Darker Than Love

By: Anna Zaires, Charmaine Pauls

Narrated by: Shirl Rae, Sebastian York

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's Summary

An Enemies-to-Lovers Stand-Alone.

Once upon a cold, dark night, a Russian killer stole me from an alley.
I’m dangerous, but he is lethal.
I escaped once.
He won’t let me do it twice.

The revenge is his.
The betrayal is mine.
But so are the lies to protect the ones I love.

We’re cut from the same twisted cloth. Both merciless. Both damaged.
In his embrace, I find hell and heaven, his cruelly tender touch destroying and uplifting me at once.

They say a cat has nine lives, but an assassin has just one.
And Yan Ivanov now owns mine.

©2020 Anna Zaires, Charmaine Pauls (P)2019 Anna Zaires, Charmaine Pauls

DARK, DEVIOUS & DELICIOUSLY DANGEROUS TOO

As soon as I knew this dark romance was scheduled to be released I pre-ordered it knowing that any book written by Anna Zaires was going to be good and, when it’s also being brought to life by Sebastian and Shirl.. well hello heaven. But huh, little did I know.. because this listen wasn’t just good.. it was brilliant. The main villainous dark anti-hero characters, the non-stop action, angsty tension, suspense, dark sizzling volatile chemistry, intrigue, hot sex, passion, secondary characters, betrayal, soul-bonding, character development, punch in the gut twists and romantic scenes were all perfectly placed and paced. Take it from me, this rollercoaster doesn’t quit.. the feels are endless.. the climb, anxiety and anticipation is wonderful.. and the HEA reward at the end is priceless. The dual POV we’ll-written plot slowly reveals itself in a cunning twisty kidnapping story that hides secrets, drops revelations, leads you through a minefield of dangers, gets you all hot and bothered.. and finally makes you swoon over the romance and purity of the love that has grown between them.

Worth a credit? Yes.. a damaged possessive alpha hero and a damaged strong resourceful heroine.. two anti-heroes who are enemies yet absolutely perfect for each other. It’s a non-stop action-packed ride of slowly lowering barriers, awakening emotions and letting each other in.. and you never know what the next chapter will hold or reveal. Great narration brought it all to life, added to the enjoyment factor and made it a very entertaining listen. Can absolutely be listened to as a stand-alone.

5 people found this helpful

WOW, DARK BUT DELICIOUSLY HOT!!

This is an awesome book with fantastic narration by Sebastian York and Shirl Rae.
It is so well written, taking us from the beginnings of Yan and Mina's first meeting from previous books and their interactions that followed. I love that, when characters from previous and wonderful books come to life again with in-depth stories of their own. This one is especially poignant because of the back-stories on each of these characters. Anna Zaires and Charmaine Pauls really knocked this one out of the park. Five stars doesn't seem like enough.
Thank you for this wonderful book.
(Super Bowl plays in the background today)

1 person found this helpful

And the story goes on!

I was shocked to see the continuation of the series. I loved listening to Yan’s story. Anna made us fall in love with the male brutes and now we get to hear/read their own stories! Can’t wait for more to come!

1 person found this helpful

Perfect again

Anna Zaires never disappoints. I highly recomment this book. Do not waste time. Just get it.

1 person found this helpful

Yummy Yan!

While reading Anna Zaires and Charmaine Pauls newest release, my breath began to quicken, my face became flushed my toes started to tingle, my core overheated and contracted so hard and then, BOOM a burst of pleasure escaped from inside of me and I yelled Yan! Wait what? Yan!!!! Why yes, Yan! You know that sexy Russian who was part of Peter Sokolov’s assassin squad from the Tormentor Mine series? Oh the passion, the pain the pleasure and that was just what I was feeling! Darker Than Love is another sexy spinoff of the Twist Me series created by Anna Zaires. This time around she has teamed up with another member of the dark royal court to pen Darker Than Love – Charmaine Pauls.

This book had me all in my dark feelings! Who knew Yan was such a sexy, jealous possessive alpha? I mean for four books I was panting after Peter in the Tormentor Mine series oblivious to the sexy side assassin waiting to pounce on my libido! In this standalone we get a fully fleshed out Yan in all of his yummy alpha glory as he carrys on the Zaires and Pauls’ tradition of sexy dangerous men becoming obsessed with beautiful heroines. And what a lucky little minx this heroine is in this book.

The heroine Mina AKA Minx is no shy, weak damnsel in distress. She is in fact a force to be reckoned with! Dangerous and lethal in a pint size body. She is in many ways as deadly as Yan. Yan sees in her his perfect dark match. But what he doesn't see is the secrets that she is hiding that could force the sand through the hourglass of their love. Can Yan and Mina's dark love endure as forces all around them lead them like a siren to peril?

There's plenty of action and angst to keep you engaged throughout the book as well as "friendly" exchanges between Yan and his twin assassin Iilya to keep you entertained. My only complaint about this book is it is a standalone and we don't get to continue the Yan fun in another book. Maybe Illya...

The wonderful narration by Sebastian York and Shirl Rae brings even more depth and richness to this book!

Until the next dark adventure, (fingers crossed for Iilya) thanks Ms Zaires and Ms Paul for another swoony read!

1 person found this helpful

great story

I really enjoyed Dark Than Love and loved the narrator's This story had me form the very first page. This story is filled with emotions that will have you invested all the way through it. I loved Yan and Ilya relationship the most between there jealousy and just over all the love they have for one another brought so much character to this book. 
When it come to Mina I just love this girl. She has gone through so much and deserves a break. She is definitely strong as nails and just over all badass.

1 person found this helpful

Another Great Story!

I really got sucked into this story fast. It was a spin off from the Destiny Mine series of books.
I didn't expect Yan to be the main character but all is good.
I'm hoping for Anton to be the next one who falls for a woman. I enjoyed all the angst between the brothers and Anton.
Looking forward to the next story that will hopefully be another spin off from the Destiny Mine series.

1 person found this helpful

Amazingly Dark!

OMG! A book from Anna Zaires and Charmaine Pauls together? Yes, Please! Yan and Mina's enemies-to-lovers story is intense, very suspenseful, breathtaking, and filled with drama, and twists and turns. Yan is handsome, dark, alpha, possessive, protective and ruthless. Mina is a wonderful strong woman. Her past is heartbreaking. I love their sizzling chemistry and the instant attraction. This story isn't for the faint-hearted! I love the perfect ending! The secondary characters are great and intriguing. I would love to have Ilya's story. I need more! Shirl Rae and Sebastian York did an amazing job with the narration. I enjoyed it, and I highly recommend it!

Darker Than Love can be listened as a standalong, but I highly recommend to read/listen to the interconnected series in this order:
1) The Twist Me Trilogy (Julian and Nora's story)
2) The Capture Me Trilogy (Lucas and Yulia's story)
3) The Tormentor Mine Series (Peter and Sara's story)
and then Darker Than Love

1 person found this helpful

Good Book But Not Her Usual Amazing Dark Captive R

I liked this book of course but it wasn't really at all what I was waiting on and wanting fron Anna Zaires. Her books are usually much more Amazing and Dark Raw and unexpected. This book was a bit unexpected but not in the good way I love from her and realized why at the end of this book when I saw a second author wrote this book with Anna Zaires. Anna Zaires doesn't need any help at all whennit comes to her writing of Dark Romance Captives etc. Unless Anna Zaires is trying to pull back from her amazing and great Dark Captive writing. This was more of Dark love sap book for people that cannot handle the real straight up juicy Dark stuff that I have come to love and anticipate. It sucks that it's not to, because I feel I listened to most of the really good dark Romance suspense Captive and erotic stuff. Alot of the other crap is just that Crap no great story line or characters and depth with amazing narrators. They sometimes fall flat. Woman like Anna Zaires and Pam Godwin, A. Zavarelli, and a few others are the best at what they do with Dark Romance and should mostly definitely keep it that way for those of us that really appreciate the raw and real Dark stuff we are use to as fans and listeners/readers. A Really Great and Truly Dark Romance is hard to find.
If you like books that have some Darkness added to them with almost normal sex scenes and drama and of course suspense definitely some violence and murder this is for you but it's def missing Anna Zaires usual super Dark Flare.
Worth the Credit? Yes of course!!

1 person found this helpful

Darker Than Love

another great book by Anna Zaires and Charmaine Pauls!! always a great story line, hot, steamy and romantic!

Fantastic!

Darker Than Love is packed full of danger, action, betrayal, and revenge.
Yan and Mina have plenty of red hot chemistry between them which radiates from the pages of this fantastic read. I loved the narrators!

wow

This is not really my normal kind of book but I read one of anna zaires books and fell in love with the in depth feelings she can provoke in me.
This book contains alot of forceful sex but written in a way that is not horrific it could of maybe lost maybe a few sex scenes that would of made the book better or if the sex scenes were different in a few cases .
Over all I loved this book it gave me all the feels I laughed at bits got angry at others and blubberd a whole lot, it may not of been a conventional love but I think any woman/man could relate and want to be loved that much maybe just in different circumstances.
I will listen to this book again and wait for the next one .......pls hurry up and make them fingers write a little bit faster 😌.
5 ⭐ from me for the range of emotion the believable characters and everything else between.

oh Yan I surrender... hot damn...

Ummmm yes please Yan take me take me nooooow...
From the moment I started I couldn't stop listening to this book. yes it's not as long as Lucas julians and Peter's stories but it's well worth the credit.
Yan is a hot dominate alpha male that had my lady bits humming a song of oh holy hotness. Peter has always been my favourite alpha from these stories but oh boy I think Yan may have just changed my mind... (pant pant pant deep breaths pheeew)....
This book follows on from the last book forever mine peter and Saras story. I do suggest you read the twist me capture me and tormentor mine books first.
You get to know more about Yan and his twin brother llya they maybe twins but they are nothing alike. (yummm)
Mina knows loss and pain and has chosen to close herself off from feeling anything. An accidental eavesdrop of a dangerous conversation puts her in the path of these men.. shes drawn to yan like he is to her but.. She runs... Then one bad choice puts her back in his sights once more and this time he isnt letting go this time he wont let her run.
Yan and llya normally dont mind sharing but yan isnt sharing, shes his and noone and nothing is going to get in the way of his claim on mina.
His ruthless controlling and obsessed with her and theres nothing his not willing to do or kill to keep her.
The connection between these two is twisted and wrong on so many levels but you cant help but love it and crave it.
Its deliciously dark, erotic and sexy as sin. The authors know how to suck you into this dark dangerous world and make you never want to leave.
i barely survived Peter's and Saras story but Yan and mina had me glued to my phone longing for it to never end. Yes I wish it had been a trilogy (just so it didnt end) but non the less it was still worth abandoning my adult responsibilities and chores to listen to this tasty treat.

I'm obsessed with sebastian yorks voices he could read dog food ingredients and still make it sound panty wetting knee bucklingly sexy. I couldn't imagine anyone else reading these books both narrators switched back and forth between voices perfectly.

I'm just gutted it ended...

cant wait to see if llya will get his own story too..