| Title: Ecstasy in Darkness Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
Review Copy Source: Publisher |  |
Book Description
New York Times bestselling sensation Gena Showalter enthralls with a dark, tantalizing world of humans, otherworlders, powers beyond imagining, and a seductive vampire undone by his insatiable hunger for one woman. . .
Growing up poor on New Chicago’s meanest streets, Ava Sans had two options: be the predator or be the prey. No contest. Now, working for Alien Investigation and Removal, she’s been ordered to capture the biggest, baddest warrior of all—a vampire too beautiful to be real, with the ability to manipulate time. Once the leader of the entire vampire army, McKell has been deemed savage and unstable, spurned even by his own kind.
To McKell, humans should be nothing more than sustenance. Yet the petite, golden-skinned Ava is a fascinating contradiction—vicious yet witty, strong yet vulnerable, lethal but fiercely loyal. Against his better judgment, McKell craves that loyalty, and much more. When the chase leads to seduction, McKell and Ava will race to discover the truth about his past. But the answers will come at a price, even for a woman who thought she had nothing left to lose. . .
Review
Reading ECSTASY IN DARKNESS was a pleasure, as once again my expectations for a book were were totally blown out of the water. Despite Gena Showalter being a household name in Paranormal Romance, after a negative experience with one of her long ago books (something about a statue, and maybe a genie?), I thought she wasn’t for me. ECSTASY IN DARKNESS proved me wrong within the first 10 pages. I know the exact page number, as I had to stop reading, log on to Goodreads, and post my page number just so I could include one of the many hysterical quotes I had already read (“He had pale skin and a face that proved God has an A game,” just in case you were wondering).
Perhaps exacerbated by the acknowledgements including a shout out to Kresley Cole, as I was reading ECSTASY IN DARKNESS I couldn’t help but be reminded of DEMON FROM THE DARK (in a very good way). So many of the things I was enjoying were in common: funny dialogue, over the top characters, and action packed pacing. From the moment of Ava and McKell’s first meeting, I was hooked by their witty banter and almost slap-stick fighting. Ava and Noelle’s novel method of taking down McKell had me laughing out loud, and his continued reactions and ruminations on that scene had me giggling throughout the rest of the book.
In addition to all the humor, Showalter does a great job managing the developing attraction between Ava and McKell. Both characters broke the mold for romance heroes and heroines, from Ava’s refusal to call “dibs” on McKell when they first met, to McKell wondering about meeting someone prettier, wittier, or “better” than Ava down the line. I enjoyed having the familiar paranormal soul-mate experience leavened with these natural thoughts and fears, it made the development of the romance all the more compelling.
One thing that ECSTASY IN DARKNESS did even better than DEMON FROM THE DARK was set up additional characters and relationships that I am eager to read more about. In addition to wanting to read the prior books in the Alien Huntress series, I can’t wait to pick up any book that will resolve Noelle, Dallas, and Hector’s future.
Sexual Content: Brief girl-on-girl action, explicit sex scenes.
My Rating:
4/5
Excellent - Loved it! Buy it now & pre-order the sequel.
Click HERE to read an excerpt from ECSTASY IN DARKNESS
Previous books in the series:
1) AWAKEN ME DARKLY
2) ENSLAVE ME SWEETLY
3) SAVOR ME SLOWLY
4) SEDUCE THE DARKNESS
4.5) Temp Me Eternally in DEEP KISS OF WINTER
Also reviewed by:
- Michelle at Michelle’s Book Blog
- K.C. at Smokin’ Hot Book
- Katiebabs at Babbling About Books
You have me intrigued with this one! I do love Gena Showalter, but not this series, I tried to read an earlier book, but it became a DNF.
ReplyDeleteI'm assume from your review that this can be read as a stand-alone?
It absolutely works as a stand alone, as this was the first one I've read in the series. Previous Gena Showalter books have let me down, too, but this one really worked for me. I'm less interested in going back to the start of the Alien Huntress series than in reading more about Ava's bff, Noelle.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed this one, I loved it too :)
ReplyDeleteLizzielvr, I haven't read the earlier books in this series either and I was generally okay. Gena provides enough background to know what's going on, though you'll probably be wondering who some of the couples are.