4.5 <b> Touched by the Dark One </b>

I found this freebie randomly on Amazon because I LOVE this author .. and then I was given an ARC of sorts and was pleasantly surprised my kindle pulled up two copies when I searched for it haha. I have no idea what 2019 is doing to me but MAN is it giving me TONS of vampire books!

<i> I wanted to live. </i>
This story is dystopia in its own way very hunger games like. Genesis is a human and all her life she is groomed (like the rest of the town) to be really smart and know everything because one day her Number will be called and she will then report to the immortals to enhance their way of life. Genesis grew up in a home you would call verbally abusive in nature and it has obscured her mind. Genesis has been chosen by Cassius an immortal archangel and his touch brings icy cold death. Before he can finish his mark a gang of other immortals (shapeshifters, vampires and sirens (oh my!)) decide to band together to rescue Genesis from Cassius and also rescue the vampire Ethan from the lonely existence he faces. Once again another immortal story I didn’t expect and one I quite enjoyed. This is a book you pick up and lose time and space in and all of a sudden it is over and you realize the book is a standalone and you scream!

I really enjoyed this read. I appreciated the new take on some old mythical/paranormal characters. I always love romances that are told in multiple POVs.

Ethan is such an easy male lead to fall in love with. His struggles and desire for love are heartwarming and heartbreaking. Genesis is a snarky self conscious human who has not a single clue about who she is or how important she is to the future of the supernatural world. The novel is well written and the details about each character and experiences keep you wanting to read on.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves paranormal romance and/or is looking for twists on the usual.

Sometimes books surprise me, because this is an excellently written book. I could not put it down until I finished

WHY HAVE I WAITED SO LONG TO READ THIS????!!!!!!
Holy s*!t Batman. This is an amazing vampire read. It is so different and refreshing-I couldn't get enough and I need more ASAP

What a fantastic read! I really enjoyed this from start to finish and will quickly be purchasing the next one. The whole story flowed really well. I find some vampire love stories can come across cheesy but this one is brilliantly done, fast paced and extra delicious. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read it. I will be picking up more reads from Rachael Van Dyken!

I picked up this thinking it was going to be another girl meets vampire, girl falls in love etc,
And while yes this happened, there was an interesting twist in the tale, and I found myself sucked in and really enjoyed it.

Thanks to netgalley for allowing me to read this arc.

I’m a huge fan of Rachel’s. Her books are always amazing reads. This one is no different. You get a touch of everything occult in this book. Paranormal reads aren’t my favorite by any means, but this book really drew me in from thr first page. Check this book out. Believe me, you’ll enjoy it.

This is a great choice for a paranormal read! You'll get everything thatnoccupies the paranormal world including vampires, and the book is dark, yet light, and I'd say enjoyable for everyone who likes these kind of books!

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy!

This book was fantastic! It was dark and chilling! I couldn’t put it down! I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

4.5 stars

I have been making more of an effort to not only read the books that I have had on my kindle for a while now, but also taking more time for what I call “me reads.” These are the books that I am not on a schedule to have read for a specific date, that if I want to review them I can and if I don’t it’s not going to reflect badly on me. Rachel Van Dyken is one of the authors that I am lately addicted to her works. The Dark Ones pulled me into their immortal world from the absolute start and when I finished I wanted the next book right now. It comes out next month but let’s face it I am a book whore and I want what I want and I want the next book. No this isn’t a cliffhanger so don’t start thinking that. If I am correct, each book will focus on a different couple but all the books will be linked.

The Dark Ones at first reminded me of a book from of one my favorite authors, but then slowly it turned and twisted into something different, something darker, and something more. I loved how the suspense was the perfect balance to the romance and the overall storyline. Genesis and Ethan’s story is the beginning of what could be a major prophecy if it does indeed become true. Immortals hope that it will, their race depends on it. What you think are betrayals could possibly be more, and the ones you think wouldn’t betray you might. You must trust when not trusting can mean life or death, literally.

If you are a paranormal fan, if you are a fan of Rachel Van Dyken, hell even if you are just wanting to read something a little different than your normal then The Dark Ones really should be on your TBR lists. I have a feeling that this book whore is going to be sucked into this saga more than once, but then again if it is Ethan doing the sucking, well I won’t be complaining.

Fantastic book! I might be biased because I generally love this author! Great paranormal read with fantastic characters!

This book took me a little bit to really get into, but I could not stop reading once it got me. The story is truly a hidden gem and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

The first couple chapters of this book were very confusing but now I understand because in the beginning Genesis, the main character had no clue what was actually happening. She was raised to think she might be essentially a baby sitter for immortals' children, which I can assure you is not what her "job" is.

This was a great paranormal romance that I recommend to everyone!

"She gave me her body. In return, I gave her my soul."

“Sometimes it's best ... To love for a moment than to never experience it.”

I thought I’d never read a book with vampires in it ever again. I was wrong. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS ONE!

This book is very fast paced. I wanted to slow down while reading it. I never wanted it to end.

Rachel Van Dyken dives into the paranormal with The Dark Ones. Since it is part of a series of books, I'd say it's been successful. Having read and enjoyed several of her books in the past, I had high hopes for this book. I was not disappointed. Ms. Van Dyken delivers vampires, sirens, werewolves and archangels with her own brand of quirkiness and wit. For me, that was quite refreshing.

Genesis is the 'sacrificial' human whose number is "called" at the beginning of the story. She basically finds out that nothing she has been taught in the human world is accurate and she is in no way prepared to be living among the immortals. She was trained to function as the equivalent of a nanny but in fact she is expected to be a breeder and mate with one of the immortals. That's a big difference. Then there's the little fact that a curse may be in place since all of the humans who have been "called" in the recent past have not lived very long and eventually die. Genesis is thinking that her odds aren't very good.

There was an easy flow to the story and a lot of the historical information that helped the reader (and Genesis) understand the situation better was woven into it. I liked Ethan and Genesis' connection even though it takes them a while to get past their barriers. Ethan has major baggage from losing his previous mate and Genesis simply doesn't think he wants her. Once they find their way through the hurdles, watch out! Things get spicy!!

The Dark Ones was an enjoyable read in its own right but also sets the stage for a strong series. I look forward to reading more.

Title: The Dark Ones
Author: Rachel Van Dyken
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Supernatural
Series or Standalone: Series - The Dark Ones Saga #1
Rating: ★★★★★

I’m familiar with this author and her writing, at least as it pertains to more contemporary style romances, so picking this up was a no brainer.
I enjoyed the pacing of her stories before as well as the style in which they were written, so even though I wasn’t sure how I would fare with a more paranormal romance, I dived straight in.
I wasn’t disappointed at all.
This novel was incredibly passionate pretty much right from the get go, and it had nothing to do with insta-love, or sex, or anything of that nature. It was just all there in the characters and the writing. And the passion wasn’t just there for the romantic couple within the pages, it was strewn throughout.
All of these characters were incredibly likeable. I laughed a lot with their interactions and got a real family feel from them all. Apart from the humor, I was also pulled in by the drama taking place, what was really going on behind the scenes, and even more hooked in finding out how it would all play out.
The world the author created in which these characters reside was fantastic and I enjoyed every minute of the ride I was taken on throughout.
This book, had it been the first I read by the author, most definitely would have made me a fan, but at the very least, reading this story, and even knowing there is more to come (the rest of the series) to enjoy, it’s solidified my feelings on her as an author.
I look forward to diving into the second book (which I’ve purchases now) and I can’t wait to see where this author takes us both in this series and in the future writing she releases.

I received this eARC novel from NetGalley. This is my honest review.

Genesis has been trained her whole life on how to serve the immortals in case her number gets called. But when she actually gets picked, she realizes that humans know nothing about immortals and she has no idea what she walked into.

Strangely she's not as terrified as she expected to be, but she's still adjusting to her new life. But before she can get too comfortable, she goes through one test and trial after another. Being that she is a mere mortal, there's only so much her human body can stand. And the immortals may be asking for too much...

Wow! I really didn't expect to love this book as much as i did! I'm a big fan of Rachel so thats what drew me to this book first but then the story captivated me and i couldnt put it down!

Genesis is an amazing woman. She is so brave and smart and tough and loyal. I would have been terrified if I was her but she held her ground and fought back a lot.

Im very intrigued by the other characters in this series and would like very much tho see how their stories pan out so i may have to get the rest of the series...

Very, very glad i got a chance to read this book!

I'm a huge fan of Ms. Van Dyken. She is always able to write great stories about such spunky, funny women and @sshole-type guys who hide their big hearts. When I saw she had written a story in a paranormal-romance type genre, I was interested. I was not let down either. She weaved this whole world of immortals and humans and created a story around how one girl's love for one vampire could mean the survival of all immortals. It's quite an enjoyable love story and I will be reading the next in the series.
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I recognize that this is the beginning of a series that has continued on and this review is four years later than is really necessary. However, I got an ARC from NetGalley so here we are.

Supernatural/paranormal romances are my jam, usually. The Dark Ones just didn't do it for me. I think the idea had a ton of potential and the reading experience was pleasant but it felt rushed. From my understanding the entire novel took place in three to four days. We start with a huge kerfuffle and a runaway from the big, bad guy (or who we think is the bad guy) then our main character is put in the same room with him at the end of the day? The novel continues in a similar jumping from frying pan into the fire sort of fashion. Information was given sparingly which was to help the main character understand that her education about immortals had been incorrect then our main character acted like all of her questions had been answered.

It really felt like I was missing conversations and interactions between characters. On one page people are meeting and the next they were best friends. What I wanted was a more drawn out understanding of the world, I wanted to watch relationships building. Not just romantic ones, since those could easily be accepted as rushed due to circumstance but friendships.

Would I consider reading the rest of the series just to see how it ends? Yes. But would I recommend it for a supernatural romance enthusiast? Probably not.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC to read and give my opinion.

The beginning of this book was a discombobulated mess. It's a large word but the only word that comes to mind when screaming about the beginning. I reread it like four times trying to make sense of it but gave up and pressed on. Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. The lead up to Genesis meeting the dark ones, or the lead up to who the dark ones are leads much too little to capture imagery for me to actually fall into this book. With that being said....

What did I like? The back and forth between Ethan and Genesis was amazing! Great Chemistry and this book was a good idea, just a little weak in actually pulling it off. Too much secrecy about the dark ones leaves your readers in the dark. By the end though I thought the author had finally caught us up. Cassius was a delicious foe and I hope we see more of him.

Would I buy this book? No, unless the author does a rewrite of that beginning I would hesitate to give this to my friends because it would only piss them off. Start with what happened to Ethans mate, and then go forward. Some kind of hint to get the ball rolling. But hey what do I know I'm just a reader.

Thoughts for the author? Even though I liked this book I wouldn't continue the series because one I like using my hard earned money for books I can dive into, and two this book is like 2015. Why we need ARC readers if its been out unless your releasing another book in the series and just want to capture readers. Great Ploy but not for me.

With The Dark Ones, Rachel Van Dyken launches a sexy and seductive paranormal romance saga in which dark angels, werewolves, vampires, sirens and humans coexist that is impossible to resist.

All her life Genesis had been instructed about Immortals in the off chance she’d be called into their service. She hoped this would never come into fruition and thought was prepared when her number was called upon. Then she learned the truth. Nothing she was ever taught was true, and now she’s a pawn between a Vampire and a Dark One.

The Vampire King didn’t want a mate. He’s suffered enough. But trying to restore the balance in the Immortal world meant sacrifices and Ethan was the only one who could save Genesis from the Dark One. And now he’s compelled to give his soul over to a human in the hope that she’ll choose him in return and fulfill the prophecy that will save Immortals.

Even though I started off with book #4 and knew the outcome to this one, I couldn’t resist. I just had to read this series from the beginning and absolutely engrossed with the plot, the appealing writing, the seductive characters and the sexy and sweet romance that developed between Genesis and Ethan.

Equally charming were the secondary characters that helped Ethan and Genesis transition from strangers to eternal lovers. I LOVED Mason and Alex. They made me smile, laugh and want to be part of their immortal family. How can you not love a vegan werewolf who’s willing to cook and watch Disney movies with you?

The Dark Ones is book #1 of the Dark Ones Saga by Rachel Van Dyken. It’s a standalone, paranormal romance, told by both main characters, with a happy ending.