ARC Review: Darkest Caress by Kaylea Cross

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..

Review:

Olivia Farrell is an average woman who is a realtor and teaches piano lessons on the side. Her life is pretty normal except that she suffers from awful headaches at some of the most inopportune times. So when she is to show an expensive estate she is anxious about the commission she can earn from this sale, but everything changes when she meets her intended client.  

Daegan Blackwell is around 200 years old, is the leader and one of the last of the Empowered, an ancient magical race whose duty is to protect the human race from evil in an coming to war in a foretold by prophecy. Upon meeting each other, Daegan knows that Liv is his mate, which is the last thing he needs. Whenever they are near each other, they have a strong sexual reaction and pull to each other. The need to Bond with his mate grows with each day but he is hesitant to do anything about it due to his parent’s horrible experience and he is determined to give Liv the option to choose to bond with him. Ugh, it drove me nuts how Daegan tries to be honorable but he just goes about it the wrong way and it is basically left up to his cousin, Cade, to explain the whole mate/bonding thing to Liv.

I really enjoyed this story and the characters. I liked how strong, stubborn, and resistant Liv was and refused to completely break down with everything that gets thrown at her. I thought that Liv actually handles herself well while she gets dropped into this new world and then becomes a target by the Dark Army that is led by the Obsidian Lord. I really wanted to hate the OL, but as we get to see how he became evil, by losing his mate, I couldn’t help from feel sorry for him. I liked how Daegan wasn’t perfect, he made mistakes and needed help from others. This book is full of suspense that left me on the edge. I really enjoyed how the climax of the story is actually detailed. I had read several books before this one where the climax was minimized and I felt skimmed over, so it was nice to experience each agonizing feeling with the characters.