Review: Dark Surrender by Rachel Van Dyken (The Dark Ones Saga #3)


Note: This ARC was provided by the author via TRSoR Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

No one has ever been able to resist Alexander. He is a Siren, after all. He is irresistible and he knows it. Sex to him is the perk of being a Siren and he isn't choosy about who he's with. So, mating with someone is something he's never really considered for himself...until, that is, the King of the immortals informs he that in order to be prepared for the war they are about to face, Alex will have to find his mate, and not just any mate but a human. Humans are weak, but finding one who will succumb to him is no burden. It should be easy enough, but when he meets one of the women chosen to be his potential mate, he's shocked when she doesn't appear to be affected by his physical beauty. She isn't what he expected, but there's something about her that calls to him. Then he discover who Hope really is. She's the very reminder of his failure to do what was required of him all those years ago. But now they're mated and their fates are sealed. But it seems that they're being together is something some immortals aren't too pleased about...then there are those just waiting to pounce. Could their beginning turn out to be everyone's end?

In the first two novels in Rachel Van Dyken's The Dark Ones series, Alex isn't just a male Siren but he's also the comic relief. When we learn his story in the third installment, Dark Surrender, it becomes clear that he's had his own share of rejection, something you wouldn't think fathomable for a Siren, and yet it's part of his history. That isn't to say, however, that there aren't any lighter moments here. There still are, especially when Alex and Hope meet and it's clear that Hope isn't affected by him in the same manner as the two other female humans in the running to be his mate. Her heritage was a surprise for sure, but it's her secret history and the one she shares with certain other people in the series that threw me for a loop. I so didn't see that coming, but talk about making everything doubly interesting. What was happening between Hope and Alex felt like such a full circle moment for them, and then how she ties in with another group of immortals and in the war that the Dark Ones are preparing for kept me on my proverbial toes. The author never ceases to amaze me with her ability to weave creative stories.

There were a few moments that had me itching to give Alex a smack upside the head and yes, most of them had to do with his treatment of Hope. I get his reasoning behind it but that still doesn't justify his acting callously towards her. The friendship between Alex and Mason is highlighted in this third book, because even as they bicker and kid around, their bond is strong, as is the bond Alex shares with the rest of the immortals he lives with. And that's the thing I love about this series: the family that these immortals have created for themselves. It may be unconventional but it's one that works for them and that they all thrive on. They would do almost anything for one another, even when they have their disagreements. Things were certainly taken to another level here, and with the author's note that a book is in the offing for one of the recurring supporting characters that I would never have initially even considered wanting to learn more about but then he--like the others--proved there was more to him, I'm looking forward to reading Timber's book after Mason's. Dark Surrender left me so satisfied, earning five stars. ♥

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Read my reviews for The Dark Ones Saga:


The Dark Ones (book one) - five stars - My Review

Untouchable Darkness (book two) - five-plus stars - My Review

Dark Surrender (book three) - five stars - My Review (posted above)

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Date Read: 13 December 2016

Learn more about Rachel Van Dyken.

Purchase Dark Surrender on Amazon | B&N | Kobo.

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