Review: Pleasure of a Dark Prince

Kresley Cole’s Pleasure of a Dark Prince is the long-awaited story of Lucia and Garreth in the Immortals After Dark series.  And when I say long-awaited… I mean ever since A Hunger Like No Other, when we first saw their connection and Lucia’s unexplained reluctance to accept their destiny together.

One of the things that amazes me about Kresley Cole is how she lays the foundation for future stories inside her books.  We get to look back now and revisit all the clues she has dropped along the way and see what’s been happening with our couple.

Garreth the Lykae met Lucia the Valkyrie before the events of AHLNO. In fact, the book starts before Lachlain MacReive has pulled himself from the bowels of hell.  Garreth knew right away, of course, that Lucia was his mate. What he didn’t know, was that centuries ago she made a vow to stay chaste… a vow tied to her abilities as a master archer.  If she gives in to her feelings, she will lose her aim. This is especially bad since she is required to use her skills during every Ascension to put down Cromm Crauch (a really big bad guy) who she had the bad judgment to marry as a teenager.

So Lucia goes on the run and Garreth follows. She is on the hunt to find a weapon that can finally kill CC. The search leads her and Garreth deep into the Amazon. They face one obstacle after, not the least of which is their undeniable attraction to each other.

I love that so many questions were answered here. And by the end of the story, Cole has already set up the next major story arc.

I never really warmed up to Lucia. I never really felt like she deserved Garreth, which took away from the story a little bit. Perhaps my anticipation of this book prevented it from totally reaching my expectation.  Don’t get me wrong, it was an excellent book. But I surprised myself by liking the next book, Demon from the Dark, even better. 5 stars.