Author: Cate Tiernan

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (5th January 2012)

Pages: 392

ISBN: 978-1444707007

From Amazon
He is the thorn in my side, nightmare of my past, destroyer of my family . . . And the one whose fevered kisses I had relived over and over as I lay exhausted and unable to sleep.

And yet night after night, he – who had kicked down hundreds of doors – had not brought himself to knock on mine.

Nastasya has lived for more than 400 years but things never get any easier. As she learns more about herself, she questions whether it will ever be possible to break free from the darkness of her former life. Can she turn away from the one person she wants to be with above all others? Should her past determine who she should – or should not – love?

Desire, death and painful secrets are revealed in this compulsively addictive sequel to Immortal Beloved.

Review
Darkness Falls is the second book in the Immortal Beloved series, as such this review may unintentionally reveal things about the first book – you have been warned!

Before I started reading Darkness Falls I was worried, that I would have forgotten everything from Immortal Beloved and that would have effected my enjoyment of this book. I needn’t have worried. After just a few pages the story flooded back to me and anything extra that is needed is very conveniently filled in as we go.

In truth I’d forgotten how bad things had got between Nastasya and Incy in the first book and the reasons why Nastasya had run away from him. But even so he was far worse in Darkness Falls – he is responsible for a scene I know I won’t be able to get rid of in a hurry (brilliant that I read those pages in work and had the image stuck there while I was trying to work, lovely! hehe).

Though I liked Incy as a character, I loved, loved, loved Nastasya – she goes through so much in this story, puts up with a lot of crap from a lot of people. I’m sure it’s in no small part that she stays sane(ish) is because of her family (that is truly what they truly feel like) at River’s Edge help to keep her grounded and the warmth and care that grows and comes from that place escapes the page and made me feel all warm inside. I also felt that as a character she goes through some major changes, helping her see the world through a different pair of eyes and seeing this unfold in such a character as Nastasya was very satisfying indeed.

I love magic and books with magic are right up my street, like the first book Darkness Falls doesn’t make use of wizards and wands and the like, rather it takes the form of magick (with a k) which I don’t get to read about often. I like it because it’s different and in a way it feels (to me) more powerful, more deadly if you like.

Come the end I was literally cheering her on, by this point in the book it was so hard to put it down ‘for a bit’ as the action had come to a place where the stakes were at there highest, my hairs were standing on end. So good, but you’ll have to find out for yourself!

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for sending me copy to review