Book Review: "Phantom Lover" - by Sherrilyn Kenyon

"Phantom Lover" is a short story appearing in the anthology, Midnight Pleasures. It is #5 in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters series of romances.

Synopsis: Average American office worker Erin McDaniels has been haunted by some really awful nightmares lately. It's gotten so she can't get much rest at all. Then one day, she falls asleep from sheer exhaustion at her desk at work only to fall into yet another nightmare. This time, however, smokin' hot dream-god V'Aidan rescues her from the dream monsters and takes her to a happier place in her dreams. As their relationship develops, Erin finds herself wanting to spend more and more time with her gentle and caring dream-god. Unfortunately, the wicked Skoti are out to destroy them and take V'Aidan away from Erin forever.

Incapable of feeling any emotion, Skoti spend their time feeding off of human emotions while they dream. The most vivid emotions are usually produced by nightmares, so the Skoti tend to focus on the worst of people's dreams. This is the first time in the series that we get to see much of the world of the Dream-Hunters. Up to this point, we have only seen a couple of Dream-Hunters here and there but we haven't learned much about them except that some of them exist to protect the dreamer from their nightmares and the Skoti who feed off of them.

I loved the romance in this story. While limited to the shorter format of a short story, you still get a lot of good romantic development, tension, and drama. V'Aidan and Erin really do care for one another and they deserve to be happy. I actually cried a little while reading this one, which is REALLY rare for me with a short story.

I give this story 5 stars!

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters series - correct reading order

Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters Series:

1. Fantasy Lover (Julian of Macedon & Grace Alexander)
2. "Dragonswan" (Sebastian Kattalakis & Channon MacRae) - short story in Tapestry
3. Night Pleasures (Kyrian of Thrace & Amanda Devereaux
4. Night Embrace (Talon & Sunshine Runningwolf)
5. "Phantom Lover" (V'Aidan & Erin McDaniels) - short story in Midnight Pleasures
6. Dance With the Devil (Zarek & Astrid)
7. Kiss of the Night (Wulf Tryggvasen & Cassandra Peters)
8. Night Play (Vane Kattalakis & Bride McTierney)
9. "Winter Born" (Dante Pontis & Pandora) - short story in Stroke of Midnight
10. Seize the Night (Valerius Magnus & Tabitha Devereaux)
11. Sins of the Night (Alexion & Dangereuse St. Richard)
12. "Second Chances" (?) - short story in The Dark-Hunter Companion
13. Unleash the Night (Wren Tigarian & Maggie Goudeau)
14. Dark Side of the Moon (Ravyn Kontis & Susan Michaels)
15. "A Hard Day's Night-Searcher" (Rafael Santiago & Celena) - short story in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding
16. "Until Death We Do Part" (Velkan Danesti & Retta) - short story in Love at First Bite
17. "Fear the Darkness" - short story e-book
18. The Dream-Hunter (Arikos & Megeara Kafieri)
19. Devil May Cry (Sin & Katra)
20. Upon the Midnight Clear (Aidan O'Conner & Leta)
21. Dream Chaser (Xypher & Simone Dubois)
22. Acheron (Acheron Parthenopaeus & Soteria Kafieri *aka: Tory)
23. One Silent Night (Strykerius & Zephyra)
24. "Shadow of the Moon" (Fury Kattalakis & Angelia) - short story in Dead After Dark

Re-reading is fun!

I'm currently doing a massive re-reading of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters series. I just finished up re-reading all the books that I've already read and have finally gotten into the newer ones I haven't read yet.

Still, I'm having trouble keeping all these Dark-Hunter books straight in my head, so I'm posting a full listing of all the books and short stories in the series (in proper reading order, of course) - with links to my reviews of each. I'm going to have to re-number them in the original posts probably since I was missing a few at the time (yes I am that obsessive). I'll also be editing the list to make additions as needed. *sigh* Kind of annoying to rehash all of this, but since this is all just for my own personal benefit anyway, who cares!?

Book Review: The Dream-Hunter by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Synopsis: The Dream-Hunter is #18 in Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunters series. This book takes us back in time from when the rest of the series takes place - about 10 years into the past - to the shores of Greece. Dr. Megeara Kafieri is trying desperately to fulfill her life's ambition: to find the ancient continent of Atlantis. She's pretty sure she's found the exact location, only she can't seem to get permission from the powers that be to dig beneath the ocean floor. What she doesn't know is that the gods don't want anyone poking around the ruins of Atlantis for fear of what might be unleashed - and they'll do whatever it takes to stop Geary from fulfilling her mission. The book's hero, Arikos, is a Skotos (a cursed and unfeeling dream god who can only experience emotions when siphoning them off of human dreamers). Arik has been hooking up with Geary in her dreams for the past several months, feeding off her extra-special super-vivid emotions. Apparently, Geary is all work and no play in the real world but a total demon in the sack (when she's dreaming anyway). Only it's not enough for Arik to experience her in the dream world; he craves more of her and her intense emotions. So he makes a bargain with the god of the underworld, Hades: he can walk the earth as a mortal man for two weeks and experience all of the feelings a human can experience. The price: when his two weeks is up, Arik must deliver unto Hades Geary's soul.

Well, needless to say, it doesn't ever bode well for a relationship when one of the parties goes into it with the intention of eventually murdering the other person. You can see the set-up for the end-of-the-book drama right from the start. Also, their relationship starts out based on sex (well, dream sex anyway) and I never felt like there was all that much real romantic tension between them. I honestly think the author could've taken the romantic elements out of the book completely and just focused on the plot because I found that far more interesting. However, what saves this book is the continued development of the overall storyline of the series. It explains just a little bit more about the imprisoned Atlantean goddess Apollymi. Also, the world and mythology of the Dream-Hunters is fleshed out a little more and lots of new characters are introduced, several of whom I hope get their own stories one day. My favorite new characters were probably Geary's sweet and brainy teenage cousin Tory and Arik's jaded demigod brother Solin. We also see some characters we've seen in other books, but in this novel we get to see some of their past. And what a treat to get snippets of Acheron, Kyrian, and Nick ten years earlier than when we meet them in Night Pleasures!

My favorite part: Tory feeding Arik his first moon pie.

I gave this one only 2 stars in my LibraryThing catalog.