REVIEW by @UrbanFantasyRev : Darkness and Lies by Brandi Salazar (@brandellavanela)

Explorer Cheyenne Oppenello lives for adventure and has made it her life’s work to seek out the world’s most notorious myths and legends, and she’s determined to make sure that nothing stands in her way. Accompanied by a colorful band of teammates and friends, their most recent hunt has brought them to Iceland where, up on a mountaintop lies a legend so great that, if true, could thrust them into the spotlight making all of their wildest dreams come true. Unfortunately they have no idea that this mission could very well be their last. 
Erias is on a mission of his own. And this includes keeping Cheyenne and her teammates from sticking their noses where they don’t belong. Part of The Brotherhood, guardians to The Gate, Erias is charged with protecting the world from creatures bent on death and destruction and he will do whatever it takes to ensure they never see the light of day.
Can Cheyenne’s determination go up against a fierce man like Erias to get what she wants? Or will Erias prove to be the one adventure she wasn’t prepared for?



I got a copy of this from the author for a fair and honest review, so here goes.  Cheyenne and a group of her friends travel to a different destination each year looking for truth in the world of myth and legend. This year they traveled to Iceland looking for the gates of Hell and this year they found it.  Erias is a member of the Brotherhood an immortal charged with keeping the Gate both secret and secure.  The Brotherhood answers to the Greek Goddess Persephone, who helps run Hell and she is a total bitch.  In keeping Cheyenne and her friends away from the Gate Erias and Cheyenne develop feelings for each other, but Persephone ever the jealous goddess doesn’t approve so she sends Cheyenne to Hell to keep her from away from Erias.  Erias and company must rescue Cheyenne from Hell.
The blurb from the back cover or would be the back cover if it wasn’t an ebook and some good reviews got me interested and I thought the story had promise.  To be honest , it was a lot like Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter
series only not as well done.  Bitchy goddess, immortal guy and a forbidden love interest…sounds like a Dark Hunter novel right.  The romance between Cheyenne and Erias kinda fell flat for me, I understand not liking each other but being attracted cuz there’s got to be some tension but she accused him of trying to rape her and then she gives him her virginity…seriously?  On that note the whole idea of making the heroine in a romance novel a virgin just drives me nuts, in this day and age…not so much.  That is my issue though and not the fault of the author, although the virgin thing is done to death!
It is a fairly quick read I finished it in a day it is paced really well and the world the author created I will say was well done and pretty cool.  Persephone was an absolute bitch but she does run Hell with her husband, the devil so you pretty much have to be to survive.  The minor characters, like Behr who was my favorite were interesting in their own right.  Alex was a total douche but he was supposed to be so that worked well.  The trip to Hell was the most interesting part of the book.  But…the ending, the ending was a cliffhanger with no mention of a second book or if this was a series.  It certainly felt like the first book in a series and if there is a second I will grab it to see what happens.  On the whole I did like the book and if you are a big fan of Paranormal Romance novels you should give it a try.
3 stars!   Worth a look.

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