seriously romantic: evernight by kristen callihan

the darkest london series continues with evernight, which essentially picks up the threads of holly and will's stories woven through shadowdance and ties them neatly together. that description sounds kind of glib, but the story of holly and will's romance is not glib. in shadowdance these two characters were deeply, devastatingly tortured and wounded. and evernight faces the consequences of the events in shadowdance head on.

will thorne is slowly turning to platinum. the clockwork heart that holly created is slowly consuming his entire being. so much so that he has nearly gone mad with anger, with the thirst for revenge, with pain. he decides to hunt holly down, and nearly kills her, but before he can touch her, she touches him. and with that one touch she heals him. as an elemental holly can manipulate metal. so she uses her power to assuage will's pain. she helps him return to sanity.

he still resents her, but in order to allow himself some succor he makes a deal, he'll stay close and protect holly from the contract that is out on her life. and she will work on figuring out a way to save him from the clockwork heart that she created. holly understands his resentment, but does manage to convey that she is not entirely at fault for what happened that long ago night. she's so traumatized by those events that she refuses to leave her home. will helps her with this too.

they become a team. and it's a slow burn. there is so much sexual tension between these two characters. as a sanguis demon (aka vampire) will is a sensual creature, and as he returns to his old self, he realizes and accepts that he has fallen for holly. holly is more tormented by what she feels. she's always been the shy, awkward one, so she doesn't trust will's feelings. she doesn't really want to have feelings for a sanguis demon, she knows that this may cause her career and her family trouble. but she falls in love with him regardless.

and then they must make the ultimate sacrifice, and it's becomes a matter of whether or not the strength of their love will be enough to let them love freely. the love and emotion between these two leads was absolutely riveting. i tore through this novel. every book i read becomes my new favorite.