Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Review: Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunter #0.5) by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Format: paperback
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Dark-Hunter
0.5. Fantasy Lover - Paperback | Kindle
1. Night Pleasures
2. Night Embrace
3. Dance with the Devil
4. Kiss of the Night
5. Night Play
6. Seize the Night
7. Sins of the Night
8. Unleash the Night
9. Dark Side of the Moon
10. The Dream-Hunter
11. Devil May Cry
12. Upon the Midnight Clear
13. Dream Chaser
14. Acheron
15. One Silent Night
16. Dream Warrior 
17. Bad Moon Rising
18. No Mercy
19. Retribution
20. The Guardian
21. Time-Untime
22. Styxx
23. Son of No One
24. Dragonbane
25. Dragonmark
26. Dragonsworn
27. Stygian

Sherrilyn Kenyon
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):
Dear Reader,

Being trapped in a bedroom with a woman is a grand thing. Being trapped in hundreds of bedrooms over two thousand years isn't. And being cursed into a book as a love-slave for eternity can ruin even a Spartan warrior's day.

As a love-slave, I know everything about women. How to touch them, how to savor them, and most of all, how to pleasure them. But when I was summoned to fulfill Grace Alexander's sexual fantasies, I found the first woman in history who saw me as a man with a tormented past. She alone bothered to take me out of the bedroom and onto the world. She taught me to love again.

But I was not born to love. I was cursed to walk eternity alone. As a general, I had long ago accepted my sentence. Yet now I have found Grace--the one thing my wounded heart cannot survive without. Sure, love can heal all wounds, but can it break a two-thousand-year-old curse?

Julian of Macedon
My Thoughts: I'm doing a full-on series re-read here. Annnnnd... I'm already teary after just this book. Honestly, no one does tortured heroes quite like Sherrilyn Kenyon. She makes me ache for her heroes. ACHE. I want to hug them and give them cookies and tell them that everything will work out in the end because, MY GLOB, they get put through SO MUCH.

This book has always interested me because a lot of little things that lay the groundwork for the Dark-Hunter series are present, but this isn't technically a D-H book. And by that, I mean no Dark-Hunters are present in the flesh. Just some random gods. And one possible sighting of a D-H hero. Oh, and a future D-H mate or two. The thing is, it works. It works so well.

Julian's story is heartbreaking in the extreme. His mother's pride is something that we'll see again and again in the various gods (especially Artemis - grrrrr) and her inability to bend a little and meet him halfway causes so much of his pain. Grace's willingness to treat him like a person is his first real taste of unconditional acceptance. Their relationship is sexy and rough and OMG! Juuuuulllian!

Anyway. Definitely a great start to the D-H series. Poisonous rivalry, dastardly deeds, and a lot of hot touching... the cornerstone of these books!

16 comments:

  1. These books! They just go straight for the heart! I am partial to the weres but all of them make me just go "ahhhhh"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Going back and rereading them is SO FUN, Felicia. Seriously, I'm loving it.

      Delete
    2. I am thinking about doing it last part of the year :) She is coming to Readers n Ritas this year (local conference) and I am going. :)

      Delete
    3. Dude. That's awesome. I have SO MANY of her books. I'd love to get them all signed some day.

      Delete
  2. I really wish that more of the series had involved the gods more. I have read up until like book 6 or 7 so I really need to get more into it to see how things continue to come together and connect with the dark hunters and the gods.

    Thanks for the great review, this is still my favorite dark hunter book. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! You should read more. SO MUCH STUFF happens in later books. SO MUCH!

      Delete
  3. OMG I love this series. I'm not a big fan of the Dream Hunters ones, but Dark Hunters, and WereHunters, *swoon* my heart just went pitter patter. Love these guys!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not going to lie, the Dream-Hunters grew on me. I didn't care for the first book (the first time I read it), but I've enjoyed them more as they were integrated into the other arcs.

      Delete
  4. I think I have some of these, the series is so long though that I haven't started reading it properly yet, even though I think I read one randomly from the library once! You make it sound so good though! I might have to start reading these soon! Maybe count them for my tbr pile challenge!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They're fun! Very fun! And sexy. Oh my gosh, I love the sexy that SK puts in her books!

      Delete
  5. I really need to keep going with this series - I got to book 10 and then stopped. I agree with you though about the emotional impact. Kyrian's book especially got to me, and I'm sure Acheron's will once I get there. Enjoy your reread!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Acheron's book is... OMG! So good. So heartbreaking. So incredible. We learn SO MUCH about him. It's probably going to flay me dead when I get to it in this reread.

      Delete
  6. I LOVE this series. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

    So you may ask, "WTF were you thinking stopping right before Acheron?!". That's an excellent question to which I can only say, "Please nag me until I start this series up again!". :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm dying here! You stopped RIGHT before Acheron? His story is EPIC! Terrible and wonderful and fantastic all at once! READ IT!

      Delete
  7. I LOVED this book. I was definitely teary in more than one part. I may want to re-read this book before I start in on the Dark Hunters series. Thanks for a great review Kelly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sherrilyn Kenyon's official site lists this as book 1 of the D-H series now (it used to be book 0.5). So, if you read this, you WILL be starting the D-H series. *nods enthusiastically*

      Delete