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"Puck the Undefeated, host of the demon of Indifference, cannot experience emotion without punishment, so he allows himself to feel nothing. Until her. According to ancient prophecy, she is the key to avenging his past, saving his realm and ruling as king. All he must do? Steal her from the man she loves--and marry her. Gillian Shaw has suffered many tragedies in her too-short life, but nothing could have prepared the fragile human for her transition into immortality. To survive, she must show more wed a horned monster who both intrigues and frightens her...and become the warrior queen she was born to be. As a rising sense of possession and obsession overtake Puck, so does insatiable lust. The more he learns about his clever, resourceful wife, the more he craves her. And the more time Gillian spends with her protective husband, the more she aches for him. But the prophecy also predicts an unhappily-ever-after. Can Puck defeat fate itself to keep the woman who brought his deadened heart back to life? Or will they succumb to destiny, losing each other...and everything they've been fighting for? " -- Amazon.com. show lessTags
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Okay I know I'm not going to be in the majority but....well I found I really like the pairing of Gillian and Puck.
I never got the romance of Gillian and William. Too me I always thought he was too much for her. Yes he cared for her, protected her, championed her but I always felt the romantic love was on her side and it was a skewed view because of what she had endured.
With Puck, yes he did leave her in alone in his realm while he came to seek out William's help but he left her with his two good friends. Secure in the knowledge they would protect her and she would be alright. Kind of like he trusted her to be able to take care of herself. Something William never did. Hell even when they are reunited and she asks him what life will be show more like for her after everything is done and she returns home with him. He basically told her nothing would change. He would still go out to battle leaving her safe at home. When he returned instead of sleeping with other women he would sleep with her. She would cook and clean and do all those wifely things for him while he played the bad ass.
Then there is the whole "beauty and the beast" kind of thing going on. Gillian sees beauty in Puck. She talks about his breathtaking eyes, how one smile can light up her world, even how his leg fur keeps her warm at night. The scene where she gets his permission to touch his horns, to me that was some of the best foreplay ever written.
Does Puck act like a jerk...well yea, he's a guy possessed by Indifference and lost to a path of vengeance. He's been rejected, betrayed and had to tamp down any kind of emotion for so long he's a little rusty at it. The fact that he wants to even try to "melt the ice" for Gillian says quite a bit.
Now we get into Gillian. DAMN, the scared little girl came into herself. Winter and Cameron did a great job training her to be a warrior and teaching her it's okay for her to stand up for herself. What I love most is that along the way she realized that her tormentor's should hold all the guilt. As a young girl she did nothing wrong. She did nothing to warrant the abuse she suffered from her stepfather and step"horrors". She became the Dune Raider, a force to be reckoned with, an equal to Puck the Undefeated. She moved passed what she wanted and thought about how to make Puck's dreams come true, how to beat the prophecies and how to find her happy ending. Her biggest revelation was the fact that while she loved William she couldn't even get passed the thought of having sex with him without feeling ill. Yet without having more than a kiss from Puck she yearned for him.....500 years she had thinking of him and wondering what it would be like to fully be his wife. And it didn't make her ill. That right there should let everyone know that she wasn't William's true mate.
As usual there are a lot of great one liners because Gena's characters always have that edge of sarcasm and wit. Keelycael and a host of others play integral parts in the story line but they don't take away from Gillian and Puck.
Like I said, I know it's an unpopular point of view but I like these two together. William is now free to find the one who can decode his book. Why do I get the feeling this "nerd" is going to be a beautiful woman? Oh I really want to see the Panty Melter get knocked on his gorgeous ass by the woman who is his true mate. show less
I never got the romance of Gillian and William. Too me I always thought he was too much for her. Yes he cared for her, protected her, championed her but I always felt the romantic love was on her side and it was a skewed view because of what she had endured.
With Puck, yes he did leave her in alone in his realm while he came to seek out William's help but he left her with his two good friends. Secure in the knowledge they would protect her and she would be alright. Kind of like he trusted her to be able to take care of herself. Something William never did. Hell even when they are reunited and she asks him what life will be show more like for her after everything is done and she returns home with him. He basically told her nothing would change. He would still go out to battle leaving her safe at home. When he returned instead of sleeping with other women he would sleep with her. She would cook and clean and do all those wifely things for him while he played the bad ass.
Then there is the whole "beauty and the beast" kind of thing going on. Gillian sees beauty in Puck. She talks about his breathtaking eyes, how one smile can light up her world, even how his leg fur keeps her warm at night. The scene where she gets his permission to touch his horns, to me that was some of the best foreplay ever written.
Does Puck act like a jerk...well yea, he's a guy possessed by Indifference and lost to a path of vengeance. He's been rejected, betrayed and had to tamp down any kind of emotion for so long he's a little rusty at it. The fact that he wants to even try to "melt the ice" for Gillian says quite a bit.
Now we get into Gillian. DAMN, the scared little girl came into herself. Winter and Cameron did a great job training her to be a warrior and teaching her it's okay for her to stand up for herself. What I love most is that along the way she realized that her tormentor's should hold all the guilt. As a young girl she did nothing wrong. She did nothing to warrant the abuse she suffered from her stepfather and step"horrors". She became the Dune Raider, a force to be reckoned with, an equal to Puck the Undefeated. She moved passed what she wanted and thought about how to make Puck's dreams come true, how to beat the prophecies and how to find her happy ending. Her biggest revelation was the fact that while she loved William she couldn't even get passed the thought of having sex with him without feeling ill. Yet without having more than a kiss from Puck she yearned for him.....500 years she had thinking of him and wondering what it would be like to fully be his wife. And it didn't make her ill. That right there should let everyone know that she wasn't William's true mate.
As usual there are a lot of great one liners because Gena's characters always have that edge of sarcasm and wit. Keelycael and a host of others play integral parts in the story line but they don't take away from Gillian and Puck.
Like I said, I know it's an unpopular point of view but I like these two together. William is now free to find the one who can decode his book. Why do I get the feeling this "nerd" is going to be a beautiful woman? Oh I really want to see the Panty Melter get knocked on his gorgeous ass by the woman who is his true mate. show less
Not a lot about this one worked for me. The leads are basically forced into a bonded marriage by extenuating circumstances, and, although it's debated throughout the book how much their magical bond forces their connection, it felt like it almost took their attachment out of their hands, and ended up making it feel manufactured instead of earned. Early on the hero crossed a line that is almost shrugged off in the story, but is actually very rarely ever crossed by heroes, and I didn't shrug it off. To intimidate the heroine, who's just an abused teenager at the time, into obeying him, the immortal warrior hero breaks his own finger knowing she will feel the pain through their bond. I think we're supposed to focus on it being *his* show more finger and also that she will heal faster now that she's connected to his immortality, but it really isn't very different from him just reaching out and breaking *her* finger simply to make a point about him having more power! Rarely does a hero purposely inflict so much physical pain to the heroine for so little reason, especially after they're already a couple! Also a good portion of the beginning of the book covers all the same events we already saw in the previous book, which I suppose catches you up if you haven't read the previous book, but which I found very tedious when I had. And then there's a long separation between the characters, with multiple time jumps, all still while not having had all that much of a relationship, even a friendship, established between them yet. And conveniently all the heroine's hangups are just resolved, without even *her* having to work through them, much less the two of them as a couple having to overcome them or something. Also the realm is a very sexist place when the heroine arrives, men having "stables" of women, women being relegated to domestic tasks only, and being harshly punished for disobedience, etc. And I could have gotten behind the heroine righting that, but instead of equalizing it she just flipped it. Now the women are the powerful warriors with stables of men, and the men stay home and do the domestic stuff, etc. That still reinforces the notions that 'might makes right' and domestic acts are of little value compared to soldiering, etc. etc. She does do some good, like schools for the children, but I don't think it's quite the utopia it pretends to be. It just seemed lame. There's some 'other man' stuff, and kind of a road trip, but neither was very engaging for me. And, I usually don't mind a bunch of sex scenes, but between them not really having much of a genuine connection, and the repeatedly kinda inappropriate timing and location of the scenes, it felt like there was one sex scene for every non-sex scene in the second half. lol. I don't think I could take the danger scenes as seriously when the characters were constantly slipping away to bone in between each. It wasn't completely terrible, so I won't give it just one star, but it didn't have much I appreciated either. show less
Review:
I began reading the series in 2013. Back then I was a lass full of hope and dreams. After finishing this book half of my dreams and hopes are crushed. I know you don't always get what you want, but this time it wasn't just me who wanted something different. When I got The darkest torment I selected a random page to read and I got the scene where Gillian and Puck bonded. I was so disappointed that I never got to read the book. The only reason I will continue with the series is because I want to see the happy ending of two men. Galen must find Legion soon and have his happy ending.
It took me some time to actually read the book because I had to come to terms with the Gillian-Puck pairing. When I thought I did, I began reading it show more and for a while I was doing OK. Then William and Puck fought over Gillian and I realised that I would never be okay with this pair. I hope we won't see them again in the future books. I don't believe that William and Gillian are only friends.
What I hated about the "romance" between the two "lovebirds " is that the bond they shared grew stronger only because Gillian was in a realm where time was moving on way faster than the time in the realm we know. It wasn't even a good romance, just some forced stuff that didn't make sense to me. I stopped reading at 40% because I didn't feel like the book was going anywhere. It was just the bond growing stronger due to time and I couldn't buy that. I started reading again at 80% and even in their strongest moment they were lacking.
Edit #2: I read the last few pages of the book and I know who ends up with Gillian
It's Puck, not William. I don't believe this happened
Edit #1:
I GOT AN ARC! I DON'T KNOW IF I AM HAPPY OR IF I WANNA DIE. WILLIAM AND GILLIAN ARE OTP AND I DON'T WANNA READ THE BOOK AND NOT SEE THEM GETTING TOGETHER. FOR 5 YEARS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR GILLIAN'S STORY
I WANNA GO STRAIGHT TO THE END AND SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT I CAN'T DO IT. I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY STABLE. show less
I began reading the series in 2013. Back then I was a lass full of hope and dreams. After finishing this book half of my dreams and hopes are crushed. I know you don't always get what you want, but this time it wasn't just me who wanted something different. When I got The darkest torment I selected a random page to read and I got the scene where Gillian and Puck bonded. I was so disappointed that I never got to read the book. The only reason I will continue with the series is because I want to see the happy ending of two men. Galen must find Legion soon and have his happy ending.
It took me some time to actually read the book because I had to come to terms with the Gillian-Puck pairing. When I thought I did, I began reading it show more and for a while I was doing OK. Then William and Puck fought over Gillian and I realised that I would never be okay with this pair. I hope we won't see them again in the future books. I don't believe that William and Gillian are only friends.
What I hated about the "romance" between the two "lovebirds " is that the bond they shared grew stronger only because Gillian was in a realm where time was moving on way faster than the time in the realm we know. It wasn't even a good romance, just some forced stuff that didn't make sense to me. I stopped reading at 40% because I didn't feel like the book was going anywhere. It was just the bond growing stronger due to time and I couldn't buy that. I started reading again at 80% and even in their strongest moment they were lacking.
Edit #2: I read the last few pages of the book and I know who ends up with Gillian
Edit #1:
I GOT AN ARC! I DON'T KNOW IF I AM HAPPY OR IF I WANNA DIE. WILLIAM AND GILLIAN ARE OTP AND I DON'T WANNA READ THE BOOK AND NOT SEE THEM GETTING TOGETHER. FOR 5 YEARS I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR GILLIAN'S STORY
I WANNA GO STRAIGHT TO THE END AND SEE WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT I CAN'T DO IT. I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY STABLE. show less
Not a lot about this one worked for me. The leads are basically forced into a bonded marriage by extenuating circumstances, and, although it's debated throughout the book how much their magical bond forces their connection, it felt like it almost took their attachment out of their hands, and ended up making it feel manufactured instead of earned. Early on the hero crossed a line that is almost shrugged off in the story, but is actually very rarely ever crossed by heroes, and I didn't shrug it off. To intimidate the heroine, who's just an abused teenager at the time, into obeying him, the immortal warrior hero breaks his own finger knowing she will feel the pain through their bond. I think we're supposed to focus on it being *his* show more finger and also that she will heal faster now that she's connected to his immortality, but it really isn't very different from him just reaching out and breaking *her* finger simply to make a point about him having more power! Rarely does a hero purposely inflict so much physical pain to the heroine for so little reason, especially after they're already a couple! Also a good portion of the beginning of the book covers all the same events we already saw in the previous book, which I suppose catches you up if you haven't read the previous book, but which I found very tedious when I had. And then there's a long separation between the characters, with multiple time jumps, all still while not having had all that much of a relationship, even a friendship, established between them yet. And conveniently all the heroine's hangups are just resolved, without even *her* having to work through them, much less the two of them as a couple having to overcome them or something. Also the realm is a very sexist place when the heroine arrives, men having "stables" of women, women being relegated to domestic tasks only, and being harshly punished for disobedience, etc. And I could have gotten behind the heroine righting that, but instead of equalizing it she just flipped it. Now the women are the powerful warriors with stables of men, and the men stay home and do the domestic stuff, etc. That still reinforces the notions that 'might makes right' and domestic acts are of little value compared to soldiering, etc. etc. She does do some good, like schools for the children, but I don't think it's quite the utopia it pretends to be. It just seemed lame. There's some 'other man' stuff, and kind of a road trip, but neither was very engaging for me. And, I usually don't mind a bunch of sex scenes, but between them not really having much of a genuine connection, and the repeatedly kinda inappropriate timing and location of the scenes, it felt like there was one sex scene for every non-sex scene in the second half. lol. I don't think I could take the danger scenes as seriously when the characters were constantly slipping away to bone in between each. It wasn't completely terrible, so I won't give it just one star, but it didn't have much I appreciated either. show less
I thoroughly enjoyed this latest addition in this series. It had the right amount of grittiness, sex, and humor. The humor was a bit of a surprise but not really when I think back on some of the other books I have read by this author.
Puck seems like the dark and brooding type but in reality, he is just that but underneath all that fur and horns, he does have a soft side as well. Gillian is a spit fire. I love her feisty persona. Although, she was not the only one with a feisty side. There is Gillian's former love interest, William. Puck may have stolen Gillian from William but he was not going to go down without a fight while poking fun at Puck. Example a bedazzled shirt with Puck's face on it that says "I ain't afraid of no goats".
The show more Darkest Warrior is guaranteed to brighten up your day with a plethora of great characters and a dark and humorous storyline. show less
Puck seems like the dark and brooding type but in reality, he is just that but underneath all that fur and horns, he does have a soft side as well. Gillian is a spit fire. I love her feisty persona. Although, she was not the only one with a feisty side. There is Gillian's former love interest, William. Puck may have stolen Gillian from William but he was not going to go down without a fight while poking fun at Puck. Example a bedazzled shirt with Puck's face on it that says "I ain't afraid of no goats".
The show more Darkest Warrior is guaranteed to brighten up your day with a plethora of great characters and a dark and humorous storyline. show less
I can finally relax again.
I was on the edge of my proverbial seat fot the entire story. My emotions ran the gambit from elated to heartbroken but mostly, I just wanted to punch Puck.
I loved Puck but he ran cold. That was expected with being possessed by the demon Indifference but Gillian should have punched him in the nose a few times.
I love the ongoing background stories and am excited for what comes next. I also think I might be a little in love with Hades and Rathbone. Goals: Sleep, wake up, read next book.
I was on the edge of my proverbial seat fot the entire story. My emotions ran the gambit from elated to heartbroken but mostly, I just wanted to punch Puck.
I loved Puck but he ran cold. That was expected with being possessed by the demon Indifference but Gillian should have punched him in the nose a few times.
I love the ongoing background stories and am excited for what comes next. I also think I might be a little in love with Hades and Rathbone. Goals: Sleep, wake up, read next book.
The Darkest Warrior is the story of Puck, who harbors the demon of indifference, and Gillian, a former human girl who was in love with William. Now, I have not read every book in this series, so I have not been as privy to the build up of the Gillian/William love story. This is important because this book ends that idea! For me, it didn't matter because I wasn't that invested in them as a couple (and what little I have gotten on William in previous stories, I was not really a fan of!).
Puck's brother has turned into a monster and is destroying their homeland. Puck knows he must fulfill the prophecy and kill Sin (his brother). In order to do that, he needs a wife (enter Gillian) and help from William. I loved Puck. He was so devoted to show more his brother (before indifference) and that bond was amazing. He put everything before Sin and then Sin betrayed him. Prior to indifference, Puck had imagined having one woman to love forever. It was kind of sweet! Once plagued by indifference, he not only had to suppress ANY emotions, he grew horns and hooves. He became unable to rid himself of the horns and hooves. He still had access to magic though.
Gillian had a miserable life. She was sexually abused by her stepfather (and others) until she ran away. She is about to turn 18 and wants to be with William. She loves him and is pretty sure he loves her. But, William has put Gillian firmly in the 'friend zone' and continued to sleep with other girls. Then, days before her 18th birthday, she gets sick and is on her death bed. Enter Puck, to save the day (and her life). This leads to serious changes in her life in many ways. I liked getting to see her come into her own. She needed to feel empowered and free. I actually wanted to see her away from William. I think she was much stronger and braver than she thought she was and used William as kind of a shield. I also think it was critical that she had all that time away from both Puck and William. She learned who she was and really grew up. She was only 18 at the start of the book-while she had had lots of horrible life events, she was still a young girl and not ready for the real world yet. I thought the way Showalter handled the plot to give Gillian some time to grow up was interesting and worked perfectly for the story.
As I said, having not invested in the entire series, I didn't have super strong feelings about Gillian and William being together. Honestly, I wasn't a big fan of William anyway, so I actually enjoyed that this book took them on different paths. I loved Puck and thought he was a very well written character. Showalter has a way of taking demons and making them relatable.
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: no
- Trope: magic, demons, arranged marriage
- Triggers:
As mentioned, Gillian was raped and suffers PTSD regarding intimacy. The rapes are not detailed, but she does have flashbacks of things said to her during the rapes - Series/Standalone: series (you could read this as a stand alone, but it might be a little overwhelming because by this point, there are a LOT of supporting characters from previous books that play semi-important roles)
- Cliffhanger:
spoiler - HEA:
spoiler
The Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh, The Shadow Riders series by Christine Feehan, The Dark Kings series by Donna Grant...then you will probably like The Darkest Warrior!
The Darkest Warrior
Puck eased into the room, silent, and padded forward. Wait. Had he remembered to dress today? A quick glance down revealed his sheepskin pants had been torn so much they resembled a loincloth.
No matter. Barbarian chic really made his horns pop and fit the whole romance-novel-hero mystique he’d hoped to convey. He might even pass for Prince Charming—well, a prince in need of true love’s kiss.
Puck’s pulse points spun into a wild rhythm when he reached the side of the bed and spied his future bride. He wasn’t the only fairy-tale character in the room. Sleeping beauty lies before me.
Dark ribbons of hair spilled over the pale pink of the pillow. Her eyes were closed, long black lashes throwing shadows over her cheeks. A rosy flush spread over her delicate features as she parted her lips.
Practically begging for my kiss.
Focus! Keep this short and sweet. No telling when William would return.
“Gillian,” he rasped, surprised by the husky tone of his voice.
A sweet fragrance wafted from her. Breathing in, he detected a note of poppiberries, and his head fogged. His blood heated. The butterfly tattoo sizzled on his torso, surely melting his skin.
Indifference snarled with more force and slashed at his mind. Trouble brewed.
Fortify ice. Regain control.
Gillian turned her head toward him and blinked rapidly before focusing on him. Panic filled her whiskey-colored eyes before she looked away—anywhere but Puck. Her mouth opened wide, as if she was trying to scream. Only a squeak escaped.
“There’ll be none of that now.” To prove himself harmless, he tucked the covers around her, as he’d seen William do. “I’m not here to hurt you.” Truth.
The movement caused the razors woven into his hair to clink together, drawing her attention. Her gaze darted to him and darkened with shock and dismay. He swallowed a curse. Romance novel heroes didn’t usually smuggle weapons in their hair.
Must proceed anyway. Puck wouldn’t part with his razors; they were his saving grace. Anytime he was challenged, and had no sword or dagger, he plucked a razor free and started slashing.
Tears rained down Gillian’s cheeks, and her chin trembled. So vulnerable. So broken. A pang of...something lanced his chest.
As gently as possible, he wiped her tears away. Skin as soft as silk and hotter than the sun.
The action helped relax her, even as it hardened muscle after muscle inside him. Her panic began to fade—until her gaze snagged on the loincloth. Or rather, the erection underneath the loincloth. With a whimper, she began to thrash atop the bed in a desperate bid to escape.
Thought he would take what she had not offered? Never. “Eyes up here, lass.”
Her gaze lifted up, up...she gasped, as if she’d noticed his face for the very first time. Confusion contorted her features before a deeper shade of rose spilled over her cheeks.
Did she like what she saw?See full review on The Book Disciple show less
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181+ Works 41,859 Members
Gena Showalter writes in the genres of contemporary romance, paranormal romance, and young adult fiction. She is the author of the Alien Huntress series, Tales of an Extraordinary Girl series, Atlantis series, Lords of the Underworld series, and Everlife series. Her other books include The Stone Prince, The Pleasure Slave, and The Darkest show more Seduction. Her books have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Darkest Warrior
- People/Characters
- Púkinn "Puck" Neale Brion Connacht IV; Gillian Shaw; Taliesin "Sin" Anwell Kunsgnos Connacht; William the Ever Randy; Winter (Keeper of Selfishness); Cameron (Keeper of Obsession) (show all 9); Galen (Keeper of Hope and Jealousy); Pandora; Hades
- Dedication
- For anyone who has suffered abuse at the hands of another.
For anyone who has every heard the words "you aren't good enough" and "you have no value". For anyone who has ever been told "you dream too big and you cant s... (show all)ucceed." You are the only you and the world needs you. I stand with you. I hurt with you. You are priceless. You can do this. - First words
- Once upon a time in the desert realm of Amaranthia, two immortal princes were born.
Kill a man, acquire his magic. A tale as old as time. - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)Some fairy tales do not have a happily-ever-after...but this one did.
- Blurbers
- Cole, Kresley; Frost, Jeaniene; Day, Sylvia; Foster, Lori; Shalvis, Jill; Moning, Karen Marie
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- Reviews
- 15
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- (3.98)
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- ISBNs
- 14
- UPCs
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