The Darkest Kiss (Lords of the Underworld #2) by Gena Showalter review

This is the 2nd book in the Lords of the Underworld series. Fair warning, SPOILERS may follow.

Lucien houses the demon of Death. He is like Charon is that Lucien is the ferryman for the newly dead into their afterlife. He differs from Charon in that Lucien gets to go to heaven & hell. After centuries of ferrying souls to their final resting places, he was content to be alone so that he would never have to ferry another lover to either location. To prevent women from ever desiring him, Lucien intentionally marred his face so that no one would ever want to get close again. Unfortunately Anya isn't just anyone.

Anya, the goddess of Anarchy, is on the run. Since the Titans took over the Mount (and imprisoned the gods & goddesses) she is avoiding drawing too much attention to herself. With Lucien though, she's doing just the opposite. She's doing everything in her power to attract him & despite his constant cold shoulder routine, she is relentless in her pursuit. She's aware of his curse & doesn't mind at all, considering she has a pretty big curse of her own that she's not willing to share.

All of their bantering back and forth may be all for naught if they can't work together against the Hunters that are constantly plaguing the Lords. With little regard for themselves, these two are destined to find some measure of happiness. In this life or the next.

Gena Showalter continues the non-stop action that I'm enjoying so much. We pick up where we left off after The Darkest Night and start to move deeper into the plot of the story. I don't really mention what Lucien & Anya are working on together because there is just way too much detail to go into in order for you to understand. It would be way easier to read the books. Seriously. Basically the Hunters are the "bad guys" that want to exterminate the Lords by returning their demons to the box they came from. Unfortunately that has the nasty side effect of killing the Lords. Therefore, the Lords (and those feisty women helping them) are trying to stop the Hunters from gaining the upper hand.

These main characters were a little more extreme than the last ones. While Anarchy can sometimes facilitate the necessity for Death, the two are not mutually exclusive. Lucien is a brooding, dark, pensive kind of personality while Anya is bubbly, conniving, & jovial. She does have her Debbie-downer moments, but she tends to bounce right back from them. They are both highly developed characters that never cease to intrigue & bewitch me.

The writing continues to be strong. Again, there are sexual situations, but not as much (or as graphic) as in the first book. I find myself being more & more drawn into the story & the Lords' lives. I'll be very happy to see what's up next in their battle for survival!