*I received a free copy of Darkest Heart from Entangled Publishing via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Warning: This book includes mature content such as: sexual content, and/or drug and/or alcohol use, and/or violence.
Darkest Heart by Juliette Cross Series: Dominion #1
Published by Entangled Publishing on August 20, 2018
Genres: Adult, Paranormal Romance
Pages: 348
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
Wrong side of heaven...right side of redemption.
Anya—a stoic, blue-winged angelic warrior— was bitten by a demon prince in battle, and now she has precious little time to find a cure for his deadly venom. But the only archangel with the power to stop the dark poison from corrupting her body and soul is missing. She’ll have to trust her guide, the outcast high demon Dommiel, who is as handsome as he is dangerous if she has any hope.
An outcast of his own kind, high demon Dommiel stays under cover while the war between angels and demons rages on. But when the only person who ever showed him kindness asks for his help, he has no choice but to try to save the angel. Venturing back into the dens he has avoided for so long, Anya makes him want and feel things he never thought possible.
But Dommiel knows there is no way an angel can ever love a demon…
In Darkest Heart, Juliette Cross created an atmospheric world and populated it with brooding heroes and badass heroines. There’s so much to love and then she threw in classic literary quotes and references which made me glow in happiness.
Dommiel is a demon who despite his arguments otherwise cares about more than himself. When he’s asked by a friend to help someone he finds he may have gotten himself into more than her bargained for. Because even though he’s been branded a traitor by his own kind, is he really willing to aid the other side?
Anya is a warrior angel living on borrowed time. Bitten by a demon prince and infected with his essence, she must find the Archangel Uriel to have the poison removed before it’s too late. She could never have guessed she’d be working with one whose kind is the reason she’s in her current predicament in order to get out of it.
Ms. Cross created a post-apocalyptic world where the animosity between angels and demons is palpable as well as the apathy they each seem to feel towards humans. I could almost feel and smell the air on the gritty streets, in the crowded club, and in the snow-laden countryside. And then there were the characters. Dommiel is dark and brooding, attempting to maintain a facade of selfishness and self-indulgence. He didn’t believe in love after the betrayal he’d suffered but Anya made him hope. Anya, despite being a warrior, had a heart of gold, always caring for those most affected by the war between Heaven and Hell…the children. That these two were so drawn to one another seemed wrong but was so right. And their shared love of classic literature only added to my adoration of them.
The romance developed organically – which was a feat considering they were opposites in many ways. Their love blossomed between suspense and action as they worked at finding Uriel. Darkest Heart was exciting and hard to put down. This was an excellent start to a new series. There are characters I hope to see again and this is a world I look forward to spending more time in.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.
Nice review. I enjoyed this book.
Yay! I’m so happy to hear you enjoyed this one as well! Have you read anything else from her? I’ve read her Vampire Blood series but am planning to read more from her backlist while I wait on book #2 in this series. 🙂
I loved her Vampire Blood series. I liked the fairytale aspect she did with the vampires. So good!
As for her back list all she has out now is the Vessel Trilogy. That one I couldn’t get into unfortunately.
She is going to get her dragons: Nightwing and Vale of the Stars back out soon. The publisher closed it’s doors and so she has to get new covers and is working on adding some content to the re-relese, but mainly they will be the same as first published. I’ve read both series and LOVED them. The first book in Nightwing is Pre-Order Sale of $.99cents in the USA.
I loved this one too, Brandee! It was my first book from the author, but I want to go back and check out some of her other series. The romance here was SO good!!
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoyed it as well, Nick. I read her Vampire Blood series late last year/early this year and really enjoyed it. I’m planning on reading her backlist while I wait for book #2 in this series. 🙂
Robin, my cohort in book obsessions, reviewed this today too. I’m glad to see you enjoyed it also. The author is new to me. Anne – Books of My Heart
Oh, you’ll have to give her a try, Anne. I read her Vampire Blood series earlier this year (and late last year, I think) and it was great. I think I’ll dive in to her backlist while I wait on book #2 in this series. 🙂
Twitter: nadz1809
This one is new to me. It does sound like a story I could sink my literary teeth into. Great review
Alright you’re the second blogger I know who has raved about her books. Thinking I need to try them out!
I’m really enjoying her writing, Anna! I’ll be reviewing the first from a different series of hers later this month. 🙂