Review – ‘The Darkest Lie’ by Gena Showalter

Blurb 

Forced to his knees in agony whenever he speaks the truth, Gideon can recognize any lie—until he captures Scarlet, a demon-possessed immortal who claims to be his long-lost wife. He doesn't remember the beautiful female, much less wedding—or bedding—her. But he wants to…almost as much as he wants her.

But Scarlet is keeper of Nightmares, too dangerous to roam free. A future with her might mean ultimate ruin. Especially as Gideon's enemies draw closer—and the truth threatens to destroy all he's come to love….

Review

This is one of my favorite stories in the Lords of the Underworld series. Gideon, the keeper of Lies, meets Scarlet, the keeper of Nightmares. She claims to be his long-lost wife but he doesn’t remember her. Of all the heroines in the series, Scarlet is one of the strongest. Gideon is absolutely wonderful because he can handle a powerful, stubborn, determined woman without feeling a blow to his ego, unlike some of the other Lords if they were paired with Scarlet. Scarlet’s back story is a tearjerker. I think I teared up four times throughout the novel, maybe more. What she suffered is unbelievable, and at the hands of her own family makes it even worse. I mean, poor sweet Steel. And she believed Gideon betrayed her. Just so sad.

I loved all the scenes with Amun, Aeron and William. They traveled to Hell to rescue Legion and the blood, fights and torture they experienced, especially in poor Amun’s case, was riveting to read. We also learn a little about William, things he doesn’t want anyone to know.

Strider meets Haidee, a now-immortal woman who killed a Lord a few thousand years ago, and his arrogance irritated me. Strider is the keeper of Defeat and has to win at everything, but he made a mistake in arresting/kidnapping Haidee and he lost one of the artifacts to the Unspoken Ones.

We didn’t see Maddox and Paris in this story. Maddox is too busy taking care of his pregnant wife, Ashlyn, which is annoying because he’s not a kickass warrior as he used to be. Paris just wasn’t around, which means he’s off page getting drunk on ambrosia (though there was one scene with Sienna – yippee!).

There was waaaay too much sex in this book, at least four long scenes, and I skimmed them all. I don’t think the book dragged but I did get sick of hearing Scarlet’s reasons about why she and Gideon couldn’t stay together. I understand her reasoning, but it was repetitive. As I’ve said before with my reviews to the other books in the series, I’m not crazy about the author’s writing style but this story is superb despite my preferences. Great characters, lots of character development for the H/h and the minor characters (for the ones mentioned in the story), and great description that fit the story without bogging it down.

5 Stars

Disclaimer – I bought this book for my own enjoyment. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion.