Sherrilyn Kenyon

Oh wow this book was so terrible! Absolutely nothing mattered at all unless it was related to the hero and heroine's pantsfeelings for each other. Character consistency? Psychological realism? Worldbuilding? Anybody's beliefs or motivations about anything? All up for grabs to create pantsfeelingsy moments.

My favorite was probably when the heroine psychically dropped into the hero's dreams and, in his body, experienced firsthand his memories of having sex with his previous wife (wtf!) and show more then a month of agonizing torture. This torture is an experience that has, quite reasonably, traumatized him so deeply that just being tied down makes him dissolve into total freakout. Our heroine's reaction to having a first-hand experience of intense PTSD-inducing torture is to... feel super sad for him and want to bone him. And that's all. No residual trauma (or icky feelings from experiencing him boning somebody else) at all.

Also she cures his PTSD by tying him down with scarves and blowing him. No lie. show less

Given the events of the previous book in this series, I was delighted that this volume was focused on Zarek, who had caused so much trouble. This book pairs him with Astrid, a judge sent from Olympus to evaluate Zarek and deliver justice for his crimes. Because this is a romance, they quickly become attracted to each other and I enjoyed the idea of the two of them trapped in a house together during an Alaskan blizzard. Both Zarek and Astrid are jaded and traumatized by their pasts, and it show more was good to read about them helping each other come to terms and build a relationship. An enjoyable read in a series I'll definitely be continuing. show less

I cannot wrap my head around how Sherrilyn Kenyon keeps raising the bar for herself. It is astounding to me that she keeps ALL her worlds fresh and vivid in the readers minds. I'm certainly a huge fan of her Dark Hunters, Chronicles of Nick, and her BAD series, but her League series holds a huge part of my heart. Maybe its my undying love of the canceled too soon Firefly, or the way Star Wars ( especially Han Solo ) took up space in my childhood and never left, whatever that magic something show more is, The League has it for me. Great characters, world building, plots, and dialogue, it's all there. And, just like all the rest of her series, I am hooked! show less

I was underwhelmed by the last two Dream Hunter books. I felt the characterization was weak and the romances had little basis. Moreover, they lacked the familiarity of the D-H world. Thankfully, this novel hit the mark perfectly. I was engrossed from the very beginning and did not put the book down until I finished it.

Xypher was interesting and three-dimensional - he was more than simply "I have no emotion, but I like yours, so let's be a couple." I liked him and his bad attitude. And I felt show more the same for his heroine, Simone. This is very likely because not only is she more than she seems, she has a tenuous knowledge of the D-H world. Her best friend and colleague is a squire so Xypher didn't have to hide his nature the entire book. They felt like real people, albeit in Kenyon's world. This was readily apparent in the dialog. They bickered, bantered and teased their way to a familiarity on which a romance could be based. There was a lot of humor and sarcasm that the last two books just didn't have. Yes, there was sexual attraction (and some hot sex in the second half), but also understanding and intimacy. I was also happy to return to the D-H world, including Sanctuary, with cameos from Julian, Acheron and our favorite baddies. This book felt like it was part of, and added to, the mythology of the D-H world.

I do agree with other reviewers that the heroes are getting somewhat cookie-cutter: extremely sexy, ripped and cocky (pun intended) men who really only differ by their eye and hair color. However, I read Kenyon for escapism and that is a trademark of the D-H series. Overall, I felt this was closer in quality to the first few books of the series and one I would read again. Highly recommended! show less