Maddox 
 Ashlyn 
 Good. Lord. *fans self* 
 No words. 
 Actually yes...plenty of words. Get ready for it. Ha. 
 FINALLY a book I devoured and couldn't put down, didn't want to put down. FINALLY a 5 star book with an awesome root-worthy heroine who isn't TSTL and a yummy delicious hero to boot. Thank you thank you thank you! About freaking time. Where has this goodness been and why am I only NOW reading about it?? 
 I was not expecting to love this as much as I did. In fact I was really hesitant and skeptical. I love paranormal/fantasy as a genre. It's so much fun. I'm just very very picky when it comes to reading them. They pretty much suck in the contemporary category for me. I've just had bad experiences in the past w/ reading them. I've veered away from them all together for quite sometime because they never live up to my expectations or just fall completely flat, especially when it's contemporary. I was just tired of being underwhelmed and disappointed. But this was a beautiful nice surprise. I'm just kicking myself that I didn't grab all the other books from this series during the Borders closing sale. :P I was really hesitant since I'm new to this author and her work. I'm so glad I followed by gut. 
 If you don't want to read a review filled with ooohs and aaahs then stop reading right now. Don't say I didn't warn you. lol 
 This is the first book from the Lords of the Underworld series. Here it's focused on Maddox, an immortal Lord possessed by the demon of Violence. He pretty much finds his other half and kindred spirit in Ashlyn Darrow. Ashlyn is a mortal who has the ability to hear voices from past and present she comes to Maddox's home to try and see if he can help her stop/control the voices in her head. The instant connection and pull these two have over each other was very addictive and just intense. They were adorable with how fast and hard they fell for each other. It was so enthralling to see a immortal war Lord be so captivated and charmed by a innocent mortal women. I've always been interested and have loved the 'opposites' attract equation especially when it's from two completely different worlds. I'm a total sucker for it. The way they fell for each other was so real and innocent in so many ways. It could have easily veered off into cheesey territory but it didn't for me. For some reason the cheese factor tends to run really high in contemporary stories, paranormal/fantasy in particular. That's another big reason why I've avoided reading them for a while. 
 And I have to say, besides the great plot and pairing, what enthralled me the most and made me melt like an idiot was the things Maddox would say to Ashlyn. Oh my lordy. The THINGS the man says to her made my stomach all a quiver. So wasn't expecting that. Made me want to be his love slave @_@ What? Don't judge. Doesn't take a lot to make me swoon when it comes to romance but when it's contemporary AND paranormal there is the tendency to over do it, water it down or just make it plain cheesy. Here wasn't the case. I loved Maddox, I just wanted to grab onto him and never let him go. His brooding dark personality with a tender passionate side and smoldering hypnotic violet eyes to boot. YUM. He was so incredibly yummy and his tenderness and complete devotion and vulnerability when it came to Ashlyn made me love him all the more. That last scene near the end made me want to cry buckets. Just a WOAH moment for me. I love when books take you by surprise and this definitely did for me. I don't know about anyone else but seeing a fierce violent warrior come to his knees and turn into a complete mess over a woman sucked me in completely. It takes major balls and gutso to write a hero like that and I for one LOVED it. Beautiful gut wrenching poignant scene at the end. I found myself reading and re-reading that whole scene over and over again. I loved all the other warriors as well. I found them to be so intriguing and intense yet colorful and just really fun. Besides Maddox, I was really intrigued and curious about Reyes, Aeron and Paris in particular. Their constant squabbling and all the back and forth bickering and banter was so much fun and hysterical. What I loved most was they all came off so real and believable as characters. I could picture them doing it. That's what makes a book so awesome and stand out, when you get so sucked in and entrhalled by the characters that you picture every discussion they have, every gesture they make. I loved their distinct personalities and physical appearances. I can't wait to see what's in store for each of them. I'm hoping the author continues on and does a book for each one. 
 Ashlyn I adored. She has such a big forgiving heart and so much compassion and is very smart. You sometimes fear heroines like that will quickly be taken advantage of or have no spine. But she had plenty of spine and so much strength and courage. She's pretty much been on her own all her life, was given up by her own family because of her 'gift' and used because of it by the Institute she worked at all her life. My heart broke for her and I rooted for her from the very beginning. She's an innocent with no pretense or tricks which I loved so much. I have a thing for heroines who are the quiet, innocent unsuspecting ones that come with no games, tricks or lies. They are considered in many ways the 'underdog' in the literature world and I find myself relating to them so much more. Ashlyn's complete innocence and wanting to see the good in everything even if it's 'bad' was really refreshing. Her insecurities and fear and loneliness made me love her all the more. 
 While I love this book and thought it was a great intro to this series, I'll be honest I am I little bit hesitant and 'iffy' on some of the other warriors' books (I can't believe she paired poor Reyes with Danika of all people WTF?? ). I'm gonna give the whole series a try. Let's see if I'll make it. lol The only other warriors I'm really interested in at this point are Aeron and Paris and I'm wishing she did a book on Torin. Poor thing has the worst demon to deal with. He really broke my heart in this. I hope Showalter gives it a try and tries to work around his demon. Loved this story, great series!