The Darkest Passion by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Passion continues Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series about a group of immortal warriors, each of whom holds a demon inside of him or her. If the lord is killed his or her demon would be released into the world. And so, the lords must protect themselves not only because they want to live but to prevent their demons from wreaking havoc in the world. The hunters don't see it that way. They blame the lords for everything bad that is happened and believe killing the lords will fix all the problems of the world.

Every book in this series has at least two main plot lines: (1) the particular lonely lord at the center of the book who will soon be lonely no more and (2) and the ongoing battle between the loads and the hunters. In The Darkest Passion Aeron, the keeper of wrath, is the lucky lord who finds love.

Early in the book Aeron and fellow lord Paris (keeper of promiscuity) are debating the merits of relationships. Paris whose demon forces him to bed a different woman (and the occasional man) every night or lose his strength, longs for a relationship. One woman in particular has caught his eye but that's a story for a different book. Aeron doesn't see the point of relationships. They are immortal after all, and a relationship with a human woman means watching her get older and eventually die as he continues to exist. It also means worrying about someone and given the lifestyle of the lords, namely that they continually find themselves in bloody battles with the hunters, having someone else to worry about holds no appeal for him. No Aeron, is content with his brothers and Legion, the little demon he loves like a daughter. Enter Olivia, the fallen Angel.

Olivia's first job as an angel was to bring joy to people who needed it. Then she got promoted to warrior status and was given the task of killing Aeron. She follows him, or rather stalks him, and simply cannot bring herself to kill the heavily tattooed warrior. So she gives up her wings for the chance to be with Aeron. Unfortunately, Aeron is not at all interested in her and Legion can't stand her. Guess how long that lasts.

These books are always fun. The men are always resistant, the women very insistent and at the end there's a love match. Olivia is naive and pure love. She's eager to dive into Aeron's arms and his bed. Everything is new to her. As an angel her life was perfection. She knew neither the joy nor the agony of longing for something or someone for she had all she needed to be content. Something about Aeron changed that. Aeron doesn't quite know what to make of her. He literally has a demon inside him and has done terrible things, that an angel would want him so ardently makes no sense to him. Complicating everything is Legion. Aeron always thought of her as a little girl but she doesn't think of herself that way. The guy who wanted no attachments suddenly has two women to deal with.

I liked this but admit I didn't fully buy in to Olivia and Aeron's relationship. He's wrath - a demon who revels in punishing people for their sins. She is an angel. I get how all the lords are secretly super lovable despite their demons but I wish there was little more about what attracted Olivia to Aeron in the first place. That would have made the love story come alive for me.

The side characters helped redeem the not entirely satisfying romance plot. William always makes me laugh. I'm not sure if there will be a book about him since technically he is not one of the lords but I would love to get his story. Gideon, keeper of lies, and the wife he can't remember - can't wait to read that story.