In book seven in the Darkest London series, Layla Starling returns to London and goes home to her beloved guardian Augustus. He’s raised her since she was a baby, and they love each other like father and daughter. The last person she expected to see sitting in the parlor was St. John “Sin” Evernight, her childhood friend whom she hadn’t seen in several years.
Sin has loved Layla from afar, but after suffering years as a blood slave for the evil fae queen, he doesn’t believe he’s good enough for Layla. He’s a powerful elemental and now Judgment, an angel with the ability to steal souls from evil people and send the souls to Hell. Augustus is also Judgment and Sin’s mentor, and he’s adamant Sin protect Layla from the Damnation demon that is looking for her.
Layla is a half-breed (half Judgment and half Damnation), but she’s probably the sweetest, kindest heroine in the series. Sin is so damaged, his self-esteem so low. Layla’s acceptance and love, and his sisters’ regret for thinking the worst of him, did a lot to help him heal. I really loved the scene when all the secrets were out and Poppy, Daisy, and Miranda finally learned the truth and realized how wrong they were.
There are two couples featured in this story, Layla and Sin being the most prominent. I preferred, however, the romance and reconciliation with Augustus and Lena.
Though commonly believed to be a powerful sanguis demon, Lena is a Damnation demon in love with angel. Needless to say, this couple has not had an easy courtship, mostly due to Lena’s refusal to accept Augustus as her mate.
Augustus was an awesome but very conniving character, and I loved the scene when Lena called him out on it. For over a thousand years, he’s been playing chess, setting people up in the roles he wants for them and pushing them down the right path, so he could achieve his end game. If not for his manipulations, the main couples in this seven-book series never would’ve met, fallen in love, or had even been born. That’s pretty extraordinary.
As with the previous book, I was a little confused with the timeline and the amount of time that has passed. I like twists and turns in novels, but it was surprising that certain truths from earlier stories were revealed as false in this story. Other than Lena’s heritage, the most notable twist was Archer and his “curse” from book one. It’s always irked me a little that Archer/Miranda and Winston/Poppy (from book three) remained human at the end of their stories when all the other couples became immortal. Though I’m happy Archer and Miranda has transformed into something more, I still feel bad for Win and Poppy.
The only typos I noticed were the villain’s name. It was spelled two different ways (St Clair and St Claire).
I’m disappointed my favorite secondary character, Lucien, didn’t show up in this book. He deserves to fall in love with someone, either off-page or on, but it didn’t happen.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I’m sad to see the series end, but everything was mostly wrapped up. (There are some unanswered questions, series-wise, but nothing of great importance.) I see the potential for a spinoff series, and if Ms. Callihan ever writes it, I’ll be sure to read it.
4 Stars
( )

Forevermore
3.5 Stars

Series note: This is the final book and references several events from previous installments. As such, it is recommended that the series be read in order.

A significant improvement on the last book. Sin and Layla are both likable and their friends-to-lovers romance is more fulfilling overall. Nevertheless, there is a bit too much focus on their internal musings. Sin's guilt and angst over his previous actions and Layla's fears over her true nature are overdone at times.

The suspense plot, however, is very intriguing as readers are finally rewarded with more information about the nature of the supernatural world and there are also more specific details and explanations on past events. The inclusion of Egyptian and biblical mythology adds another layer of nuance to the story and the final showdown with the villain is exciting.

All in all, a satisfying end to the series with all plot threads neatly tied up. ( )

2.5 stars rounded up. This didn't rub me the wrong way, it just wasn't very engaging or intriguing. A couple aspects didn't entirely hold water, but lots of people aren't bothered by gaps like that. At times it was a bit of a slog to get through. But, it might have been partly my mood or something, so I'm going to round up- but it's a near thing. This was perhaps my second to least favorite of the series. ( )

Re read Jan 21. ( )

oops. I nommed-nommed the heck out of that one. Buddy read, so spoilering to avoid her feed!

I really enjoyed it. I think it might haunt the inadequate reviews. For some reason, I went in with fairly low expectations, and I was loving it and continually waiting for the bottom to fall out. I don't feel like it did. I loved the way Callihan set this couple up, without the time to focus it was such a great idea to give them the backstory she did, so she didn't have to waste too much time with them learning each other again. (although those parts were so very very good)

I loved how everything wrapped up and felt 100% satisfied in the ending. I loved the secondary romance as well. And her other couple's cameos served a purpose, which kept it from being annoying (plus, damn that Ian is funny)

4.5...rounded...I'm not sure where. Happy to give this one a 5 star for the read alone and enjoyment of the series overall I guess... ( )