Dark Pleasures (Pure/Dark Ones #4): 4 Stars

Author: Aja James

I was kindly given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Dark Pleasures tells Devlin Sinclair’s story. Devlin is the sexy, somewhat smart-alecky Dark One we’ve gotten glimpses of in the past 2 books. Half the fun of the Pure/Dark Ones series is that (unless you ruin it by reading the blurb) you don’t know whose story is going to be coming up next. The other half of the fun is reading the books, which continue to pique my interest and keep me ravenous for more information.

The female star of this book is Grace Darling, who’s an unlikely heroine as someone with a diagnosis on the autism spectrum. She lives alone and abides by a strict schedule, with only her aunt to check in on her. She likes it that way, too, until she meets Devlin. Grace’s interaction with Devlin confuses her, because emotions aren’t second nature to Grace. She’s a hacker, and her mind works in scientific and mathematical ways. I won’t ruin it here but the way that Grace and Devlin first begin their “relationship” is hilarious. If only it could be so cut and dry for all of us as it is for Grace!

The story differs here from previous books because Ms. Aja James usually makes us wait for the male/female main characters to end up in bed together – this book starts out with a bang (badum-dum!) but that’s certainly not the end of it. And in addition to Grace & Devlin’s storyline we get a peek at some of our other favorite characters. In true Aja fashion we only get to see a little of this here, and little of that there-just enough to whet our appetite for more. It’s hard to say too much without giving spoilers, but know that some of your favorite side characters from recent books pop up just enough to drop a few more revelations. You think you have some things figured out but then a two minute conversation between certain characters can turn that completely upside down!

This has to truly be one of the most well thought-out and planned series as I’m just amazed how everything ties in together, even things that previously seemed disconnected or standalone. And the characters that Aja James creates are either loveable or you love-to-hate-them, there’s not too much in between. As usual, the ending leaves me only wanting more!!