Review: Lord of the Abyss

(Royal House of Shadows #4)
By: Nalini Singh
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: Nov. 22, 2011
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Source: NetGalley
Format: eBook
Pages: 288
Rating:

Once upon a time…the Blood Sorcerer vanquished the kingdom of Elden. To save their children, the queen scattered them to safety and the king filled them with vengeance. Only a magical timepiece connects the four royal heirs…and time is running out.…

As the dark Lord who condemns souls to damnation in the Abyss, Micah is nothing but a feared monster wrapped in impenetrable black armor. He has no idea he is the last heir of Elden, its last hope. Only one woman knows—the daughter of his enemy.

Liliana is nothing like her father, the Blood Sorcerer who’d cursed Micah. She sees past Micah’s armor to the prince inside. A prince whose sinful touch she craves. But first she has to brave his dark, dangerous lair and help him remember. Because they only have till midnight to save Elden.

My thoughts...
Sadly, this is the last book of the Royal House of Shadows series. I really enjoyed reading all of the books in the series and found Micah and Liliana's story very interesting. The other siblings were all old enough to remember their past and knew they had to get home to stop the blood sorcerer but Micah was only 5 years old when it happened and only knows the Abyss as his home. He is the Lord of the Black Castle, guardian of the Abyss who is charged with collecting the dark souls that ultimately end up there, and what he says is law or it will be the dungeons for you. He is taken back when Liliana magically appears at his throne without his permission and is immediately thrown in his dungeons until he can figure out what to do with her. Liliana comes up with an idea to serve as his cook in order to stay near him so that she can get him to remember his past and convince him to go back to Elden to defeat her father and help save Elden with his siblings.

All the other books in the series have had a theme to them and this one appears to be Beauty and the Beast although it is said a lot through the book how unattractive Liliana is with her hooked nose and miss-portioned shape but Micah is spot on. He not only demands things and expects them to be done immediately but due to the blood sorcerers curse, Micah also turns into a beast. He is very bossy and at first doesn't take too well to Liliana dishing it right back at him but after a while he starts to admire that about her since everyone else is afraid of him but his Liliana doesn't fear him at all.

The majority of the book is the building of Micah and Liliana. When it comes to the actual battle with the blood sorcerer, I felt it was over way to quickly. This battle has been building this entire time throughout the series and I would have liked it to be more predominate in the story. It would have been nice if the other siblings would have gotten in on the action and maybe have some difficulty taking down the blood sorcerer who ultimately took down the king and queen and has been ruling Elden for the last 20 years. It just felt a little rushed and even forgotten when you view the story as a whole. With that being said though, the author took a lot of time to develop both Micah and Liliana and that attention to detail is what made up for the lack of the epic battle at the end.

Favorite part...
Micah- "You remind me of a creature in the village. The baker keeps it as a pet, though the kitten is forever spitting and clawing at everyone she meets."
Liliana- "This spitting kitten is your cook. I beg you don't forget that, or I might forget which is the salt and which the chili."