Thank go that is over. The accents in the audiobook were not cutting it for me.

This book was one of the first darkhunter books to really provide insight into the Dark Hunter world. I think that the characters were well developed and it was all around a wonderful story.

I love this series. Is it some earth shattering, deep dive novel? No. But that’s not what I read these for. I love the way Sherrilyn is able to write in banter that feels natural and gives you a giggle. This is only the first (or second if you read Julian’s book) novel in the series so a lot of setup is happening. They do get better as time goes on and let me tell you - Acheron and Styxx will crush you.

In this one, Amanda is the youngest of eight daughters in a family of witches, she is a witch who has denied her powers for years in search of a normal life. She went so far as to become an accountant while her identical twin hunts vampires with her friends.

Kyrian is a 2,000 year old Dark-Hunter who was crucified after being handed to the enemy by his wife that he had done everything for.

Amanda is kidnapped by the daimon Desiderius and wakes handcuffed to Kyrian. Now Kyrian has to figure out how to take Desi down when Desi has many more powers than a typical daimon while also keeping Amanda and her family safe.

I suppose many wont like this book due to the glaring plothole where Kyrian was even alive. If Desi dearest was able to capture Kyrian so easily, why didn’t he just kill him? This is revealed later

Spoiler

when he thinks about how he had hoped to awaken Amanda’s repressed powers by having her kill Kyrian

but right after that, it is revealed he had another way to do what he wanted all along. He also leaves Kyrian alive a second time which isn’t so easily explained away other than the author not being able to kill Kyrian for obvious reasons.

The twist about a certain character (

Spoiler

Cliff

) wasn’t that great in my opinion, honestly the original setup (

Spoiler

where Desi supposedly thought Amanda was her sister Tabby

) was preferable to me.

I also think it’s interesting that the Dark-Hunters have known all about Tabitha for years but felt it was easier/better to use a spy to try and corral her instead of figuring out a way to swear her in. She was going to keep doing the vampire hunting thing no matter what, it would have been a lot easier if she didn’t hate them all on sight.

*actual rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars*
So... this book was something. I’m not sure how I feel about this author’s writing style. The book felt kind of choppy. And the plot was a little under-developed for my tastes. I mean, if you’re going to put several gratuitous sex scenes in your book, there should be something else to support that, otherwise it’s just...not worth it. The resolution of the story also felt very rushed to me. You spend most of the book gearing up for this fight. Then all of a sudden, it’s over. I couldn’t figure out exactly how the fight was won either, which I feel is a product of the hurried nature of the conclusion. But there are some very interesting characters in the story. Not so much the main characters, but the supporting cast seem like a group I’d like to know more about. Though that probably won’t happen in the near future.

Man I have reread these so many times. One of these days I will make it though all of them. This one was a great book to start if you cant find Fantasy Lover it still tells you about the world etc. I loved the characters and the setting and I just couldn't put it down.

Just finished last night. I think for me what I am really enjoying is how the story moves a lot like one might enjoy watching on TV or in a movie. Fast-paced and perhaps not always totally great on the details, but very engaging. Toss in a few steamy sex scenes (seriously not for your kids to get a hold of) and some heavy dark past and guilt ridden heroes and get on the ride! PLUS, there is a real backstory and bigger tale/legend being woven that our heroes and heroines find themselves working against. VERY intriguing! I am looking forward to reading more of the series.

This may be the worst book I have ever read. It was painful. The audiobook version is even worse, according to my book club friends who read the paper book. I was tortured by the terrible attempt at accents and mispronunciations.
Do not. Recommend.