Darkest Whisper

Title: Darkest Whisper by Gena Showalter
Media source: Paperback

Rating 3.5 out of 5

Recommendation: Add this to your collection if you enjoy paranormal romance, mythology and sexy male characters.

Darkest Whisper is the fourth book in the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter.  It is not necessary to read them in order, but highly recommended as the later novels mentions things from previous novels.

Sabin is the Keeper of Doubt, a demon who thrives off of pulling a person's doubts and insecurities to the surface and making them suffer.  When Sabin meets Gwen; a harpy who was imprisoned by the Hunters; he wishes Doubt would remain silent even for a moment.  He wishes he could keep this woman he slowly falls in love with.  Gwen is a harpy who fears and dislikes her Harpy aspects, she needs to learn how to accept and control her harpy before she loses control and does something she regrets later.  The Lords are still hunting for Pandora's box and fighting the war with the Hunters; having a harpy on their side could be a huge advantage, soon they find out the origins of Gwen's father, one that shocks everyone even Gwen.

I have mixed feelings about this novel.  It was as compelling as the other Lord's stories, but something seemed to be missing in this one.  Gwen was depicted as being so timid and meek, and yet she stands up to Sabin's demon.  There seemed to be a conflict within that portion of the story.  I wasn't thrilled with Sabin becoming weaker because of Gwen, he became a different warrior while the others became stronger.  It wasn't until the end that readers see him becoming stronger, could that have been from  his demon, I don't know.  If it was, it wasn't brought out well enough.  In other books the demon would become possessive over the female as much as the warrior did, this novel the demon wanted to attack her more and then eventually became afraid of her.  I enjoyed seeing the demon itself reacting differently and opposite of itself, but it almost seemed weak that the demon would instantly give up and go hide rather than fight against Gwen's Harpy side.

The pace is a bit slower than some of the other novels, I found myself wanting it to go faster and wanting to get to different parts faster.  Some elements began to feel all too convenient such as the truth to who Gwen's father is (I don't want to give things away).  I have to wonder do all the women who belong to the Lord need to have some relevance to their quest? There are some characters who get mentioned briefly, whom I want more of such as Amun, I want his story and this novel just increased that desire.   I also enjoyed the addition of a new creature, the Harpy and the mythos behind them becoming something different within this novel.  Gena does a great job at making things her own.  Would I continue to read the series?  You betcha!  Would I continue to recommend it to others?  Of course!!  While I found somethings lacking in this novel, it was still fantastic and had some sexy moments.  it was a great novel and I look forward to reading more from Showalter.

Darkest Craving

Title: Darkest Craving by Gena Showalter  (book 10 in the Lord of the Underworld Series)
Media Source: Paperback
Rating 3.5 out of 5

Darkest Craving the 10th book in the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter.  It is a paranormal romance novel that follows the story of Kane: Keeper of disaster.  Wherever he goes disaster strikes, either to himself or those around him.

Kane is the keeper of Disaster, and he wants nothing more than to rid of the demon.  He longs for love, but anytime he gets close to a woman his demon acts up.  Whenever Disaster is "hungry" or upset he causes disaster to happen all around Kane.  Josephina is a member of the royal Fae family, well partly a member.  She desperately wants to be rid of her family and the life she lives in the Fae Kingdom.  She rescues Kane from the depths of Hell in hopes of convincing him to kill her.  Little did she expect to fall for the handsome Lord.  Kane struggles to avoid the Fate's prediction that he would cause the apocalypse, as well as marrying the keeper of Irresponsibility as he wants Josephina (aka Tinker Bell).  A whirlwind tale of romance and adventure erupts from the very beginning and continues until the end.

Gena Showalter is a compelling storyteller, but this novel does not display her talent as well as the others.  She takes the mythology of Pandora's box and weaves it into her own tales with the Lords of the Underworld.  She continues that with Kane's story.  We had glimpses of Kane throughout the previous novels, glimpses that made readers want his story and to see how his demon effects him as we've seen the other demons reacting in other books.  I was surprised Disaster reacted significantly different than some of the other demons in the previous books.  In the past the demons in the books acted out towards the Keeper, such as Reyes needed to harm himself rather than the people around him harming others, but with Disaster (and also Disease: Torin) the demon not only acts out towards him but others around him.  Which makes sense that he could possibly be the bringer of the apocalypse.

In this book we are introduced to some more mythical creatures such as the phoenix as well as Fae.  As with the legend of Pandora's Box, Gena Showalter makes the creatures her own.  I especially enjoyed the idea of each Fae having a different power rather than everyone having the same one.  In Jospehina's case she had two, one she could project herself to a different place while remaining in another, two with a touch she could take on the powers of the person she touches.  My inner geek immediately thought of Rogue from X-Men, so that is the image I now have of Josephina.  I thought this power would have been used in a different way throughout the story, but what Showalter does with it and how it is used was unexpected. 

Throughout the book, the story diverges to discuss some of the other Lords, briefly introducing us to their stories such as Torin and Cameo.  It is almost like a little teaser, giving readers a taste of what's to come in their books.  Smart movie Showalter!  We also get a small glimpse of another Sent One towards the end. A Sent One is kind of like an angel, but not entirely.  Something else Showalter makes her own.  After seeing a Sent One or two in previous, I want more from them.  I want to read their stories; could that possibly be her plans for the future?  One can only hope. These side characters are what helped bring the rating up slightly.  The character development of Kane and Josephina were highly lacking, if anything they backtracked.  The Fae started out a this kick ass woman who stole the powers of a phoenix, but then regressed into the victim mentality unwilling to fight for herself because she was afraid of the consequences.  Didn't seem like the Tinker Bell we met in the beginning.  And Kane, he seems to be the weakest of the Lords.  While the others find ways to control their demons, Kane allows his demon to control him even to the point of changing his eyes as the demon comes to the surface.  Is there a reason for this?

While there were points during the novel where the story seemed to slow down in pace and just drag on, or moments which seemed a little too cliché, this was a phenomenal book.  I enjoy everything I have read from this author and Darkest Craving was no different.  While I look forward to her next book I am a little weary about how well written it would be.  Hopefully I won't be too disappointed.

Recommendation: Darkest Craving is a paranormal romance novel.  It satisfies the craving for more from the Lords, as well as slight romance and adventure.