This is where in the series I started to feel a bit lost. I absolutely love the Offspring, and I loved Petra and Cheveyo's story, but this whole parallel universe has me a bit confused. In the previous book Pope goes all alien and comes back in this one somewhat different, but I just feel like I am missing something. Maybe it wasn't enough focus on Pope's other dimension or maybe because I thought he was the bad guy in the previous books, I don't know, but I am so glad Petra and Cheveyo are together! ( )

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy:
www.allthingsurbanfantasy.blogspot.com

In BEYOND THE DARKNESS, Rush gives a fresh twist on familiar romance tropes. Her characters deal with danger and an alien threat on the run, all the while dodging gracefully around the “drop everything to sleep with your soul-mate” plot device. Rush's story is at its finest when deftly quipping and prat-falling through what could have been overwrought romantic or suspenseful scenes in the hands of a less original author.

While I intellectually applauded Petra and Cheveyo's story, however, my emotions were largely untouched untouched by the characters themselves. For me, there was some essential spark missing that could elevate them from technically well-crafted to genuinely interesting. That disconnect knocked this particular story down a bat for me, but in no way stunted my interest in reading more offerings from Rush. I loved how when Cheveyo resists his attraction to Petra so as not to put her in danger, she misses him but moves on. Sure she daydreams about the smoking hot kiss they shared, but she still says, “Yes,” when a cute guy asks her out. Over the course of the story, both characters resist opportunities to fall into bed and letting chemistry work things out. They truly try to address the hang ups and dangers that keep them apart. While I wasn’t thrilled with some of the plot devices used to resolve those snags in the end, I really enjoyed the middle portion of the story where they wrestled with them.

While I had no difficulty picking up plot points from earlier books as the story went along, maybe I would have found the resolution of this book more emotionally satisfying if I had started this series with A PERFECT DARKNESS. As it stands, I am interested in reading more books by Rush in the hopes of finding more of those magic scenes where she gives a new spin on a familiar plot device.

Sexual Content: Several sex scenes and an attempted rape scene. ( )