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!