Born of the Night (edition 1996)

Such an excellent book! I loved it! I want more :) ( )

In this futuristic romance, Ambassador Tiarun’s daughter Kiara is being threatened due to a political disagreement with an alien race. Nykyrian and his team are hired to protect her. Though Nykyrian is a hybrid human/Andarion assassin who believes he’s not worthy of love, Kiara’s presence in his life threatens that long-held conviction.
The story is entertaining enough, and Nykyrian is a decent character with a good back-story to discover, but the writing is rather juvenile. I was rather surprised by this because I've heard people rave about this author. Here's an example, though: “No doubt he thought himself quite a catch because of his wealth and money.” If you don’t see anything wrong with that sentence, you’ll probably be okay with reading this. Otherwise, you might want to give this a skip. ( )

I was first introduced to Sherrilyn Kenyon’s The League series by a friend a while back, but for some reason never picked it up. It was not until a couple of days ago, I was shopping at a book thrift store and happened to come across three of the first to the series and decided to buy it.

In a universe that detains highly trained assassins where the cruelest of violence-robbery, rape, and murder seems of the norm, it was a wonder as of how Sherrilyn Kenyon will bring the characters together and have their relationships develop. At first, before I started the book, I actually thought that it would have another typical “damsel in distress falling for her hero” plot line. However, it wasn’t how I imagined it at all. Nykyrian is one of the most deadly killers. People fear him, hate him, are disgusted of him and want him dead; can’t say that Kiara doesn’t feel the same, or, at least that is what she keeps reminding herself.
If I have to choose one point of the book that I liked about the most, I would have to say it is the characters-their infamous backgrounds, and heart-wrenching, yet, relatable past; it gave the characters a realistic touch. Bit-by-bit as their secrets unravel and former sentiments are brought up, we as readers are pulled into this overflowing phase along with them.

I rated this book a 4 out of 5 stars because, although I enjoyed the plot, characters, and the overall futuristic vibe I got from the book, there was just something that made me just “liked” it-something I can’t put my finger on. Even so, I am still looking forward to reading the second book to the series, meeting the old characters again, and introduced to the new ones ( )

Second time reading it:
The first time reading it, I loved it to death. The second time through, though, there were lots more things that bothered me. Still a favorite, but just not as awesome as I remembered.

Third time reading it:
It definitely loses its magic the third time around. There are even more things that bothered me, such as the grammar. It's done that way for dramatic effect, and I can't help but love reading those parts in the cheesiest, most dramatic voice possible. You kind of have to embrace it or the whole thing is ruined. And it's too much fun to ruin.

But I know for a fact that Sherrilyn Kenyon's writing improves with "Fire," "Ice," and the rest of the League series, so I'm not overly bothered by the poor writing. She still has great characters and a great world and fun (if repetitive) plots. ( )

Rescued from rape and certain death by a team of bodyguards hired by her father, the dancer Kiara Zamir is torn between her hatred and mistrust of the type of men that tortured and killed her mother and left her for dead as a child, and her strange attraction for the huge, deadly ex-assassin Nykyrian Quiakides. With a price on her head and a man she isn't sure she can trust her only hope, Kiara's survival will depend on her choice - and so will Nykyrian's.

The plot is fairly predictable, but the on-going banter between the men is entertaining, and I ended up wanting to find out how their stories play out. ( )