Karissa E. (ophelia99) reviewed Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress, Bk 4) on + 2527 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
This is the fourth book in the Alien Huntress series by Gena Showalter. While I thought the first two books in this series were okay; I really didn't like the third book all that much. Unfortunately this book followed the third book as far as how much I liked it. I did really like her first book in the Extraordinary girl series "Playing with Fire".
Bride is a vampire who lives on the Earth's surface. She has never met another of her kind and has, for some reason, started getting sick when she drinks blood. Devyn we have met in previous books; he is the womanizing Targon that tried to buy Eden in the second book. They meet when Bride recognizes the scent of her old friend on Devyn. Things get more dangerous when Bride takes the disease invested Nolan from Devyn to piss Devyn off. Now Devyn has to find where Bride is hiding Nolan before Nolan's queen arrives from her home planet. Someone is also trying to kill Bride and she doesn't know why.
The plot in general was pretty thin in this book. I don't mind reading books a bit heavy on the romance, but I do like some substantial plot. The plot basically focused around Nolan and trying to get him to tell where and when his Queen would land; in an effort to stop the virus that Nolan is carrying from wiping out all of Earth. There wasn't much to it. Most of the book focuses on Bride trying to piss off Devyn and Devyn trying to get into Bride's pants. It was also a bit weird that there are all of these alien races on Earth and suddenly Showalter has to throw a vampire in there. I mean where did that come from? Was she worried about missing the current "everyone loves vampires" trend in books?
Bride was very immature for a ages old vampire. Mostly she came off as a brat and was not likable at all. Devyn is an admitted womanizer and most of the time was a jerk. I think Devyn's character was supposed to add some humor to the book; mostly though he was just irritating. Devyn's sense of humor reminds of a hormone ridden teenage boy and really wasn't all that funny. I was actually looking forward to reading more about Devyn, but his back story ended up not being all that interesting.
Showalter's story between Devyn and Bride mimicked the storyline of the previous books. Feisty girl meets arrogant alpha male. Male wants girl, girl resists. Girl can't resist anymore, male gets her then realizes he can't live without her. Boring. This could have been forgiven if there was tension between the characters or decent sex scenes. Unfortunately Devyn and Bride didn't seem to have much chemistry and the sex scenes were uncreative and boring.
In addition to all of the above the scanty plotline about the Queen arriving is left wide open. If I had to hedge my bets I would say the next book in the series is about Dallas falling for the alien Queen...but that is just a guess on my part. I guess I will never know, because I don't plan on continuing to read this series. I don't like any of the characters and the world building (as well as the plot) is thin at best. There are better books out there for romance/sci-fi/paranormal. I would suggest Sunny's Monere' series for those interested in steamy scenes with paranormal races.
Bride is a vampire who lives on the Earth's surface. She has never met another of her kind and has, for some reason, started getting sick when she drinks blood. Devyn we have met in previous books; he is the womanizing Targon that tried to buy Eden in the second book. They meet when Bride recognizes the scent of her old friend on Devyn. Things get more dangerous when Bride takes the disease invested Nolan from Devyn to piss Devyn off. Now Devyn has to find where Bride is hiding Nolan before Nolan's queen arrives from her home planet. Someone is also trying to kill Bride and she doesn't know why.
The plot in general was pretty thin in this book. I don't mind reading books a bit heavy on the romance, but I do like some substantial plot. The plot basically focused around Nolan and trying to get him to tell where and when his Queen would land; in an effort to stop the virus that Nolan is carrying from wiping out all of Earth. There wasn't much to it. Most of the book focuses on Bride trying to piss off Devyn and Devyn trying to get into Bride's pants. It was also a bit weird that there are all of these alien races on Earth and suddenly Showalter has to throw a vampire in there. I mean where did that come from? Was she worried about missing the current "everyone loves vampires" trend in books?
Bride was very immature for a ages old vampire. Mostly she came off as a brat and was not likable at all. Devyn is an admitted womanizer and most of the time was a jerk. I think Devyn's character was supposed to add some humor to the book; mostly though he was just irritating. Devyn's sense of humor reminds of a hormone ridden teenage boy and really wasn't all that funny. I was actually looking forward to reading more about Devyn, but his back story ended up not being all that interesting.
Showalter's story between Devyn and Bride mimicked the storyline of the previous books. Feisty girl meets arrogant alpha male. Male wants girl, girl resists. Girl can't resist anymore, male gets her then realizes he can't live without her. Boring. This could have been forgiven if there was tension between the characters or decent sex scenes. Unfortunately Devyn and Bride didn't seem to have much chemistry and the sex scenes were uncreative and boring.
In addition to all of the above the scanty plotline about the Queen arriving is left wide open. If I had to hedge my bets I would say the next book in the series is about Dallas falling for the alien Queen...but that is just a guess on my part. I guess I will never know, because I don't plan on continuing to read this series. I don't like any of the characters and the world building (as well as the plot) is thin at best. There are better books out there for romance/sci-fi/paranormal. I would suggest Sunny's Monere' series for those interested in steamy scenes with paranormal races.
Susan J. (louisiana-susan) reviewed Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress, Bk 4) on + 25 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I did read the first in this series but not any of the others until this one. And I liked it. And didn't have too much trouble following what was going on. The male lead was such a ham and a flirt and I really liked how the female lead accepted his personality. It's an interesting world Ms. Showalter has created and I now want to go back and read some of the previous books and I'm hoping she plans on writing Nolan's story as well as Fiona and the Vampire King and Dallas.
Helpful Score: 1
Good read, action paranormal plot with a futuristic setting. I haven't read the earlier books so I can't vouch for them or whether reading order is important. I can say that although there were interesting references to past storylines - the author provided what you really needed to know to navigate this one. The hero is Devyn, an agent for Alien Investigation and Removal, with a slick beauty, powerful skills, a voracious appetite for women and a very narcissistic personality. At first you figure if you looked up 'jerk' in the dictionary you'd find his picture there. But he does sort of grow on you. The heroine, Bride, is a vampire who is managing on her own since she doesn't know any other vampires. Then she meets Devyn and figures out he could lead her to the one friend she has ever had but lost in the past. She also figures out he is a jerk when he refuses her and walks away. Instead of courtship - these two declare war. She pursues, he pursues, both determined to catch the other and get what they want.
Alien Huntress
1. Awaken Me Darkly (2005)
2. Enslave Me Sweetly (2006)
3. Red Handed (2006)
4. Black Listed (2007)
5. Savor Me Slowly (2007)
6. Seduce the Darkness (2009)
Alien Huntress
1. Awaken Me Darkly (2005)
2. Enslave Me Sweetly (2006)
3. Red Handed (2006)
4. Black Listed (2007)
5. Savor Me Slowly (2007)
6. Seduce the Darkness (2009)
Helpful Score: 1
I have read her underworld series and loved it. Now I love her even more. She gets right into the story. There is no waiting for the story to fold out and lots of boring info....you want the passion right away and that is what you have. Now the ending could have been brought out more with better romance...it ended too quickly...I needed more of Devyn to be the man...She became a little to strong too quickly...The shift happened to quickly to her being the hero...I was still ready for a manly figure...but still a good read.
Catherine M. (Catherine1) reviewed Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress, Bk 4) on + 60 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Seduce The Darkness is book 4 in the Alien Huntress series. This time we get to see what makes the flirtatious AIR agent, Devyn, tick. I haven't read all the books in the series, but I did read the last one, Savor Me Slowly, so I'm pretty up to speed on the world. I think they stand on their own pretty well, but you'll probably enjoy it more if you have the back story.
Bride McKells has been a vampire for many years. She's never met any of her kind and lives in fear of being hunted for what she is. She can't remember anything of her childhood and doesn't know where she came from or who she is. She only knew her name because it was tattooed on her arm. Unfortunately she had to learn the ropes herself and anyone she fed from died until she finally learned how to control herself. Recently Bride has been having a problem feeding. She can't seem to keep the blood down and is slowly getting weaker and weaker. While roaming the streets one night she catches a scent from her past. She has been searching for the owner of this scent for years and can't resist tracking it down.
Unfortunately for Bride, the scent leads her to Devyn. Devyn is shocked to learn that she's not interested in him at all and is only concerned with who he has been around that might make him smell like her lost friend. Devyn refuses to tell her anything about who he has been with and even though he knows about vampires he refuses to answer her questions about them. Their first meet leads to a battle of wills between them. They soon begin to plot against each other but neither can resist the attraction between them.
I liked the tension between Bride and Devyn. They both want each other but they both fought it. Devyn fought the lust less than Bride but he fought the caring more. Even though Devyn started out arrogant I liked the humor in his character. I loved that after he and Bride were together it was him who kept pushing for closeness even though he'd get panicky when he thought about it.
I also liked Bride's confidence. Sure, she could be vulnerable and insecure at times, but overall she was a very confident person. I thought her personality strengths complimented Devyn's weaknesses nicely. I really liked how she thought Devyn was insane when he tried to show her 'respect' in his own way. I also liked that she still stayed paranoid and ready to run even after Devyn was with her.
Overall a great book. The only thing that was a letdown was the end. It seemed like it went by really fast after the big fight. It wasn't bad, just disappointing. I guess I was just expecting something more there.
Bride McKells has been a vampire for many years. She's never met any of her kind and lives in fear of being hunted for what she is. She can't remember anything of her childhood and doesn't know where she came from or who she is. She only knew her name because it was tattooed on her arm. Unfortunately she had to learn the ropes herself and anyone she fed from died until she finally learned how to control herself. Recently Bride has been having a problem feeding. She can't seem to keep the blood down and is slowly getting weaker and weaker. While roaming the streets one night she catches a scent from her past. She has been searching for the owner of this scent for years and can't resist tracking it down.
Unfortunately for Bride, the scent leads her to Devyn. Devyn is shocked to learn that she's not interested in him at all and is only concerned with who he has been around that might make him smell like her lost friend. Devyn refuses to tell her anything about who he has been with and even though he knows about vampires he refuses to answer her questions about them. Their first meet leads to a battle of wills between them. They soon begin to plot against each other but neither can resist the attraction between them.
I liked the tension between Bride and Devyn. They both want each other but they both fought it. Devyn fought the lust less than Bride but he fought the caring more. Even though Devyn started out arrogant I liked the humor in his character. I loved that after he and Bride were together it was him who kept pushing for closeness even though he'd get panicky when he thought about it.
I also liked Bride's confidence. Sure, she could be vulnerable and insecure at times, but overall she was a very confident person. I thought her personality strengths complimented Devyn's weaknesses nicely. I really liked how she thought Devyn was insane when he tried to show her 'respect' in his own way. I also liked that she still stayed paranoid and ready to run even after Devyn was with her.
Overall a great book. The only thing that was a letdown was the end. It seemed like it went by really fast after the big fight. It wasn't bad, just disappointing. I guess I was just expecting something more there.
