Milja was seven years old when she is first introduced to a prisoner deep within the mountain of Eastern Europe. This silent man, chained spread-eagled to the altar, has been like this for no one knows how long. Her father, an Orthodox priest, is in charge of keeping this being imprisoned and a secret from the rest of the world. The task is passed down as a family tradition and now he introduces her to her future duty only for the little girl to find the captivity barbaric and sympathize with the prisoner. As the years pass, she only ends being more fascinated by this beautiful man despite his condition and the need to free him. A forbidden curious intimacy leads to her father sending her away to Boston. She comes back after five years when her father suddenly takes ill. This is the beginning of things going from bad to worst.

The beginning of the story captured my imagination building expectations. Unfortunately the great start only began to go downwards as the story progressed with Milja freeing the prisoner. Some things felt overly exaggerated and too fast to keep up with. One minute she is determined to follow her father's instructions and excited & nervous at the same time about seeing the prisoner. The next she is freeing him, which to me felt was because he has been manipulating with her mind. The belief only strengthened when he left her to her devices each time she does not comply to his wishes.

For a child to be introduced to such a prisoner in such conditions is always asking for trouble and so is keeping them in close proximity for all her developing years. So for me, her family condemning her for freeing the fallen angel is simply crazy. Following is a weird roller- coaster ride involving a man she only met on plane, willing to drop everything, break every law to help her, a trio of fanatic priests and another angel. Where Azazel is in all this, no one knows. What shows he is in love with her, I cannot say except the parts where he rescues her despite knowing the danger but only when she calls out to him. What shows she loves him instead of lusts and is infatuated by him; again I cannot say since she is also attracted to her shining knight.

COVER HIM WITH DARKNESS had lots and lots of potential but it seemed like Janine Ashbless tried to put in everything without working out the story, the characters or building their relationship. I could not connect at all with any of the characters. Loved Milja's compassion but otherwise found her pretty unlikable because of her decisions and her thinking. I found her pretty confusing and confused. Since Azazel was missing in most of the book, why this story is categorized a romance is beyond me. The wild sex, compassion and a couple of rescues do not add up to a romance. Overall, COVER HIM WITH DARKNESS is written well but just not with enough depth and clarity to keep me involved, wanting to read more nor remember it after I am done. An okay read if you do not mind the dark religious undertones and underdeveloped characters.

Book Summary

In a remote and mountainous part of Europe, a priest keeps a dark secret beneath his chapel—a prisoner. Even the holy man does not know how long he has been there—hundreds of years, perhaps, or even longer. The priest's fear is that anyone in his parish would ever come in contact with his mysterious and unholy charge. But what happens is even worse than he could have ever imagined. His lovely young daughter Milja, whose innocence and devotion to God he prizes over all else, trails her father into the cavern and catches a glimpse of the prisoner, a beautiful being like the most handsome of men, and yet not.

She looks into his eyes and sees pain and wisdom and eternity. Unable to keep away from this silent creature chained to an altar stone, she is torn between family loyalty and her growing connection to their prisoner. One day her father discovers their forbidden intimacy and sends Milja off to America to be raised by her aunt in Boston. Cover Him in Darkness is a dark and thrilling story of an archangel banished from heaven and the human woman with whom he falls in love.