This is one of my favorite stories in the Lords of the Underworld series. Gideon, the keeper of Lies, meets Scarlet, the keeper of Nightmares. She claims to be his long-lost wife but he doesn’t remember her. Of all the heroines in the series, Scarlet is one of the strongest. Gideon is absolutely wonderful because he can handle a powerful, stubborn, determined woman without feeling a blow to his ego, unlike some of the other Lords if they were paired with Scarlet. Scarlet’s back story is a tearjerker. I think I teared up four times throughout the novel, maybe more. What she suffered is unbelievable, and at the hands of her own family makes it even worse. I mean, poor sweet Steel. And she believed Gideon betrayed her. Just so sad.
I loved all the scenes with Amun, Aeron and William. They traveled to Hell to rescue Legion and the blood, fights and torture they experienced, especially in poor Amun’s case, was riveting to read. We also learn a little about William, things he doesn’t want anyone to know.
Strider meets Haidee, a now-immortal woman who killed a Lord a few thousand years ago, and his arrogance irritated me. Strider is the keeper of Defeat and has to win at everything, but he made a mistake in arresting/kidnapping Haidee and he lost one of the artifacts to the Unspoken Ones.
We didn’t see Maddox and Paris in this story. Maddox is too busy taking care of his pregnant wife, Ashlyn, which is annoying because he’s not a kickass warrior as he used to be. Paris just wasn’t around, which means he’s off page getting drunk on ambrosia (though there was one scene with Sienna – yippee!).
There was waaaay too much sex in this book, at least four long scenes, and I skimmed them all. I don’t think the book dragged but I did get sick of hearing Scarlet’s reasons about why she and Gideon couldn’t stay together. I understand her reasoning, but it was repetitive. As I’ve said before with my reviews to the other books in the series, I’m not crazy about the author’s writing style but this story is superb despite my preferences. Great characters, lots of character development for the H/h and the minor characters (for the ones mentioned in the story), and great description that fit the story without bogging it down.
5 Stars

Disclaimer – I bought this book for my own enjoyment. I am not paid or compensated in any way, shape or form for this honest review. I will not change or alter this review for any reason unless at my discretion. ( )

Speaking truth causes him great pain, but speaking lies hurts others. ( )

Re-read for me

I love the Lords of the Underworld and Gideon is one of my favorites. I really wasn't into Scarlet at first but she grew on me.

There was so much side action going on that it was hard to keep up but it is very interesting and makes me thirst for more.



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I've enjoyed the previous books in the series, but I found this one very tiresome. I disliked the heroine throughout the whole book, and though I didn't dislike the hero, I didn't strongly like him either. Since nearly everyone understands sarcasm, not being able to say things straightforwardly is a pretty tame curse compared to some of the other demons. That probably made me a little less empathetic to his plight. Most of the story though was taken up by the heroine being spiteful or trying to get away from the hero, and him having to jump through hoops and chase her. The reason for her animosity toward him is problematic nearly from the start as well, so she just hardly had a leg to stand on. She's angry with him for not remembering her, but quickly it's apparent that he couldn't have forgotten her so completely on his own, and if a God was involved in his memory loss, then it's really unfair to continue trying to make him pay for it. The hero was very patient with her, considering, but I wished someone better for him. Both were pretty impulsive as well, and it felt like they often went off half-cocked. There were lots of POV chapters from other characters progressing other plot threads, so I don't think it would would have worked well for me to just skip over this book entirely if I'm wanting to continue on with the series. (Which I am). ( )

I loved the story but found myself having to re-read and translate the negative speak into what he really meant. It was a bit distracting for me. Other than that, great read. ( )