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gasoline_allie's review against another edition
4.0
I liked Night Pleasures more than Night Embrace, but it was a good read overall.
tita_noir's review against another edition
3.0
This is the fist book in Kenyon's Dark Hunter series.
First, let me say that I am not thrilled with the title. It is one of those generic, could apply to almost any romance novel titles. It is like the title of a Steven Seagal movie. Executive Decision, Out of Reach, Above The LawThey just sound hard and actiony with no real relation to what the action story is.
As far as this story is concerned, it is really a by the numbers romance novel with paranormal elements thrown in. The writing isn't particularly spectacular. It is what Simon Cowell would say "just ok."
What keeps me reading this series is the paranormal element she has introduced. I like the idea of the Greek Gods and goddesses alive and well and involved in human events. And I also like the idea that these Dark Hunters are created from a vow of vengeance at the time of a death by betrayal. And that the Gods are portrayed very much in the way they are portrayed in classical literature as very omnipotent beings who sometimes treat humans as nothing more than chess pieces and are themselves quite selfish.
I do wish that the whole vampire angle hadn't also been included because frankly vampires are very been there and done that with the proliferation of paranormal romances out there. At least the Gods/Goddesses angle and the whole purpose of the Dark Hunters was something different.
First, let me say that I am not thrilled with the title. It is one of those generic, could apply to almost any romance novel titles. It is like the title of a Steven Seagal movie. Executive Decision, Out of Reach, Above The LawThey just sound hard and actiony with no real relation to what the action story is.
As far as this story is concerned, it is really a by the numbers romance novel with paranormal elements thrown in. The writing isn't particularly spectacular. It is what Simon Cowell would say "just ok."
What keeps me reading this series is the paranormal element she has introduced. I like the idea of the Greek Gods and goddesses alive and well and involved in human events. And I also like the idea that these Dark Hunters are created from a vow of vengeance at the time of a death by betrayal. And that the Gods are portrayed very much in the way they are portrayed in classical literature as very omnipotent beings who sometimes treat humans as nothing more than chess pieces and are themselves quite selfish.
I do wish that the whole vampire angle hadn't also been included because frankly vampires are very been there and done that with the proliferation of paranormal romances out there. At least the Gods/Goddesses angle and the whole purpose of the Dark Hunters was something different.
celli's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not a huge fan of the vampire romance (I burned out on Buffy and Angel, and the genre has never entirely won me over since), but I really enjoy the spin on the vampire legend that Kenyon's doing here. I had some issues with exposition, and the climactic battle bit at the end was a little confusing in spots, even with the explanation after, but I really love her characters.
threadpanda's review against another edition
4.0
The second in [a:Sherrilyn Kenyon|4430|Sherrilyn Kenyon|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1190655675p2/4430.jpg]'s Dark Hunter series. Grace and Julian Alexander (from [b:Fantasy Lover|84136|Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunter, #1)|Sherrilyn Kenyon|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171050604s/84136.jpg|2384]) make an appearance, but instead of hunky men coming out of books, this one has hunky men as not-vampires! Again with the crack-tastic-ness, but it was very enjoyable.
P.S. - I don't know why goodreads has it listed as the 4th book, but it's the 2nd full-length book in the series (there's one short novella-type story that comes in between, but it really doesn't seem to have anything to do with this world).
P.S. - I don't know why goodreads has it listed as the 4th book, but it's the 2nd full-length book in the series (there's one short novella-type story that comes in between, but it really doesn't seem to have anything to do with this world).
coral's review against another edition
4.0
I can't believe it took me this long to pick up these books. The name Sherrilyn Kenyon is practically synonymous with Paranormal Romance. I saw this two for one bundle, and figured I'd try out the pair to see what all the fuss was about.
The experience left me largely torn. There were some wonderful aspects of these books, and one really bad facet that made me want to throw things.
What I liked:
The characters. I dug them, a lot. In fact, I think if anything keeps me coming back to this series, it will be to figure out what happens to Acheron. I was hugely intrigued by his character, more so than the hero/heroine in each book. Nick was another secondary character I loved. Kenyon can definitely spin a character that makes me interested, which is a big, huge plus.
The idea. I really liked the premise of soulless heroes brought back from death to defend humans from demons. Learning about the heroes' histories was another plus. I enjoyed that historical aspect to each of her books. I also love the nods to various types of mythology.
What I disliked:
Head hopping. These books are the mother of all head hoppers. The constant, abrupt shifts, sometimes several times within a scene made me endlessly annoyed. My real frustration is that if it weren't for this one thing, these would be the best paranormal romance I've read this year. I can only hope that someone eventually told her how aggravating this was to some people and later on down the series it gets better.
Lack of antagonist motivation. It seemed like, in these two books at least, the bad guys were just being bad to create chaos. I guess that's okay, but I like my evil a little more sinister I guess, rather than just bad for the sake of it.
Originally I'd decided on four stars, but writing about the head hopping made me so angry I changed my mind to three. Rest assured, it's somewhere between three and four and the actual number depends on my mood the instant I post this. I will keep reading (at least for a few books) because I like her characters and the world she's building.
This is a must read for paranormal romance fans, and very high on the vampire smut scale, all things considered. If head hopping bothers you, maybe stay away.
The experience left me largely torn. There were some wonderful aspects of these books, and one really bad facet that made me want to throw things.
What I liked:
The characters. I dug them, a lot. In fact, I think if anything keeps me coming back to this series, it will be to figure out what happens to Acheron. I was hugely intrigued by his character, more so than the hero/heroine in each book. Nick was another secondary character I loved. Kenyon can definitely spin a character that makes me interested, which is a big, huge plus.
The idea. I really liked the premise of soulless heroes brought back from death to defend humans from demons. Learning about the heroes' histories was another plus. I enjoyed that historical aspect to each of her books. I also love the nods to various types of mythology.
What I disliked:
Head hopping. These books are the mother of all head hoppers. The constant, abrupt shifts, sometimes several times within a scene made me endlessly annoyed. My real frustration is that if it weren't for this one thing, these would be the best paranormal romance I've read this year. I can only hope that someone eventually told her how aggravating this was to some people and later on down the series it gets better.
Lack of antagonist motivation. It seemed like, in these two books at least, the bad guys were just being bad to create chaos. I guess that's okay, but I like my evil a little more sinister I guess, rather than just bad for the sake of it.
Originally I'd decided on four stars, but writing about the head hopping made me so angry I changed my mind to three. Rest assured, it's somewhere between three and four and the actual number depends on my mood the instant I post this. I will keep reading (at least for a few books) because I like her characters and the world she's building.
This is a must read for paranormal romance fans, and very high on the vampire smut scale, all things considered. If head hopping bothers you, maybe stay away.