The Dark Ones (Dark Ones Saga, #1)

by Rachel Van Dyken

[stacey_is_sassy]

The big, bad toughies are scared of…LOVE.

Well, now I get it. Rachel Van Dyken has been on my radar for a little while. I knew she wrote romance but I heard that she only wrote clean romance. There is nothing wrong with clean romance, but I like a bit of sizzle in my reads. When I mentioned to a few friends that I heard she was clean, the responses ranged from – LOL, Hmm…maybe there might be one or two that were clean, and lastly…her books have enough connection between the characters that you don’t need to see them in the bedroom. So…my interest was piqued and I put her to the test.

Firstly …where do I start? She has written A LOT. There were contemporary romance, historical romance and paranormal romance. I was in the mood for Paranormal so The Dark Ones was the first cab off the rank. Not a bad start to be honest.

Wow, The Dark Ones really packed a punch. I was sucked into this story from the beginning until the very end. Vampires, werewolves, sirens, demons, archangels and the dark ones, all come together and we see how they live with humans.

Genesis is human and has been groomed to serve the immortals. She knew all along that she could be called up to serve them and was under the impression that her role would involve teaching immortal children modern ways. Her grooming and teaching were mainly from her horrible mother who belittled her and made her feel ugly and useless. Imagine her surprise when she is called up to do her duty and finds out that everything she has learnt is a lie. She meets The Dark One who is the King of the Immortals and he takes a fancy to her almost immediately. NOT A GOOD THING AT ALL!! She also meets some of the Elder Immortals that know how much danger she’d be in if The Dark One, Cassius, actually claimed/marked her. They spirit her away and try to hide her from Cassius.

Ethan a vampire elder is attracted to Genesis and has to claim/mark/mate with her to get her out of Cassius’s clutches. With his friends, Mason (werewolf elder) and Alex and Stephanie (siren elders) they manage to protect her.

The mating of Ethan and Genesis isn’t smooth and loving. Ethan has a history that made him weary of mating and falling in love. Genesis because of her upbringing thinks his rejection is based on her ugliness and inferiority. Their journey together to find happiness was great and I liked seeing them face and conquer their obstacles together.

The Dark Ones is full of intrigue and mystery. I was interested to see how all the immortals live and work together. Their secrets must be kept, yet they live relatively normal lives. They work, shop, eat and drink like humans, but some of them need a little more to keep them in top form. While I was mostly interested in Ethan and Genesis, I couldn’t help but be intrigued with Cassius, Mason, Alex and Stephanie too.

There were some intimate scenes which definitely had just the right amount of heat to tick the right boxes for me and showed the connection between Ethan and Genesis. They were not overdone or hardcore, just the right amount of sexy to get my heart pumping.

Well now that I’ve finished my first Rachel Van Dyken, I can definitely say that it won’t be my last. Her writing style is smooth and easy to follow. I felt connected to the characters she created and I wanted to know more about the supporting ones. Rachel doesn’t write overly descriptive or too much inner-monologue which is a HUGE plus for me. It kept the pace and storyline consistent and interesting.

Next up, Untouchable Darkness and finding out how Cassius is dealing being…HUMAN!!

To buy The Dark Ones from Amazon - http://amzn.to/1XEoDhK

I’m an Aussie chick who loves to read and review romance, drink coffee, be a Style Setter and stalk David Gandy. To see more of my reviews, fashion, food and pervathons -