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Summary: "Surprise" a new Fantasy Romance
Review: The previous review of this book is what sold me to try it, and, was I hooked fast! The story is original with many wonderfully witty characters. The Dark-Hunters and their ties to ancient gods, fighting good vs evil, and other realm "hunters" are truly fascinating and I applaud the author on her wonderful imagination! I also like the fact that Amanda wasn't too squeamish about accepting her true feelings. She went through the initial heroine's "Oh, I can't love him because..." but then she got over it and involved herself in loving her man and having quite the adventure! Michelle
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Summary: I Love Vampire Romances
Review: I Vant to suck your Blood! It looks like another vampire romance, but it is not. This book takes the genre to a whole other level. The characters are complex and nuanced, with shades of good and evil in each of them.
Great Protagonist, and spine chilling ending.
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Summary: And you thought bloodsucking vampires weren't sexy!
Review: For those of you who think vampires and other things that go "bump" in the night are ICKY think again. Kyrian of Thrace, the biggest and baddest of the Dark Hunters is the sexiest thing walking (or stalking) the night. With fast paced action and wise cracking humor, Sherilyn Kenyon keeps you going to the very end. Instead of clinging to old world phrasing and archaic tradtions of most "vampire" romances, these vampire hunters use modern technology and are up to date on the proper use of slang. I was captivated by the personalities and trials of Kyrian and Amanda. It is a wonderful read that has me waiting anxiously for the next in the series, "Night's Embrace."
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Summary: Wildly imaginative
Review: New Orleans has a dark side to it Amanda Devereaux wishes she knew nothing about. Growing up in a household of witches has made such blessed ignorance impossible, however, and has ruined her chances of experiencing an ordinary, boring life. Her family's eccentricities have just sent her fiancé packing, in fact, and Amanda isn't at all happy about Cliff's defection. It just proves that her sisters were right all along about the spineless worm's incompatibility, and drat her twin sister Tabitha for rubbing it in!Greater sins can be laid at Tabby's door than her interference in Amanda's love life, though. If not for Tabitha's inability to let her own dog out, Amanda would still be at home or at work, instead of handcuffed to a buff vampire in leather. And doesn't he just look yummy? Oh, get a grip, Amanda! she sternly lectures herself. He's a badass baddie who likes to suck blood, so quit gawking and get a move on, girl! Her companion's calm acceptance of their situation and his gallows humor are downright spooky to a woman who abhors the paranormal. And isn't that just like a man, err, vampire, to be so blasted calm under pressure? Two thousand years as a Dark-Hunter has a tendency to jade one's sensibilities, Kyrian acknowledges sardonically. Betrayed by his wife and then tortured by the Romans, he bartered his soul for the gods' own vengeance and has been paying the price ever since. His vow to safeguard humanity from Daimons on the berserk is sacrosanct, however, and must be obeyed. He'll protect the woman he's bound to with shackles from the forge of Hephaestus until a key is found, and then bid a merry farewell to her. Gods, but he doesn't need such a distraction right now, not when a soul-sucking Daimon is playing cat and mouse with him! Amanda and her twin sister Tabitha are Desiderius's prime targets, however, and are in grave danger until the Daimon has been rendered to dust. Kyrian will just have to stifle his powerful, inexplicable attraction to Amanda, and let his Dark-Hunter instincts guard against such weaknesses of the flesh. At least his heart won't betray him again. It's as cold, dead and unreachable as his soul... A new breed of...kicking, demon-slaying vampires have hit the literary scene in Sherrilyn Kenyon's NIGHT PLEASURES, a novel that's as sinfully evocative as its title would indicate -- and ten times the reading pleasure. So step into Ms. Kenyon's parlor, if you dare. Plenty of background is given about Kyrian of Thrace (a vampire who's not really a vampire), his ties to ancient Greece, and the gods who rule on high from Mount Olympus. Readers quickly learn that Dark-Hunters are the servants of Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and have a code of conduct they must follow while ridding the world of baddies, Daimons and things that go bump in the night. Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be, however. Kyrian has a host of unpleasant memories to plague him, and the misguided enmity of vampire slayers to deal with. He's a creature of the night, destined to live a lonely eternity, forever cursing his misjudgment for trusting a woman so utterly unworthy of said trust...until a mortal woman enters his life, and reawakens that part of him he thought long dead. Amanda, meanwhile, is struggling to convince herself that all she desires is normality in her life. A safe, boring existence with an accountant, blessedly free of hocus-pocus. Letting her true nature take wing is the biggest, scariest risk she has ever taken -- apart from playing tonsil hockey with a Dark-Hunter, that is. Simply stated, Ms. Kenyon has struck literary gold with NIGHT PLEASURES, a love story so wildly imaginative, readers will gladly partake of it, and aggressively hunt down Ms. Kenyon's future releases featuring her enigmatical, god-like heroes, the Dark-Hunters. Her storyline has episodic and serial potential, to be sure, and is just detailed enough to leave readers hanging without being blatant about it: Kyrian and Amanda receive their happily-ever-after, but a great deal is still up in the air for the secondary characters. Needless to say, I can hardly wait to read the next installment of the Dark-Hunter series to appease my curiosity in the most delicious way possible!
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Summary: Hot , Funny, and Exciting Paranormal Read!
Review: This was my very first 'dark hunter' book I've read. While the concept is 'out there' and having been reared in that era that actually studied mythology and ancient Greece it was not that much of a 'stretch' for me to become enthralled with the story. Kyrian of Thrace had lived or shall we say existed for over 2000 years having loved so much in his short human existence to have lost his life and very soul. Now he is consigned to existing as a 'dark hunter' with a code of ethics that protected humans. Not a vampire who feeds but one who tries to rid the world of the latter he shares some of the same characteristics - i.e. existing in the dark world never to feel the sun on his body which would kill him, etc. He finds himself handcuffed to a mortal woman, Amanda Devereaux, who wants nothing more than to live a 'normal' life - unlike her seven 'whacked out' sisters and mother. Amanda, finding herself chained to this hard-bodied stud-muffin whose very touch electrifies her like nothing she has ever experienced, would like nothing more than to indulge in her fantasies. Kyrian, upon awakening finds himself chained to his worst nightmare - a woman who is so conservative, wants nothing to do with the paranormal world, and has awakened in him a lust he has not felt since he was mortal. The author gives you some very humorous dialog as Kyrian can mind-read all of Amanda's fantasy pent-up sex longings. The plot is fascinating, the characters and sub-characters well defined and the writing is fast- paced, exciting, and the fabulous sensual love scenes are quite stimulating . I found it interesting that while Kyrian existed without his soul - it took Amanda such a short time to discover that he had enormous 'heart' in spite of her natural tendancies to shun anything paranormal. Also, interesting was the development of Amanda who had 'gifts' herself that were quite phenomenal. This was truly a great paranormal romance I can readily recommend.
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Summary: Another winner
Review: Night Pleasures is a winner the story line was fun to read, and really got into the characters heads I just love that. The plot also had some twists that were interesting and added some depth to the story as well a very good read and one I would truly recommend over and over.
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Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable escapist fun
Review: I very much enjoyed the first book in Kenyon's series, Fantasy Lover, and so decided to give this a go since it's about Kyrian of Thrace, Julian's best friend. And I didn't regret it. Like Julian from Fantasy Lover, Kyrian is also an ancient Greek. He was a prince and a war-hero, but he was horribly betrayed by the wife he loved dearly, and was tortured and crucified by his Roman enemy. Except that he struck a bargain with Artemis to become a Dark-Hunter and thus achieve immortality. What's a Dark-Hunter? Immortality sounds like a pretty good deal, yeah? Well, not really. A Dark-Hunter is a little like a vampire, except that they don't have to drink human blood (though they do like the taste of it). They can only exist in the dark, that's true, and they can't easily be killed. Their role is to find and kill Daimons, who are vampires of a sort, but only live 27 years unless they steal a human's life - and soul - to give themselves a longer life. So Kyrian has been tracking and destroying Daimons for centuries. Until he meets one who is cleverer than most. And this is how he meets Amanda: she has been kidnapped by the Daimon Desiderius, because of her hidden psychic powers, and Desiderius hopes to use her against Kyrian. Unfortunately for the Daimon, Amanda and Kyrian are immediately attracted to each other. However, there are a few problems. First, Amanda's sisters are vampire-hunters and they all assume that Kryrian is a vampire. Amanda refuses to believe that she has any special powers, and anyway she doesn't want her nice, normal life disturbed by a sexy ancient Greek. She's not sure that she can trust any man, after her ex-fiance rejected her - and anyway, after his wife's betrayal, Kyrian has no intention of trusting any woman, ever again. And, worst of all, as a Dark-Hunter Kyrian has no soul. He can't fall in love (or so he thinks) and he can never build a relationship with a woman. Kenyon's writing is fast-paced, highly amusing in parts and also poignant. She has a great line in secondary characters, in particular Nick the Squire, Ash (Acheron) the leader of the Dark-Hunters, who I hope will get his own book in due course, and Talon, the hero of Kenyon's next book. Not five stars because the crucial denouement felt glossed over somewhat, and because I wanted to see more of Julian and Grace than I did.
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Summary: Great book! A must read!
Review: I'm a fan of Karen Marie Moning and when Sherrilyn Kenyon was recommended I was a bit skeptical. However both of her books this one and Fantasy Lover are excellent. Quick and fun reads with a plot! I can't wait for Night's Embrace, Ms. Kenyon's new book to come out.
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Summary: Could not put it down
Review: Some of the mythological aspects of this book are questionable but this is a romance not Sophacles. The characters are well developed and you really start to care about their hopes and dreams. It is interesting to watch how the characters interact and change based on what occurs as the book goes on. As to the plot a two thousand year old vampire hunter who was betrayed by his wife meets a woman who tries to hard to be normal instead of trying to be herself. The book is about self discovery first and then finding a friend and lover second. I cannot wait to read the next book about Talon.
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Summary: Another Winner...and I can't wait for the next one!!!
Review: Sherrilyn Kenyon gets better and better with this first novel in her Dark-Hunter series. 'Night Pleasures' is a great read, full of the spirited characters that have come to be one of Ms. Kenyon's trademarks. She mixes Greek mythology, vampires, and a magickally eccentric family that makes the gals on 'Charmed' look like The Waltons. Kyrian of Thrace is every woman's wet dream, but Ms. Kenyon infuses him with so much humanity that he doesn't come off as being a typical cardboard romantic hero. I'd have to say that he is a hybrid alpha-beta male. He's charming, loyal, brave, infuriating and sexy as all hell. Amanda, like her sister Grace (whom hopefully you've met by now from 'Fantasy Lover') is a spunky heroine who believes herself blessedly 'normal', and likes it that way. Of course, it's always the ones who swear they're normal who turn out to be anything but. I love the fact that Ms. Kenyon's heroines are unashamedly sexual, and they enjoy oogling over gorgeous men. And from the description of Kyrian in the book, I certainly wouldn't toss him out of my bed for eating crackers! Though at first glance this novel might come off as another vampire romance, Ms. Kenyon creates an entirely new mythos for our favourite undead creatures. There are gods and goddesses with typical bad attitudes, a psychotic demigod with a serious need to talk with Sigmund Freud, a Squire with a taste for hacking and grunge fashion, who just so happens to drive a Jaguar, and an old woman who makes some rather lethal dolls. For those of us who loved Grace and Julian, they're back too, with kids. By the way, Julian still hasn't quite figured out how to drive a car. Oh, and did I mention that this book has some really funny moments, like when Amanda wakes up handcuffed to the insanely gorgeous Kyrian? Oh, and I forgot to mention that Kyrian is about two-thousand years old and has mastered modern slang. For those of us a little tired of the typical 'old-world' bloodsucker. A fun romp, and now I eagerly await Talon's story. He's a hunky Celt who could give The Croc Hunter a few pointers.
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