Author: Aja James
Length: 331 pgs.
Number three in the Pure/Dark Ones series, Dark Desires has one of my favorite heroines ever in Ava Monroe. The girl is hilarious: smart, curvy, self-effacing, turns to blubbering idiot around handsome men. Cue Ryu Takamura, assasin for the Dark Ones. We got a glimpse of Ryu in the second book, Dark Longing, and in learning more about him and his origins here, you can’t help but connect to him.
The budding relationship between Ava and Ryu was touching and funny – I loved the way Ava opened up to him, even in spite of her own embarrassment. She speaks before she thinks, charming both Ryu and the reader. When we meet her mother, we see where she gets that charm. My favorite part of this story, though, was the plot: Ava isn’t aware that she’s being used to further an inhumane experiment led by the mysterious “A. Medusa”. Ryu’s instructions are to end the experiment no matter what it takes – even if he must kill Ava in the process.
There’s explosions, a kidnapping, torturing of a mysterious prisoner, shadow assassins, two-faced tricksters, and a love story – what more could you want?
The book manages to answer some questions raised in the two previous installments while continuing to set up mysteries that won’t unfold until future books. None of the Pure/Dark Ones stories are completely self-contained, so even while we get to witness Ryu and Ava’s story, we also learn a bit more about things that are going on outside of their love bubble. Such is the genius of Aja James in that she rewards us with bits and pieces while at the same time keeping us wanting more. It’s cruel, really.
Buddy read with the Freebie chicks!
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