The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld, Book 3)

I'm beyond sighing. Now I'm just mad at myself for reading another in this series when I knew what I was getting. Now we're reading about the romance between Reyes, who is inhabited by the demon Pain, and his mate, Dannika, who is some kind of psychic that can travel between dimensions but doesn't know it until late in the book. Reyes can only experience pleasure if he is in pain, so there's a lot of borderline BDSM stuff going on here, but never anything that falls completely into that category. Dannika is pretty much an idiot, like the other heroines in the other two books. Everyone is running around trying to find artifacts to lead them to Pandora's box so they can destroy it before their enemies find it and use it to destroy them. A VERY BAD GUY shows up in the middle of the book and it's the first time we ever have met him, so maybe the author figured out that something was lacking. I guess I will never know since I have run out of patience with this series and will not try any more. Although the heroes are OK, the heroines are freaking idiots and the plots are mostly predictable and too much like much better books by J.R. Ward and Sherrilyn Kenyon. No more, thanks!

Bring them on. I really need to find out about the other guys. A fantastic new insite to Pandora and the sins release on the world. Great story line. Guys who melt your heart.

The Darkest Pleasure is a decent read, but maybe that's damning with faint praise. Consistent inconsistencies in the plot are starting to bother me. Some examples: The names of these guys. Not so ancient, nor very Greek. The Lords' leather sofas are all red becaues of Reyes' bad habit of bleeding on the furniture. But wouldn't brown or black be a better choice? And how does Danika become so physically tough in a few months? We're told some of her fighting techniques are so ingrained they don't require thought; it's just muscle memory. I'm pretty sure that kind of reaction requires more than a few fight classes after she finished waiting tables. And if she had so little money and worked all the time as claimed, where'd she get the cash to pay for classes and the time to attend?
And WORST OF ALL, Anya keeps turning up, still taunting poor Reyes by calling him "Painie." How old is this brat again?!? And Showalter can't seem to decide how powerful a goddes Anya is. I mean really, why would the lords, who house DEMONS, fear this twit? It's time to get rid of Anya.

I have come to love this author! She has a great mind, and I'm looking forward to each and every one of her books! I highly recommend reading this one.

Reyes is a Lord of the Underworld. Over a thousand years ago, Reyes and his fellow warriors were charged with guarding a box along with a female warrior, Pandora. Jealous of Pandora's favor with the gods, Reyes and his friends killed Pandora and opened her box unleashing demons throughout the world. As punishment, the demons were then placed inside the warriors bodies subjecting them to years of various agonies and torments.

Reyes' demon is Pain. Any type, not matter how serious, Reyes craves hurting himself every single day. Only when Danika Ford is near does his inner demon quiet down. There is just one problem - while Danika soothes Reyes; demon, her life is in danger because a fellow demon, Aeron, has been given an order to kill her and all the females in her family. Reyes refuses to accept this and sets out to save the woman that he yearns for more than pain.

Danika has no idea why she and her family have been targeted for death. On the run, scared out of her mind, she is dismayed to find herself thinking about Reyes, the man she can't get out of her head. When he shows up and gets her out of harm's way, Danika still has a problem with trusting him and until she is able to do that, there is no way they can have a relationship no matter how much each desires the other.

I am without a doubt emphatically hooked on this amazing series of which The Darkest Pleasure is the third installment. Reyes' demon is Pain and my heart broke for him every time he had to give in to his demon and hurt himself. I ached watching his love for Danika evolve but in a good way. The emotions were raw but intense, sultry but sweet, and harsh but soft - truly winning combinations!

I adored every single word of The Darkest Pleasure. It made me yearn for more and I can't wait for the next installment in this groundbreaking and addicting series. The Darkest Pleasure is highly and Joyfully Recommended!

Talia
reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed