The Darkest Kiss

by Keri Arthur

Book Overview

Danger turns her on. Desire turns her dangerous... Riley Jenson hunts evildoers--and does it with a style all her own. With vamp blood coursing her through her veins, and a werewolf's uncanny instinct... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553591142
• Release Date: April 2008
• Publisher: Dell
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.9" x 1.0" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

My Favorite Heroine in all of Urban Fantasy

I have read all of the popular, and many not so popular, series in urban fantasy and Riley Jensen is my favorite heroine. It took me a long time to decide to read the first book of the series because the favorite reviews are poor. I usually rely on fellow fans and their reviews to pick a series to read, but after how they really let me down with this series I don't trust reviews anymore. For example the most popular reviewer is... "113 of 133 people found the following review helpful:2.0 out of 5 stars Meh. Disappointing., May 9, 2006 By Circejane (Michigan) - This review is from: Full Moon Rising (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 1) (Hardcover) As an avid Kim Harrison fan, I read this book when she recommended it on her website. Her other recommendation, Moon Called by Patricia Briggs, was an excellent read, so I dug into Full Moon Rising with high hopes, but was disappointed." Who is this Circejane and why are 113 people listening to her????!!!! She is so far off the mark that I question her taste in books, especially in Urban Fantasy. I am also a big fan of Patricia Briggs and Kim Harrison, and this series by Keri Arthur more than measures up to the series by those authors. I also love Karen Chance, Lara Adrian, Charlaine Harris, Jeaniene Frost, J.R. Ward (earlier BDB) Kresley Cole,... so Riley Jensen's place as my favorite Heroine means she is one kick ***, entertaining, and well written character. If you do not thoroughly enjoy each and every Riley Jensen book from 1 to 8 and can't wait for the next, then you obviously don't like urban fantasy. The world building, plots, characters, dialogue, and especially the character of Riley made this series un-put-down-able!!!! It is truly impressive that there are 8 books and each is better than the last. The character devlopment is great, and unlike some authors (like J.R. Ward) Keri Arthur does not make any drastic or odd changes that kill the series for the fans. I read the 8th novel right after it came out in April 2009 and have read tons of books since then. That it is Feburary 2010 and I am still excited for the 9th novel, and this series is still my favorite, should tell you to read this series.

The Darkest Kiss

This was a great story, I hope it does not end here. Riley deserves the love her vampire can give her.

Loved It!!

ok, ok, yes the first books had more sex scenes, but I really understood that Riley was getting over Kellen and had that feel that she was giving herself some time to heal...and I loved how it ended...I love Quinn and am a sucker for a hot vampire... :) I love this series..it makes me smile and cry and laugh ...

Another fantastic read

I have been a diehard Keri Arthur fan since Dancing with the Devil days, and Darkest Kiss was another fantastic episode of Riley adventure. Couldn't put it down until well into the morning and only when I got to The End. Then I had to go back and reread because the suspsense was so good that i think i read too fast I agree with the other reviewer who remarked on the totally hot Quinn action. Mmmm Irish vampire action goodness.

This action packed `Kiss' is more suspense focused as Riley's hunts two killers

Darkest Kiss starts out with half were half vamp Guardian Riley, exploring her newly discovered bird shifting ability. While she's throwing herself out of trees trying to learning to fly without a great deal of success -- her body as battered as the heart she's been guarding closely in the past months since her werewolf lover left her -- she's no longer leaping to act on her libidinous thoughts. In fact apart from a werewolf's prerequisite monthly `moon dances' she's been celibate. Small wonder, if Riley's life has been anywhere as busy as it is during the course of the story there is almost no way she's had time to squeeze in much in the way of extracurricular activity. The action in Darkest Kiss is pretty much non-stop as Riley is assigned to track down the killer in a high profile murder of a shapeshifter politician and soon after Riley is asked by the hunky stripper werewolf shifter, Shadow, to look into the death of a friend that the authorities are writing off as an accidental death due to a BDSM gone wrong. But as additional bodies stack up, it is apparent to Riley that she's dealing with two serial killers. And while it doesn't take her long to figure out the identity of the killers, stopping them is not going to be anywhere near as easy, as both are powerful insane paranormal entities. Though Riley has really grown into the Guardian role she'd been resisting in previous books, it's going to take more than Riley's powers and a few old friends: seer Dia, horseshifter Kade, her brother Rhoan and a really `old' friend, her former vamp lover Quinn, to keep both Riley and a member of her `pack' from being the next victims. I enjoyed Darkest Kiss, Arthur makes good use of the paranormal elements of her world and creates some formidable killers - for one, the bakenecko, she draws on Japanese lore to add complexity to the character. She also adds another flavor of vamp to her world, an emo vamp who feeds on emotion, the power hungry Vinnie promises to be a nemesis Riley is sure to encounter again in the future. With everything going on, Quinn who shows up just in time to identify the supernatural species and powers of the killers, didn't play as a big part in the story as the back cover suggests. Though his reconnection to Riley adds a bit of steam, his presence in the story appears to be mostly to set up for future books. For the overall story arc of the series, Darkest Kiss seems to be a transitional book for Riley because the pain and changes in Riley's life and attitudes along with Quinn's regrets look to offer a possibility that they will be able to move past the impasse that forced them apart in previous books. Though I'm guessing that there will be probably be at least two more Riley Jensen books before Riley gets her happily ever after, there's no info on Arthur's website yet about when the next book will be out, and no title it's just Riley 7. So if you are looking for more Keri Arthur to tide you over, I recommend you hunt down a