Dance with the Devil, Sherrilyn Kenyon

So, at the end of the Night Embrace review, I mentioned Zarek and the cliffhanger. Luckily this book clears that up.

So, during Night Embrace, Zarek turned Sunshine over to the baddie trio. Then he changed his mind and protected her. For betraying the trio, and therefore helping to thwart their plans, they've decided to kill him. At the end, it looks like that's just about to happen.

Of course it doesn't.

So, Zarek was banished to Alaska 900 years ago when his village was destroyed. Truth be told, he's always thought he destroyed it. So did the other hunters. His memories are vague and disconnected though. No one really knows why he wasn't just executed for such a horrible crime. Turns out he didn't do it, but that's besides the point.

As horrible as the stories for Julian, Kyrian, and Talon were - as sad - this was worse by far.

Zarek was a Roman slave when he was alive - a whipping boy for his 1/2 brothers. You read that right, his father beat him into blindness as punishment for what his other sons did. His Roman sons.

That's bad enough, but now as a Dark Hunter he's alone, despised. Killing those you're meant to protect is the worst of crimes for the hunters. His fellow hunters treat him as a pariah. A rabid dog. He can't go out in the sun, so during the summer months in Alaska when the sun doesn't set, or sets only briefly, he can't go get food, so he starves. But immortals can't die of starvation.

Not to mention the emotional starvation.

Like I said, sad.

Night Embrace, Sherrilyn Kenyon

Book two in the Dark Hunter series finds us with Talon and Sunshine.

Yes, Sunshine. Her brothers are named Storm and Rain. To be fair, their father is a Native American shaman.

Anyway, Talon is our Dark Hunter. He worked with Kyrian to police New Orleans up until Kyrian got his soul back. Talon is an ancient Celtic warrior who pissed off a god of the Gauls. The god cursed him so that every human he loves will die.

The important thing to realize there is that Celtic and Gaulic gods are just as real as Greek gods. I love that. It opens up the storylines - though I'm still not entirely sure where the gods fit in.

Sunshine, as it turns out, is the reincarnation of Talon's long dead wife. They're soulmates.

She's also friends with Selena. Selena, if you remember is best friends with Grace (Fantasy Lover). She and Sunshine share a workplace, of sorts. They each have sidewalk displays, Sunshine for her art, Selena as a psychic.

Beyond the fact that all the pantheons of gods are valid, I liked this one because it doesn't end the same way as Kyrian's story. Kyrian gets his soul back and gets to live his happy human life. I expected the same basic story. Sunshine gets Talon's soul back and they live happily ever after.

Only this vengeful god makes it a little more complicated.

Night Pleasures, Sherrilyn Kenyon

OK! I'm finally seeing how these work!

Ok, so Julian, in Fantasy Lover. Back before he was cursed, his best friend was Kyrian of Thrace.

Remember Grace? Julian's love? Her best friend Selena is a psychic and is the one who found Julian's book and got Grace to call him out. Selena's sister is Amanda.

This is Amanda and Kyrian's book.

Amanda's family is like Selena, except for Amanda. She's the only "normal" one. That even includes a vampire hunter. Really.

For real.

Kyrian is the first Dark Hunter we meet and I finally know what they are! OK, a Dark Hunter is a warrior who has sold his/her soul for 24 hours to exact vengeance. Nope, not the Devil - Artemis. In payment, they become immortal hunters of Daimons. Daimons are Apollites who have decided to extend their lives by killing and eating the souls of humans.

None of those words make sense, do they?

Dragonswan, Sherrilyn Kenyon

So, this is the next instalment of the Dark Hunter series...and the series hasn't even officially started yet!!

So this is listed as "0.5." It's another prequel in the series, though it does seem to give more info on the substance of the series.

So we meet Channon and Sebastian at a museum where they're both admiring a tapestry. They go to dinner and instantly hit it off. They share an intended one night stand, but Sebastian finds he's been mated.

Oh, did I mention he's a dragon? ;)

So, Sebastian is a were-hunter. Weres, or shifters, were created as a way around a curse. I think. I was a little confused. Regardless, their creator had 2 sons. He wanted to save them, so through alchemy he spliced them with animals. Only, as such things normally do, it didn't go quite according to plan. It split the 2 boys, creating 4 - 2 with the heart of a human and the abilities of animals, 2 with the hearts of animals and abilities of humans.

If that's not clear, think of it this way: humans that can become animals and animals that can become human.

With the power to travel in time.

A little scary.