Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Book Review: One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon


One Silent Night is one of the best stories in the Dark Hunter series. It was a fast-paced, page turner, where Sherrilyn Kenyon turned the all-time villain into the hero of his HEA romance novel.

Summary:

Stryker, the all-time villain of the Dark-Hunter series, the Daimon who's ultimate goal is to destroy Acheron and mankind, was once in love eleven thousand years ago. Forced to divorce his ex-wife only after a year of marriage by his father Apollo, he thought that she was long dead when his father cursed his whole race to die at the age of twenty-seven. After loosing his sister to his eternal enemies Acheron and Nick, he unleashed the uncontrollable War to make his revenge, only to find his ex-wife sent to kill him by Artemis.

Zephyra was surprised when Artemis sent her to kill Stryker, her ex-husband, and she was more than willing to do the goddess' bidding. It wasn't only because Artemis had saved her life so long ago and that she was forever in the goddess' debt, but also because she can finally take her revenge against the one person she had once loved. Eleven thousand years ago, she was young, and she had fallen in love with Stryker and believed in him, only to be divorced by him a year after so that he could go marry another women. But even after so many years and all those hatred towards him, she could still feel their attraction deep inside her.

What I liked:

I think it's very difficult to write a romance story about a villain. It must be sympathetic to a degree, and yet, the characters cannot have a sudden personality change. And I really think that Sherrilyn Kenyon did a great job in this book on those aspects. I did not all of a sudden fall in love with Stryker, but the story that was told about his past and his point of view of things did make me sympathize with him to a degree that I accepted him being able to love another. And I'm also very glad that he remained a villain throughout the story, and not all of a sudden wanted love and peace (ok, love yes, peace, no).

What I didn't like:

The story was way too short. It was a much thinner book, with huge fonts. In a way, I felt somewhat cheated when I first started reading. Did Sherrilyn Kenyon put too many words in her book Acheron that she's sacrificing word count on this book? Luckily, the story made it up for me, so that by the end of the book, it didn't bother me anymore.

Conclusion:

Although there are mixed reaction to One Silent Night, the 13th installment of the Dark Hunter series, by Sherrilyn Kenyon, I thoroughly enjoyed it very much. Although the story was short, I was able to see things on Stryker's side for once, and thought him worthy of his HEA story. I'm very glad that he remained as a villain though, so I do suggest those who are contemplating on whether to read this book or not to keep an open mind, and I believe you will appreciate the HEA of a villain all the more.

All reviews for the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Book Review: Dark Challenge by Christine Feehan (Carpathian/Dark Series)


Dark Challenge, the fifth installment of Christine Feehan's Carpathian/Dark series, was a novel with a decent storyline, less than satisfactory flow, and too many distractions. Hence, my rating of a 3.5 Pink Hearts.

Summary:

Julian Savage was a Carpathian male who was tainted by a vampire at a young age, forcing him to live a solitary life away from his kind and his twin for centuries. The time has come for him to greet the dawn and end his bleak existence, but not before he performs one last task for his Prince, to protect the singer, Desari, targeted by human "Vampire Hunters." But the instant he heard her beautiful voice, he knew he had found his true lifemate.

Desari was a singer with a mesmerizing voice and a talent unmatched by any others. An ancient Carpathian female herself, she traveled for centuries with her family unit of her brother, a couple other Carpathian males, and another Carpathian female, and for centuries she thought they were the only survivors of their kind. Meeting the solitary Carpathian, Julian Savage, she found herself helplessly drawn to him, but now, she must find a balance between being with her lifemate and staying with her family.

What I liked:

Of all the Carpathian/Dark series novels up to this particular book, this story was the only one that deeply explored the changes within a Carpathian male when they finally found their emotions again upon finding their lifemate. In the previous novels, the heroes seemed to have adjusted to their newfound emotions quite easily, which didn't make too much sense to me. However, Julian's story was full of mistakes made due to his new distractions of emotions, and they way he coped with it. I genuinely felt that this book did a great job in tapping deep into the difficulty of the transition for the hero, which made it all the more realistic and believable.

What I didn't like:

While the storyline was decent, Christine Feehan failed to make it flow properly. There were so many sex scenes in this book that made the flow awkward. It was almost as if she was using those scenes to make it so that she could reach the proper word count for her publisher or something. For example, there would be a fight between Julian and the ancient vampire, and then when the vampire retreats because dawn was coming, you would naturally want to know the results of the next battle ASAP. But then, there will be a sex scene right there. And I'd be like, "what???"

And what was worse, was that no matter what the situation was, Desari would always tempt Julian to have sex with her. I mean, it doesn't matter if they were within hearing range of her family, out in the open where it could be dangerous, or when Julian should rest and prepare for a battle. All she wanted was sex, sex and sex. It was almost as if she was a nymphomania. And she didn't even think it's wrong to distract her lifemate when it meant that she could put both of them in danger... that was rather selfish of her, I think.

Another thing about this story was that there was a little too much focus on Desari's brother, Darius. It was almost as if he was the hero of the book rather than Julian. I'm not quite sure about other readers, but when I'm reading a romance novel, I'd like to stay focused on the hero and heroine. I might fall in love with another character, but I would never want him to distract me too much from the main hero of the story.

Conclusion:

Unfortunately, Dark Challenge by Christine Feehan, had the potential to be a much better paranormal romance novel than it really was. The storyline was good, but, unfortunately, delivered rather poorly. If the number of sex scenes could have been cut in half, and not occur in the middle of a suspense buildup, it would have been a much much better book.

Read my reviews of the other novels in the Carpathian/Dark series by Christine Feehan