Darkness by Laurann Dohner

 Kat’s boss wants dirt on the NSO. She is sent to Homeland undercover but everything goes wrong as soon as she enters the front gates. She is arrested by a big, powerful, sexy New Species but she is not frightened. He turns her on and things heat up fast between them. Now, she just hopes he does not break her heart.

Darkness admires Kat’s courage but he cannot trust anything she says. He hasn’t been with a female for years because he knows he is too damaged. He is not mate material, despite his desire to possess her in every way. Darkness fears losing control—the one thing that defines his life. He doesn’t think he can tear down the protective walls he’s built, even for her.

Inside Scoop: Kat never realized how much fun handcuffs and dominant males could be until she discovered her kinky side through Darkness’ need for control.

Mrs. Dohner has done it again! Darkness actually reminds me a lot of the beginning of the series, when there was tons of action and intrigue. While I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few installments that focused more on the internal workings of the NSO (New Species Organization) and/or the relationship of the titled character, this was a nice return to the roots sort of book. Of course, the SECRET was freaking awesome. I don’t remember the last time I wrote a review that I had to work so hard to keep from writing a spoiler. I want to shout it from the rooftops. LOL! At least I’ll only have to wait until the weekend before my New Species reading buddy gets to read the book and we can gossip about it.

With this being the 12^th book in the series, I admittedly get a tad confused as to when we met whom despite having read the majority of the series multiple times. Darkness has such a formidable character that I was looking forward to reading his story. As we know, all of the New Species have terrible backgrounds and more baggage than any one being should carry, but Darkness seems to have more than his fair share. While there have been hints in previous books, when his entire story was revealed it was heartbreaking. Mercile is its own brand of evil, but what he was exposed to was far worse – if you can even imagine that. The things that Darkness has done and witnessed make him even more resistant to the idea of finding a mate than the typical New Species male. So it wasn’t surprising that Kat would have to be a strong female to break through … no shrinking violet allowed. Kat’s character actually reminded me a lot of Trisha with her wise cracks and sarcasm. I loved her character and enjoyed getting to know her and watching her relationship with Darkness develop. They were definitely well-matched.

Darkness was a much anticipated release for me and Mrs. Dohner did not disappoint. There is tons of explosive action – both in and out of the bedroom. We have our common struggle as the male New Species struggles with accepting the love of the human woman, yet even after twelve books the author manages to make each story individualized and I’ve never felt like she’s merely recycling a storyline – which is a common complaint about such long series. While I may compare Kat to Trisha or say the book is reminiscent of the series’ early days, it has to do with the emotions the book invokes in me. And because I just can’t help myself, I have to say that I found it rather entertaining that there seems to be a shared familial desire among certain males to tie their female up during sex … LOL! <= Spoiler, kind of but not really. When you read the book, you’ll understand what I mean. If you’re a huge fan of the series, you may figure it out if you really think about it. But otherwise, it won’t mean anything to you. Thank you Ms. Dohner for another great visit to Homeland. I have Smiley on pre-order and am counting the days.

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