The Darkest Whisper by Gena Showalter Release Date: September 1, 2009 Publisher: HQN Books Book #4 in the Lords of the Underworld series Number of Pages: 414 Kindle Edition Source: MCL Paranormal Romance M/F Rating: XXX Read 11/27/18 to 11/29/18
Bound by the demon of Doubt, Sabin unintentionally destroys even the most confident of lovers. So the immortal warrior spends his time on the battlefield instead of the bedroom, victory his only concern… until he meets Gwendolyn the Timid. One taste of the beautiful redhead, and he craves more.
Gwen, an immortal herself, always thought she’d fall for a kind human who wouldn’t rouse her darker side. But when Sabin frees her from prison, battling their enemies for the claim to Pandora’s box turns out to be nothing compared to the battle Sabin and Gwen will wage against love.
I have a confession to make. Up until this story, I still thought of Sabin and his crew as “other” in regard to the Lords of the Underworld. Since the first story, The Darkest Night, didn’t really introduce us to these Lords until later in the book I almost thought of them as minor characters although they clearly aren’t. So this story was an important one for me so I could better start blurring the lines between the Buda Lords and the “other”. I believe this book did its job in that respect.
Gena Showalter is outstanding at writing chemistry between her characters. From the moment they laid eyes on each other, I felt the connection between Sabin and Gwen. I adore the way Gwen always felt secure with Sabin, even though he’s Doubt himself. Her customs as a Harpy are not something Sabin is familiar with and are not something a Harpy would normally discuss. Yet time and time again, Gwen found herself relaxing around Sabin or telling him things she has kept secret her whole life.
I wasn’t particularly happy that Sabin wanted to keep secret which demon possesses him. I felt that was a great disservice to Gwen…how could she know what to look out for if she doesn’t know what lurks inside Sabin? Especially being as the nature of his demon is to project doubt to all around him, and Sabin’s issue with caring for a woman is being afraid her doubts will destroy her sense of self, I would think forewarned is forearmed. I was quite anxious for that “secret” to come out and was beyond grateful once it was finally in the open.
As with the other stories, the author keeps the other characters in play while telling the main story of one couple. Poor Paris is still hanging in there and, from what I can tell, is still not getting his story any time soon. Quite frankly, I’m concerned for the guy. I appreciate the open and direct conversations Cameo and Torin had in regard to their situation. We get to learn more about Gideon, too. And, although we haven’t seen things from his point of view yet, I feel a bit more connected with Amun after this tale and cannot wait to find out more about him in the future.
The addition of the Harpies and the possibility of other magical creatures being part of this series is exciting to me. There are so many possibilities ahead, as well as possibilities with the children that are now included in the narrative. This author is doing a fantastic job keeping me hooked and wanting more.
All In Good Time 
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