Review – ‘The Darkest Seduction’ by Gena Showalter

Blurb 

Possessed by the demon of Promiscuity, immortal warrior Paris is irresistibly seductive — but his potent allure comes at a terrible price. Every night he must bed someone new, or weaken and die. And the woman he craves above all others is the one woman he'd thought was forever beyond his reach... until now.

Newly possessed by the demon of Wrath, Sienna Blackstone is racked by a ruthless need to punish those around her. Yet in Paris's arms, the vulnerable beauty finds soul-searing passion and incredible peace. Until a blood feud between ancient enemies heats up.

Will the battle against gods, angels and creatures of the night bind them eternally — or tear them apart?

Review 

Paris, keeper of the demon on Promiscuity, is a changed man. No longer fun-loving or carefree, he’s now an angry, determined, hardened drug addict with evil growing inside him like a second demon. Obsessed with finding, saving and questioning Sienna, the dead woman he craves, he lives his life in pursuit of her and drowning his pain in ambrosia, the drug of choice for immortals, but he is trying to kick the drug habit.

Sienna, a former Hunter-turned-Ghost-turned-keeper of Wrath, lives locked in a castle in a shadowy realm under Cronus’s control. When she and Paris are reunited, tension spikes and it’s not the happy union either hoped for. There’s too much guilt, distrust and shame between them, not to mention cruel Titan gods, emotionless angelic warriors and evil Hunters with their own agendas determined to keep Sienna and Paris apart.

Since this story is about Paris, the yummy sex demon, I understood there would be a lot of sex involved which there was. Only two scenes out of several actually fit and prolonged the story. I skimmed them, more interested in their budding relationship than all the heaving and grunting.

Unlike the previous book, The Darkest Surrender, the minor characters got more page time in this book. We learn a few more tidbits about William’s powers and things he knows that he doesn’t want the Lords to know, and we see him cuddling platonically and acting very protective of Gilly. We see Kane in Hell and briefly meet his mysterious rescuer. Galen is a man obsessed and poor timid Legion makes a personal sacrifice to help one of her friends (their scenes together were awesome!). Soooo happy Maddox and Ashlyn played a good size role in the book since they’ve been almost non-existent in the series for a while. We meet a few new characters, including Viola and three other demon-possessed immortal warriors. I hope they return in the other books. Oh, and Hades (William’s father) but I think he’ll be nothing but trouble later on.

As with most of the books, I seem to prefer the scenes with the side characters and not the main couple. I think the reason is that the series story arc is played out with the side characters while the individual couples are just falling in love.

This story was a little difficult to read because of all the fragment sentences, excess use of the words ‘had’ and ‘that’, no clear POV now and then, and periods and commas in the wrong place. I had to reread more than a few passages to find out what was going on. Very annoying and took me out of the story.

Though this book does have good things about it—hello, heavenly battle and Paris’s redemption—I think it was too full of needless descriptions and repetitive thoughts and emotions that only padded the pages, not furthered character development. I’m a fangirl who’s been on the edge of my seat for Paris and Sienna’s story but I’ve read reviews similar to mine which is why it took me so long to finally sit down and read it. I was afraid of being disappointed which I sadly am.

3.5 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.