The Dark Cycle #reveiw #bewitching

Darkness Brutal

The Dark Cycle

Book One

Rachel A. Marks

 

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

 

Publisher: Skyscape

 

Date of Publication: July 1st, 2015

 

ISBN: 978-1477830796

ASIN: B00S6Z3S82

 

Number of pages: 422

Word Count: 120,000

 

Cover Artist: Cliff Neilson

 

Book Description:

 

Aidan O’Linn’s childhood ended the night he saw a demon kill his mother and mark his sister, Ava, with Darkness. Since then, every three years the demons have returned to try to claim her. Living in the gritty, forgotten corners of Los Angeles, Aidan has managed to protect his sister, but he knows that even his powers to fight demons and speak dead languages won’t keep her safe for much longer.

 

In desperation, Aidan seeks out the help of Sid, the enigmatic leader of a group of teens who run LA Paranormal, an Internet reality show that fights demons and ghosts. In their company, Aidan believes he’s finally found a haven for Ava. But when he meets Kara, a broken girl who can spin a hypnotic web of passionate energy, he awakens powers he didn’t know he had―and unleashes a new era of war between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness.

 

With the fate of humanity in his hands, can Aidan keep the Darkness at bay and accept his brilliant, terrifying destiny?

 

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Excerpt:

I let the pulse of the music coat me and mute my surroundings. A mass of people crowd the dance floor of the club, and I sit on an abandoned couch in the corner. The lights beat at the air in blues and greens, and bodies twist and merge to the thunder. I lean back, close my eyes, and try to get lost in it, the smells and sounds of people and their collective high.

Something moves next to me. I look over to find a girl sprawled on the seat beside me, trying to catch her breath. She’s not dressed in the usual club gear, more like a girl who got lost on her way to a beach party: Hurley T-shirt, jean skirt, and red Converse. Her cheeks are flushed pink; her throat and forehead glitter with sweat. She glances at me like she didn’t know I was there. She licks her upper lip, her eyes not leaving mine. Then she says something I can’t hear.

I point to my ear and shake my head.

She smiles and laughs, lighting up the space around her. She rests her hand on my arm, like we’re friends and I just told her the most hilarious joke, and then she gets up and disappears into the mass of bodies again.

My arm tingles, my body reacting to the moment of contact in a sudden and disconcerting way. I think I’ve had my fill of watching people indulge their baser instincts. I need to get out of here.

The beat of the music speeds up, vibrating faster as I move through the crowd. I try not to touch anyone, which is nearly impossible. All the emotions and appetites are overwhelming, as if the rising rhythm of the music makes their yearnings rise, too. Lust buzzes in the air. A hunger stirs in me, a gaping hole, needing to be filled. With touch.

The touch of female fingers. A hand on my arm, taking my wrist, pulling me into the fray, into the pressing bodies. And I don’t try to escape. I let her take me.

Because I’m tired.

Because I’m a dumbass.

A girl moves in front of me—not the Hurley girl, not the one I was hoping for. She presses closer, so close I can almost taste the salty perspiration on her skin. She has thin, birdlike shoulders, a swan neck, a heart-shaped face, and black hair, long and tangled, turning blue and green with the light. Her hands slide up my chest. She wraps her arms around my neck and tilts her head to look up at me.

Her lips are full and painted dark purple. There’s a dimple in her left cheek that gets deeper with her growing smile. And her eyes . . .

Fog fills my head for a second, interrupting my thoughts.

“Hi,” she mouths, calling attention to her lips again.

And then she’s rising up on her toes, pulling me down to her, twisting her fingers in my hair, her lips smashing against mine.

My body buzzes from her touch, and my hands react, drawing her into me. I drink her in. She tastes like the air around me, hunger and urgency, and—

Green apple Jolly Ranchers?

I grip her sides, her ribs so delicate beneath my fingers. The sweet tang of her teases me, the hunger becoming a monster deep inside. I have to press her closer, tighter, try to feed it, as I feel the fire of her need link with mine.

She pulls back a little and looks at me with wide eyes, like she’s shocked. That’s when I see the mark, a glowing, blue-inked line of what looks like Chinese symbols, trailing down the nape of her neck to her shoulder blade. Symbols that I’m suddenly sure mean: touch this girl at your own risk.

It’s the only thing I see for a second: Beware. Beware.

Until her energy reaches for me, wispy tendrils of blue light wrapping their way around my wrists and snaking up my chest.

I jerk away, into the guy behind me, stepping on his girlfriend’s toes. I get shoved— thankfully farther from the hypnotic girl—through a space in the crowd, saying a hundred excuse-me’s even though I know no one can hear them. I find my way out of the press of bodies to the edge of the room again where it’s safe.

It’s time to leave. I should’ve left an hour ago.

 

 

Darkness Fair

The Dark Cycle

Book Two

Rachel A. Marks

 

Genre: YA Urban Fantasy

 

Publisher: Skyscape

 

Date of Publication: 2/1/16

 

ISBN: 978-1503950290

ASIN: B00YDJKE00

Number of pages: 335

 

Cover Artist: Cliff Neilson

 

Book Description:

 

Against the backdrop of an ancient battle between the forces of Light and the forces of Darkness, Aidan struggles to control the newly awakened powers that seem to be his only hope for rescuing Ava, his little sister, trapped somewhere beyond the Veil. As he gravitates to Kara, the beguiling and dangerously unstable girl who helped him realize his abilities, a terrible mistake of fate is revealed that points him back toward Rebecca, whose role is becoming more critical to the battle. And no matter what his heart wants, it might be too late to stop the pieces already in motion.

 

Without knowing the sacrifices that will be required of them, Aidan and his motley crew of friends—each with their own role to play—must face the demon threat head-on. They’re the only ones keeping the growing army of Darkness at bay, and if they fail, the future of humanity could be lost.

 

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I give this book 5 hearts

I really really enjoyed Darkness Brutal which is the first book in the darkness cycle series. Aiden lives on the streets because he’s not like other 16 year old’s he can see demons, Angels and speaks long forgotten languages. All of this and he doesn’t know why he has these abilities. Crazy things keep happening and soon he’s pointed in the direction of Sid, an interesting man that seems to know an awful lot about Aidens powers, but is also offering a safe place for him and his little sister Ava to stay.

    Enter Kara a beautiful, dark, spunky girl he met and kissed at a club who he can’t get out of his head, turns out she lives at Sid’s as well, and has her own powers. Something keeps drawing him to her but what he discovers is buried in secrets and spells.

Let’s not forget about Rebecca she is also at the house and she’s in need of saving as well. He’s can’t seem to stay away from both girls yet his heart can only have one.

Meanwhile his sister has her own dark motives ahhhh so much happening.

    The more that Aiden learns the more his life gets complicated. Nothing is as it seems and everyone has deep secrets. Lives are in danger and so is the fate of the world. Angels, demons and prophecies come together in this tale of surviving, growing up and a little bit of love. There are many aspects to this story so pay attention 🙂

*** reviewer for romance authors that rock

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1681239148

https://www.amazon.com/review/R2DW45L97NQ1IS/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Book 2

I give this book 5 hearts

This book starts where the previous one left off. Don’t bother with this one if you haven’t read part one darkness brutal you won’t know what is happening at all.

Now I’ll move on. So Aiden now knows a little more bout what’s going on his friend and sometimes employer is an Angel. Sid is from a completely different time as in hundreds of years in the past as is Aidens father. What a lot to take in, not to mention his sister’s soul is lost somewhere, dangerous demons are coming through the cave, and let’s not forget the weird love triangle between Kara, Rebecca and him It sure is a mess.

  In this installment he’s desperate to find Ava’s soul and figure out how to help Kara now that something appears to be wrong with her the closer they get to each other. Somehow his powers are hurting her but he can’t seem to stop. Sid seems to be slowing down and fading fast. Everything around him is crumbling but sometimes that’s when you find your strength.

In this story I loved that Rebecca finally gets to play a big role she is so much stronger than anyone gives her credit for. She’s even finding romance in an unexpected place.

An amazing series I’m so hooked and man oh man wait till you see Ava eeeeek.

*** reviewer for romance authors that rock

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1681273688

https://www.amazon.com/review/R9XEPRB33AXW4/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

About the Author:

 

Rachel A. Marks is an award-winning author and professional artist, a SoCal girl, cancer survivor, a surfer and dirt-bike rider, chocolate lover and keeper of faerie secrets. She was voted: Most Likely to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, but hopes she’ll never have to test the theory. Her debut series The Dark Cycle, described as Dickens’ Oliver Twist meets TV’s Supernatural, is now out through Skyscape, beginning with DARKNESS BRUTAL.

 

Website: http://www.rachelannemarks.com/

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelAnneMarks

 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4094113.Rachel_A_Marks

 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rachelannemarks

 

 

Tour giveaway

 

$20 Amazon giftcard and chosen paperback or audio in the series