Book Review: One Silent Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon

One Silent Night is one of the best stories in the Dark Hunter series. It was a fast-paced, page turner, where Sherrilyn Kenyon turned the all-time villain into the hero of his HEA romance novel.

Summary:

Stryker, the all-time villain of the Dark-Hunter series, the Daimon who's ultimate goal is to destroy Acheron and mankind, was once in love eleven thousand years ago. Forced to divorce his ex-wife only after a year of marriage by his father Apollo, he thought that she was long dead when his father cursed his whole race to die at the age of twenty-seven. After loosing his sister to his eternal enemies Acheron and Nick, he unleashed the uncontrollable War to make his revenge, only to find his ex-wife sent to kill him by Artemis.

Zephyra was surprised when Artemis sent her to kill Stryker, her ex-husband, and she was more than willing to do the goddess' bidding. It wasn't only because Artemis had saved her life so long ago and that she was forever in the goddess' debt, but also because she can finally take her revenge against the one person she had once loved. Eleven thousand years ago, she was young, and she had fallen in love with Stryker and believed in him, only to be divorced by him a year after so that he could go marry another women. But even after so many years and all those hatred towards him, she could still feel their attraction deep inside her.

What I liked:

I think it's very difficult to write a romance story about a villain. It must be sympathetic to a degree, and yet, the characters cannot have a sudden personality change. And I really think that Sherrilyn Kenyon did a great job in this book on those aspects. I did not all of a sudden fall in love with Stryker, but the story that was told about his past and his point of view of things did make me sympathize with him to a degree that I accepted him being able to love another. And I'm also very glad that he remained a villain throughout the story, and not all of a sudden wanted love and peace (ok, love yes, peace, no).

What I didn't like:

The story was way too short. It was a much thinner book, with huge fonts. In a way, I felt somewhat cheated when I first started reading. Did Sherrilyn Kenyon put too many words in her book Acheron that she's sacrificing word count on this book? Luckily, the story made it up for me, so that by the end of the book, it didn't bother me anymore.

Conclusion:

Although there are mixed reaction to One Silent Night, the 13th installment of the Dark Hunter series, by Sherrilyn Kenyon, I thoroughly enjoyed it very much. Although the story was short, I was able to see things on Stryker's side for once, and thought him worthy of his HEA story. I'm very glad that he remained as a villain though, so I do suggest those who are contemplating on whether to read this book or not to keep an open mind, and I believe you will appreciate the HEA of a villain all the more.

All reviews for the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Book Review - Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon (Dark-Hunter Series)

Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon is the eleventh installment of the Dark Hunter paranormal romance series, excluding all anthologies and books from the Dream-Hunter series. This is a solid 4.5 Pink Hearts engaging read that answers many questions the readers were dying to know about all throughout the series.

Summary:

Sin was an ex-Sumerian god, who had his godhood stolen from him three thousand years ago by Artemis. Although, listed as one of the Dark Hunters, he didn't hunt daimons, instead his job was to keep the gallu demons, which were created by his pantheon eons ago, in line. Having been betrayed all his life, Sin didn't trust anyone, until this one person came crashing into his life fighting by his side and offering her heart.

Katra was a well hidden daughter of Artemis'. When her mother came to her asking her to kill Sin because he was evil, Katra knew there was more to the story. And the more time she spent with the ex-god, the more she knew she was right. As the gallu demons tried to free the Dimme to destroy the world, she must earn his trust, despise that she was the daughter of his most hated enemy, in time to save mankind.

What I liked:

Devil May Cry was a very pleasant read. The conversations between Katra and Sin was great fun to read, as they were filled with sarcasm. I couldn't help myself laughing out loud many times throughout the story at their dialog. For the people following the Dark Hunter series, this book will answer many many questions unanswered by previous books, which was great. I guess after 11 books, the conspiracy was getting a little too much, so having Sherrilyn Kenyon answering some of the mysteries hinted in previous stories was great and really kept me wanting to read more.

What I didn't like:

Although the storyline was great, Acheron kind of stole the show a bit in this novel. Not that I object him showing up all the time, but I would have liked it a bit more if the focus was more on Sin, the hero of the story. But, by talking about Ash's past, there was a shift of focus in the book. So instead of wanting to read more about Sin, I find myself wanting more of Ash when I was reading. But since this was a love story of Sin and Katra, it would have been better if I find myself thinking more about Sin than Ash throughout the story.

Conclusion:

Devil May Cry by Sherrilyn Kenyon is a great read that I would recommend to all those who have been following the series. You will definitely have many of your questions answered, and left asking for more. However, for those who have not been reading the series, this book can be a little difficult to follow... in fact, I think many of the Dark Hunter series books aren't that great when read as a stand alone.

All reviews for the Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Book Review - The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox

The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox is a witty, funny, paranormal romance comedy that will keep you awake all night disturbing your neighbor, because you're too busy laughing your ass off. This was the first paranormal romance that I've picked up one day in the supermarket, and it has proved itself to be well worth 5 Pink Hearts in my Romance Novels Review blog.

One minute, Lizzie Brown, a pre-school teacher, was worrying about being late to her 30th birthday dinner, and the next minute, she was thrown into her own bathroom by her biological grandmother, who she just met 30 seconds ago, with a demon emerging from her toilet trying to kill her. As her new biker witch grandmother was trying to fend off the demon by throwing magic spells from her Smucker's jars, she easily killed off the demon without knowing what she was doing. The next thing she knew, she was pronounced a Demon Slayer (by heritage), and on the back of her grandmother's Harley heading off to a whole gang of crazy biker witches for training.

On the way to Memphis for training, Lizzie and her grandmother were attacked and were rescued by Dimitri Kallinikos, a very VERY yummy griffin shape-shifter, who claims to be her protector. Within a couple hours, everything Lizzie knew about what life was were flipped upside-down and inside-out, lost everything she possessed, and where left to face the Red Skulls, the biker witch coven her grandmother belonged to, a whole new life to adapt to and a bunch of responsibilities she never knew she had. Oh, did we mention that her beloved dog, Pirate, can now talk, and her grandmother was suspected to have killed her biological mother?

The Accidental Demon Slayer was a lot of fun to read, as we go on this unexpected and hilarious adventure with Lizzie and see her develop from an average everyday girl to a brave Demon Slayer, who - well, perhaps still doesn't quite know what she was doing - saved the day, and everybody else.

Written in the first person POV, the story cuts right into action in the very first page, and not for even one paragraph after that does the action slow until you reach the very last word in the novel. Lizzie's character was also developed extremely well as we see her transformation throughout the book, both physically and mentally, and the reader could definitely feel her emotions and everything she went through just as though you were going through it yourself. And although she makes some very stupid mistakes throughout the story, but there is never a time you'd thought her "dumb," because, in a situation like hers, anyone will make the same stupid choices.

Dimitri, as I've mentioned was a very yummy griffin love interest for Lizzie, who played a big role in pushing the story forward. He had his flaws (ie. lying to Lizzie to get his way), but every bit of it was redeemed by his love towards her in the end of the story. Plus, his reason for lying wasn't unforgivable at all.

The only complain that I might have for this book is that the "romance" part was a little on the light side. Don't get me wrong, Angie Fox did a great job in convincing the readers the two fell in love, but the paranormal "action" dominated most of the story rather than the mushy, lovey-dovey feelings they had for each other. However, the story plot definitely made up for that 150%.

Although I normal very much dislike the whole idea of "Slayers," the way it was presented, Angie Fox really did it for me. All in all, this book is definitely categorized as one of my favorite paranormal romance novels, and I would gladly recommend it to anyone who would like a good laugh with tons of paranormal action. I cannot wait until the sequel The Dangerous Book of Demon Slayers comes out in April.

A word of caution: Allocate enough free time to finish the novel at one go. Otherwise, you'd either find yourself deprived of sleep or ruin any plans you had for the day once you open this book.