivating.
I was not wholly in love with either main character, but their romance is hot. There are times when you really feel for them.
The Weaknesses:
Ashlyn is a difficult character to relate to. She isn't at all strong or independent when the story begins, and not much about that changes.
Maddox is just flat out scary, and not always in a good way. I'm not actually sure at any point why Ashlyn loves him, though their feelings for one another are quite apparent.
I found this book alone to be average, but the series as a whole is well above average. I would recommend it to anyone who likes violence, fantasy, and unconventional romance.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Butterfly men?
Comment: Every main character in this series has some theme that makes them totally screwed and screwed up, it's fantastically interesting. Aside from that, the men are dyed, scared, and pierced...Actually leading men I could be attracted to!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Immortal and really sexy
Comment: Immortal and really sexy, the elite warriors of the Greek Gods are jealous. Jealous of Pandora who has been appointed guardian of the dimOuniak, a box carved from the bones of a goddess. This box was created to house the foulest of demons from hell. To show their displeasure with this choice they decide to open Pandora's box. Good Idea? Not really. But like they say, hindsight is 20/20.
So as expected the demons wreak a whole lot of havoc on Earth and as any good series that includes a Greek God or two, it is damning time! The box has disappeared and as punishment, the warriors get the pleasure of becoming the new homes for the demons. Maddox unable to control his demon "Violence" kills Pandora in a fit of rage, which makes him the lucky winner of curse number two. At midnight he is stabbed six times just as Pandora was by the Keeper of Pain, escorted to Hell by the Keeper of Death and tortured till dawn where he is reborn only to die again the next night. Yep, that sounds like fun... Sign me up baby!
Fast forward to modern times in an isolated part of Budapest. Maddox is shacked up with his fellow Lords; Torin the Keeper of Disease, Paris the Keeper of Promiscuity, Aeron the Keeper of Wrath, Lucien the Keeper of Death and Reyes the Keeper of Pain. This is where the story truly begins...
Enter Ashlyn Darrow, a woman in constant torment from the voices in her head. What is sad is that I can totally relate to this. The only difference is that the voices in her head are real. She has the physic ability to hear every conversation that has ever taken place in any given location. Traveling with her Institute to Budapest to study a mysterious group of men believed by the locals to be angels, Ashlyn gets it into her pretty little head that these "angels" are the only ones that can help with her little problem.
Thus begins the intense relationship between Maddox and Ashlyn. Now, Gena does write one hell of a love story. OK, I even cried at one point towards the end (but if you tell anyone I will have to kick you in the shin). This book has action, love, some really creative paranormal stuff and of course, sex. I will say this though, from a person who has a tendency to skip ahead when a love scene starts, Gena's writing is so good that I actually read it. And what frightens me the most is that I really liked it...
What I liked: Since I am into confessions today I might as well keep them coming. I am the type of person who does not like to be seen in the "romance section" of a bookstore. Not sure why that is but I assume it just doesn't jive with my personal belief of "strong women" not needing romance books. Yes, I know that is dumb, but it is just my own stupidity.
So here I am at Target and I see this cover with the sexy bare back of a really hot male. Upon this back is a tribal looking tattoo of a butterfly (whoever designed this cover, you ROCK). My fear of being caught is overcome by my curiosity. So yes, I did the "strong woman" thing of running over, grabbing the book and high tailing it on out of there. Of course, I made sure not to look the cashier in the eye as I paid.
So to make this long and painful story shorter, upon completion of this book I went to six different Targets and two bookstores in my hunt for the next two books in this series. The darn things were sold out everywhere! I think that little story says enough on whether I liked this book. It reduced me to a scampering lunatic running all over the city! So Gena, you have completely converted me, job well done.
What I didn't like: There is a crude load of characters in this book! I am usually pretty good about keeping them all straight, but I often found my self going back in the book to figure out who certain people were or what demon possessed them. Of course, then I noticed the library of characters in the back of the book so that ended of saving me a lot of time (duh). I do get frustrated when this happens though because I hate feeling like "now who the heck were you!" I also hate to be interrupted during a good read.
Last Word: If anyone can come up with a premise that hasn't been done a zillion times, I am impressed. The Lords of the Underworld is just that. So, nuff said, READ IT.
Reviewed by Coxie
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Editorial Reviews:
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His powers -- Inhuman
His passion -- Beyond immortal . . . All her life, Ashlyn Darrow has been tormented by voices from the past. To end the nightmare, she has come to Budapest seeking help from men rumored to have supernatural abilities, not knowing she'll be swept into the arms of Maddox, their most dangerous member -- a man trapped in a hell of his own. Neither can resist the instant hunger than calms their torments . . . and ignites an irresistible passion. But every heated touch and burning kiss will edge them closer to destruction -- and a soul-shattering test of love . . . Though they carry an eternal curse, the Lords of the Underworld are irresistibly seductive -- and unimaginably powerful . . . Don’t miss this incredible new paranormal series from Gena Showalter!
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