Review: Untouchable Darkness by Rachel Van Dyken

Print Length: 268 pages

Publisher: Create Space (December 29, 2015)

From Goodreads.com: To love a Dark One is to invite death... 

It is wrong to love her. 
It is worse to want her. 
It is sin to consume her. 
I desire all three. 

I've been given thirty days to prove my love to another immortal--as a human. Cursed to use nothing but the side of myself I've always despised to win her affection. I am Cassius, the King of the immortals, A Dark One. 
And today I tasted fear for the first time. 
How can I win her when my human emotions over take every ounce of logic I possess? 
A darkness is brewing. 
One I cannot stop as a human. 
One that Stephanie, my loves visions, have shown, will be my end. 
Thirty days ago I was King of the immortals. 
Today I know fear. 
Today I know how I will die. 
By her hand. 
The woman I love.

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My Rating: 5 stars out of 5

I am really starting to think that there isn't a story, genre, etc out there that Rachel Van Dyken cannot nail 100%. She can take the craziest of plots and make them not only into something you would swear actually exist, but she will suck you in and keep you up into the early hours of the morning just to finish what was started. 

Untouchable Darkness is her second novel in the Dark Ones Saga (which begins with the appropriately named The Dark Ones), however you do not have to read the first story in order to understand this one. That is probably one of the things I most enjoy about reading a story by Rachel, it doesn't matter where in the series you pick up, you can completely follow the story you are in (and it only makes you want to read the others more). 

But enough about my love for her stories in general. Lets get down to my review of this book in particular. I felt like this story contained so much information about Cassius (whom I didn't particularly care for in the first novel), that you couldn't help but see him in a whole different light. This story was more than just the typical back and forth points of view (from the main characters - in this case Cassius and Stephanie), there were also several flashbacks with explained a lot about Sarial and how the Dark Ones came to be. I found that this information gave a better insight to these characters and their overall story than we would have gotten without it. 

And the love story between Cassius and Stephanie? It was both heart-breakingly tragic and swoon worthy romantic. There was such a balance to their story that even when you felt there was no hope, you couldn't help but root for them anyway. And the ending? Absolutely perfect. It not only brought a tear to my eye, but it made me desperate to continue with these characters - to see how the coming war is going to unfold and just which side will come out victorious. 

The downside to this story? We now have to wait until the Fall of 2016 for the next one! 

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own. 

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Untouchable Darkness is available from Amazon.com