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Title: Kiss of the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon ISBN: 0-312-99241-6 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 06 April, 2004 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.13 (46 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: Something of a mess...
Comment: Whew. I'm not sure why I keep buying Sherrilyn Kenyon's books. I feel kind of like a sucker after this one, and even though I am particularly interested in a couple of characters in the series and would like to know how their stories turn out, I don't know how many more of these things I'm going to buy. Maybe I'll compromise and buy them used instead of new.
Anyway...
The main love story in this book fell flat, and any real conflict between them was, for all intents and purposes, resolved way too early. (...)
For the first three books, the Dark Hunter world was knit together fairly well, but with this book, I think it's starting to unravel around the edges. The next books need to tie up some of the apparent inconsistencies in the world instead of bringing in more mysterious events and secondary characters. I mean, just how many people still running around in the present time were born on Acheron's birthday, anyway? And why isn't Apollo a little more concerned about his last descendant's death? Come to think of it, if Cassandra's death means Apollo's death and therefore the end of the whole world, why aren't whole pantheons of gods protecting her?
Peeves, in no particular order:
- The author's habit of advertising her other pseudonym's books and her web site. She does it in almost every one of her SK books, and I find this incredibly cheesy.
- Simi. She is tolerable only in extremely small doses.
- Black clothing, black leather, blah, blah, blah. I find myself thinking longingly of Valerius' story, since it sounds like his wardrobe is a bit more varied. I hope he doesn't turn into a leather addict by the time his book comes out.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good, but...
Comment: Before I start this review let me just state for the record that this is the first ever DH story I've read so a lot of my confusion may come from the fact that I jumped into the series late. I'm waiting for Amazon to send me the other books now so I can get a more complete picture.
However, I've been a fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon for a while now due to her many helpful books for writers, including "The Writer's Digest Character Naming Sourcebook" and "A Writer's Guide to Everyday Life in the Middle Ages". Both of which I use religiously. So when I was browsing Amazon one day and found out she actually wrote vampire romances (my favorite) I couldn't resist!
That said, I decided to start with "Kiss of the Night" because it won me over as soon as I read the synopsis. What a great idea for a dark romance! A gorgeous, brooding (they're always brooding haha), immortal Viking warrior named Wulf Tryggvason (still can't figure out how to pronounce the last name LOL) no one can remember five minutes after he leaves the room ends up saving an Apollite princess, Cassandra Peters, from a gang of soul-sucking vampire thugs (it took a while for me to realize what Daimons actually were LOL). The thing that blew me away is that Cassandra, being an Apollite, is destined to die on her 27th birthday like the rest of her accursed race. The problem with that is since she is a direct descendant of the God Apollo himself if she dies without heirs so does the Sun and obviously the rest of the world.
OK, now that I had the basic stuff down I dived into the book with relish. Unfortunately the first few pages did more to confuse me than anything else. I have to admit I am a mythology buff and some of the back-story Sherri reveals about the gods and how the curse came about could have used a bit more detail. I actually had to reread it several times before I got it all straight; partly because I kept comparing it to other myths I've read. Granted they didn't make much sense either (most myths never do) but let me assure you if you're still confused after a few rereads then just go on with the rest of the book. Like me, you'll eventually pick up enough to catch on.
**WARNING: SMALL SPOILERS AHEAD**
The writing style also threw me off at first. It's so in your face today -- with modern slang and references included -- that it honestly took a minute for me to get use to but once I did I found it very refreshing and fun. The fight scenes were good too. Very Matrix/Buffy/Angel style. Especially the drag down, knock out fight between Acheron and Stryker. Talk about edge of your seat action! I've become an instant Ash fan! Which also leads to one of my complaints. Ash seems way too convenient to have in this series. Especially when he helps Cassandra at the very end. It felt more like a cheat to me than a true happy ending. Not to mention, I really didn't feel it made much sense but maybe that's because I'm unclear on exactly what Cassandra becomes. Because, as far as I know, once the lips turn blue a body's dead. If that happens the system shuts down and having babies for the undead womb is literally impossible. However, it seems to me Ash has the power to grant a lot of things. I'm starting to wonder if he's some form of Death incarnate or a God himself, which would really explain his scenes with Artemis and the whole Simi thing. The problem is it breaks the rules Sherri sets for the series in my opinion. If Ash can just set things right whenever they go wrong then all the struggling and angst Wulf and Cassandra went through seems rather pointless to me, if not downright unkind. However, she did do a very good job exploring their angst at losing each other and Cassandra's fear of dying. I shed a tear a few times.
**END OF SMALL SPOILERS**
The only other complaints I have are the Dark-Hunter.com web site name dropping every five minutes (which seemed more like shameless self-promotion to me and got annoying after a while) and the sex scenes. I know -- what? I hate to say this but I'm afraid they just didn't turn me on much at all and that's bad for a romance novel. Honestly the sex always felt kind of dumped in there between the main plot and the rest of the story. Of course, the dream sequences were part of the main plot but even they left me high and dry. I never got to focus on them long enough to get involved. There was no lingering, teasing passion building to a climax. Basically, it never felt like they were making love. It always felt like they just... I dunno... f@#$ked. In fact, I actually found myself skimming sex a few times just to get back to the main story which, now that I look back, is a bit disappointing. A romance novel is supposed to make you hot and I have a few novels I've read in the past that had no problem turning my crank so to speak. This one just... didn't.
I'm still very excited about the series and can't wait for the other books to arrive. I have a feeling they'll become my favorite in vampire romance. This book is a light, fun read but BUYER BEWARE -- this is not Anne Rice so if you're a Rice fan and looking for the next Queen of Darkness you'll probably do better elsewhere. However, if you love Buffy and Angel then this series will definitely do something for you. I, personally, can't wait to find out what Ash is!
Rating: 4
Summary: More of the Same...
Comment: Kiss of the Night, the latest installment in the Dark Hunter Series, delivers what loyal readers have come to expect. She spun a mythological world that grows increasingly complex with each book. This world, filled with vampires, were-animals, and lots of immortal gods, is a fresh and fascinating setting for a romance novel. Unfortunately, while the background story gets more and more imaginative, the love stories remain bogged down in repetition.
It seems that the time pressures placed on Ms. Kenyon have forced her to be lax on editing. The vocabulary used is limited and repetitive. The heroine smells like roses and powder. (A point that is reiterated throughout the novel, without cease.) The unhappy and feral Alpha male hero is indistinguishable from her other unhappy and feral Alpha male heroes. Kenyon's heroines also seem to be cut from the same cloth.
If you have enjoyed Kenyon's other novels, Kiss of the Night fits right in. While the series storyline is developing through more complicated mythology and backstory, the love stories seem unfortunately similar. If, however, you were hoping for a departure from the Kenyon formula...you won't find it here.
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Title: Dance With The Devil: A Dark-Hunter Novel by Sherrilyn Kenyon ISBN: 0312984839 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter) by Sherrilyn Kenyon ISBN: 0312984820 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Midnight Pleasures by Amanda Ashley, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Ronda Thompson, Maggie Shayne ISBN: 0312987625 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 01 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Night Play by Sherrilyn Kenyon ISBN: 0312992424 Publisher: St. Martin's Press Pub. Date: 03 August, 2004 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Wild Rain by Christine Feehan ISBN: 0515136824 Publisher: Jove Books Pub. Date: 27 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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