Review: Tempt Me With Darkness by Shayla Black

Posted August 18, 2008 by Casee in Reviews | 3 Comments

He’s an immortal knight hungering for satisfaction….

As soon as Marrok sees Olivia Gray’s dark windswept hair and burning violet eyes, he’s sure they’ve met in eons past. He’s felt her soft gentle curves writhing in pleasure beneath his own hard powerful body…Morganna! For centuries, towering Marrok, once the mightiest of King Arthur’s warriors, has endured a terrible curse cast upon him when he spurned the witch.

She’s a modern woman about to discover ancient magic….

Olivia shares a mystical — and irresistible — connection with brooding Marrok. Soon after the sexy warrior appears in her erotic dreams, he abducts her, demanding she uncurse him. Their intense passion is more powerful — and intimate — than either of them has ever known. Olivia may be the key to unlocking the diary that will break Morganna’s hold on his life. But in the wrong hands, the book also holds the power to destroy all magickind. As they search for answers, a ruthless wizard returned from exile is building an army of evil. When he discovers Marrok and Olivia have the diary, only their love — with the help of a powerful group of magical Brethren — can save them.

If you’re sighing and thinking “not another paranormal series”, don’t. Well, go ahead and think that, but don’t let it stop you from giving this series a try. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I always love a series that revolves around Merlin and King Arthur and his Knights. So I picked this book up hoping it would hold my interest at the very least. It more than held my interest. I almost couldn’t put it down.

Centuries have passed since Marrok of Canterbury was cursed by the witch Morganna le Fae. Morganna didn’t deal very well with Marrok abandoning her after he got her into bed. For almost fifteen hundred years, Marrok has been immortal and unable to find sexual satisfaction with a woman. Obviously he’s bitter. Very, very bitter. Now all he wants to do is die. To do that, the only thing he needs to do is break the curse by using the Doomsday Diary, the magical book Morganna left him.

Olivia Gray has moved to London to try to find her father. It was only when her mother died that Olivia realized she had been lied to her entire life. Not only was her father alive, but he also wanted to meet her. Now if only she could find him, life would be golden. Everything takes an unexpected turn when Marrok turns up in her shop. Confusing her with someone named Morganna, Olivia is convinced that Marrok is crazy. Really, who actually believes they’ve been alive for fifteen hundred years? Still, she’s drawn to him and then she’s drawn into a magical world that she never knew existed.

Then she inadvertently soul melds with Marrok, which causes all sorts of problems. You see, Olivia has major self esteem issues. Finally a man wants her, but he wants to die more. Go figure. And though Olivia wants to help Marrok end his curse and be at peace, opening the Doomsday Diary might bring more harm than good. An evil wizard is back and he’s wreaking havoc on the magical world. He wants the diary and Olivia. Being a descendant of Morganna makes Olivia a useful commodity and Mathias wants her.

The Doomsday Brethren is then created to protect the world from Mathias and his evil magic. I think that Black did a great job creating this new paranormal world. I predict that paranormal readers will enjoy this series as it’s different from the usual vampire/werewolf fare that is cropping up. While there are some cliché’s (man juice needed to water woman’s insides), it didn’t effect the overall story and world building.

I loved it and wish the wait wasn’t so long for the next book.

4.5 out of 5.

This book is available from Pocket. You can buy it here. No e-format.