Review: Dark Taste of Rapture by Gena Showalter

Boy, was I surprised to open this book and find that we were much earlier in the series timeline than we left off on in Ecstasy In Darkness. It was a good thing, though. Not only did we get to see an earlier glimpse of Ava and Noelle’s friendship, we also got to see the intriguing backstory between Noelle and Hector. I’ve got to say, even after reading this last book, I had no idea they had that kind of history together.

I really enjoyed Ava and Noelle in Ecstasy In Darkness. They were violent, crazy, and hilarious. We get much less of them together in this one because Ava is on her honeymoon for a large chunk of it. It made me realize that I enjoy the Ava side of the pairing a lot more than the Noelle side. Ava’s more apt to get pissed and then kick some ass, while Noelle’s more apt to bitch and whine and then get violent. It’s okay in small doses, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that she grated on me after a while.

I liked how sneaky and manipulative Noelle was. She always had a plan to improve her situation and didn’t hesitate to throw her money into the occasion to grease the wheels. The main thing that bugged me about her was how whiny she was about people thinking she was an airhead. She went out of her way to play stupid, knowing that it would give her the advantage if people didn’t know how smart and capable she was. If you do this deliberately and never break character when those people are around, then why are you mad when they buy your act and think you’re stupid? Do you want the plan to work or not? It’s as simple as that. So, needless to say, her pity party got old.

There was quite a bit of heat in their relationship. They had a whole “forbidden lovers” thing going for them, which added an awesome layer of tension to the relationship. The back and forth got old, I’ll admit, but I could understand why it was so hard for Hector to attempt getting close to Noelle. It’s not like his experiences to date had inspired any confidence. He was a very tragic character—not just the nature of his power, but his past and what we learned about his brother. Very sad. Poor Hector didn’t even trust contact with himself, let alone contact with another person. His resistance did make it a bit sad to watch Noelle throw herself against that brick wall again and again, but this was slightly redeemed by the fact that the tables were turned and he had to pursue her in the end. That poor girl definitely deserved some effort by that point.

I was very pleased to see that the Schon storyline was left out of this book. I’m a little tired of the skeezy queen and her army of STD-carrying men. I thought it would be easier to take Dallas now that we’re not so focused on the queen and his connection to her, but he actually ended up irritating me. His pursuit of Noelle and his ridiculous vision didn’t really serve a purpose that I could see, other than to lay the foundation for something in a future book. I wish he wouldn’t have been quite so grating. I know that he’s most people’s favorites, but I have a very love/hate relationship with him. He can be a good guy sometimes, but he can also be a real jerk.

A past character in the series pops back up in this one. I’m curious to see where the author will go with that. This isn’t my favorite book in the series, but it carries the characters along nicely and paves the way for some new storylines. Despite finding Noelle a bit annoying, I still smiled when they got together in the end. It was a much deserved HEA.

P.S. There’s a virgin hero in there for all you fans of that trope.

Favorite Quote:

“Are you trying to set me up?” he said, nearly choking on the words. “With someone else? While I’m laying my best moves on you?”

“These are your best? Wait, never mind. Don’t answer that. I’d just have to feel sorry for you.”

Rating: B-
Dark Taste of Rapture by Gena Showalter
August 23rd 2011 by Pocket
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