Pleasure of a Dark Prince [Mass Market Paperback]

I would be surprised if there was anyone familiar with Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series who wouldn't agree that for the genre, it's firmly entrenched in the top tier of paranormal romance series. Cole is an exceptionally talented author with an immense imagination and stringent attention to detail who writes intricate, emotional, sensual stories that hold the readers attention and provide hours of delightful reading. All that being said, for various reasons I haven't loved EVERY book in the series, and Pleasure of a Dark Prince is one that I didn't love.

Lucia the Valkyrie is the Archer; the best in the world. The goddess of her religion both provides her skill and demands her chastity in return for saving her life when, as a willful child of sixteen, she made a mistake that dropped her into the clutches of an ancient evil. Garreth MacRieve is the dark prince, brother of the missing king of the Lykae Clan Lachlain MacRieve, and one of the few lykae who believe his brother is still alive. During a rugby match, Garreth catches the scent he's been hoping for nearly a millennium to smell, his mate. And so begins the dogged chase to catch, woo, and win the woman fate has determined is his destiny. The pursuit spans years and continents, and Garreth gives up everything to protect and pursue his lass, until he finally catches her at the mouth of the amazon river. He will brave the dangers of the green hell itself to keep her by his side and win her to his, but Lucia's secrets will haunt them both - and may lead to the destruction of everything and every one. Apocalypses are dangerous that way.

Pleasure of a Dark Prince is a good, solid read, but I had some issues with it on a personal level. I found the character-driven parts of the plot (the relationship aspect in particular) didn't mesh as well with the plot-driven parts (stuff dealing with The Accession and the entirety of the epilogue) as other books. I was a little thrown by the beginning of the book because it starts at a period back in time prior to, and then congruent with, the happenings in the first book of the series, A Hunger Like No Other. I know that this series has had several overlapping timelines in the books, but for some reason it bothered me more this time than it has in the past. This is not a critique, it's a personal issue - because I tend to be a very linear thinker, I have a problem with a series that doesn't follow a linear flow. I UNDERSTAND why IAD doesn't - and why, in fact, it can't, as the players of The Accession start to move into position - but it's still something I struggle with and it DID, in this case, lessen my overall enjoyment of this book. I also generally dislike when the main conflict between a male and female lead in a romance novel is based solely on lack of communication and dishonesty. Again - NOT a critique of Cole's choice to write it that way, but as a personal bugaboo, the absolute lack of honest communication between Garreth and Lucia through the whole of the book wore on me and made me feel like they were less interested in a relationship that would last through eternity and more interested in out-maneuvering each other to get the other to do what they wanted.

The other major issue I had was Lucia herself. I never fully warmed up to her. She had her good points, don't get me wrong, but I had a HUGE issue with her pride. I can understand being proud of yourself for accomplishments, and commend that sort of self esteem, but Lucia's skill with a bow was given to her by a goddess - she didn't EARN it - so the way she wields that ego around because of it rubbed me the wrong way. Now, that issue IS addressed satisfactorily late in the book, but that doesn't change the way she was from the first. I also found her to be a bit naive and selfish, which is what landed her in hot water to begin with, really, but after a few centuries, one would hope that would wear off a bit. It does eventually during this book, but again, it didn't sit well with me at first. And the cruelty she and Regin rained down on Garreth for a full year was a bit horrifying and left me wondering how he could possibly forgive her. I never felt I really got a satisfactory answer to that.

I firmly believe that the issues I had with Pleasure of a Dark Prince had nothing to do with the book not being great or Cole not writing well. Each issue I had was based on personal preference and I'm not criticizing, just sharing how I felt about it. I very much enjoyed the book as a whole, and found the entire Amazonian trip to be a lot of fun to read, with some VERY touching, funny, and gut-clenching moments. I would absolutely recommend the series (and have) to paranormal romance AND urban fantasy fans alike, as Cole writes story and characters I totally groove on. And Nucking Futs Nix is now and will always be one of my favorite characters of ALL times in ANY book over every genre.

Kresley Cole you are one of the few authors that do not disappoint (Crosses fingers no jinxing). Pleasure of a Dark Prince was truly a treat. And paperback too!

We have seen Lucia and Garreth since the first Immortal's After Dark installment. Last we heard from them Lucia was running from Garreth and he promised his brother Lachlain that he would have her back in two weeks. Now a year later Garreth is puzzeled and pissed that he's chased Lucia all over the world and now is in the Amazon (Green Hell) which he vowed never to return too. He wants some dang answers, luckily through meddling fingers (Futs Nucking Nix) he's on a boat with his mate, heehee she's stuck in the same cabin. What Garreth doesn't know is that Lucia has secrets, dark dangerous and shameful secrets that only Regin knows about. They are so dark and twisted that they constantly threaten to destroy her every ascension. With all her secrets and past between them, it seems unlikely that they will live to see Nix meddle to the point of goddesshood.

Wow, most series petter out after a few books. In fact the longest I was interested in a series was around 6-7 books. Kresley Cole's plot line is more in depth and more twisted with each installment. I find myself reading A Hunger Like No Other and thinking wow... that was actually a pretty simple plot line (hey I adored it no critique here) compared to the last few. I'm so happy. With that final epilogue Cole has us opening and closing the book again and again trying to make a 'sneak peak' or another chapter appear. Please continue to make wonderful characters, hot scenes, butt kicking females, confused males and give Lothaire a chance.... for me?

The ninth book in this series, Pleasures of a Dark Prince, is about Garreth MacRieve, the dark prince of the Lykae (werewolves) and Lucia the Huntress, a Valkyrie who is the world's most skilled archeress. Kresley has written another engaging a couple who may lust for each other until they ache, but makes sure the reader keeps in mind that attraction doesn't necessarily mean true love and that these two must get to know one another through communication and respect first.

Pleasure of a Dark Prince begins right before the events in the first book in this series, A Hunger Like No Other. Garreth, the current king of the Lykae, and his clan have come to reside in Louisiana. The half-mad Valkyrie soothsayer Nix sends Lucia on a mission to get rid of some pesky kobold demons that are also in the area. What Lucia doesn't know is that Garreth is her mate and he can scent her while he plays a rousing game of Rugby. He's been waiting a lifetime for her and when a Lykae finds their mate, they will stop at nothing until they claim them, which means the most intense mating experience ever. After Garreth witnesses Lucia's great archery techniques, he is both equally turned on and astounded. Now the chase is on, or rather Garreth will respectfully court her because he doesn't want to end up like another one of his Lykae clansmen, Bowen, (hero from Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night, book 3) who is close to turning into a mindless feral beast.

Even though Lucia is very attracted to Garreth, especially because of his Scottish accent and the way he pronounces her name as Lousha, she can't be claimed or romanced by this wolf lothario. Lucia must remain chase because she sacrificed herself to the goddess Skathi who gave Lucia her archery skills after she was saved from a fate worse than death when she was sixteen. Lucia was the victim of Cruach, a very nasty and evil individual. As long as Lucia remains abstinent, she will be able to defend herself from Cruach, also know as the Broken Blood One, who rises every five hundred years during the Accession and searches for Lucia so he can claim her once again. If Lucia has sex, she'll lose her archery skills and will be vulnerable to an attack from Cruach.

Garreth has no clue about any of this and thinks if he can seduce Lucia, everything will be great and they can go off and create Lykae Valkyrie babies together. Garreth can't understand why Lucia doesn't want to be with him because he can sense her need and knows she enjoys the foreplay they have together. But she's weak when it comes to Garreth and if they keep playing the slap and tickle game, she'll be Cruach bait. She runs away and goes off to join the Accession games, and for a year Garreth is one step behind Lucia, tracking her, as well as protecting her.

As the games come to an end, Lucia is sick with worthy. Not only is she having horrible nightmares, which always happen whenever the Bloody Broken One is about to rise, but she still has to deal with Garreth. Nix has sent her to the Amazon where she may finally find a way to kill Cruach for good. She has to search for an arrow called a dieumort, which is the only weapon that can kill a creature like him. What she doesn't count on is Garreth finding her, climbing aboard her boat, and pretending to be her husband where he'll introduce her to even more heavy duty make out sessions. She just has to make sure she doesn't have sex with him and since he cares about her well being, he respects her wishes, but all for a specific price. Lucia and Garreth become unwilling partners and Garreth is beyond frustrated both in body and heart because Lucia keeps denying him and won't tell him her secrets.

Kresley is superb at building the tension between Garreth and Lucia in such a way you suffer along with both of them. Lucia gives Garreth a merry chase where he becomes a very different person by the end of this story. But the one thing Kresley makes very certain with Garreth is that he's a total gentleman. Even though Garreth is aching to claim Lucia, he doesn't go the whole distance when it comes to their love making. Even when Lucia begs him to take her, he won't. Nothing screams romance more than a hero who is willing to sacrifice his own pleasure for that of his one true love. These two have the most excellent foreplay scenes, and the first 50 pages or so will have you wanting to take a cold shower. And Garreth is quite the giver in every way even after Lucia shoots him with a few arrows. This is a man who is willing to get down on his knees for a small taste of Lucia's attention.

We are also given great insight into Lucia. She is one of the most subdued of all of Kresley's female characters and very loyal to her Valkyrie sisters. She is also close to being a tortured heroine because of her unfortunate past and the way she feels about herself. But, she refuses to be a victim although she thinks her only importance is because of her archery skills. It takes Garreth to show her that she doesn't have to stand all alone and can rely on him to help her.

Pleasure of a Dark Prince has everything you could want. Great action, luscious love making scenes and a few sneaky twists and turns you won't see coming. The ending alone will have you dying for the next book. I've also come to the realization that the character of Nix is possibly the most important one in this whole series. She is the one responsible for all of these character's destinies and uses them much like chess pieces on a board so she can reach her ultimate goal. Pay very close attention to whenever Nix pops up because it will give you insight on what is in store for her.

Pleasure of a Dark Prince is yet another winner where I bow down to the masterful storytelling of Kresley Cole.

Katiebabs

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