Review: The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Secret (goodreads.com)

By: Gena Showalter (author website)

Mass Market Paperback, 410 pages

Published March 29th 2011 by Harlequin Books

ISBN 13: 9780373775491

Source: Purchased for self

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Series: Lords of the Underworld, #7

Best read in order: absolutely

Stars: 4

Flames: 3
Reviewed by: Vanessa

                Haidee has lived her lives with the motto of “Die if you must, but take as many Lord’s as you can with you.” As a Hunter she has dedicated her life to see that the Lord’s don’t cause harm to others. She was doing exactly that when Strider caught her, drugged her and took her to the Lord’s Budapest fortress.

                Amun (Keeper of Secrets) has been left with an insane amount of minion demons running wild in his head after assisting a fellow Lord. Unable to purge these demons he seeks peace in death. As he’s lying in bed wishing for such he finds a connection to another that gives him some peace from the demons.

                I liked how Haidee and Amun were brought together in the beginning. The mechanisms that were used to allow their connection to work were perfect for this couple. Sometimes I really wonder why authors choose for the difficult bonding of enemies. Then you get something like The Darkest Secret in your hands and you realize it makes for a great story. Amun and Haidee have to overcome the events in their pasts that led them to become enemies. They must learn enough about the other so that they can begin to earn each other’s trust. All of this takes place while they are trying to return the new residents in Amun’s head to their rightful home. Amun and Haidee then take readers on the journey of how they will make a happily ever after work when they both know that the people around them will have some major issues with their romance.  

                William, Strider and Paris have fairly large secondary roles while providing plenty of comic relief. They are vacationing together. They are all three wrestling with bigger personal issues, yet still trying to get their minds into a better place. The past books heroes and heroines have very tiny little snippets. I would have liked to have seen a little bit for from the past couples that I loved so much.

                I had two small annoyances with the book, Haidee and Micah, and Strider and Haidee. Haidee and the Micah issue came off as immature to me. Although it is Micah that opens up the doorway that allows for Haidee to initially go to Amun. Then there is Strider’s obsession with Haidee and the explosion that it causes with Amun. It annoyed me! While these things aggravated me they also added to the suspense that kept the pages constantly turning. It always seems that the things that irritate me, the book would not make sense without.