Kane, keeper of Disaster, survived weeks in Hell after brutal torture and rape by demon minions and even more torture from two of the Horseman of the Apocalypse who rescued him from the minions. His real rescue came in the form of a half-fae/half-human blood slave named Josephina.
Both Kane and Josephina are in very dark places in their lives and they’re ready to die. Literally, die. Kane wants to kill Disaster, the horrible demon who lives inside his body, but to do that, Kane must die, too, which he’s fine with. Josephina has been tortured for centuries by her royal Fae family because her eldest sister, Princess Synda, is a beloved spoiled brat who is never held accountable for her actions and crimes. Josephina is always punished in Synda’s place.
Kane and Josephina’s love story blooms gradually and I really enjoyed watching both of them grow out of their dark shells. Josephina has a hard time trusting people and that’s completely understandable after what’s she’s suffered. The Fates, aka the Moirai, prophesized Kane would marry the demon keeper of Irresponsibility, Synda, or the only female Horseman, White (William’s daughter), but he can’t stand either of those two women. He’s drawn to Josephina.
My main problem with this story is that Kane constantly calls Josephina ‘Tink’ or ‘Tinker Bell.’ I absolutely love with guys give their women cutesy pet names but he called her Tink as her regular name, not a pet name, as though the name Josephina wasn’t good enough for him. This is very insulting. Even Josephina told Kane to stop calling her that, but he wouldn’t and she started to like the name Tink after a while and started to call herself that.
Of all the demon-possessed warriors, Kane seems to have it the hardest with Disaster. With the other guys, their demons loved their women and it’s like a threesome-type relationship. Not in this book. Disaster hates Josephina and will do anything to kill her.
I soooooo love the scenes with Cameo and Lazarus stuck in the Paring Rod. Strider beheaded Lazarus two books ago, but Lazarus is alive and well in spirit-form inside the Rod. He teams up with Cameo to escape and sparks ignite between them.
Torin meets Mari, the one human in the world who is supposedly immune to Torin’s disease, but she’s also Cronus’s prisoner. Turns out she might not be immune, after all, and Mari has a very powerful friend who will punish Torin if Mari dies.
I’m anxious for William and Gilly’s story, but I’m frustrated he’s acting as her protector while tomcatting around and trying to keep it from her. Granted, they aren’t lovers yet and he’s free to sleep with whomever he wants (he usually does), but he shouldn’t hide his whorish ways from the girl he’s crushing on. She deserves to know the truth about his real character and not what he wants her to know. Gilly is a smart young woman, but she’s blind when it comes to William and he’s taking advantage of that. At the end of the book, however, I think her eyes are finally open but I doubt it will stay that way.
To fully understand this book, unfortunately, you should read the first two books in the spinoff series, Angels of the Dark: Wicked Nights and Beauty Awakened. While a few events in those books are recapped in The Darkest Craving, there are unanswered questions for readers (like me) who hadn’t read the spinoff books.
This is the last book I have so far in the LOTU series. Since the spinoff series is intermingled with the main series, Burning Dawn (the third Angel book) comes after this one, followed by The Darkest Touch (Torin’s book), and then Baden’s book that came out in the summer of 2016. Will I continue collecting the LOTU books and now the Angel books, as well? I don’t know. I’m invested in the characters but I’ll probably wait to buy the books when I find them on a big sale.
4 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. ( )

Kane! Chi era costui? per parafrasare una celebre citazione da I Promessi Sposi. Il mio interesse nei confronti della sua storia era pari a zero: rimasto sempre ai margini del gruppo a causa del suo Demone (Disastro: potete davvero biasimarlo?), non ha smosso niente dentro di me, nemmeno quando è stato imprigionato all'inferno (leggi: per me poteva anche rimanerci).

Ho iniziato quindi la lettura arida di entusiasmo: infatti, la storia tra Kane e Josephine è una palla. Ora che la Showalter non ci delizia più con buone scene di sesso (tensione sessuale inclusa), lo sviluppo della relazione tra i due è un susseguirsi snervante di “Oh, sì! Mi ama” e “Oh, no! Non mi ama!”. Una storia d'amore tra schizofrenici.

Kane viene descritto come sexy. Ah, sì? Kane ha un trauma per quello che gli è accaduto nell'inferno. Ah, sì? Kane si vuole sacrificare per il bene comune. Ah, sì? Kane non sopporta più Disastro. Ah, sì? Non c'è stato dramma che me l'abbia fatto piacere. Per non parlare poi della descrizione fisica: dovrei interessarmi a un fustacchione quando me lo descrivi per sommi capi mentre ti tappi gli occhi con le mani?

La controparte femminile, Josephina, parte come ragazza simpatica e divertente (nella cara, vecchia tradizione Showalter... Anya Style), ma dopo dieci pagine si perde. Diventa una piaga senza personalità (salvo poi tirare fuori gli attributi alla fine per il gran finale).

Uniche note di colore e di interesse sono stati Torin e William. Torin sarà il protagonista della prossima storia e già mi sento male all'idea di come la nuova Showalter possa maltrattarlo. William è sempre il solito matto e va bene così: almeno lui, lasciacelo intatto così. ( )

Well. This was not very enjoyable and was quite boring. ( )

Well, the prosthelytizing was toned down a bit, and this book was definitely steamier than her last couple, but it was still not the old Gena that was an auto-buy author for me. The sex was pretty vague and the romance and characters are kinda goody-goody and sweet. Marriage before sex seems to be a thing for her now, which is going to be a reach to pull off with every couple. Still, this is an improvement on the last couple of books from her, so while Torin's book will be from the library or borrowed from a friend, there was enough improvement that I will at least be willing to read it (something I was a bit unsure of with this one). If the next one is an improvement on this one, she'll have my attention. But if Torin's story (or maybe [b:Black and Blue|17211009|Black and Blue (Otherworld Assassin, #2)|Gena Showalter|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1365090550s/17211009.jpg|23692680]) is ONLY slightly-more-steamy-and-less-preachy, then I think I might throw in the towel. ( )

2.5 stars rounded up. There were good parts to this one, but it also had some substantial flaws. The main characters seemed especially foolish, things that felt like they should be obvious to any observer were apparently beyond them, and several times they threw themselves directly in their own way because of it. 'Disaster' as the hero's demon didn't really work for me, it was mostly just things trying to fall on him, or the floor cracking underneath him over and over. Especially compared to some of the previous demons, this one was kinda lame. And still, the hero seemed more a slave to appeasing it than Paris had even when Paris would literally begin to sicken and die when he didn't satisfy his demon of 'Promiscuity'. It's treated like some big revelation near the end, but it doesn't take a genius to know that giving in to someone's every demand helps ensure they become a tyrant. The hero has had this demon for like 4 thousand years or something, and has been able to observe how the others handled their demons as well, you'd think he would have worked out some of this stuff already. Circumstances also often seemed contrived, and there were some weak plot points that didn't really hold water. Besides the foolishness though, the characters were pretty likable. And the story still entertained me decently overall. ( )