Review: Darkest Caress by Kaylea Cross

Darkest Caress by Kaylea Cross

Available April 23rd, 2012 by Carina Press

My rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Two-hundred-year-old Daegan Blackwell is one of the last remaining Empowered, an ancient magical race. Daegan's duty is to lead and protect his remaining Brethren in the coming war foretold by prophecy. The last thing he expects is to meet the one woman who will either save or destroy him-his destined mate.

Fiercely independent Realtor Olivia Farrell believes darkly handsome Daegan is simply a prospective client. Until she's attacked by a man with a strange aura-and Daegan fights him off, taking away her pain with just his touch. At first, Olivia refuses to believe she's part of a magical race, yet mounting evidence and her powerful chemistry with Daegan are too strong to deny.

But as Daegan's partner, Olivia becomes a target in the battle between good and evil that threatens her life, as well as the very existence of the Empowered. And the only one who can save her is the man claiming to be her destiny...

The Darkest Caress is the first in the Empowered series by Kaylea Cross.  We are introduced to Olivia “Liv” Farrell as she is on her way to show a house that’s new on the market.  Liv is a realtor but also teaches piano from her home.  Fighting off the mother of all migraines, she gets to the house and meets the mysterious Daegan Blackwell.  

Ice blue eyes speared hers.  He was tall, over six feet, broad-shouldered.  His dark brown hair was cut short, the strong planes of his face clean-shaven.  He looked to be in his mid to late thirties, the swells of muscle beneath his snug black dress shirt telling her he kept in very good shape.

So she’s trying to show him the place but is too easily distracted with how attractive he is.  She goes home that night and starts having erotic dreams starring Daegan.  She ends up showing him the house again later that morning.  After an impromptu breakfast and showing, he asks her out to dinner later that night.

From here it moves pretty fast.  From the book description we can tell they are destined to be mated.  That’s easy enough for Daegan since he grew up amongst the Empowered, he knows what the bonding process involves.  OK, maybe not easy, there may have been a few cold showers involved, but Liv has no idea what is happening.  She learns there's more to her heritage then she could possibly imagine and prophecies she may be a part of.  Add to that the idea of mating for life with somebody she just met, regardless of how ridiculously good looking he is, she’s had her world turned upside down.  

I like Liv.  She’s a strong lead character and though she’s thrown into this whole situation, she has a strong backbone and can hold her own.  Daegan is sweet and sexy.  He goes out of his way to give Liv a choice though it physically pains him to do so.  We can see right away that he truly cares for her, destined mates or not, he has her safety and happiness in mind.  

There are two side characters of note: Cade and Vaughn.  Vaughn is a character with a tortured past.  His “skill” is quite extraordinary and Kaylea does a wonderful job with descriptions.  He does not leave me with a warm, fuzzy feeling but has a compassionate side that is barely touched upon in this first installment.  Cade is your typical love them and leave them type, albeit leaving them thoroughly satisfied.  The groundwork in this book to set-up the next book is very prevalent with his character.  

I loved the idea of the prophecy.  I really liked the mythology involved.  It’s a different angle then I have read before and really appreciate the uniqueness of it.  I enjoyed this book but have to give warning: the end is not really much of an ending.  Issues were resolved involving Liv and Daegan and the current bad guys but this series involves war.  The war prophecy has only just begun and the end of this book gives us a peek of what’s up ahead for them.  I wouldn’t call it a cliffhanger though.  I just hope that this book garners enough attention that the author will continue because now I need more.

ARC provided from Netgalley.