The Darkest Night

Lords of the Underworld, Book 1

By: Gena Showalter

Narrated by: Max Bellmore

Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins

Publisher's summary

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 that 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.

Don't miss the other books in the Lords of the Underworld series.

©2008 Gena Showalter (P)2008 Audible, Inc.

Keep Trudging...

Any additional comments?

This book kept me tagging along through it, albeit having to trudge though some tortuously bad spots. By chapter 9 I was SICK of hearing all of Maddox’s tortured thoughts. Good heavens he goes on and on with those, and I could have gone without having to hear it all... And he's not the only one, but maybe the worst, lol. All of these tough guys reduced to anxious ridden melting pots was just not what I wanted to read about. Despite that, there seemed to be just enough teasers and things to keep me reading. The last half of the book really picked up though, and had me white knuckling it through to the end in suspenseful excitement. I'm off to pick up the next book (too sucked in to walk away).

One thing that was tough was keeping up with all the characters. The author didn't remind me enough of which fella is lord of which demon. I found another reviewer (can't remember where) had listed everyone out and found that list a very helpful reference....

Torin - Lord of Disease
Lucien - Lord of Death
Reyes - Lord of Pain
Aeron - Lord of Wrath
Paris - Lord of Promiscuity
Sabin - Lord of Doubt
Gideon - Lord of Lies
Kane - Lord of Disaster
Strider - Lord of Defeat
Cameo - Misery
Amun - Lord of Secrets
Anya - Goddess of Anarchy
Maddox - Lord of Violence
Ashlyn - when standing at a spot, she can hear any conversation that has taken place at the spot from the pass no matter how long time has passed.

sexy.....

ok only listen to this series if you are NOT weak of heart....its hot sex & voilence all wrap up in a great storyline. All 4 books were great listening to, a little raw in some parts, but hey thats what headphones are for, I know I blushed a few time...and giggled ...enjoy..

Tortured and Sexy

OK,folks,listen up... the genre reviewed here is Romance, specifically Paranormal Romance. The hero/heroine interact wonderfully because they both are internally tortured by their own personally unresolvable problems, but that are satisfied both personally and sexually in each other. If you would be at all familiar with the concept, Romance frequent has the concept of 'destiny' in it,as in foredestined mating, and that concept comes across beautifully in this novel and audiobook.The action to bring this mating to its fruition comes in fits and starts, as a good novel should have, knowing that these characters are coming together, but how? and when? Also the interaction of the myriad cast of characters keeps the pace going well(I don't know how Gena keeps track of them all!) As for the narrator, Max Belmore, I was sold almost immediately with his sweet,sexy voice, delightfully male. It is no mean feat to tone one's voice to approximate different character traits...yeah, go ahead,you try it! So, kudos to a beautiful, dark, tortured, sexy tale. The sequels are delicious, too. Plan to keep comin' back for more. Luv ya, Gena and Max!

loved this book

I must say I can not tell you how much i enjoyed this book.... I thought it would be a fun book but did not expect to not be able to put it down.. this book is steamy in places and it is not very realistic with the time line of falling in love but this is very fun and it was all that i would want it to be and will lesson to this book again I hope you enjoy this book I loved it,, it is very different than I had expected much better.....
Heather

Gah! Will it never stop?

I thought the story for this sounded really interesting and could be a fun romance. Instead of being fun, I found the dialog between Maddox and Ashlyn to be forced. The majority of their conversations seemed to be single words. All the men in this novel are to be "big, strong warriors" but instead of having an attractive appeal, it was a complete turn off because they became more like brutes. Every time one of the men spoke (for the most part) all I could think was caveman and "me man, you my women." The attempts to make Maddox seem more emotional just left me thinking "gah!" and seemed unbelievable to me. This book also struck me as being very formulaic. Beautiful virgin finds handsome warrior who reveals a tender side which no one ever knew he had and they have steamy sex, then something happened and must be saved by the handsome warrior. Also, the language and wording used during the multiple sex scenes were turn offs for me and no at all romantic and were repetitive. At one point I just wanted the plot to get moving and skipped ahead during a sex scene by 15 minutes and it was still going. The male reader I also found did not appeal to me. I think he only increased how weird the sex scenes were because he voice didn't change much, it felt very monotone. In the end, I was very happy for this book to be over and don't think I will trying any more by this author.

So hot!!

I very much enjoyed The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter. This book had it all, romance, action, demons and steamy love scenes! I loved the story, the longing between Maddox, a man who never meant to fall in love and Ashlyn who never thought she could but always wanted to. I loved the camaraderie between the lords. The natural way they banter and tease each other was funny and even touching at times. I also loved the fairy tale love between the main characters.
Max Bellmore did an amazing job narrating this book. His voice is like velvety smooth chocolate, sinfully sweet! He had that deep voice that made the men sound so very male! He is perfect for this series.
If you like paranormal romance stories that have sizzling love scenes, pick this one up! I'm so glad I did!
Happy listening!

Good premise, just ok book

The premise of this book is just great, but it lacked in the execution. The relationship between the main female and male characters is not developed well enough to make their inexplicable attraction believable. The narrator is just ok. All the male voices sound the same and don't sound like how any man really sounds. The story is pretty sexy so that kept my attention.

Beginning to a fantastic series

This is a favorite series of mine. It's just fun to go back and just re-visit a series discovered years ago. I do love those Lords of the Underworld!! If you don't know them, then it's time you do. This is a fan favorite of the paranormal genre lovers. This isn't my favorite book in the series, but that does not mean it isn't good.

I loved this book!!

This was my first Gena Showalter book and now I'm a fan forever!!! Good book to get lost in.

I Gave It a Try

OK, I was looking for erotica. I had in mind something similar to "A Spy In The House of Love" or some of the short stories in "Delta of Venus," both by Anais Nin. Or, more explicitly erotic, "Vox" by Nicholson Baker or "Lila Says" by "Chimo" (the publisher says the book is by an anonymous author who wants to be known by the name of "Chimo;" a name that is used in the book).

I knew I was getting what my mother used to call "a bodice ripper." I knew it would be more explicit than the romance novels she grew addicted to after she retired, and I knew it would use much more graphic language, hence "erotica" rather than just "romance." I thought it might be entertaining.

Well, I guess it was, but not in the way I had hoped. The primary problem, for me, was that I didn't care about any of the characters. Nothing in the narration led me to empathize or sympathize with any of them. And if you don't care about the people about whom you're reading (or being read to), you can't really care about the novel.

So what was entertaining was just how bad (I'm sorry -- I tired to think of a kinder word) it was. I know there is an audience for this genre, and I certainly don't intend to insult them... but I just laughed my way through this. And it wasn't because the author was trying to be funny.

So -- I guess, unless the selection changes, I'll give up on erotica from Audible.