Customer Reviews

Scent of Darkness (Darkness Chosen, Book 1)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

1,000 years ago a truly evil man made a pact with the devil. The man would get about 150 year lifespan, the ability to heal almost instantaneously, and would be able to shapeshift. The devil in return got lots and lots of evil brought into the world, the dude's soul and the souls of all of his Russian descendants. Everyone was quite happy with the whole arrangement until a modern-day descendant, Konstantine Wilder, fell in love & married a gypsy, reformed and had 4 children with her. As the children grew up, the devil decided the pact was not being upheld (just no evil being done) and commanded this branch of the family to be wiped out.

Enter our hero, Jasha Wilder, who is able to shapeshift into a wolf. Jasha is in charge of his own little piece of the world. He has a hugely successful business, wealth, good looks and an administrative assistant, Ann Smith, who is nuts about him. Ann brings a contract to be signed out to the Wilder estate and accidentally catches Jasha in the midst of his change from wolf to man. She also unknowingly brings his enemies, who know she will lead them to Jasha. The rest of the book is Jasha and Ann's attempt to break the curse, as well as the romance that develops between them.

The character of Jasha was a twit. He was smug, arrogant and worse, patronizing to Ann throughout the entire book. You know the plotline - When the hero KNOWS he is better and smarter than the poor misguided little girl? If Ann wasn't a doormat, she was at the least, expensive carpet. She was madly in love with the man from the moment she set eyes on him (read infatuated), but felt unworthy because she was an orphan with a huge secret (which really fell so completely flat that I wish the entire book could be rewritten without it.) She constantly was giving into the guy, and downplaying herself. She was often caught up in things that repulsed her and horrified her, but it was okay, because She Loved Him! Oh, yuck. You had a hard time seeing the love between Jasha and Ann, wondered when the love actually happened and at the end of the story, was still wondering if they really WERE in love.

I enjoyed some parts of this book - enough that I will definitely buy the next in the series. (I imagine as there are 4 children, 4 books). I loved the old Konstantine Wilder and his wife, Zorana. I think the romance between these two would have been a better book than Jasha and Ann. Now THAT would have been a romance! However, Jasha and Ann just didn't work for me, and here's hoping the next book will begin to flesh out the family background, fill in the plot holes and make the romance work better between the hero and heroine.

Ok, I've read the lukewarm reviews and I'll concede the point that at times it was hard to believe the hero had really fallen in love, and at times the plot moved almost too fast. That being said, I...could...not...put...the...book...down.

In a genre that's become full of whining vampires and werewolves "I'm evil but I have so much sexual charisma you must love me & save me from myself because of course I'm redeemable and not really all that evil" this is a refreshing change.

Ms. Dodd has managed to create an original story line that weaves the usual werewolf with the "epic battle of evil vs good" mythology, throws in a curse for good measure, old Russia, and wallah! You've got a fictional story that easily allows the willing suspension of disbelief. Yes it contains elements of those other paranormals but there's realistic dialogue, the love scenes are dominant but seductive, and the characters know who they are. The hero is not wallowing in self-pity; he's capable, enjoys the positives of his abilities while acknowleding the negatives. The heroine believes herself a coward, but when the chips are down she doesn't back down, & gives as good as she gets without compromising herself.

The action is at times intense, and the plot moves quickly, perhaps too quickly. I would have liked more detail and history, plus some time for the characters to relax more into each other, but realistically...how would you react if you suddenly ended up on the run from killers? Plus these two have been coworkers for years so they do know each other's character, if not secrets.

I hope as the series evolves we'll get to know Ann & Jasha more, even as we meet the other characters. For those things missing, often these things are revealed over the course of a series, if the author is good enough to weave a continuous story rather than a collection of stand alone books. I'm willing to bet this'll be the case for "Darkness Chosen." I mean really, do you want to know everything now???

To sum up, it's good!

I was very excited that Dodd was going to try her hand at paranormal. I enjoy her books (except for her recent historicals which leave something to be desired). The premise for this series is extremely interesting but the actual telling fell way short of being good.

There is so much wrong with this book that I'll just keep it down to 4 basic points:
1. The characters were were not engaging, or even likeable, so it was very hard to care what happened to them.
2. There was no discernable emotional connection between the hero/heroine. No attraction. No spark. No love. Nothing.
3. The plot was poorly done - it felt disorganized, choppy, and the suspense was lacking.
4. It had a lot of unsanswered questions. Things that should have been expounded upon to make the world and plot more concrete were addressed only in a vague fashion that left me wondering.

Paranormal may just not be the genre for Ms. Dodd. Not all romance writers can successfully write for every sub-genre, and I'm afraid that this might be the case for her. This is her first attempt (that I know of) at paranormal, however, so perhaps she will get better.

This review will contain spoilers! Proceed at your own risk!









Scent of Darkness by Christina Dodd is the first book in her erotic fantasy series called Darkness Chosen. A warlord in the Ukraine, 1000 years ago, made a deal with the devil. He and all of his male descendents could change their shapes into those of predators at will, and in return the devil can have all of their souls. Flip to the current day in the USA. A man has escaped from that family - the first in all of those centuries to marry and to sire a daughter (along with three sons). The deal with the devil is breaking down because this man has rejected his birth family and established his own family and filled it with love. The extended family, still based in the Ukraine, decide to reseal the hell pact, by tracking down and killing this new branch of the family tree.

So far so good - great sounding premise on which to base a fantasy series!

And then it all falls apart in the execution of the story...





Ann Smith loves her boss, Jasha Wilder, and follows him (uninvited and unannounced) to his coastal retreat in the Pacific Northwest. She is shocked when he changes shape in front of her (he can be human or wolf), and is even more shocked when the two of them have to run for their lives from shape changing assassins. Running through the wilderness with periodic pauses for sex (which seemed pretty ridiculous to me under those circumstances), they eventually recover a holy artifact that once belonged to the family and is key to breaking the curse, kill the assassins, have a lot of sex, and eventually make it back to his family.

I really did not like this book very much. I do not mind sex scenes as such, but want them to be a realistic part of the story - and these were not. I also hate stories where a woman has a make over of some sort (loses weight, new clothes, new hair style - whatever) and suddenly has the man who has ignored her all along fall head over heels in love with her. Men like that would be so shallow in real life who would ever want them? And while the whole deal with the devil stuff was really sort of interesting, the way the holy object suddenly turns up under their noses with no effort on their parts was just dumb and cheap.

So, as another reviewer said - great premise, bad book.

Ooogh! I thought the plot of this book sounded really good, so I gave it a try. Unfortunately the heroine was running on a mix of 95% hormones and maybe 5% brainpower (if that isn't being too kind to her!).

Sorry, but stupid female main characters do not make me want to read further, they just make me want to scream "You Idiot!" I couldn't finish the book.

Poor Ann Smith is not having a good day. After transforming herself from a Plain Jane into a knockout, she drives all the way out to her boss's secluded hideaway to seduce 'ahem', drop off papers for him and she finds out he is a werewolf. Not only that, but Jasha and his family have been marled for death by another not so nice faction of their family. Then she discovers that she has the power to help save them. I liked this book and it's characters right up until the ending which I found rather rushed. It still has left me intrigued enough to pick up the 2nd book "Touch of Darkness" in the series though.

Firstly, I devour paranormal romance novel like a hungry dragon. Having said that, I picked up Ms Dodd's latest with high hopes. In a nutshell, virginal goody two shoes PA, Ann intends to seduce her superhot boss, Jasha and catches him during a transformation from wolf to man. What does she do, she runs of course, but then he catches her, she gives in to him animal magnetism, no pun intended, Sounds familar right!!. Yep, read it all somewhere before..
Suffice to say that the novel does not live to my hopes based on the authors' past work. What irked me was Ann easy acceptance of Jasha and even allows him to roughen her up during that encounter. As a heroine, she seemed rather naive and Jasha acted like a bully. He redeemed himself later, But I didn't quite buy that either.
I however, did not see much back story or indepth revelations about Jasha's past. There was not a lot of word building to get me interested in the lives of these shapeshifters.The paranormal elements were intriguing enough but if you prefer more serious reading, you should stick to JR Ward ( my personal favourite). I finished the book in one day. Its a good book, a tad predictable, but enough to kill a few hours with but will not leave a lasting impression. Good read for me , but not a keeper.

I really thought this sounded interesting. The concept is a little overused right now (standard paranormal), but I was hoping that Dodd would do something enjoyable with it. I don't even know where to start. I was constantly confused thoroughout.I felt like maybe there were entire parts missing from the book. I don't know if the book ran long and an editor just started chopping or what - but there were so many areas that were never developed or explained that I just sat there reading going "what the heck??" I honestly have no idea what happened in the first couple of chapters to get these two together anyway. What happened??!! One minute we're reading about Ann getting up the nerve to make a play for Jasha - and the next he's changing into a wolf and they're having sex in the woods. What possessed that to happen? Was it animal magnetism or what? There was absolutely nothing there to justify it. Speaking of the sex...what was going on??!! Was it rape, was it consentual, was it animal instinct - what?? There was never anything that lead up to each encounter that explained why they were doing it in the first place. It was kind of "Oh, we haven't had the characters get naked in a few pages - why not put it in now?" There was NO character development. Who are these people? It was hard to even finish this book because I had no idea who they were and what was motivating them to do everything that they were doing. I'm all for a little mystery/suspense - but the mystery in this book was "who are these people and what exactly is the plot?" I'm with the reader that suggested JR Ward. She's got some of the freshest stuff going on right now in paranormal. This book just came off as really strange - just made absolutely no sense. I really sat there wondering whether it was over-edited or not edited at all. I gave it one star for the premise - but there just wasn't anything else to to add for the missing plot and empty characters. Just baffling!

Sent of Darkness by Christina Dodd
Ann smith was absolutely in love with her boss; she had worked for him for years and he never seemed to notice her in anything other than a professional capacity. She desperately wanted to show him her feminine side. So after receiving an important fax regarding his business she took that as a perfect excuse to dive up to his home in Washington and seduce him.
Once she got to his home she found he was not home and proceeded to make her self at home and get ready to seduce him. Once she heard something down stairs she was excited it may be him, rushing to find out she found more than she bargained for. All she wanted was this perfect man and instead what was standing before her was a perfect wolf now shifting into what was that perfect man. As soon as she gathered her strength she ran for it and he followed chase.
Ann soon learn that not only was she now a part of this man's world but she was also destined to save his soul and his family. This was a lot to learn in one day. She knew she loved Jasha but could he ever truly love her for her or because she is his family's only salvation?
Jasha Wilder was a formidable man he had a great family a growing business and all the women he wanted. But he held secretes that were coming back for him and his brothers with a vengeance. Now that his distance relatives were back and seem to be out for blood he will do anything to protect his family and Ann. He had known her the whole time she worked for him, he trusted her above all else but now he found he wanted to know even more of her, every inch of her. This woman did not sooth his beast she brought it closer to the surface but he wanted her even more. If they can just survive the war that has been brought to them he will have and keep this woman if it is the last thing he does. But can he convince her that his love for her is genuine?
I thought this was a good book. I was a very quick and easy read. At first it was a bit slow and dry but as soon as it picked up, man did it pick up. It flowed smoothly though each chapter keeping you waiting for more. It was just so easy to read. Jasha was the perfect alpha male takes what he wants and damn the conciseness. He knows how to protect and wants to do everything right for Ann; messing things up a few times, but he never quits trying. Ann was very sweet and since she had hid her own secretes that have made her a bit weary she is a little shy and timid but it is to be expected from what she has gone through. I think this was a good series and I will be reading the rest of the series I would like to see how the rest of the brothers fair.

I meant to read only a few chapters, before i knew it the book was over. I love when that happens. This book sucked me in and didn't let go till it was over. It was fast paced and well rounded. Anna is in love with Jasha, her boss, traveling across two states she goes to his country estate to tell him about a failing deal. Anna set to seduce Jasha gets ready at his house while he isn't there. As she hears a noise she goes downstairs to investigate. There she finds a large wolf transform into a man.. Jasha. Immediately she freaks and takes off, Jasha finds her and convinces her to come back with him by interesting measures. Little does she know his family is in great danger from an old enemy and is on a mission to save thier father from an eternity in hell alone.
Jasha makes Ann his mate without her knowledge, but due to her being in love with him she sticks with him. All the while they are being chased by Jasha's psycho cousins. I greatly enjoyed this book, it was well rounded. There are several different simultaneous plots, but all revolving around Jasha and Ann till the end. I would definately read the rest of the series.