3.5 stars

Revenge never turns out the way we think it’s going to turn out, does it? Brochan wants to make Viola pay for taking his brother’s immortality. Nobody is more important to Brochan than his brother, the man he raised from a young boy. But Viola guards her beast Fluffy just as fiercely. With good reason; Fluffy is the only being who has ever been loyal to Viola and shown her unconditional love.

These two are more alike than they can even fathom. They’re also both extremely stubborn and don’t take the time to figure out they why of the other’s actions. They just react when they feel threatened which causes many interesting fights. Some violent, some frustrating, all sexy.

There is a test Viola gives all of her “victims” before taking their essence. Nobody has passed that test. It’s quite easy to figure it out, but seeing Brochan struggle with what the test may be and what he has to do to pass the test is interesting. As much as he can be quite the brute, his reasoning for the things he does keeps him a sympathetic character. Especially since we also know he fell for Viola before she even set her sights on…his brother. And Viola’s narcissism can border on annoying, but knowing her internal struggle helps her stay on the right side of annoying. Also, finding out how Viola chooses who to steal from helped to redeem her in my eyes.

It’s always great to see old “friends”. These novellas seldom have a lot of facetime with the Lords of the Underworld, but I have a bit of an infatuation with the Sent Ones who own Downfall and we got to visit with them a bit in this story.

While I did enjoy this story, the pacing felt different than most of this author’s novellas so it was a bit of a slower read than I was expecting. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, the story overall…it was just a bit off somehow.

You can find more of my reviews at All In Good Time.

This is a novella from the Lords of the Underworld series by Gena Showalter that brings us the story of Viola and Brochan.

This novella was brilliant. I really wanted to read about Viola and it was a masterpiece. Viola was a fascinating character. She was vulnerable, she was ruthless, she was in pain. Her connection with Brochan was amazingly written and their relationship was well developed. This novella was brilliant and unforgettable.