Book Reviews

Book Blurb

The course of true love never did run smooth. Ryan is settling into his role as a new father and the royal consort of Mikos, the fierce and handsome Prince of Tygeria. He's still deeply in love and happy—most of the time. But the former Alliance colonel is a bit restless, and even though he loves his child and his mate, he needs a bit more to occupy his time. Mikos thinks giving him more babies to care for will help, but Ryan comes up with a different idea for some diversion and physical challenge by forming his own team for the dangerous Arena Games.

Meanwhile, Haggoz and Kevin are deeply involved in a much more serious game of their own. The king warned Haggoz that punishing his own mate and holding him prisoner would be nearly impossible, but Haggoz can't bear to be parted from him. Locked in a seemingly endless war between his love for the former marine and his duty to his king, Haggoz is struggling to survive. Just when it seems that they’re hopelessly deadlocked, Mikos and Haggoz go on what should be a routine mission against an ARes training facility on a distant moon.

When disaster strikes and word gets back to Ryan that Mikos and Haggoz are both in terrible danger, he embarks on a desperate mission to save them and bring them safely home. Ryan finds an unlikely ally in Kevin to help him save the men and discover that even though the course may be rocky, true love will always find its way.

Book Review

As much as I was looking forward to continuing Mikos and Ryan's story, I was especially interested in General Haggoz and former Staff Sergeant Kevin Neely, an Alliance Marine who got caught up in spying for ARes, betraying the Alliance and the Tygerian treaty. Of course, Kevin was tricked, manipulated, and blackmailed by his former commanding officer in the Alliance, into becoming a love slave and enticing General Haggoz for ARes. When Kevin confessed all to Haggoz about the plot to assassinate the prince and Kevin's role in trying to kill Ryan, Kevin knew ARes took revenge on his small son back home and murdered him. The king made Kevin a prisoner and no matter how much Haggoz and Kevin love each other, Kevin remains locked in a tower with only visits from Haggoz.

I can't believe how quickly I forgot how horrifically arrogant Mikos is. It's been six months since Ryan gave birth to Miklos and he's still struggling with some hormonal changes causing him to lash out and, occasionally, be illogical. It happens. When Mikos goes and talks to his bearer, Blake, about it, Blake's suggestion is that Ryan is probably feeling bored and unchallenged after being a colonel in the Alliance. Mikos' response is that Ryan just needs more babies to keep him busy. *rolls eyes* To say I laughed, long and hard, is an accurate statement.

Another very interesting piece of the world building is that Tygerian males fall in love practically from the moment they meet their mate. It leaves the Tygerian males in a vulnerable position with their human love slaves because humans don't fall in love immediately. This is part of the reason why Kevin's imprisonment is extra difficult for Haggoz even though he does his best to have some comforts made available to Kevin. The fact that Haggoz can't take care of his mate the way he wishes to, makes everything for the two men so much more difficult on an emotional scale. Add in Haggoz's fears that Kevin's love is still a lie and the deck is stacked heavily against these two.

"He’d tried to be strict and stern. The harsh treatment had lasted only a couple of weeks and then Haggoz had to admit, at least to himself, that he couldn’t bear to be so severe with his prisoner, no matter what he’d done. The idea humbled him. His love for the prisoner made him weak and less of a man, and he would hide it from the king if he could."

I had almost, but not quite, forgotten how insanely hot Mikos and Ryan are together, and that's outside the bedroom. Two alpha males, regardless of how Tygerian customs prefers to view Ryan, and these two men can sure get each other's blood flowing, not to mention my own, when they have disagreements. I can guarantee there were many of those when Ryan announced he was forming a human team for the Exhibition Games. *fanning my face*

'Dark Side' is another fascinating, heart-pounding thrill ride of an adventure. The world building is simple in its complexity and has kept me enthralled. The two storylines went seamlessly together and I loved, loved, loved the ending. All except for Mikos acting a bit like a baby, but I had to remember the Tygerian male character, and give him a small break for it. I'm really looking forward to the next installment.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Painted Hearts Publishing for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 83848 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	04-April-2016
Price	$4.99 ebook
Buy Link	http://www.paintedheartspublishing.com/dark-side