I adored Love is fear, while at the same time I hated it a little (just enough to give it an edge). Therefore, it was better than the first in the series and Love is darkness was awesome. 
 None of the characters are perfect cut-out characters but all of their motivations and actions are understandable, even when they aren't all that appealing (that's the love/hate part of the book). I loved all the strong emotions both the positive and negative. Val's character really appeals to me. She has a lot to learn and I didn't always like her motivations but I'm looking forward to the progression of her character and seeing where she comes out in the end. 
 Love is fear finished on a killer cliffhanger, so I'm dying for the next book. In general, after all the emotions flying around when I got to the last page I was really deflated, wishing I could go on reading it. It was one of those books that stick in your mind for hours afterwards. 
 (view spoiler)[ On a side note, when it was continuously implied that Jack was a hero and Val a coward, I hated it. Personally I thought Jack had a death wish, combined with an unhealthy case of anger problems. It sounded like Val had a terrible childhood, with a family who looked down on her for not being capable of being what they considered imperative. No wonder she just wanted someone to put her needs first for once. I think her dad had a lot to answer for, despite playing the hero. (hide spoiler)] 
 Finally, the sex scenes, in this book were seriously hot!! Sex scenes aren't something that would usually stand-out to me, but these were written really well!! They were FULL of emotions and passion.