Review: After Dark

After Dark by Gena Showalter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



This was a combination of 2 books that really didn't have a continuous theme. I'll review them separately because unless you're familiar with one series or the other, reading both was just... disjointed.

Darkest Angel (4 stars)
I'm a fan of the Lords of the Underworld series and this was a nice little treat to read. It's probably the same length as a full novel, and is certainly fully developed. The romance in this book is between Lysander (the Sent One we've met before) and Bianca (the Harpy I am in love with). As can be expected, the harpy is the only one that ends up using her brain (and her body) to get what she wants out of the situation she finds herself in. That situation is being kidnapped by Lysander and forced to hide out in his "cloud."

Lysander is obviously struggling to deal with his attraction to Bianka and has instead decided to try to "reform" her. Their romance is one of my favorites if only because they are so very opposite. If you have read the rest of the series and love the harpies like I do, this is a must read that will leave you smiling.

Shadow Hunter (3 stars)
I'm not really familiar enough with the series that this book predates, but it is certainly more gritty than I usually like my books to be (especially after the yummy HEA from the previous book). Brock is on a mission to hunt down the vampire who killed his best friend. He works for a shadowy organization that boosts their warriors so they have a better shot at protecting the city against beasts that prey on innocents. Tiffany is the sister of Brock's fallen friend. She suffered the loss and decided to being a hunter herself. That's where Brock and Tiffany first meet each other in person, but they met each other through letters years before.

While Brock was in training, he reached out to Tiffany as a pen pal to "ground" himself. After his friend got killed and he was somewhat implicated with negligence, Tiffany and Brock ended up unable to heal the divide. When they butt heads over the hunt, the sparks really fly (even if it takes Tiffany a little longer to put together who he is). The romance was definitely a highlight of this book, but don't expect a HEA. You are thrown a massive cliffhanger and no resolution here. I can only assume that this prequel is necessary for character insight later on in the series.




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