Friday, April 15, 2016

Blog Tour (Review): The Darkest Night by Gena Showalter #TLCBookTours #Giveaway @genashowalter @HarlequinBooks

Happy Friday! Thank you so much for visiting my stop on the tour promoting Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series! Today I'm reviewing The Darkest Night, the first book in the series. There is also a great giveaway at the end of the post, so be sure to check that out before you leave!



Title: The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)
Author:
Gena Showalter
Publisher: HQN (Harlequin)
Tour Organizer: TLC Book Tours
Release Date: May 3, 2008

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....


My Review

I've never considered myself a romance reader. True, I'll read the occasional historical romance as a palate cleanser, but it's never been my go to genre-of-choice. I haven't read paranormal romance in years, as I tend to prefer high or urban fantasy. However, as I read The Darkest Night, I realized that there might be a romance reader inside me after all.

When I started The Darkest Night, I thought it was the typical, formulaic PNR novel. But it was more than that - it was FUN. As I fell into reading the book, which I finished in two days despite my reading slump, I realized a lot about myself as a reader while enjoying the heck out of the story. I didn't start the book with any preconceptions of how I thought it would be, and I was able to accept it for what it was. The Darkest Night is sexy, steamy, and honestly, I'm ready for more of the series.

Yes, there is the typical instalove that you find in romance novels. In it's defense, don't we all experience that to an extent early in a relationship? Showalter was really able to capture that early, lusty attraction that you have with a new lover. It did get a little cheesy, and the losing of the heroine's virginity was way over the top, but that didn't take away the enjoyment for me. Rolling my eyes at the exaggeration is part of the fun.

I didn't get quite enough of the worldbuilding and the history behind the warrior lords, but that may just be because I love anything to do with Greek mythology. These "Lords of the Underworld" house the demons that escaped from Pandora's box, which is a super cool concept. I'm sure more about this will be in later books in the series, which is another reason I plan to keep reading.

So as a newly minted "Romance Reader", I hand The Darkest Night off to you. I had a great time reading it, and I look forward to reading more from Showalter.

- 3.5/5 Stars -

Buy Links
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | iTunes



Coming Soon!



Title: The Darkest Torment (Lords of the Underworld #12)
Author:
Gena Showalter
Publisher: HQN (Harlequin)
Release Date: May 31, 2016

New York Times bestselling author Gena Showalter returns with her most explosive Lords of the Underworld tale to date, about a fierce warrior on the brink of sanity who will stop at nothing to claim the exquisite human with the power to soothe the beast inside him...

Driven to his death by the demon of Distrust, Baden spent centuries in purgatory. Now he's back, but at what cost? Bound to the king of the underworld, an even darker force, he's unable to withstand the touch of another... and he's quickly devolving into a heartless assassin with an uncontrollable temper. Things only get worse when a mission goes awry and he finds himself saddled with a bride—just not his own.

Famed dog trainer Katarina Joelle is forced to marry a monster to protect her loved ones. When she's taken hostage by the ruthless, beautiful Baden immediately after the ceremony, she's plunged into a war between two evils—with a protector more dangerous than the monsters he hunts. They are meant to be enemies, but neither can resist the passion burning between them...and all too soon the biggest threat is to her heart.

But as Baden slips deeper into the abyss, she'll have to teach him to love...or lose him forever.



About the Author



Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty books in paranormal and contemporary romances, as well as young adult novels. Her series include White Rabbit Chronicles, Angels of the Dark, Otherworld Assassins, Lords of the Underworld, Alien Huntress and Intertwined.

Her novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Seventeen Magazine, and have been translated all over the world. The critics have called her books "sizzling page-turners" and "utterly spellbinding stories", while Showalter herself has been called “a star on the rise”.




Find Gena Online
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Follow the Tour


Lords of the Underworld Tour Schedule

Monday, March 28th
Read Love Blog
– Series spotlight

Tuesday, March 29th
Supernatural Snark
The Darkest Craving
Booked on a FeelingThe Darkest Night & The Darkest Kiss

Thursday, March 31st
Bewitched Bookworms
– spotlight, The Darkest Passion

Friday, April 1st
Reading Reality
The Darkest Touch

Monday, April 4th
Reader Girls
The Darkest Lie

Tuesday, April 5th
Bibliotica
The DarkestSecret

Wednesday, April 6th
Romancing the Book
The Darkest Seduction and The Darkest Craving

Thursday, April 7th
From the TBR Pile
The Darkest Night

Monday, April 11th
Lovely Reads
The Darkest Whisper
Books that HookThe Darkest Touch

Tuesday, April 12th
Stranded in Chaos
The Darkest Night, The Darkest Kiss

Wednesday, April 13th
Romancing the Readers
The Darkest Seduction

Friday, April 15th
Bibliophilia, Please
The Darkest Night

Monday, April 18th
Stuck in Books
The Darkest Pleasure

Tour-Wide Giveaway

Thanks to the very generous people at Harlequin, we have a pretty fantastic giveaway!

Terms & Conditions Found on Rafflecopter Form
Ends at 12:01am EST on April 23rd

a Rafflecopter giveaway

6 comments:

  1. This is an amazing giveaway chance for an awesome series. I guess it would be The Darkest Night since it's the first book to get me.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is an amazing giveaway chance for an awesome series. I guess it would be The Darkest Night since it's the first book to get me.
    Carol L
    Lucky4750 (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not really a romance reader either but perhaps this series will convert me as well!

    Thanks for being a part of the tour.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I haven't read any of the LOTU books but it looks like a great series. Thanks for this amazing giveaway.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The one I'm currently reading is my favorite - any time you ask me! Hehe. I read the 3rd book first and have since started over with the prequel and first book. So yeah, whichever one I'm reading is my fav. I adore Maddox! Such a great series.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is a new author for me but the books sound very intriguing, so I'd love to learn more!

    ReplyDelete

You are going to put words in my box?! *squeezes you* Now I shall stalk YOUR blog!