Pleasures of the Night

High Hopes Lead to Disappointment...

I discovered this book after having read other books by this author and the premise of this paranormal fantasy romance sounded intriguing. As promised, there was a lot of sex. Unfortunately, this story was light on passion and story line. Though I was willing and open, I wasn't brought to feel interest or concern for the characters and the challenge they faced or delight in their finding each other in the real world. I didn't feel her “ache” for him nor his “passion” for her. Their passion and ardor/obsession for one another were typed, but I didn't feel it from the author’s writing. The characters spoke of their love and desire for each other, but I didn't feel it through their actions – show more I felt the lust, not the love. This book fell short.

Captain Aidan Cross is a member of the Elite Warriors as a Dream Guardian, guarding humans (“Dreamers”) in their dreams by fighting and killing Nightmares (who, if allowed, would weaken Dreamers with exhaustion and fear). As you might be able to guess, Aidan’s job description also includes fulfilling sexual fantasies of female Dreamers. He’s tall, dark and handsome, an excellent soldier, loyal friend and a good commanding officer. He and his people exist in a conduit, which is like a wormhole, between the waking world and the dream world, called Twilight, created by the Elders. Living in that conduit has stopped them from aging, making them nearly immortal. The Guardians protection of the Dreamers from Nightmares is not purely altruistic. Legend says that The Key is the person who will bring destruction to Aidan’s kind and allow Nightmares to win. The warriors’ mission is to seek and destroy The Key.

Lyssa Bates is a veterinarian with a sleep disorder. She sleeps, but is never rested. Exhaustion has been a problem from an early age. Lyssa has been tested by many doctors who have tried to diagnose the cause or provide a solution with no success. One day after work, exhausted, she falls asleep on her couch to be visited by Aidan in her sleep. Lyssa is not like the most Dreamers – she doesn't dream and doesn't let in Nightmares, let alone the Guardians. She has locked herself behind an impenetrable door and just sits in the dark … until … Aidan knocks on her door. He plans to use the usual approach with her by fulfilling the role of who ever she wants him to be, but she won’t play. She wants to know his name and after he gives it to her, she lets him in. Inside he finds the same darkness surrounding her dream. He thinks about sending for a Nurturer because healing and caring is not his forte, but, instead, he stays and for the first time he becomes interested in a Dreamer. He finds her in the dark, she tells him that all she wants to do is sleep so he pulls her to him, tells her to rest and promises to make sure she’s not disturbed. So begins their “love story”.

There’s another element to the plot… the legend of The Key and, if it exists, the identity of the creators of and purpose of The Key. Aidan has centuries-old doubts about the existence of The Key and its purpose (or the purpose of the myth if that is all The Key truly is). Aidan leaves his world temporarily, steals books in hopes of solving the mystery, buys other books in his quest for the truth and never finds the answer! How completely disappointing! Surely, this plot line could have been expanded to include Lyssa’s help in deciphering her possible role as possibly being The Key in this book!!! show less

Hhhmmmm. There is being creative and there is silliness and this was the latter - a mix of minimal erotica, and blurred together fantasy-science fiction.

The idea was clever - the epidemic of nightmares plaguing humans and the non-human dream guardians whose mission is to combat them. But the potential wasn't realised ... despite a compelling opening scene.

Paranormal romance with an immortal dream warrior who finds himself attracted to a woman he visits in her dreams and has to enter the real world to save her and perhaps the world.

There's a lot of lust here but I didn't see a lot of Love.

It was a fun read, nothing spectacular but I had a blast reading it. I'm curious about the world she's building.

**Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques**

Dream Guardians exist on another plane of existence, only crossing over to mingle with humans on the dream plane, to protect mortals from the Nightmares, who feed on fear. But their mission is twofold: protect mortals from Nightmares, while simultaneously searching for the Key, a mortal who was foretold would open the bridge between realms, bringing destruction with them.

Aidan is one of the most powerful Dream Guardians. He has never failed in a mission, part of which involves playing dream lover to mortal females in order to save them from the Nightmares. He has been with thousands of women, none of whom have seen him for himself or touched his heart. Lyssa Bates is different, in many ways. Not show more only does she have an unexplainable ability to block the Dream Guardians, one night in her arms leaves Aidan shaken, craving her more. But more and more he begins to fear she is the Key his people have been searching for. He knows to the very depths of his soul she can’t possibly be evil, and protecting her from the other Dream Guardians swiftly becomes his primary goal…

Sylvia Day very rapidly became one of my newest favorite authors. When her newest book, Pleasures of the Night was offered to us for review, I did not even stop to read a blurb, I snatched it up without hesitation! Once again, this author did not let me down – far from it! This book satisfied so many of my literary loves: paranormal, romance, erotic… The writing is stellar, as readers have come to expect from a Sylvia Day novel, and the characters are wonderful. I was immediately drawn to both Aidan and Lyssa, and my interest in both only grew as the story progressed.

Not surprising, since this is book one of her new Dream Guardians series, the author stirs plenty of interest in the supporting characters as well, laying the groundwork for several sequels in just this first novel. She even manages to capture the readers’ interest in a very minor but memorable character who provides us with a healthy dose of comic relief during the one scene she appears in. Keep your eye out for Mrs. Laughin – I am hoping she graces us with her presence and more hilarity throughout the series!

Day wraps up Pleasures of the Night with a great ending for the romance between Aidan and Lyssa, but with the certain feeling that this is an auspicious beginning to what will be a wonderful series and some intriguing ongoing mysteries that will weave the books in this series together. The first book hasn’t yet released to the public and already I’m itching to get my hands on the second! show less

This story wasn't what I expected and maybe that's why I didn't like it. The story is about the world called the "Twilight" where people live who invade dreams to help keep nightmares at bay. The female lead lives in our world and is "The Key," which may or may not be a bad thing. The male lead is a warrior in the Twilight who battles nightmares. This just wasn't my kind of story and I just couldn't enjoy it.

The main attraction of the story is the steam. Sylvia Day knows how to write sexy. Surprisingly enough though I remember it being a bit sexier the first time around (reread here), so even that doesn't hold up as well as I expected. The characters are passable and a bit unremarkable, and the world needs further fleshing out.

I purchased this book from Half Priced Books to read. All opinions are my own. 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Pleasures of the Night by Syliva Day. Hard working Lyssa Bates is exhausted but sleep eludes her. One night in her dreams a man comes to her and he is absolute perfection. Everything a woman could dream of......once he realizes she can see exactly who he is he becomes afraid of disrupting his world and hers so he goes to her only in her world she has no idea who he is only that he seems familiar. It doesnt take long for him to tell her an unimaginable story that puts both of their lives in jeopardy. The sex is so good neither of them want to part and both is willing to die to save the other. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, show more Library Thing, Twitter @jason_stacie, Facebook, Amazon, Goodreads/StacieBoren and my blog at readsbystacie.com show less