King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: The Darkest Pleasure Book 3 in the Lords of the Underworld Series

author: Gena Showalter

genre: paranormal romance

published: 2008

pages: 374

first line: Reyes stood on the roof of his Budapest fortress, five stories up, his feet balanced precariously on the highest ledge.


rated: 3 1/2 out of 5

Reyes is a man possessed. Bound by the demon of pain, he is forbidden to know pleasure. Yet he craves a mortal woman, Danika Ford, more than breath and will do anything to claim her—even defy the gods.


Danika is on the run. For months she's eluded the Lords of the Underworld, immortal warriors who won't rest until she and her family have been destroyed. But her dreams are haunted by Reyes, the warrior whose searing touch she can't forget. Yet a future together could mean death to all they both hold dear.…

The Darkest Pleasure is book 3 in Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld Series. In this series, after opening Pandora's Box, a group of immortal men have been cursed to house demons for eternity. They live in a remote castle in Budapest.


Just to name a few, Maddox is the Keeper of Violence, Paris is the Keeper of Promiscuity, Reyes the Keeper of Pain and Lucien is the Keeper of Death.




Each one of these immortals keeps these demons inside himself, the demon always part of his thinking and awareness, almost like an inner voice. These demons make life for these men nearly unbearable and love almost impossible.
Each book in the series involves all of the immortals, but centers on one in particular and adds a heroine to the mix.



Book three centers on the immortal Reyes, the Keeper of Pain. I've actually been interested in reading Reyes story since I read the first book in the series.
Reyes houses the Demon of Pain which will not rest until Reyes injures himself, badly. *see the first line quoted above* His demon craves agony and Reyes finds himself craving it as well. It's almost like an addiction. He'll injure himself, heal quickly, only to have to do it again and again, for all eternity. Small injuries don't please his demon. Reyes jumps off buildings, shatters bones, has his spleen removed, stabs himself...stuff like that. If he doesn't injure himself on a regular basis, Reyes will have to injure others.




Reyes falls for Danika Ford the first time he sees her, in book 1. Danika and her family are on the run after being held captive by the Lords themselves.



One of the Lords, Aeron, has been ordered by the Titans to kill Danika and her family. Aeron however, does not want to kill the family, but his demon is craving it. He begs Reyes to trap him deep underground, near Hades, where he won't be able to do harm. This is where the storyline with Danika and Reyes begins in book 3.


Danika also finds herself unable to forget the beautiful and haunted Reyes since she first sees him. She is confused however as to whether the Lords are friends or enemies.





While on the run and in disguise, Danika is captured by Hunters, humans who dedicate their lives to finding and capturing the Lords of the Underworld. However, these Hunters use extreme measures and aren't in their right minds themselves.


When Reyes finds out Danika has been captured, he goes to save her.
Danika and Reyes are instantly drawn to each other when they reunite but Reyes wonders if Danika is secretly working with Hunters to bring the Lords down.
He also wonders if his 'angel', which is what he calls her, can truly love him despite his demon constantly craving physical pain.



As the story unfolds the Lords discover that Danika has a special power of her own.

He was right and wrong wrapped in the same sensual package, with a kiss and flavor that transported her at once to the heights of heaven and the depths of hell.




He had sprung from her nightmares, yet he had become her fantasy, weaving gossamer wings of desire through her every cell. He was the only thing she wanted and everything she shouldn't have.

I like how Gena Showalter gives her heroes heart and soul and makes her heroines smart and sassy. These reads are fun. Plus I'm a sucker for Alpha males. Funny enough I don't read many paranormals, but this author has become a favorite.






I read and really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Darkest Night. I stumbled upon it at the bookstore one day and am very glad I did. The second book is called The Darkest Kiss, and was so-so for me mostly because of the influx of different characters and a plot that was a bit too busy for me. I didn't want to give up on this series and have been meaning to get back into it. I am glad I finally did.



I liked reading about Danika and Reyes and I wondered how these two would work it out. The love scenes were well written, thankfully they weren't 'over the top', considering Reyes loves pain. The author found a way for these two characters to be together despite the violent demon Reyes houses.


I liked how Reyes was torn between his love for Danika and just leaving her be. He's a great hero, tormented and sensitive. He didn't want to corrupt Danika, he considers her an angel.

The storyline was fun, the writing was fast paced and I do look forward to the next book in the series. I also liked how the author weaved in other characters to the plot, new and old. It wasn't overwhelming. One thing I disliked was the length of the book, I felt like it could have been 50 pages or so shorter. Other than that, this was a good read.




If you enjoy paranormal romance, Alpha males and lots of action, you might like this series. I recommend reading them in order though.


Next in the series is The Darkest Whisper, which centers on Sabin who houses the Demon of Doubt.










R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge