His Darkest Salvation by Juliana Stone

His Darkest Salvation by Juliana Stone

My rating: 4.5 of 5 flames

Jaguar Warriors are my new addiction. I want one soo bad!

I think it says something that 60 pages in, I went and bought the first 2 books. This is a different type of series, and I hope you guys like it.

Julian Castille has spent the past 6 months in hell. Literally. Being carved by a knife-wielding, slice-happy demon. So I think it’s safe to say he returns to his old life a bit…changed.

Jaden da Costa is a double agent. She’s walking a fine line between her family (da Costa jaguars are blood-thirsty and evil), and the greater good. Jaden now works with Julian’s brother Jaxon as part of PATU-Paranormal Anti-Terrorist Unit.

But the two have a history. A very interesting history. Julian and Jaden had a one-night-stand 3 years ago, and in that memorable, amazing, life-altering one night, Jaden did the unthinkable. Her jaguar claimed Julian’s as mate.

Once Julian realized the amazing woman he’d spent the best night of his life with was a jaguar (like himself), Julian freaked. He had been denying his other half. So in his panic, not only did he toss money on the nightstand, he treated Jaden like crap. And poor Jaden was now mated to this asshat who would never know.

Well, poor Jaden isn’t really “poor” anything. To the world, she owns and runs Mexico’s premier hotel. To her father, she is his good little daughter who will do anything for the cause of evil. To Jaxon, she is one of his best warriors. To Julian she is nothing but a regret. But when Jaden is all alone at night? She can’t keep her thoughts from drifting back to her GQ, white collar, master of the boardroom mate. And she hates herself for it.

At the end of His Darkest Embrace, Julian and Declan were sucked into hell, and even though Julian wasn’t of the warrior class like his brothers, he had left the boardroom, and his father’s business, and gone into the jungle. He was fast on his way to becoming a warrior, the warrior tattoos be damned.

That’s exactly where this book picks up.

Jaden got a tip that Julian would be coming back soon, so she went to his apartment looking for him. And he did return. But he was far more dangerous than ever before. And to Jaden, that danger only made her want him more.

I’ve been reading other reviews and I’m surprised to see how many people are bothered by how dark and tortured Julian is. Really? It’s paranormal romance, and a dark and tortured hero is nothing new. He’s missing half his soul…it makes sense he’s an asshole. So, if you want a dark, tortured hero, this is your book! The awesome thing about the heroine is that Jaden is a warrior, so she’s no shrinking violet. Jaden can take care of herself, and I love watching Julian learn to admire her for that. I love his fascination with her clan and warrior tattoos, and I love the sentence:

“Where the hell was her mate? Christ, if she belonged to him, he’d never let her screw off into the night, hitting homes that housed dangerous sons of bitches like himself.”

This was right at the beginning, where even missing half his soul, he still felt something on a primal level for Jaden. Watching that grow, watching him gain hope, he was a great dark hero.

And at the end, I love that he didn’t get his soul back….it would have been too puppies and rainbows if he had ended all tidy and perfect.

So final verdict? I loved it! I have made Juliana Stone one of my new “authors to look for” every time I go to the bookstore. I hope she writes fast, because I want Declan’s book in the next series, like yesterday.

thanks to Avon for letting me read this one, and thanks to Juliana for fielding all my questions 🙂

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