Review: Darkest Caress

Reviewed by Jen
 

Liv never dreamed she was about to meet the man she would spend the rest of her life with while trying to sell a waterfront mansion. But that is exactly what happens. Daegan shows up to look at the property and right away, the heat sizzles between them. Liv recognizes the sexual attraction, but has no way of knowing that it so much more --that she had just met her mate.

Daegan is more than human. As an "Empowered," he is destined to fight a malevolent force known as the Obsidian Lord and his Dark Army, in a battle for the future of the human race. An ancient prophecy foretold the battle centuries ago. It also promised mates for Daegan and the other two Empowered men he leads, Cade and Vaughn.

As much as he wants Liv, Daegan realizes she has no idea what he is or that she is special too. He wants to give her time to ease into his world and he wants to give her the choice about whether to bond with him. But every day that they wait is an exercise in torture. They become so sexually charged, their bodies can barely function for their want of each other.

The sexual tension is very good. In fact, I found myself growing agitated, waiting for these two to seal the deal. While I appreciated Daegan's good intentions, his martyr-like behavior got on my nerves a bit. Their mating was not something either of them could control and by trying to do so, he made everyone even more miserable. I thought Liv took all of the revelations really well... almost too well for someone who had no clue such a supernatural world existed. But she was likable and the two of them were likable together.

Throughout the story, the Obsidian Lord is working to find Daegan and crush the Empowered. We have several scenes in his POV, which I did not enjoy at all. I don't mind changing POVs as much as some readers do, but I wish we would have stuck more with Liv and Daegan. While I didn't love the scenes from Cade and his future woman, I could deal with them since I knew we were setting the stage for their story. Every time we got into the villain scenes, however, I had to fight the urge to skim ahead and get back to our couple.

Things developed very fast in the romance department. But I am always more forgiving of this in destined-mate stories. And I appreciate that the factor was acknowledged. The sex was superhot; and there was a healthy dash of action thrown in at the end.

I thought the supporting cast was interesting. The pieces are all in place for Cade's story. But it's Vaughn who I really want to know about. I love a good scarred and tortured hero. I guess I'm just going to have to wait for that one. 3 1/2 stars.

*ARC Provided by NetGalley 

Click to purchase: Amazon

Darkest Caress

by Kaylea Cross

Release Date: April 23, 2012

Publisher: Carina Press