Deliah Devlin- Darkness Burning

Darkness Burning by Delilah Devlin is part of the Dark Realm Series. It is the third book of seven (some are novella's), and my personal favorite, although I admit I have not read the novella's or the last book, which just came out not long ago. Darkness Burning takes place just after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. It has Vamps, Weres, Zombies and more (but to say what would be giving the ending away). I loved the male and female lead characters. Alex is a powerful Vampire that has never committed to a relationship because he has been afraid the female would be killed by his enemies of which he has many. Mikaela is a human reporter trying to do a story about "night creatures" in New Orleans. Mikaela cannot remember anything about her past and believes she has had a trauma that has left her with amnesia. They meet one night when Alex is searching for a powerful Zombie with an agenda that threatens to tear Alex's world apart. Although Alex has much on his mind he recognizes a powerful attraction between himself and Mikaela. She is "researching" Vampires and he is more than happy to help her although he doesn't want to put her in danger because he realizes she is human and can be easily destroyed. Things progress, and she is so persistent about wanting all the information she can get about the Vampire World that he gives her the address of a Vampire party where she can continue to research her article. While at the party, (she did not go to the party with Alex) she ends up drinking a bottle of water that has been spiked with an aphrodisiac and of course Alex finds her and "helps" her through the effects of aphrodisiac (yea, it was a real hardship for him). In the process he realizes he does care for her, but to let her fall in love with him could quite possibly cost her life, so he treats her quite shabbily, almost but not quite brutally, hoping she will be happy to leave him and the Vampire World behind. The story certainly doesn't end there. He does redeem himself and the ending was quite surprising and very satisfying. This book is sexually explicit and each book's storyline builds on the other so they need to be read in order. It has plenty of action/thrills/romance and sexiness, and the storyline is absorbing enough to hold your attention and keep you wanting more. The books in order are: Into the Darkness, Seduced by Darkness, Darkness Burning and Darkness Captured, not counting the three novella's. But keep in mind this author writes erotica (at least IMO it is erotica). The first two books do have ménages, so if that is not your thing, this series probably isn't for you.
My rating for the book is 5. For the series it is 4.5
Terena (Guest Blogger)