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 enlarge | Author: Gena Showalter
Publisher: HQN Books
Category: Book
List Price: $6.99
Buy Used: $2.17
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New (41) Used (36) Collectible (1) from $2.17
Avg. Customer Rating:  67 reviews
Sales Rank: 380
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0373772467
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780373772469
ASIN: 0373772467
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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| Customer Reviews:
 Wow. July 11, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
The plot itself blew me away with its originality. The overall story of the Lords of the Underworld and their curses is one of the best I've read yet. I was extremely satisfied with Maddox's story and can't wait to see how the rest of the series plays out. I highly recommend The Darkest Night for anyone looking for a breath of fresh air in the Paranormal Romance genre.
 this book is not what it seems July 10, 2008
11 out of 19 found this review helpful
I had several really major problems with THE DARKEST NIGHT.
There is a pretty substantial facade of supernatural violence in THE DARKEST NIGHT - the Lords of the Underworld are cursed to see and do an awful lot of really grisly stuff - but the romance itself is very tame. I read dark, paranormal romance novels because I want a...dark, paranormal romance. Not peaceful, bland romance in a spooky setting. Maddox and Ashlyn spend their time together talking, cuddling, and getting along just fine. They worry about one another - that's about the extent of their conflict.
My second objection is very similar to the first. Maddox is fused with the spirit of Violence. We learn early on that Maddox's sexual history can be summed up as "wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am", on repeat. But when it comes to Ashlyn, Maddox is constantly musing to himself about how even though he's dying to have sex with his woman, he really just wants to talk to her for a while first. He does thoughtful things like tidy up and dust in order to make the boudoir just perfect; he sets the stage by decorating with colorful scarves; when Ashlyn says that she reads romance novels, Maddox admits that he does too - and wants to maybe read some aloud with her.
I signed up for a book about a wild, uncontrollable alpha male. Instead I got the caring yet spicy escapades of a tame, sensitive beta male. Ashlyn has almost no personality at all.
All of these little touches - that Maddox instantly shares Ashlyn's interests, that he prioritizes talking over sex, that he cleans up around the house, that he anticipates her desires and meets them - reek of a kind of fantasy that I find disturbing. I like men to be men, and I don't think true love equals slavish devotion. [...]
The Darkest Night July 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A new concept! I ordered both The Darkest Night and The Darkest Kiss at the same time and read the novels back to back. The second in the series was easily able to stand on its own without constant reference to the first in the series. I don't mind having my memory refreshed, but I dislike rehashing a great amount from previous books. Both were exciting, and my sympathies are definitely not with the human Hunters!
 Ho-Hum J.R. Ward knock-off July 6, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
It has been mentioned that this book mimics J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, and I agree. I got the exact same impression by about 1/3 of the way. HOWEVER, this series does not even come close to matching the intensity and tension in Ward's BDB. Lords of the Underworld is a B-rate knock-off of the BDB. Character development isn't as solid, scene development isn't as good, and I just don't get the same vivid mental pictures with LOTU as I do with the BDB. BDB jumps off the page and comes across very real to me, while LOTU is just a flat, often-blurred picture.
Anyway, this book started out great! I was all excited about Maddox and his demon, Violence, and had high hopes for this book. About 1/3 of the way in, that all began to change. I became more and more frustrated with Ashlyn's character and how Showalter seemed to insert pieces of writing that just didn't fit. I mean, there's a scene where Ashlyn becomes very ill, pukes everywhere, nearly dies...and yet within 12 hours of resuscitation, she's ready for a little "playtime" with Maddox. Despite the fact that puke is everywhere in the bedroom and, I would imagine, all over her clothes, too.
Okay, if Ashlyn was an immortal, I could totally believe the quick recovery. But she is human, and humans just don't recover that miraculously from food poisoning and near-death. And I certainly don't feel all sexy when puke is all around and all over me. Eewww!
So, I didn't get the whole purpose of that scene. If Showalter wanted to develop a bond between Maddox and Ashlyn by Maddox caring for her, I think that could have been accomplished with a scene that was more based in reality and didn't involve so much puke and near-death.
At any rate, the rest of the book just kind of followed that same M.O. Everything seemed forced and too over-the-top and just not very well thought-out. And I just couldn't stand Ashlyn. Everything about her just didn't make sense. She was apparently a virgin, yet had no problems playing Miss Domination with Maddox. She was apparently abandoned as a child, but didn't act like an abandoned child as an adult - because being given away by your parents and essentially orphaned should be very traumatic and carry huge emotional baggage into adulthood. I didn't see any of that at all. And Ashlyn's thought processes were kind of childish, and she was too bossy and stubborn given that she was surrounded by male behemoth's who killed and had killed right in front of her and threatened to kill her. Sure, I'm pretty feisty, but I'd be a little more acquiescent if being held captive and threatened with death, no matter how attractive I found one of my captors. And I certainly wouldn't put myself in a situation that could kill me just to get to said sexy captor, which Ashlyn did by climbing from one balcony to another. ***rolling eyes over that whole scene - I don't even know where to begin to criticize the balcony-to-balcony scene***
I don't know, it just seemed like Ashlyn's character wasn't very well developed. It was almost like I was reading 3-4 different characters instead of one, and it was VERY frustrating. And too many scenes felt like "quick-fixes" in lieu of a better, more thought-out solution (aka: the balcony scene).
On a more positive note, I am now reading the second book in the trilogy, The Darkets Kiss, and it is much better so far. The characters seem to be better-developed and intriguing, and the second book has been a real joy to read so far. So, if you didn't like Book One, either, don't give up on this series just yet. Book Two is showing hope, and I'm already looking forward to reading Reyes story in Book Three.
C, Dark, Sometimes Juicy, & Kinda Gross July 5, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
Okay, so this book wasn't quite up my alley as it didn't entice me to read more in the series. I think it just wasn't my taste.
Blood, guts, gore --- if these things appealed to me, I'd be playing some video game that's targeted to the male demographic. It was kind of a turn-off. But hey, it's not for everyone.
I think the plot line is well-developed, no typographical errors, & easy to follow. It had the basics for a good story.
Issue is, the story didn't appeal that much to me. The love interest of the protagonist must have an endless supply of mattresses because he gets murdered on it every single night? Ewwwww......
Just gruesome. Gruesome, gross, & gnarly. It doesn't make up for how good the relationship that's in the book. I just keep thinking of his entrails flowing out over the mattress. Then the next morning, they replace it only to start over again.
Gross.
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