Night Pleasures: A Dark-Hunter Novel

Love the story of Kyrian and Amanda - and her twin Tabitha - absolutely love Nick - Their story - the great dialogue -fast and hilarious sometimes with surprises that will make you say 'should have seen that coming!! Highly recommend getting ALL the books not only in this Dark hunter series, but all in the Dream Hunters and Were Hunter series' too.. they all blend seamlessly -and only a great writer can do that and keep everyone in character!! Amazing, Sherrilyn!! - I have read and re-read this series just because it is so darned excellent!! In this 'official' #1 in the series, Sherrilyn again manages to take a story that involves the Gods & Goddess Lore and brings it into today's world and is able to explain who all the major players are without making me roll my eyes or jump ahead!!!

This was my first Sherrilyn Kenyon book and I am definitely going to keep reading this series. This paranormal world of Dark Hunters has sucked me in and I enjoyed the world being developed by Kenyon. With the series being well along, I won't have to wait to get further glimpses into the this wonderfully intriguing world of Greek gods, Dark Hunters, Appolites, and Daimons. To date there are 22 books in this series with number 23 being released in September.

Kyrian, the Dark Hunter featured in this books, was a great main character. However once again I found myself really liking the male lead yet not really liking the main female character that is his soul mate. I didn't find the character of Amanda to be particularly strong, intelligent, or interesting which is a bit disappointing. Yes, Amanda loves Kyrian and will do what is necessary to get her HEA with him, I just didn't feel any particular connection to her. I will not stop here though because I am very interested in the other characters in the Dark Hunter world.

Acheron, the leader and protector of all the Dark Hunters is being set up to have a fascinating history along with amazing powers. Talon, an ancient Celt is a Dark Hunter whom I'd like to read more about and his story is book 2 and I love myself an ancient Celt. I know that this world has been further developed and each story feeds into the next so although this wasn't my favorite book I've ever read I can definitely see myself continuing on with the series. Hopefully the female leads will continue to develop and be more appealing to me in the future. Overall a good read, but it is always a shame when I show more interest in the secondary characters of a book than the main couple and their story.

You can find more from me at Monlatable Book Reviews

Show of hands:
Who wouldn't want to wake up handcuffed to a very handsome face, who also happens to have tight abs and the most entrancing eyes ever?

Where are my hands?!?!

Me either.

Amanda wakes up handcuffed to the most "yummiest" man she has ever met and the most strangest man as well! Tries as she might to be normal, she just walked into a whole mess of trouble and it's her twin sisters fault.

Or is it?

Kyrian is awakened to the most soothing voice he ever heard of. Looking into the eyes of a woman who is handcuffed to him, he can't help his inner feelings of longing to be with a woman. But for Kyrian it can never happen. Love. Love is so far from his reach, he shouldn't even have thoughts of the beautiful strong-willed woman who he must save from a soulless vampire! He is a Dark-Hunter. An immortal, soulless human with unlimited power that goes bump in the night to make the mortal humans safe and secured there is no time for relationships. There is only eating, killing, and sleeping.

Until Amanda - Smart. Sexy. Witty. Sassy woman makes him rethink his whole outlook on his immortal life.

A great first book for the Dark-Hunter series. This book sort of gives you a first hand look at what Dark-Hunters do for you mortal souls out there, and how much they have to give up to save people who don't even know they even exist. A new wonderful Adult Paranormal Romance for me to get sucked into! And I mean A.D.U.L.T. Romance. No kids allowed on this trip!!!

I've heard a lot of rave from a few of my [female] friends about Sherrilyn Kenyon. In fact, one of them wanted me to like the author and her works so much that she freely lent me a few of her books. And that's how I read "Night Pleasures" by Sherrilyn Kenyon.

My thoughts: "Um... Why is this a New York Times Best Seller???"

"Night Pleasures" is the first novel of the Dark-Hunters series. Or is it the second? I don't know. Anyway, it's basically about Plain Jane accountant Amanda Devereaux, who only wants a normal life free of anything paranormal, who wakes up handcuffed to the hot stud hero guy that wears lots of black leather. Dark & brooding hero guy reveals that now the scary bad guys are after her and stuff. Oh, and they start to fall in love.

The plot is thin, unthrilling, and riddled with cliches. The characters are all two-dimensional and plastic. The interaction and dialogue had a very scripted and acted feel. All of the characters talk exactly the same. There's no hint of personality within their word choice or mannerisms, instead we are simply told by Kenyon herself these things. (Nick didn't come across as sassy or sarcastic to me, but Kenyon goes ahead and tells us he is.)

The writing is lackluster. Kenyon seems to "tell" a lot more than "show." Her fight scenes don't feel action-packed. Hell, even the sex scenes -- and there *were* fully written out sex scenes -- were unarousing and boring to read through. Now, maybe that's just because I'm a guy and I like my erotica to read with the graphic detail of a medical textbook, but still, when you can't arouse a 24-year-old male with your sex scenes, it's bad. The romantic touchy-feely bits I'll give a free pass to, since I don't like romance stories anyway and kinda roll my eyes at all of them, and was only reading the book for its paranormal action elements.

And lastly, another one of the many problems in this book: it's is supposed to be a vampire fiction. Now, I absolutely love vampire fiction, so I'll give anything with vampires a try. But this book did not feel like a vampire fiction at all. Kenyon calls her vampires "Daimons" and adds the caveat that they devour souls along with blood, and their backstory is that they were created by the Greek god Apollo but he cursed them for some reason and now they burn up in the sun and have to suck souls if they want to live longer than their 27th birthday I think. And the Dark-Hunters are a race of immortals created by Artemis in order to fight them. Other than that mythological tie-in, the daimons themselves actually don't receive a lot of attention in the pages. They don't do a lot of "vampire stuff." They're really little more than generic "bad guys" that spawn in seedy back alleys for the hot stud to attack on sight. The only vampire-y thing they seem to do in the fight scenes is vaporize into dust upon being staked. That's kind of it. Vampires are so awesome because they're so flexible. They're an opportunity to be creative. I found Kenyon's unoriginal and uninteresting.

Being an individual who actually wants to write paranormal fiction involving vampire-like things at some point myself, it is "best sellers" like this that make me want to try my own hand at it so seriously. Because if this swill sells, I know I can do it. All in all, I am happy to have friends that let me borrow this book so that I didn't have to actually pay for it. Because even if it were free, it is not worth the space in my bookcase.

This book was laborious to read. It started off well enough, then became absurd. The thoughts of both Kyrian and Amanda where painfully repetitive. I read "....Can't have..." so many times I wanted to scream. Most of the story was used for Dark Hunter rules. The rules were excessive and more than a few of them are cringe worthy ridiculous. You have to wonder how any of them got anything done. Just dealing with 'The Rules' would take an eternity! Very little of the story had anything to do with the ongoing crises of Desiderius (the bad guy). All the characters seemed flat & boring.

This is an extremely daunting series to start. I think that there are close to 20 or more. That's not exactly a bad thing though. It actually means that it will take me a while to get through them all and even though I've only read two, I can already tell that I'm really going to enjoy knocking this series off my TBR list. ;)
I can also already tell that I am going to have a hard time picking a favorite couple. Amanda and Kyrian were so much fun. Sure the circumstances that brought them together were anything but perfect. Kyrian was cursed to never be able to fall in love and Amanda's family hated what they thought he was enough to hunt and kill first and ask questions later. Nothing about this relationship should have come close to working but that just kept things interesting. The real beauty of their relationship was the `fun' aspect. As scared as Amanda was it didn't stop her from having a sense of humor and the teasing and banter between the couple made me love them even more.
Beyond the fun though, there was pain. Lots and lots of pain. Reading everything that Kyrian had been through, at the hands of someone he had loved and trusted was beyond hard. It tore at Amanda too and the result was heartbreaking and beautiful at the same time. And the climax of this one just about did me in. Honestly. torture like that (to both characters and readers) should be outlawed.
The reunion between Julian and Kyrian gave readers a chance to catch up with Fantasy Lover`s couple and it was also very touching. I also liked getting to know not only the other Dark Hunters but the various side characters that I'm sure we'll be seeing more of. I'm also pretty sure that Kyrian and Amanda's story is far from over, which makes me look forward to the rest of the series even more.
Talon is up next and that's great because he was one of my favorite Dark Hunters in Night Pleasures. He's sure to keep Night Embrace extremely interesting. ;)

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Amanda is trying to be the "normal" person in a family of crazy. From her sister Selena that runs a psychic booth telling others their fortunes to her twin, Tabitha, who hunts and kills vampires with her boyfriend, her family has always been strange. Amanda tries to stay away from all things paranormal and to just be an average Jane kind of girl. She was recently engaged to Cliff until she finally took him to meet her family. They pulled out all the stops to show him how nuts they could be and he dumped her because of it.

While Tabitha is out on one of her vampire hunts she calls Amanda to ask her to go to her house and let her dog out. Amanda is assaulted when she walks in the door and wakes up in someone's basement handcuffed to the most handsome man she's ever seen, Kyrian.

"Tabitha was always trying unorthodox ways to set her up with guys. Although, to be fair to her sister, Tabitha didn't usually knock the guy unconscious before she forced them together.

Still, with Tabitha there was a first time for just about anything. And extreme blind-dating was very vintage T."

Kyrian and Amanda are released, but are told that their captor, Desiderius, is giving them until night to come hunting them knowing that Kyrian will do anything to keep her safe even if it costs him his life.

They work together and get freed from one another physically, but end up forming emotional attachments even though it's against the Dark-Hunter code Kyrian is bound by.

After both Amanda's and Tabitha's houses are burned to the ground Kyrian knows he must keep Amanda close to protect her so he takes her to his house where they grow even closer. But Kyrian knows that nothing can ever come of it because he has no soul and most Dark-Hunters that try to regain their souls end up dying as they have to trust their loved ones to protect it. And after being betrayed by the one woman he ever trusted makes trusting anyone with something so important impossible.

Desiderius is Kyrian's most dangerous target yet. He uses Kyrian's painful memories against him to hurt him where it counts and now he has a new weapon to use--Amanda. Not to mention the prophecy from the Oracles says that only the Dark-Hunter with a soul can defeat him. But Kyrian must do whatever it takes to protect Amanda even if it means he will die in the process.

I was amazed with how much I enjoyed this book after reading the two prequels before it as I didn't really care for the first one, Fantasy Lover, at all. Although I loved seeing the characters from it reemerge in this novel...there is something about Julian that you can't help, but like. And I enjoyed seeing how they connected Amanda to that story being Grace's friend's sister. And I don't think I would have gotten as much out of them being in the story if I hadn't read Fantasy Lover. This book really made me glad I continued the series.

I loved Kyrian and seeing how he was betrayed and tortured in the past was heartbreaking. Then, seeing Desiderius using that pain and making him relive it all made me want to stake him myself. It made me that much happier to see Amanda return his power to love to him along with his soul, even though I expected that from the beginning.

This novel is a bit smutty though so if you don't like to read sex scenes then this is NOT the book for you. But if you don't mind the smut as long as there is a good storyline than look no further!! It was much better than I ever expected and I didn't want to put the book down even for a minute.

The chemistry between Kyrian and Amanda was smoking hot and the sex....yowza... left me panting right along with them and begging for more. I would say that this book even rivals the sexiness and intensity of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward. And I absolutely loved when Kyrian came and picked Amanda up from work and showed off in front of Cliff who was trying to make her look bad.

"Her heart pounded as the door lifted and Hunter got out dressed in faded jeans, a gray and black v-neck sweater, and a black leather jacket, the man was drop-dead stunning.

And that deadly stagger of his made her weak in the knees. "Oh baby," she heard Tammy whisper as he came around the car.

Hunter stopped in front of Amanda and raked a hungry look over her body. "Hi, luscious," he said in that deep, evocative voice. "Sorry I'm late."

Before Amanda knew what he was doing, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a sizzling hot kiss. Her body burned in response to his tongue tasting hers as he fisted his hands against her back. Then, he dipped down and picked her up in his arms.

"Hunter!" she gasped as he carried her effortlessly toward the car.

He gave her that devilish tight-lipped smile. His midnight eyes were warm and alive with humor and hunger. With the toe of his boot, he opened the passenger-side door and set her inside. He retrieved her briefcase and purse from the sidewalk where she had dropped them and handed them to her. Then, he turned and gave a knowing smile to Cliff. "You really have to love a woman who lives to see you naked."

It all left me wondering...where can I find a Dark-Hunter of my very own??

"WHAT ARE YOU, NUTS? THE MAN'S A VAMPIRE! "
"Yeah, but he's a really, REALLY sexy one."

This review and more at openbooksociety dot com

My goal this year is to finally read Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series and now that I have started it I'm wondering why the heck did I wait so long?!?! Fans of paranormal romance, this series is a must read!

Centuries ago, Kyrian of Thrace was betrayed by his wife and murdered by his Roman enemy when the Goddess Artemis traded his soul for the chance at vengeance. Now Kyrian roams the night, protecting humanity and hunting the soul-stealing Daimons as a Dark-Hunter. When a Daimon enemy captures him and he wakes up handcuffed to an uptight human woman, Kyrian get's an expected chance to finally put his past demons to rest and a second chance at love.
But Amanda Devereaux wants nothing of the paranormal; with a family full of Cajun crazies she craves the normal and boring. When she is mistakenly kidnapped and handcuffed to a handsome goth man, Amanda's orderly world is turned upside down. To escape their captor though Kyrian and Amanda must band together and with the help of some quirky friends they may have a shot at taking down this super-powered Daimon. But does a man without a soul even have a chance at a future with love?

Sherrilyn Kenyon takes readers on an emotional and action-packed journey into the world of the Dark-Hunters where you will find yourself laughing, crying and gripping the edge of your seat at any given moment. From the main characters to the secondary ones, you'll find yourself caught up in each of them in no time at all. The story flows so fluidly you won't be able to put it down, let alone find a stopping point to do so! Entertaining, gripping and yes, incredibly sexy I can't wait to read the next book in this series, and then the next one, and the one after that...well, you get the point! Sherrilyn Kenyon takes the paranormal and makes it all her own with the Dark-Hunters, giving vampires a unique Greek mythology twist that builds upon itself with each page.
Kyrian and Amanda's relationship I loved, Kyrian had such a heart-breaking past and it really gave me all kinds of happy flutters in my stomach when Amanda taught him to trust again. And Acheron? Smart, sexy, sarcastic with untold powers and unknown secrets - hell yeah! I'm packing my bags and loading up for that train. All aboard, choo-choo! ;)

All in all, if you haven't picked up Night Pleasures or read the Dark-Hunters series, do so - now! Seriously, go download to your reader or buy it from your favorite book store right now. This is not a series to miss!

I've been so curious about Kyrian since I started the Chronicles of Nick series, which I read first. He was a complete mystery to me and reading this story really helped me to understand him better. Thought this was a pretty good story in the Dark Hunter series and I'm really excited to read the next installment. Maybe I'll get the audio book like this one.

I really enjoy the world of the dark hunters. And hunters are such smart asses which makes it all the better! I really liked Amanda. She was far from a pushover. I can't stand a female that lets the guy run all over her, so kudos to Amanda for that. Listening to the audio really had me cracking up with all the accents :) Then there was Hunter aka Kyrian, which I've been crushing on since the first book in the Chronicles of Nick series. He so mysterious, but that tortured past is always the killer for me. I love a tortured soul. And seeing Nick all grown up in this book was awesome! He's even better in these :) I adore Nick.

There was some action in this book, but I'm a little on the fence about whether or not I enjoyed it. It could have been better. But I did enjoy the romance and it was nice to see Julian and Acheron again as well. Acheron, since I read his book first and then Julian's...Overall, I am enjoying the series and can't wait to continue on.

So, this is the first actual Dark Hunter novel, as Fantasy Lover sets up the place and time, but has almost no relation to the actual DH storyline.
And it's perfect.
Kyrian is everything a man should be, and Amanda, prim, proper Amanda, is his opposite match.
She's got brains, looks and a feisty personality, and she's not scared or intimidated by Kyrian, which is something that startles him.
And as they wake up handcuffed to each other, and they both have to fight to survive, a great relationship with a realistic dynamic and good dialogues (and a whole lot of passion) develops.
Through the course of the DH series, many characters come and go, some are more forgettable than others, but Kyrian and Amanda are two who are easily remembered, not because they're in the first book, but because of how they are developed and how they act.
There's action, suspense, romance, and everything that works in the Kenyon universe. An excellent first book that sets pretty high standards.

Full review at: [....]

Kyrian loves being a dark hunter. He is one with the night and proud of it. Until clouds start forming in his head over his attraction to Amanda Devereaux. Definitely a woman he would never want. Too up tight, straight laced and how can you get attracted to someone that is buttoned up so tightly from head to toe. But there is something under that exterior that just appeals to his blood even as he tries to stay away from her he wants nothing but her.

Amanda is as straight laced as you can get. She's the type of gal that wouldn't go for a bad boy type if he was the last man on earth. After just getting over another break up, thanks to her family, she is frustrated and determined to not let it get to her and to keep her crazy family at arm's length. Until her best friend talks her into summoning a love slave out of a book. He's more gorgeous than Grace has ever seen before, and more bad boy than she has EVER been attracted to!

My thoughts:

Just as good as the first! Kyrian and Amanda are two magnets, forced together by very strange circumstances of which Amanda wants to kill her crazy family for, but something keeps them together. And it's that part that kept me reading. It's fabulous. The plot is fast, easy and fun! And again the characters are fabulous. I love reading a series when you know that the characters will show up in other books and you know their full back story. Most of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books are short making them fast reads, but that's also a downside because I never want to put these down!

~Dark-Hunter Series~
~Night Pleasures~
~Book 2~

~The Dark-Hunters are ancient warriors who have sworn to protect mankind and the fate of the world is in their hands. . .
He is solitude. He is darkness. He is the ruler of the night. Yet Kyrian of Thrace has just woken up handcuffed to his worst nightmare: An accountant. Worse, she's being hunted by one of the most lethal vampires out there. And if Amanda Devereaux goes down, then he does too. But it's not just their lives that are hanging in the balance. Kyrian and Amanda are all that stands between humanity and oblivion. Let's hope they win.~

~'Night Pleasures' is a great read, full of the spirited characters that have come to be one of Ms. Kenyon's trademarks. She mixes Greek mythology, vampires, and a magically eccentric family that makes the gals on 'Charmed' look like The Ingalls (LHOTP)~

~Kyrian of Thrace is every woman's wet dream, but Ms. Kenyon infuses him with so much humanity that he doesn't come off as being a typical cardboard romantic hero. I'd have to say that he is a hybrid alpha-beta male. He's charming, loyal, brave, infuriating and sexy as all hell.

~Amanda Deveraux is an accountant who wants a normal life even though her family is beyond strange. When an evil daimon puts them together and aims to kill both Amanda and her sister and any Dark Hunter he can find, Kyrian steps in to protect them.

~The story is spectacular, filled with great zingers and comebacks. I loved every character from Nick to Acheron to Talon to even strange Liza. The sex is steamy and hot and the pace fast and furious. I can't wait for the next Dark Hunter book.

I Love "Sherrilyn Kenyon Books!! The Dark Hunter Series Is Awesome Can't Wait to read the Next one!!

Amanda's world gets turned upside down when she goes to let her sister's dog out, gets mistaken for her twin sister and is attacked and wakes up handcuffed to a strange guy. It turns out that the guy attached to her is not only an immortal but a dark hunter who is pretty much the protector for humans from all things that go bump in the night.

Kyrian was turned into a dark hunter when his wife betrayed him to the Romans and he was brutally crucified. Now he is subjected to live an eternity in darkness protecting humans from what we would call vampires. Due to the betrayal from his wife, he has build a barrier up around himself but it all comes crashing down when he wakes up to find Amanda handcuffed to him.

Amanda comes from a strange family. They all have special powers, some psychic, telepathic, even her twin sister is a daimon hunter. All she wants is a normal life and she is hell bent on staying out of the craziness but it all blows up in her face when a case of mistaken identity throws her front and center into paranormal overload.

A friend of mine recommended this book to me and once I was assured that there was romance in it, I went to the library and snatched it up. It a took a little bit for me to get my bearings when I started this since I didn't read the previous book but since I read a lot of paranormal books, it didn't take me that long to catch up. I liked the chemistry between the two characters but I must admit that I absolutely loved the beginning but then it started to die out for me. However, it held my interest during the entire book and before I knew it, I was finished.

Ms. Keyon has done it again! Kyrian is HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT! I'd give just about anything to wake up handcuffed to a mane like him! Whew! (**fans self vigorously).

He was a Dark Hunter, and she was an uninitiated human. The two were not to mix!.
When Amanda Deveraux, a self proclaimed "Boring and as straight-laced as they come" accountant went to her sisters home to let the dog out, she had no idea the adventure in store for her!

After entering her sister's home, Amanda finds that she is not alone. Someone is there! Before she can finish the thought, Amanda is hit over the head and kidnapped by Desiderius, an evil soul sucking vampire, or Daimon, who we later find out is after Amanda's deeply buried supernatural powers. Hours later, Amanda awakens to find herself handcuffed to a yummy "Macho Babe Boy"!

Kyrian of Thrace, formerly a prince and renowned Spartan General from ancient Greece, never new what was in store when he woke up cuffed to "sexy, witty, and smart" Amanda Deveraux. After the ultimate betrayal by his wife over 2000 years ago, Kyrian was given one chance at vengeance in return for an eternity of service to Artemis (Greek Goddess) as a Dark Hunter - A vampire, who is sworn to protect humans from the Daimons. And it's as a Dark Hunter that Kyrian must follow his duty and protect Amanda at any cost. But, what if that protection comes at the cost of his broken heart?

With twists and turns that kept this reader turning the page for more, Night Pleasures is a thoroughly entertaining and sensual read! You will not be disappointed!

Fav Comical Quote, Page 26:
"What is a Dark Hunter?" she asked. "Is it like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?" He laughed at that. "Yes, I'm a small, emaciated teenage girl who struts around fighting vampires in earrings they would rip out of my ears and shove up my ----"

Fav Emotion Filled Passage, Page 206:
Since the day Theonen betrayed him, he had been suspicious pf anyone who came near him. He had given his wife everything he had, and still it hadn't been enough. If he couldn't win her love, then he could win no one else's. He knew it.

Over the centuries, Kyrian had convinced himself that it didn't matter. The he needed no one at all.

Until Amanda. She had breached his defenses and now he felt naked before her.
She, alone, had opened his heart and touched him deep inside it. He wanted her. Mind. Body, Soul. There was no part of her he didn't want to claim.

Interesting Tidbit: I've seen the term "agapeemenee" used in both Fantasy Lover and Night Pleasure, so of course, I became curious!

"Agapeemene" -- a term of endearment, equivalent to 'dear', 'beloved', etc. Origin, Ancient Greek

I tried my best to complete this book. But I only got through two chapters. The issue that I found was the change in point of view. In the sane paragraph you will yourself in the lead characters head and then the lover's head. That caused me to re read a sentence and figure out who was talking and thinking. Plus the main character was whiny and not very convincing. It seems like she is contradicting herself too much. I keep getting the characters mixed up. There is also the issue of describing the characters. There is also the issue of the author injecting phrases, that she would say instead of the character. Like, "yeah, you think". I have no idea how she sold so many books with this story. I wanted to read the others to see her world's grow. But unfortunately, I got tired of figuring out who's point of view I was reading. The characters don't pull me in. Plus there is the comparison to movies or shows, like buffy the vampire slayer. For some reason, she is constantly throwing those things in as a way of describing the way get characters respond. Overall, it was not good.

Night Pleasures is now considered the second book in Kenyon's Dark-Hunter novels, but when I originally read it about eight years ago, it was the first, and Fantasy Lover, the story of Julian of Macedon, was considered a sort of precursor, as that book introduced the world, but not the Dark-Hunters themselves. That's different now, and Night Pleasures is listed as the second in the series. It will always be the first in my mind, and it is a gem of a book for the sheer artistry of world building and creativity of mythos.

Opening the pages is like stepping through the looking glass into a fully formed alternate universe that is so vibrant and alive that it literally took my breath away when I first started reading it. Up to that point, I had rarely been as captivated and involved in a world, and can remember how impressed I was with the concepts and ideas behind this very dramatically different and unique take on vampires. In this world Apollites are cursed by the Greek god Apollo to die a horrible death at the age of 27 for reasons that are ripe with Greek pathos. If they want to survive beyond that...and they have no conscience...they turn Daimon, a creature that survives by stealing human souls. Hunting these aberrations are a legion of Dark-Hunters who have been gifted...and cursed...with the animalistic and predatory enhancements that the Daimons have. They are warriors of the Goddess Artemis, and she is a cold and cruel task master. Just ask Acheron Parthenopeus, the first Dark-Hunter and the leader, in a manner of speaking, of the rest.

And so begins the journey of Kyrian of Thrace, Greek prince, warrior, commander of armies...and damned by an act of treachery so heinous that it still haunts him two thousand years after he'd been tortured to death by the Roman Valerius and had called on Artemis for vengeance. His plea was granted and he took up the mantle of Dark-Hunter and now, in current day New Orleans (pre-Kristina), he hunts the steamy streets in an effort to keep the human race safe from beings more deadly than they can imagine.

He'd been on the job in the Big Easy for the past one hundred years, until he woke up one night handcuffed to a human woman, Samantha Devereux, after being captured by the very powerful Daimon Desiderius. Desidisasterous has offed several Dark-Hunters in his time, and now he's out to destroy Kyrian. And he's got some nefarious plans for the delectable Samantha, as well. Kyrian and Sam will have to work together, as Desiderius has upped the stakes on the Daimon/Dark-Hunter war, and unless Kyrian and Sam can find a way to stop him, the city of New Orleans will fall and human blood will run through the streets of that old party town.

The history and mythos of Night Pleasures and the introduction of the world of the Dark-Hunters is the most captivating aspect of Kenyon's book, though the romance between Kyrian and Sam is well handled. The pacing is quick, but there's a lot going on with the plot and sometimes it gets a little muddy and confusing. Like any good first book (or second, I suppose) in a long series, there's a lot of information that's just alluded to, and there's certainly a sense that there is a lot yet to come.

There are a couple of things that I consider to be flaws in relation to the conflict of the plot, however. There was never a point in Night Pleasures where I didn't feel that Kyrian's personal demons far outweighed the Daimons as the true threat to the story. Desiderius was just not all that impressive as a villain, and considering his history and backstory, he probably should have been. Unfortunately the disdain that Kyrian held him in made him seem more like a joke than a threat, so the final few chapters that dealt with that conflict with Desi-do-no-right ended up feeling more annoying than threatening. Samantha's triumphs made up for that to a degree, but there was still a lot of unaddressed issues that could have been more interesting than the Desiderious crisis.

The only other major complaint I have is one that prevails through the series. Most Dark-Hunters are ancient. Several hundred years under their belts. Kyrian in particular has been a Dark-Hunter for two millennium. You'd think that these strong, solitary warriors could put on their big girl panties at some point between their tragic deaths and modern times and get over the treachery that caused them to turn Dark-Hunter, or maybe...I don't know...have a more realistic recall of historically ancient past events, given the lives they lead and the capacities of the brain. Their emotional wounds and trauma haunt them, and in many cases cripple them. In Kyrian's case, it was a weakness on more than one front. I just could never quite buy that aspect of his personality. Personally, I find it more heroic to triumph over past scars, no matter how heinous, and gain victory in living well, and 2,000 years is certainly more than enough time to blunt some of those edges. As a result, Kyrian in particular, but all Dark-Hunters in general sort of strike me as being a little too self-involved. Sure, not everyone has been betrayed by the only woman they every loved and tortured for months before being crucified, but come on, life's tough all over, man's inhumanity to man knows no bounds, and it was two thousand years ago! Get over it already. Or...you know...just have one night of really good sex, then all will be fine. It was for Kyrian, anyway.

And that, I'm sad to say, is what kept Night Pleasures from being a five star read, even with the stupendous world building, mythos, and utter originality.

Kyrain is a strong proud Dark Hunter. He was a prince and a solder at one time. He
wanted to love and be loved so bad , once he found the women he believed was the one , he gave up everything. His father disowned him, wouldn't let him disgrace the family by marring a prostitute . He thought he was doing the right thing to be happy. But it all came back on him had . She betrayed him and handed him over the the enemy to be killed . His heart ache and suffering here soo much his soul creamed out in pain and the goddess Artemis came and told him if he gave her is soul and became a Dark Hunter she would give him 24hours to exact his revenge .

Now after being a Dark hunter for hundreds of years . Protecting the humans who do not know he is out there . He has lived a lonely existence. One day he finds him self chained to a Beautiful women who will stir feeling he is not wanting to feel . He cant trust any one with his heart again. He will not put a women who will eventually betray him before his duties. But can Amanda break down those barriers and show him the love he has craved his entire existence.

Amanda is a very uptight accountant , her family is not at all what you would call normal. Her twin sister is a vampire hunter . All Amanda wants is a quite normal life. At least that's what she thought she wanted till she woke to find her self chained to the most handsome man she has ever seen . Once she realizes she is willing to fall for this crazy man , she realizes she cant have him, and will only push him away further if she tells him how she feels. But there is a loop whole she can save him only it will come at a cost is she ready to pay it in order to set him free for her to love him?

I loved this book i though it was great .I loved the background story was great. The heated tension between them was great. Kyrain is hard headed and stubborn but beautiful and will keep you wanting to know more about him and his past. He has been betrayed and you feel soo deeply sorry for him you want him to let Amanda love him so much it kills you. I will defiantly keep reading this series i am excited to too what happens next it totally sets it up at the end you know something is going to happen and i just cant wait to find out what.

Sherrilyn Kenyon has a knack for creating beautiful love stories with just the right touch of steamy passion. NIGHT PLEASURES, the third Dark-Hunter story, is no different. I found myself drawn to this book and over and over again regardless of the fact that I had other books begging for reviews. I tried, honestly I really did, but discovered that I just couldn't leave this story until I had finished it. Kenyon develops so much tension in her world of the Dark-Hunters that to turn your back on the story is like carrying a taught rubber band around with you just waiting for it to snap.

NIGHT PLEASURES tells the tale of Amanda Devereaux, a woman with hidden talents, a crazy family and an uptight ex-fiancé. Bound and determined to make a normal life for herself away from her Voodoo family, she encourages her mind to ignore her instincts and fall in love with Cliff. During their engagement, she makes the one mistake that so many couples make in their relationships; at his insistence, she introduces Cliff to her crazy family. With a vampire hunting sister and fortune telling relatives, it really shouldn't be a surprise that Cliff ran as fast as his snobbish legs could carry him and quickly broke off the engagement. Distraught by finding herself along yet again and angered that her family can't seem to grow up and quit pretending, we find Amanda at the beginning of the book, bitter and lonely.

Enter Kyrian of Thrace. In FANTASY LOVER, Book One of the Dark-Hunter series, we are introduced to Kyrian's character only briefly through Julian of Macedon's tales. In his time, Kyrian was a fantastic warrior, holding back armies with practically nothing but his own sword, sharp tongue and brute strength. Alas, a perfect life can never last and when the unthinkable happens, Kyrian finds himself thrown into a world of danger and above all, darkness. As a Dark-Hunter, he finds strength in his continued existence as a warrior and lives year by year content with caring for himself. Well, that is until the night he awakes to find himself handcuffed to the prim and entirely disbelieving Amanda.

I found the tension between Kyrian and Amanda to really be the best aspect of NIGHT PLEASURES. There really is not a lot of free space where we as the reader are allowed to wind down. Kenyon keeps the tension growing and ebbing, pulling us along and creating depth to the story. Just when we think that Kyrian and Amanda might get over themselves and come to find peace in each other, another roadblock is thrown up and we find that they are separated again. I won't tell you how the story ends, but rest assured your emotions will get quite the workout as you turn the pages.

In NIGHT PLEASURES, we do get to meet a few new characters, but as a series should, Kenyon only gives us enough information about each character and their background to make them a substantial part of the story, leaving the rest for us to discover through future books. I love how she introduces us to the Dark-Hunter world, giving us enough information to learn about this new, intriguing set of circumstances and yet leaving us begging for more.

Fair warning time: With a title like NIGHT PLEASURES, there is no doubting that this is an adult book. There are some graphic scenes but they all add something special to the story. Kenyon has a wonderful way of writing, expressing feeling and working with our senses. Her words are well placed and really help to bring the reader down into the action.

Overall, I found NIGHT PLEASURES to be a very enjoyable read. If it weren't for the other books that require my attention I would already have my nose in the next installment of the series, NIGHT EMBRACE. I do highly recommend this book to anyone that likes their stories mixed with romance, action and the perfect touch of the paranormal.

After the introduction to the world that was Fantasy Lover, we meet our first Dark Hunter in this book.

Kyrian awakens to find himself handcuffed to Amanda, by a ruthless Daimon who has killed many Dark Hunters before. The Daimon, seeking the thrill of the hunt, gives them a head start and a promise to kill them at sunset.

Amanda doesn't know how she ended up with Kyrian, only that the Daimon who captured her mistook her for her twin sister. Since Amanda is the only one in her kooky family without some sort of paranormal ability (except for boredom; she's an accountant), she is nothing more than a dead weight to slow Kyrian down, and yet, as a Dark Hunter, he is sworn to protect human life.

As the pair scramble for safety it seems that they'll never escape the Daimon's clutches, especially since he appears to have powers beyond what Kyrian had seen before.

I loved how this book tied in with Fantasy Lover, and I'm looking forward to the expansion of the world and learning more about the characters. It's pretty cheesy but enjoyable!

Note: I also posted this review on Goodreads

A case of mistaken identity has Amanda Deveraux waking up, handcuffed to an unconscious god of a man. This was so not the kind of thing that Amanda wants to happen in her life. She is nothing like her flamboyant family. She just wants to have a normal life with a husband and children.

Kyrian of Thrace was once the man that all women wanted and all men respected. Until he was betrayed by the woman he loved and his soul screamed for justice. Now he walks the night in the service of Artemis, protecting humans from soul sucking Daimons. Waking up handcuffed to a woman he wants immediately and who is the only person to ever stand up to him was not part of his plan.

Plans change. As of now, Kyrian and Amanda have to stay alive long enough to get the handcuffs removed, which has to be done by a god, and save the life of Amanda's twin, Tabitha and fall in love and get Kyrian's soul back and defeat Desiderius, a really nasty half god Daimon and come to terms with Amanda's innate untapped powers.

All Amanda ever wanted was a family and a normal life. Kyrian's dream was the same. Fat chance of that when her family is so magically inclined and he walks the night. What are they willing to risk to have that dream?

This is the hardback special edition of the first Dark Hunter novel and it's time to read it if you haven't. And if you have then read it again. It is so worth the second, third or even the tenth time. Kyrian and Amanda are one of my favorite couples in this series. They are so different from each other, the accountant and the Dark Hunter. But it's like they say, opposites attract. And end up having more in common than they thought. I love a happy ending. And I joyfully recommend Night Pleasures.

Willow
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

This is the first of Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Dark Hunter" series novels that I have read and overall I enjoyed it. It follows Amanda Devereaux, a relatively normal young woman whose family are anything but - she has eight sisters, all of whom have different psychic and other powers and who spend their time being vampire hunters. Amanda's fiancé just finished with her after meeting her whacky family for the first time and she's fed up with life.

And then she finds herself kidnapped and wakes up handcuffed to an unbelievably attractive man (of course he would have to be dishy to be a hero in one of these books)... and the hunt begins. Her co-prisoner turns out to be a sort-of vampire (a Dark Hunter) with a distressing past. He has been dead for over 2000 years and was originally Kyrian of Thrace, a prince, who met his downfall through a betraying woman. Since that time he hasn't trusted anyone and has lived his life - he exists to exterminate Daimons, evil creatures that kill humans to stay alive - alone.

His plans go a little awry when he finds himself attracted to Amanda and wants to protect her. But is she safe with him as the master Daimon Desiderius is after him?

There were some great pieces of world-building in this book, if a little complex. There were also fascinating snatches of Greek and other ancient history - most of our heroes are at least two millennia old. There are some fights and there is also a lot of sex (perhaps too much, it detracted a little from the story). My one significant reservation to this story is that the evil Desiderius is remarkably helpful in terms of the plot - he has Kyrian completely at his mercy at the beginning of the story, chained to Amanda, but he doesn't destroy him. This is a rather James Bond-esque plot device (villain allows hero and heroine a chance to escape) but that seemed rather unlikely; whatever Desiderius is, he isn't an idiot.

There are lots of other side characters which I presume are the focuses of subsequent novels (I believe she's written a lot of `em) and I expect Amanda's vast amount of sisters will also end up as some heroines. The ending of the book was satisfactory but, again, the plot aspects (rather than the sex aspects) seemed over rather quickly. Perhaps this book would have been a little more satisfying with more plot glue to join together the romance/sex parts.

Being a fan of some paranormal fiction, especially those concerning vampires, I prefer my paranormal with more of a bite of horror than romance. Unfortunately this one didn’t explore the horror aspect that greatly, but still worked out to be a satisfying read that, while not satisfying my blood-lust, sated my lust for hot and heavy vampire fiction.

The plot is involving enough, about a vampire hunter, Kyrian of Thrace, who gets tied to a woman, Amanda, who has a strong dislike for supernatural creatures. It doesn’t help that her sister is a Buffy slayer wanna be, driven by her own personal ignorance of the things that go bump in the night. Whether the sister would like to admit it or not, both her group and the vampire hunters are after the same person. Amanda and Kyrian feel that convenient and familiar tug toward each other, ending up together, but of course this is all peppered with the traditional reluctance of the once bitten, twice shy man.

The pace keeps up – the wheels of events keep turning in motion, the romantic relationship and trust keep growing between Amanda and Kyrian, but not in the usual way. Kenyon’s writing style is cleverly easy on the brain – one word holds chemistry with the next. Her use of dialogue shines through, pulling the story through a lot of sticky situations.

Overall, this is a good, light read, but there’s not enough internal conflict between for the characters for my tastes. There are plenty of issues on the outside they have to overcome to end up together, but some more fire between the characters themselves would have added just enough to bring the story up to a four, possibly even a five. Also, I would have liked a bit more bite for my buck – more horror and darker sides from the players. Instead I something that stayed more in the vein of romance with some supernatural elements present – I prefer it the other way around for my tastes. This isn’t a fault of the book, though, so I don’t hold it against it – just personal preference.

If you’re a fan of p. romance, especially in the form of series, try this one on for size – it just may end up being another series that will demand your time, devotion, and $$$.

In the follow up to Fantasy Lover, Sherrilyn Kenyon introduces us to a breed of immortals sent out by the gods of Mt Olympus to protect the world from demons out to wreak havoc to humankind. Briefly mentioned in the first book, this is the story of Julian of Macedon's bestfriend.

Kyrian of Thrace was once a prince of a great kingdom. He was also a Greek general who led an army into victory over the Romans. With vast wealth and great power, the Fates seemed to be smiling at him. But then he met Theone. Beautiful beyond description and exuding passion, Kyrian fell in love with her. Heedless of his friends' and family's warning, he turned his back on his family and married her not knowing that she would cause him his life, family and kingdom. Shattered by the woman whom he loved with every fiber of his heart and soul, Kyrian sold his soul to the goddess Artemis, in exchange for the chance to extract revenge against his treacherous wife. From that day on, he became a Dark-Hunter pledging his allegiance to Artemis.

Amanda Deveraux is a straight-laced accountant who just craves a normal life. Born into a large family, she grew up with eight older sisters and a mother who are all gifted - one of her sisters is a voodoo high priestess, one is a psychic, and her very own twin is a vampire-hunter. When she finds herself bereft of a fiancé after introducing him to her weirdo family, she becomes more determined than ever to separate herself from her potion-concocting, stake-wielding family. But the powers that be seem to have a different plan for her for after running an errand for her twin sister, she wakes up to find herself handcuffed to a two-thousand year old immortal and now pursued by a demented daimon called Desiderius.

Unfortunately for them, Desiderius and his minions aren't the only problem they must face. Kyrian and Amanda must now overcome the connection that immediately pulls them together, a bond so strong that makes them both question that sanity of staying together. As a Dark-Hunter, Kyrian is sworn to a life of solitude, in which none of them could ever get close to anyone. Furthermore, he is still haunted by his past, of the pain and torture that his love for a woman has once caused him, which has turned him from a fun-loving and lighthearted man into one who is jaded and always suspicious of others. And this is something that Amanda quickly realizes and one that she wishes to help him with for the more she learns of his past, the more she wants to be with him and give him the love that he deserves.

NIGHT PLEASURES is an action-packed roller coaster ride that will keep you glued from the start. Kyrian's quest to kill the Daimons and protect Amanda will have you riveted page after page. Throw in some lively banter between them and their friends and you're in for some real laughs. I loved the interaction between the main characters. The sexual chemistry burns up the pages, helped more by some wicked love scenes. Kyrian is a great hero, funny, committed and a real protector. He was just what Amanda needed to help her come out of her comfort zone and accept the powers she was born with.

If you're after a paranormal/vampire story with a twist, then this book is for you. You won't be able to put it down once you start.

I knew I was going to like it when the preview said the protagonist woke up hand-cuffed to this gorgeous guy. ;-)

First, I'll say how much I enjoyed the book, and recommend it. I believe it to be the best of the Sherrilyn Kenyon, Dark-Hunter novels, though I'll admit that I have not yet read every one. The story beyond the romance is a compelling one, and that is not always the case with a Sherrilyn Kenyon novel. Perhaps my favorite part was the argument between Amanda and her sisters over having Kyrian as a boyfriend. Kyrian is uncomfortable with the fact that he's fallen in love, and is not sure that he shouldn't back away. In the end it is a matter of his soul, and there is to be a test. In this aspect of the story, I was reminded of a book I read as a kid called The Satanic Mill - in which some cursed sorcerer's apprentices can only get out of their bondage if a girlfriend passes a certain test, and most of the girlfriends fail. In this case, to buy Kyrian's soul back, Amanda must pass a physically gruelling test (that I know I wouldn't pass), that she learns about without much time to prepare for.

Kyrian is sexy, and his interaction with Amanda is divine. The fact that he is psychic, and can read Amanda's thoughts wrt himself, makes their sexual interactions a lot of fun. (Compare with Oath of Seduction, and Oath of Challenge by Marla Chance).

My complaint is with the development of Amanda as a character. We are told she has tremendous latent sorcerer powers, and those powers play a role in the end, but we never see her develop those powers, interact with them, learn about them, be dismayed or delighted with them. We even discover that her first boyfriend, Cliff, was stalking her all along because of her latent abilities. This is just too juicy of a part of the story for the author to overlook. Her sister, Tabitha, has more to do in terms of using 'powers' and in terms of being perceived as someone with 'power.'

As much as I enjoyed the story, I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if Kyrian was not just dealing with a chick with a cute body and quirky personality.

This was my very first `dark hunter' book I've read. While the concept is `out there' and having been reared in that era that actually studied mythology and ancient Greece it was not that much of a `stretch' for me to become enthralled with the story. Kyrian of Thrace had lived or shall we say existed for over 2000 years having loved so much in his short human existence to have lost his life and very soul. Now he is consigned to existing as a `dark hunter' with a code of ethics that protected humans. Not a vampire who feeds but one who tries to rid the world of the latter he shares some of the same characteristics - i.e. existing in the dark world never to feel the sun on his body which would kill him, etc. He finds himself handcuffed to a mortal woman, Amanda Devereaux, who wants nothing more than to live a `normal' life - unlike her seven `whacked out' sisters and mother.
Amanda, finding herself chained to this hard-bodied stud-muffin whose very touch electrifies her like nothing she has ever experienced, would like nothing more than to indulge in her fantasies. Kyrian, upon awakening finds himself chained to his worst nightmare - a woman who is so conservative, wants nothing to do with the paranormal world, and has awakened in him a lust he has not felt since he was mortal. The author gives you some very humorous dialog as Kyrian can mind-read all of Amanda's fantasy pent-up sex longings.
The plot is fascinating, the characters and sub-characters well defined and the writing is fast- paced, exciting, and the fabulous sensual love scenes are quite stimulating . I found it interesting that while Kyrian existed without his soul - it took Amanda such a short time to discover that he had enormous `heart' in spite of her natural tendancies to shun anything paranormal. Also, interesting was the development of Amanda who had `gifts' herself that were quite phenomenal. This was truly a great paranormal romance I can readily recommend.

Terrific! The second book in the series. Can a human girl and an immortal warrior find common ground? Can they fight against the vampiric enemy together? Amanda is sure that her sister is behind the latest events to befall her - is she right? The characters live and breathe on the page. Highly recommended for all Fantasy lovers. I would recommend reading them in order as they are linked by the characters.

I am impressed beyond words. This book was amazing with a capital 'A'. Ms. Kenyon(also known as Kinley MacGregor) takes vampire lore to a whole other level!
A unique twist on Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Slayer Legend and Charmed's Hollway three witch sisters legend, Kenyon tackles vampires that come in various different breeds. Some worse than others and a "slayer" of sorts created by ancient gods to destroy them called Dark-Hunters. These Dark-Hunters also suffer the same disadvantages as vampires and posess no soul, but they are good at heart and are made when they are served a severe injustice and their soul cries out so loudly that the Greek god Artemis hears and grants them a chance at vengeance if they turn their soul over to her and join her army of "Slayers', or Dark-Hunters in this case.
Blessed, or cursed if you will with the same disadvantages and same advantages, each Dark-Hunter must keep humans safe from the Daemons that run through the night stealing souls from the humanrace.
Action-packed and full of funny quips and twists, this is one of the best books I've ever read. Hard to put down, its sure to make you chuckle in parts when we meet the heroine of the story Amanda and her wacky family of witches, vampire-hunters, voo-doo priestess's, and the like. Amanda herself just wants a "normal" life with nothing paranormal. Even if it means marrying a very boring and very unattractive man who works with numbers as she does, she just can't handle anymore "weirdness" than she already has to handle from her family.
Ye gods are laughing because she finds herself dumped by the said boyfriend after meeting her essentric family and in the "dumps" if you will until she goes to let her sister's dog out to the bathroom one night and remembers nothing but waking up handcuffed to the most gorgeous man she has ever seen!
All in black leather and long blond hair, Kyrian of Thrace was taken by surprise and finds himself handcuffed to a human who thinks he is "yummy" or "yummy man in black leather that needs to be licked", or so her thoughts scream when he looks at her. How did he let this happen? Trying to protect a human again was how.
Kyrian has been the hero thousands of times over the last 2,000 years since he became one of the Dark-Hunters, but this woman made him rethink the word "hero".
Soon they are running from a mutual enemy and find that they are linked somehow and not just by the non-removeable Greek Handcuffs, but by a destiny 2,000 years in the making.
His scars run deeper than an ocean, a betrayal so savage it cost him his life and made him what he is but the human seems to see him. Truly see him, who he is, or what he used to be and he is lost to everything around him but her.
Can the mere mortal save him and heal his broken heart? Can Amanda's crazy life take another addition into the 'weird' category? Read and find out, its definately worth the time and money.
For those who read her other novel before this, not quite part of the Dark-Hunter series, but related none-the-less, the main characters are brought in for us to revisit. I am talking about 'Fantasy Lover'. Keep in mind the next book after this is 'Night Embrace', the story of Dark-Hunter and ancient Celt Talon of Morrigantes. Talon is introduced in this novel along with a string of other Hunters sure to have their own books in the future. Hail to a great series being born! Thank-you Ms. Kenyon, we needed this!
Tracy Talley~@

I'd never read any of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books before I picked this up, so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this book was. After reading the back, I was expecting vampires and something a little more like Christine Feehan's stuff, although maybe with a little more humor. I'm not too big a fan of Feehan's books, so I was a little worried, but I started the book anyway and boy did I have problems stopping. The way this world that Kenyon created works is a bit complicated, and I still can't remember all of it, but basically all you need to be able to keep in mind is Dark-Hunters. They're people who used to be humans. When they died, either something that was before their death or caused their death was so painful for them that their souls cried out to the gods. Their cries are answered, and they're given the opportunity to take revenge on those who caused them this pain, but only for a price - they have to give up their souls and spend the rest of their immortal (or nearly so) lives hunting down Daimons. Both Daimons and Dark-Hunters could be mistaken for vampires, because of the things they can do, their immortality, and their fangs. Daimons need to feed off of human souls in order to continue to exist. Dark-Hunters, as far as I can tell, can almost live like regular people, except for the fact that their eyes are sensitive to light and they'd die if they went out in to the sun. Daimons can't exist in sunlight either. If you know a little biology, you may, like me, have some problems with Dark-Hunters eating normal human food while at the same time having fangs (it's physically impossible for the jaws to move sideways while chewing when there's fangs in the way, so they'd have to look awfully funny while eating), but I got over it.
Kenyon has a definite sense of humor, which I enjoyed, and I thought the characters themselves were pretty interesting. It didn't always seem like Amanada was a very consistant character (Kyrian often thought of her "gentle voice", especially near the beginning, although it didn't seem to me like there was much that was very gentle about her at the beginning - mostly, all I saw in her was annoyance and fear. That gentleness that Kyrian loved came later.). However, the humor in the book, as well as many of the other characters, made up for that. Although I think the next book is about Talon, I'm really looking forward to a book about Acheron - I can't wait for that one to get written.

Could Ms. Sherrilyn Kenyon have descended from the Heavens? If not why would her latest paranormal romance which is a smashing smorgasbord of Buffy-the-vampire slayer episodes, Anne Rice's Lestat tales and Greek myths and allegory be of such sprawling imagination and consistency?
Raised in a family that matches the eccentricity of Addams enough to scare her clerk boyfriend Cliff away, uptight Amanda Deveraux stymies her psyhic powers to preserve a shred of normalcy. A trip to her vampire-exorcist sister Tabihita's home turns pivotal as she is knocked unconscious and ends up handcuffed to gorgeous hunk Kyrian of Thrace, the brooding Dark-hunter embarking on a mission to slay the powerful Daimon Desiderius who snatches the souls of human to survive their mortality of 27 years.
It is amazing how Ms. Kenyon integrates Greek mythology with the tale. She brings in Julius from Fantasy Lovers to explain Zeus and progenitor Apollo in their indirect connection to the birth of Apollites and how its creator curses them to become treacherous Daimon who is bent on the destruction of human.
Kyrian is one of the wretched souls who embarks on the road to perdition with the betrayal of his infidel of a wife Theone. He is scarred emotionally and physically from love - and Amanda who is moved by his giving spirits and chivalrous soul - becomes the unexpected healer with her undying love. Their romance is equal parts heart-searing and schmaltzy with emotions and chemistry.
Ms. Kenyon's paranormal romance is a marvel with its ensemble of colourful and quirky characters especially that of the comically larcenous squire Nick, the enigmatic compatriots Talon and Acheron and of course the exuberant Deveraux family as well as the sagely Aphrodite, Julius and Grace. Even the villain is nuanced with betrayals of his own. Right up to the twisting epilogue where Kyrian and Amanda finds a way to preserve their love and the ferocious jugular battle with the demon, it is exciting and gleefully wacky in high-styled flamboyance and mindless entertainment. Vampire-slaying has never been this cool or such a riotous sexy night pleasure.

This book was like a 3 1/2 stars for me. i listened to audiobook for this one. It seemed long, lots of details and a whole bunch of back n forth (she loves him can't tell him yet he loves can't tell her, want to be with her so bad but wait no it will never happen yada yada yada) it ended up being a "cute" story the sex scenes were sorta mediocre to me as well as the action scenes, what few of them there were. I tried to blame some of this on the reader but that was a no go (the reader was actually pretty good with her voices) because if I was reading it it would have been a book I put down and probably not picked it up again. I've read better. I will try the next book to at least give the series a full chance but if the first book is anything like this book that will be it for this series for me.

Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon is a book about a very down-to-earth young woman who is a member of a large family of paranormally gifted people. At the start of this story she dates only normal, boring, non-gifted men but then meets a man who is very different from other men(because of a mistaken-identitiy kidnapping). They bond and the adventures begin. As it turns out, he is a centuries old Greek god who was cursed to be a hunter. He hunts down bad vampires.

I was able to complete reading this book but did not find it to be as enjoyable as I had hoped it to be. As in all books with dystopian and paranormal themes there is a structure, rules and laws abide by or there are consequences to pay. I did not care for this world and it's structure. I'm also not very interested in Greek mythology when mixed with other fantasy genres.

I'm sure there are many people who greatly enjoy this book and the series that follows. They seem to have a lot of folllowers. I would recommend this book to others who like this mix of genres.

This book is both funny and touching. Kyrian, if a little too perfect physically, is both tortured and very likable. Certainly all his co-workers like him. He is torn between protecting both himself and Amanda and his overwhelming attraction to her. Kenyon writes truly tortured heroes. Amanda tries so hard not to be like her wacky family, and then she finds herself handcuffed to a vampire--worse, she falls in love with him. Her unlimited accaptance of him is the key to both their relationship and the evil they face. Still, Kenyon's female leads are less well-developed than the males.
I happened upon "Dance with the Devil" first, so I had a major learning curve getting into Keyon's Dark-Hunter world. This book, at the beginning of the series, is much clearer about creatures who inhabit this imaginative world. I was quite impressed with Kenyon's ability to take Greek myths and morph them into this paranormal world.
My complaints are a heavy preponderence of gratuitous sex scenes; only a few truly further the relationship. More damning is that the sex overshadows the love rather than verifying it. We know the love is there, but it is rarely shown in any fashion other than sex. The relationship could have been richer. Finally, except for being told briefly about the rest of her family, we're never given clues to Amanda's supernatural powers until Kyrian says she has them. Then, at the crucial moment, they suddenly appear.
It's a good if imperfect read. Kenyon is not Teresa Medeiros, but she's interesting enough and her Dark-Hunter world is a fascinating creation.

I was constantly wondering if I missed the first book. I didn't like the way the perspectives changed and you had to wonder who's point of veiw you were in. It took me several times of putting it down and forcing myself to read it to finish.

I am always on the lookout for a good romance series. Sadly, this book was a huge disappointment and even the Kindle Daily Deal price couldn't tempt me to read another. I'd like to believe that it is because it is one of her earlier works, but won't give this series another try unless it is a loan from the local library.

The origins of vampires in this series seemed like a new and interesting premise but the presentation wasn't up to par. The majority of the book seemed to be one character explaining something to another. One character explains to another the origins of Daimons and Apollites. One character explains to another how Dark Hunters are chosen/made. One character explains to another why she doesn't use her paranormal abilities. One character explains to another why Dark Hunters can't have relationships but only one night stands. One character explains to the other why our villain has abilities none of the other vampires have. One character explains to another why Dark Hunters can't work together. It is MONOTONOUS in this review - imagine it in a book of this length!!! The author had moments where at least half of these could have been worked into the actual plot. Maybe a well timed flashback or two. Maybe a prologue. I am not 10 and really don't like to be spoon fed a storyline.

I enjoy a steamy scene in a romance, but found myself skipping over half of these scenes as well - because the sexual tension that I enjoy in most romance books was absent.

The only scene that I actually thought lended itself to portraying a character and his motivations was Kyrian's nightmare which clearly illustrated why he made his choice. Otherwise, I found the characters rather poorly developed and never really felt connected to them.

The book had a few humorous quips.

S Kenyon is a good storyteller and she's created a somewhat implausible but interesting universe, however, the lack of dimensionality in the characters prevents me from rating this higher. The love story and sex scenes read like bad fan fiction- protagonists are irresistibly yet inexplicably drawn together, every orgasm is more mind-blowing than the last, people SCREAM when they climax. (If I was in bed with a lover who started screaming, it would freak me out) If you are into fairy tales and pure escapism, this is your story. If you prefer a little meat and food for thought for your money, move along.

Woah! What a trip. I haven't read a paranormal with as much wit and energy since Dara Joy's Knight of A Trillion Stars. I'll admit this story has its share of speed-bumps, but it never loses its momentum and its got a whole lotta heart in it.
Kyrian of Thrace has been a Dark-Hunter for the last 2000+ years. His job is too hunt down the Daimons, a monsterous race that lives by sucking the blood and souls of humans(The stronger the soul, the better). His current target is Desiderious, a Daimon whose a lot stronger than he should be and has managed to kill the last couple of dark-hunters who went after him. The Daimon is cooking up a sinister plan that involves handcuffing Kyrian to a mortal vampire hunter, Tabitha Deveraux. The only flaw is that he ends up chaining Kyrian to Amanda, her twin sister. What follows is a fun exciting adventure as Kyrian and Amanda must work together to dodge murderous vamps, get unchained, and stop Desiderious.
A point in favor of the Dark-Hunters books is that Kyrian is not the mourn-mourn-i'm-a-hated-vampire-god-hates-me-blah-blah type that keeps cropping up or the-super-dominant-Feehan-recyclable-Carpathian-bot model 2000. He's got a great dark sense of humor that had me in hysterics more than once.
The sexual tension is at such a degree that I have expected Kyrian and Amanda to leave burning ashes in their wake.
I can't wait for the next book which as about Talon, a Dark-Hunter who controls the elements and communes with the dead, not to mention the were-hunters and dream-hunters sagas!

During the height of the Roman Empire, no opponent lasted long against the mighty legions. That is except Kyrian of Thrace, who led his people to victory against the invincible Romans. Just when it seemed as if Kyrian would rule the known world, betrayal left him for dead. However, instead of a simple death, Kyrian "dies" as he lived by becoming the "Ruler of the Night" seeking two things: to hunt the soul stalking Daimans and to find a woman who does not betray him to his immortal foes.

Desiderius, an elder Daiman, binds Kyrian to modern day New Orleans resident Amanda Deveraux, the accountant in a family of psychics and vampire hunters. As Kyrian struggles to liberate him and Amanda from their magical handcuffs, the bound couple begins to fall in love. However, the last time he fell in love, his beloved betrayed him to his enemy. Amanda does not want some soulless wandering killer for a mate when she only desires a faithful CPA.

Fans of romantic fantasy will gain plenty of pleasure by reading Sherrilyn Kenyon's latest offbeat tale. The store line is loaded with action in a world that feels real while the key cast members seem genuine too whether they are paranormal, mythical or human. It is that feeling of authenticity in her plots that makes Ms. Kenyon one of the leading sub-genre authors with cross appeal to pure fantasy readers as both groups will enjoy this novel and her previous work FANTASY LOVER.

Harriet Klausner

I've been a fan of vampires for centuries. I haven't lived for centuries (one can only dream) but I have read every vampire novel and seen every vamp movie I could find that was written over the centuries and I have to say that I am tired of the same old same old when it comes to the myth of the vampire. I always thought writers were supposed to have imaginations and not just retell someone elses story. After years of seaching, I finally found a vampire universe that makes even more sense than Bram Stokers.
I thought at first the use of Greek myths would turn out to be reminscent of the Hunger or Anne Rice, but it wasn't at all. The use of the Greek pantheon makes total sense in the book. Anyone who has actually read Greek myths and not relied on [what] Hollywood throws at us can appreciate how capricious and odd ball the gods are. I think even Sophocles and Euripides are giving libation to the gods that they don't have to go up against Kenyon in a writing contest.
These "dark hunters" are young, "modern" vampires with fun humor and having a good time a la The Lost Boys or Buffy. I like the fact that the stodgy vamps are gone and so is their angst. There's just enough past torture left in the hero to make it deep and interesting, but not so much that you're saying "enough already, just fall on the stake and get it over with."
This was my first Kenyon novel. It most certainly won't be my last.

I very much enjoyed the first book in Kenyon's series, Fantasy Lover, and so decided to give this a go since it's about Kyrian of Thrace, Julian's best friend. And I didn't regret it.
Like Julian from Fantasy Lover, Kyrian is also an ancient Greek. He was a prince and a war-hero, but he was horribly betrayed by the wife he loved dearly, and was tortured and crucified by his Roman enemy. Except that he struck a bargain with Artemis to become a Dark-Hunter and thus achieve immortality.
What's a Dark-Hunter? Immortality sounds like a pretty good deal, yeah? Well, not really. A Dark-Hunter is a little like a vampire, except that they don't have to drink human blood (though they do like the taste of it). They can only exist in the dark, that's true, and they can't easily be killed. Their role is to find and kill Daimons, who are vampires of a sort, but only live 27 years unless they steal a human's life - and soul - to give themselves a longer life. So Kyrian has been tracking and destroying Daimons for centuries. Until he meets one who is cleverer than most.
And this is how he meets Amanda: she has been kidnapped by the Daimon Desiderius, because of her hidden psychic powers, and Desiderius hopes to use her against Kyrian. Unfortunately for the Daimon, Amanda and Kyrian are immediately attracted to each other. However, there are a few problems. First, Amanda's sisters are vampire-hunters and they all assume that Kryrian is a vampire. Amanda refuses to believe that she has any special powers, and anyway she doesn't want her nice, normal life disturbed by a sexy ancient Greek. She's not sure that she can trust any man, after her ex-fiance rejected her - and anyway, after his wife's betrayal, Kyrian has no intention of trusting any woman, ever again.
And, worst of all, as a Dark-Hunter Kyrian has no soul. He can't fall in love (or so he thinks) and he can never build a relationship with a woman.
Kenyon's writing is fast-paced, highly amusing in parts and also poignant. She has a great line in secondary characters, in particular Nick the Squire, Ash (Acheron) the leader of the Dark-Hunters, who I hope will get his own book in due course, and Talon, the hero of Kenyon's next book.
Not five stars because the crucial denouement felt glossed over somewhat, and because I wanted to see more of Julian and Grace than I did.

I loved it!!!

**Spoiler Alert**

Kyrian and Amanda are quite different in that, he is badass and she is the sweetest lil thing ever. Nick is also first introduced in this one, together with Archeron.

Kyrian is noted as the first Dark Hunter (well after Archeron) and I immediately fell in love with him.

Amanda has suppressed her abilities but she uses it to save what is hers!!!

This story proves that love knows no bounds :)

Kyrian of Thrace traded his soul two thousand years ago and has been a Dark Hunter since, an immortal who rids this world of the dangers of the vampire like Daimons who feed on the soul of humans. One day in New Orleans he wakes up to find himself handcuffed to Amanda Deveraux, an accountant who leads a normal boring life and likes it that way. They have been captured by Desiderius, a powerful Daimon who can only be killed by a Dark Hunter with a soul. The only problem is no Dark Hunter has a soul. A dark hunter has to win back his soul. Kyrian and Amanda managed to escape and they must hunt down Desiderius before they become the ones who are hunted down.
Kyrian of Thrace was gorgeous (as with all of Ms Kenyon's heros) and you can just imagine all those rippling muscles, 6 pack abs jumping off the page. Amanda was a tough heroine and stuck by her man even though she wasn't sure there was any future for them together. The sex scenes are hot. Your fingers will get burnt turning the pages. I also like the introduction of other Dark Hunters such as Acheron and Talon (who is featured in the following book Night Embrace). Ms Kenyon's writing is full of humour and modern slang which adds a certain pizzazz to the book which is unique. A thoroughly good read and I can't wait to read the following books.
Lealing

Oh. My. God! Night Pleasures was a pleasure to read! It was very very funny, tender, heart warming, sad at some points and most importantly it is very well written. I dont think I enjoyed a book so much since I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire! This book is rich in narrative, the story is fantastically original and well written, the characters are so facinating and 3 dimensional, you get to feel EXACTLY what they r feeling!
Kyrian if Thrace is a Dark Hunter, (this is the 1st book of the Dark Hunter series, but follows Fantasy Lover), who is more than 2000 years old. He has gone through hell and back and does not trust anyone. His past story is really sad, and I had to cry because there's no way to help but emphasize with him.
Amanda Devoreux comes from a family that wrote the handbook on paranormal and weirdness, but she so wants to be normal. However she really loves her family especially her twin Tabitha.
Suddenly her dull boring life becomes a real rollercoater when she finds herself handcuffed to Kyrian, thus all hell breaks loose as they try to escape a Daimon first, then get un-handcuffed, then Kyrina tries to keep Tabitha and Amanda safe, then he tries to get the Daimon who's causing more havoc than any other Daimon and so on and so forth!
The book is great, the imagination of Ms. Kenyon is incomparable and endless. If u r looking for a story that is fast paced, but very well elaborated,with an excellent narrative, fantastic details and a plot that is more original than anything else (well maybe is right there with the Harry Potter series, which i may add is not only for children!) and a romance story that would leave in shame timeless classical lovers such as Romeo and Juliet (only with a happy ending), then RUN to get this book. I cannot emphasize enough how much i loved this book... and Kyrian and Amanda's story. I loved it so much I finished it in less than 24 hours!

I believe I am officially addicted to this series! This book was amazing and understated. I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship and how the story flowed, my only criticism would be that the shared dream sequence was terribly long and not as vivid as I would have hoped. It started out incredibly vivid and devolved from there I really wish that the torture scenes were more impactful instead of so vague and distant. I realize Kyrian was distancing himself from the pain but it was too vague for me to really feel the torment and the fear.

Ok, so this book definitely deserves an extra star in comparison to the Fantasy Lover, but that's really not saying much. My personal experience with the Night Hunter series so far reminds me of going to a trendy new restaurant with rave reviews and absolutely hating the whole thing. The ingredients you usually enjoy are all there (chicken, fish, etc.), but all the visually delectable combinations fall completely flat in taste. The spices you usually love taste like grass and it's almost laughable how absurd the whole experience ends up being. This series is just like that, even though the second book is a little better then the first.

Night Pleasures is almost identical to the Fantasy Lover in its structure. Two for two we've got:
- a heroine of average physical appearance with emotional problems and low self esteem.
- an average Joe ex-boyfriend who mistreats the heroine.
- a tortured, gorgeous, famous and rich hero who only wants to be loved.
- a horrible but drop-dead-gorgeous ex-wife that ruined the hero's life.
- the hero falls in lust with the heroine at first sight, even though tons of beautiful women throw themselves at him.
- the hero can't believe his luck and is tormented by wanting to be with her from day one, even though his terrible past is making it difficult.
- the average heroine can't get enough of the "yummy leather hunk" and his "yummy package".
- they do a lot of hissing and growling in pleasure.
- the hero shows the ex-boyfriend what a gem he threw away.
- the heroine makes the hero believe in life and love again.
- they live happily ever after and start reproducing as soon as possible.

That about sums up the book with addition of repetitive emotional mumbling from both the hero and the heroine. The reason I gave this book 2 stars is because there is a bit more story here and the author is trying to set up the Dark-Hunter brotherhood scenario for future books.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good fairy tale and I enjoy a well written love story, but I do like it to be at least somewhat believable even though it's fantasy. Why does every heroine have to be overweight, not very attractive and have men issues? For that matter, why does the hero have to be so beautiful? Weren't there normal looking men two thousand years ago? And how is it believable that a Macedonian general would fall madly in love for a boring accountant three days after meeting her? They have nothing in common and no real explanation for such immediate passion. And why is the first wife always so beautiful and horrific? It's like the writer is subconsciously trying to show that beauty queens are awful and plain Janes should always get the hunk. Also when a woman writes from the point of view of a male character (and vice versa for that matter), she has to be extremely careful not to come out feminine, especially when the character in question is a mucho-mucho man. Almost at the end of the book when our hero is confronting his nemesis he says "You're a bully..." Can you really see a two thousand years old Greek general saying something like that to another guy? He is not trying to reclaim a stolen toy in the school yard, but wants to exterminate that individual, so this is really the best he could come up with under the circumstances? Things like that occur throughout the book and make it almost impossible to read with a straight face.

I gave this series another try by reading this book, and I can't do it to myself anymore. If you want a well developed story with interesting characters and similar plot try JR Ward's black dagger brotherhood series. The story is well developed and the couples are actually well matched. They are all normal looking people and the writer actually concentrated on character development vs. physical perfection/flaws.

I am just now finding this series and am quickly falling in love with it. I found myself rooting for Kyrian and Amanda very quickly. Sherrilyn Kenyon does an excellent job of portraying the tortured hero without making him look like a completely unfeeling jerk or a whining whimp. Having had some strange family members I can completely sympathize with Amanda being angry and frustrated with her family over their behavior. I really like how she handles building the relationship between Kyrian and Amanda, and at least it is believable even with the fantasy/paranormal slant to the story. I like that she can convey vulnerability without making it seem like weakness/wimpiness. I read this in one sitting even though it kept me up pretty late when I had to work the next day just because I found it impossible to put down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, but I'm going to have to make sure I start it earlier in the day, or make sure that I read it on a weekend when I don't have to worry about being at work the next day!

I absolutely could not put this book down. I went to work on 3 hours of sleep because I had to finish it. Fans of the paranormal, like myself, get a whole new twist on the same-old, same-old of the vampire legends.

But, our tale starts out with Amanda Devereaux, an accountant who's family is a bit, ahem, 'eccentric' shall we say. She's got a sister who's a fortune teller, and one who's a vampire slayer, and those are the tame ones! As she put it in the book, "I have two sisters who used to conjure demons just to fight them." All Amanda really wants is to be 'normal'. But her longing for normalcy seems to be going nowhere, especially after her fiance dumps her, having attended one family dinner. She seems to be falling even further away from normal after she wakes up handcuffed to a vampire.

Kyrian of Thrace used to be a great general, leading his armies against the Roman Empire. After a great betrayal, and being crucified (note to squeemish readers, not a good idea to read that part late at night), Kyrian became a Dark Hunter, vampire-like creatures created by the Greek goddess Atremis to slay the real vampires, knows as Daimons. Kyrian calls them vampires on steroids with a God complex. And together, Kyrian and Amanda have to face down one *heck* of a Daimon whose God complex is off the Richter scale.

It may be hard for some people to grasp how quickly Amanda and Kyrian fall for each other, but my own mom and stepdad got engaged after 7 months, married after one year of knowing each other. For some people, in the right situation, love happens very quickly. I felt that Kyrian and Amanda had a very real romance (or a close as it can get in the paranormal), especially for the romance world.

All in all, I'm happy to have vampire slayers I can really get into, seeing as Buffy was never my cup of tea.

I purchased a sample and liked what I read so decided to buy the book. Let me just say that when I saw the price I hesitated.. but still bought it anyway. I wish I didn't. The story kept changing POV. One second it would be Amanda narrating the story and then it would abruptly switch to Kyrian. Also, the author would call him Kyrian and then Hunter (because he was a hunter) but it was just confusing. I can'w believe how much the author is charging for this? If it was 99 cents, maybe. I might even go as far as paying 2.99 for it. But almost 7 bux? Pull the other one buddy!

Overall, I got less than 20% of the way in before I returned for a refund. Not really worth it tbh.

This is the second novel, sort of, of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters, Dream Hunters, Were Hunters and angry gods. To clarify what I mean, this is the first official Dark-Hunter novel, but you are introduced to the concept of the hero in Fantasy Lover.

Kyrian of Thrace was a pretty-boy prince who foolishly forsook his family, his people, and his inheritance for the love of a woman who did not love him in return. A fearless warrior, cocky-self-assured and proud, the one thing that brought him to his knees was his treacherous wife who sold him out to the Romans. They tortured him, however, that pain was nothing to the betrayal he felt and the sadness in his heart for hurting his family by his actions. In that final moment, his heart cried out with grief and the goddess Diana ,or Artemis, came and made Kyrian a deal. He could become one of her Dark-Hunters. In exchange for his soul and for a 24 hour period where he could get revenge on those who wronged him, she would hold his soul and he would become her servant.

Amanda Devereaux comes from an odd family full of mystics and believers. Her twin sister is a vampire slayer, however, Amanda is an accountant. She wants a nice, normal life, with nothing paranormal in it. Little does she know what a powerful sorceress she is to become.

One trip to her sister's house to let out the dog (I love it, his name is Terminator) and poof, next thing she knows she wakes up handcuffed to a Greek god. Ok a Prince of Thrace to be exact. If you were at all into Buffy or Angel, Charmed and the like, Sherrilyn's work is for you. It's fast-paced, kick-ass action, humor, steamy, sultry, and down right tasty characters will make you a fan for life! I know it has me. Sherrilyn Kenyon is an auto-buy for any of her Hunters.

And I thought Julian's story was heart wrenching....
Kyrian was a Greek soldier and prince that fought with Julian in his mortal life against the Romans. After Julian's death the Romans captured Kyrian with the help of his wife and tortured him for a month while his wife, the woman he gave up a kingdom for and loved with all his heart, stood by and did nothing.
After a horrific death Artimes transformed him into a DH to protect the humans against the Daimons( vamps that drink blood and steal human souls). The party gets started when a powerful Daimon knocks him out and hand cuffs him to Amanda, an accountant whose just been dumped by her fiancé.
Amanda is Selena's sister of whom you met in the first novel Fantasy Lover. She is the so called "normal" person in her crazy, eccentric family but her repressed powers are anything but normal.
When Amanda wakes up she takes notice of the unconscious Kyrian and being the buff, oh so gorgeous man that he is, she is instantly attracted to him and they help each other escape from the Daimon.
I very much enjoyed reading their story and was so elated that Kyrian finally found love after he was betrayed by his wife. His mortal story was heart breaking that I actually cried.
Another must read from Sherrilyn and the ending was amazing.

Night Pleasures was a big disappointment to me after Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunter, Book 1). Fantasy Lover was fresh and funny and sexy. Night Pleasures is clichéd and brings in a confusing range of supernatural beings. In Fantasy Lover, the supernatural beings were Greek gods who punished the male love interest Julian of Macedon. Greek gods get short shrift in fantasy compared to the Celtic mythos, so including them was creative and added interest. The Greek gods are back in Night Pleasures, plus Dark-Hunters (immortal vampire hunters), and the vampires themselves, all milling around in New Orleans. The plot of Night Pleasures parallels that of Fantasy Lover, with practical and single Amanda Devereaux attracted to immortal and cursed Kyrian of Thrace. Will Amanda break the curse and win Kyrian's love?

I know Sherrilyn Kenyon's books are hugely popular, so I'm going to try the next one in the series to see if she finds her stride.

Kyrian is 6'5" --Have Mercy! He is truly one of my favorite heroes. Actually, this couple is a favorite of mine. They both have big hearts and are very likable. Now that I've entered the world of the Dark Hunter, there's a lot of information pumped into this book. I knew I had a lot more books to read in the series, so I really tried to pay attention to the who's and the what's. Night Pleasures and the world of Dark Hunter, is packed full of adventure, survival and passion. I enjoyed all of the characters in this book and it was a great story- the romance very real. I can see why so many are reading this series. I didn't want to wait for the library's copy for the next book, so, I went out and bought Talon the Celt's story, Night Embrace. The best thing about this series, is that it's like an action packed show that you can start and stop at any time. And there are still more books coming out!

Many of you know that I’m re-reading the Dark-Hunter series in chronological order, something I wasn’t able to do when I first read the series. Night Pleasures is the official first book in the series, and I have to say I enjoyed it just as much this time around! The book starts out with a bang when Amanda and Kyrian are unwillingly locked into magical handcuffs together, and it gets better from there. Night Pleasures is brimming with sexual tension, kickass daimon hunting (and one ass-kicking daimon), and laugh out loud humor that any paranormal romance fan could enjoy!

Genre: Paranormal Romance

"And the dirty joke fails," were my immediate thoughts after reading this book. Don't get me wrong Night Pleasure has the same fun humor that I enjoyed in Fantasy Lover, but in this case it felt stail. Like taking the same joke, but telling it differently. It doesn't quite make you laugh like the first one, and to be honest if it doesn't have a new spin what's the point of retelling it?

Kyrian has been betrayed to a point where he believes no one can truly love him or care about him. Amanda has never really been in love and her most recent boyfriend-- that she almost married--is a complete jerk. Which is pretty much the same build up for Fantasy Lover. In this case Kenyon had nothing new to bring to the story. The two get handcuffed together by the villain, they start pawing each other, they "fall in love," deny each other because they're not good enough for each other, seemingly betray each other, and then the happy ending. One can argue that the leading male isn't trapped in a book this time around, but really it's still the same story.

The only truly good part about this read was the shadow of humor from Fantasy Lover and a look into Kenyon's modern world of Greek mythology. The idea behind the Dark Hunters is truly awesome and the glimpse at the other characters whoms stories need to be told is truly a treat. Meeting the gods is fun, even though it was only one Goddess in the case of Night Pleasures.

In the end this book failed for me on an emotional level. It simply felt like a cheap imitation of Fantasy Lover. The only redeeming feature was that the reader gets a glimpse of Kenyon's Dark Hunter world. There are a lot more characters out there to be explored and mythology that I can't say no to. Even after this disappointment I'm ready to keep going with the series.

Sexual Content:
References to rape and talk about raping. Full graphic sex scenes as well as graphic talk.

Rating: 2/5- Average/disappointing, library check-out

I have to say it again. I love Sherrilyn's books. Her books are always filled with excitement, danger, humor, tenderness, passion, and love. Her characters come alive and you feel as though you know them personally. I've been lucky enough to chat with Sherrilyn online and she's a wonderful person. I eagerly await everyone of her books whether she is writting under the name Sherrilyn Kenyon or under Kinley MacGregor.
This book is the first book in the Dark-Hunter series but it has its roots in the novel FANTASY LOVER. The hero Kyrian of Thrace was the best friend of the hero in FANTASY LOVER, Julian. Both are from ancient Greece. Julian was cursed and has spent the centuries as a drawing in a book only to be released to pleasure women for a short time, that was until he met Grace who freed him and gave him a life. Kyrian was his best friend who gave up his soul to become a Dark-Hunter. He's a protecter of the innocent against Daimons who are "vampires on Steroids with a God Complex" In other words bad dudes. The dark-hunters are also a bit like vampires. They can't go out in the sun and are immortal. Kyrian is doing his job when he finds himself handcuffed to Amanda.
Amanda is a very quiet person. She is the stable one in her family of vampire hunters, fortune tellers, and witches. She doesn't believe in all that and it takes some convincing to bring her around. Being attacked, handcuffed to a vampire and watching him battle Diamons might just do it though. In the middle of all of this they fall in love.
Amanda finds a tenderness and passion in Kyrian that has been lost for centuries. He has been deeply hurt before and that pain is what helps drive him. She must show him that she can be trusted with his heart before he can be truely free of his demons.
I laughed and cried and laughed some more over this story. Its very exciting and thrilling and is a wonderful lead into other stories. I can't wait to read the future books.
This is definately a keeper!

2.5 stars

Not gonna be a fan of this series. This one was sub-par when compared to the fascinating series about the Black Dagger Brotherhood by JR Ward.
I found the writing to be choppy and one note. The story was short on plot but long on heaving chest/breast, just met ya but love ya, make my heart go pittypat scenes between the two main characters.
Going into this series, I was hoping to strike gold a second time (first was BDB by Ward). Unfortunately, this novel turned out to be low grade iron pyrite.

Kyrian and Amanda's story is the second in the Dark Hunter series, the first which deals directly with the Dark Hunters.

I am reading the series out of order, and was not as impressed with Night Pleasures as I have been with later novels. Kyrian and Amanda's story is a good one, but there are problems that go beyond the Dark Hunter trademarks of the hero and heroine falling madly in lust at first sight and such.

For one, Amanda is the only "normal" child in her strange family brood. Yeah, right. But it seems to take an awfully long time for her to come to grips with the fact that she's not any more normal than any of her siblings. Despite that she's a heroine with a good head on her shoulders and I appreciate that.

Kyrian, for his part, makes a very likable, vulnerable hero who is easy to love. Memories can be funny things and I don't hold it against him that his have power over him even after several centuries.

There are some inconsistencies between the universe in this novel and in later novels, but that's to be expected with this being the first one.

It's a middle of the pack novel for Kenyon, but it is clearly one in which she was still hammering out the details of the Dark Hunter world and it really doesn't detract from the story all that much.

Second time I read this (going in order now) and there was things I missed the first time I read it. Kyrian wakes up and finds him self handcuffed to a strange woman, not strange strange since he knows who her twin sister is, but after he realizes who she is not, he finds him self a bit of a jam. Desierious(?)kidnapped Amanda thinking she was Tabitha, anyway Desi knows he chose this sister due to her untapped powers that Amanda is to scared to claim. Well this story takes Kyrian and Amanda on an adventure that they have to fight Kyrains very nature. If this doesnt make mush scents my brain is tired, sorry.

Kyrian of Thrace walks the world in the shadows of darkness, in solitude. What other choice could he have after having sold his soul for revenge? Kyrian lives his life searching out those who would steal souls from the innocent; the Daimons. He is a Dark Hunter that hails from Roman times, where he was a Prince, and a Macedonian Commander. He's used to being in command of every situation, and always calling the shots. Then he meets Amanda Devereaux.
Amanda Devereaux is not having the greatest life lately. She's just been dumped by her fiancé-but after her family really laid on the hokey act for him, could she really blame him? And now her twin, Tabitha-whom she was REALLY steamed at-wants her to help her out by running down to her house to once again let the dog out. Sigh. When will she learn? When Amanda gets knocked upside the head upon entering Tabitha's house, and awakens to find herself handcuffed to a "buff stud in black leather", who claims to be a Dark Hunter--kinda like a vampire--she thinks she's learned. Hunter, as he claims that's his name, is one of the most awesome specimens of manhood she's ever seen-why, oh, why couldn't he be normal?
Once Kyrian get himself and Amanda released from the handcuff, he knows he's got to get away from this intriguing woman. He can't trust himself around her, because he's enticed by every little move she makes, every breath. And he can't allow himself to be drawn in by a woman for anything. His life didn't make allowances for that. But he finds himself drawn back to her, again and again, and when he finds out that her life is in danger-what else is he to do except take care of her himself?
Kyrian and Amanda light sparks off one another, and the contest to see who can one up the other makes for fun and lightning fast dialogue that will crack you up. The sexual tension sizzles off the pages, and the story is so fast paced and packed with action you trip over your own fingers getting to the next page. Filled with information and introductions to the Dark Hunter world, you'll find yourself reaching for the next book immediately-only it's not out yet!
Sherrilyn Kenyon has written a keeper and a half. This book is filled with scene after scene that will amaze and tantalize you, and wonder when Sherri visited this world of her creation. She uses humor, and pain, and takes us the whole spectrum of our emotions. Perfection is the only word I can use to describe it, and I don't know that that conveys all that I feel about this book. I've already reread the Advanced Reading Copy three times, and am slobbering in anticipation of the next Dark Hunter novel. This is a MUST read!

Ms. Kenyon's talent as a creative writer shines in this book about an ancient warrior who sells his soul for vengence and a promise to protect mankind. Set in sultry New Orleans, this imaginative novel brings a facinating twist to the vampiric legend.
Ms. Kenyon does a great job of weaving the main characters of this book with those from Fantasy Lover, which is an added treat for readers of that book. She does a good job of making this book capable of standing on it's own, and not relying too heavily on an understanding of the events in its predecesor.
Both main characters, Kyrian and Amanda, are worthy of their roles, and I thoroughly enjoyed Amanda's wit. "Yummy Leather Guy" INDEED! :)
It's a job well-done by Ms. Kenyon and sure to keep the world of the Dark Hunters alive and well on book store shelves! I know I'm making room with hopes for more to come!

Wow is all I can say! Being my first read by Sherrilyn Kenyon, it far surpassed anything I would have expected. I thought it was going to be another paranormal romance with the same themes or falling in love and fighting off evil, but it was really much more than that. You got introduced to a bunch of wonderful characters and there was a lot of greek mythology thrown in there which actually made it that much better. I would never have thought putting vampires and greek gods together would work, but it did!

This is a relatively new genre for me - paranormal romance, but I thought I would give it a try after reading Fantasy Lover. This is a continuation of the same theme where the "gods" manipulate and punish humans into becoming some type of immortal being to do their bidding. As in the last book, the heroine is a 21st century gal and the hero is an immortal from eons ago - ancient Greek era. I was not expecting this to be a history lesson, but it is really "light-weight", even for the genre. The hero and heroine fall in love too quickly and with very little effort. Again, I know this is supposed to be fantasy, but some of the stuff really stretches that to the limit. The weak plot is strung together with several HOT sex scenes. There are some characters in this book that will appear in her later books - I just hope that SK invents a better story for them.

I love Sherri's dark hunter series. This paranormal romance is
fun, sexy and very entertaining. A group of studly dudes are dark hunters. They protect humanity from assorted demons, daimons and gods gone bad. It started w/Fantasy Lover's Julian and this one has his best friend from ancient Greece, Kyrian. Sherri has the ability to combine vampires, demons, gods, and fun, sexy dialogue into one. I love her books and she also has a very detailed and beautiful website. Love her books and her website. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for a light paranormal romance to read. *WARNING* THESE BOOKS ARE HIGHLY ADDICTIVE AND WILL MAKE YOU WANT TO BUY THEM ALL!!! Enjoy.

I have to say after reading a couple of books in this series... it's so much fun!!! Completely over the top fantasy and I love it. To say that there isn't a formula would be a lie but... who cares? This book revolves around Kyrian and Amanda. Danger, romance and hot steamy sex abound and it's all very well written. Kenyon knows how to go all in and make you want more. The main characters fall in love after a couple of days??? Normally that would drive me nuts but for this series, it just works. If it ain't broke don't fix it! Keep 'em coming!

The official Book 1 in the Dark Hunter series! Oh such a fan-freaking-tastic book!

In Night Pleasures we get a really good breakdown of most things "dark-hunter". What they are. How they became. Who they are...etc....

Specifically we are learning about Kyrian, an ancient Greek General turned Dark Hunter after being betrayed by the woman he loved, and now is over two thousand years old.

Little Miss. Amanda, well she's just a little stinker isn't she. Determined to live her life in the boring lane, she has done everything possible to not accept her sorceress powers and hide behind a facade.

Until the day she meets Kyrian. Ooo how the sparks do fly!

The enemy has came into some serious powers and it's up to the DH's to figure out how to destroy them!

Insert Acheron....

Dear Zeus...the world of the dark hunters just wouldn't be near as good if they didn't have our dear, dear, sweetling Acheron! (Duh, right!)

Even rereading this series, I fell in love with Kyrian all over again. Sherrilyn Kenyon knows how to deliver such deliciously tortured men for us to enjoy. Amanda wasn't found lacking either. Excellent read!

This book was amazing. It had everything you could possibly want in a paranormal romance. The author managed to create a whole new world (well, with a few old faces) that just seems so real. I absolutely loved every page of this book. Kyrian is a perfect tortured hero that hides his feelings behind a tough-guy facade. He was so amazing. And Amanda was great too. I loved seeing them together. They had great chemistry, and there was some amazing humor thrown in between. They had me laughing, they had me crying, and they had me holding my breath. And, most of all, they left me wanting more. I want more!!!

This book is really sexy. The author excels at writing really good sex scenes. Other than that, there is not much else holding this book together. Typical of this author, the hero has a horrendous past that makes him an emotional cripple. I think you can see where the plot is going from that. The heroine will rescue him and make him whole. There is no journey to love in this book, the characters simply love each other. The plot is more focused on action. I enjoyed reading it, but will not read other books in the series, as the book lacked the emotional poignancy that I look for. As a further note, the author has incredible imagination (as displayed in most of her works), but I wish she could get beyone portraying her heroes with terrible backgrounds. She needs to use her imagination a bit more instead of recycling her old plots.

The first of the amazing new Dark-Hunter series from author Sherrilyn Kenyon. Kyrian of Thrace, an experienced fighter and one time heir to the throne now is an immortal fighter for the human race. Stalking the very creatures that thrive on the souls of countless humans everyday, you would think him some kind of glorious hero. However, this heroic hunter finds himself with a dark past and a now even darker future. Waking up chained to an ordinary, very conservative human, Amanda Devereaux, was not exactly his idea of a wonderful time. Especially now that he finds himself attracted to her, a woman betrayed him once in his life; he wasn't going to let it happen again. They will have to fight together if they want to stay alive and they will have to trust each other in the end.

She did it again. I could not put this one down, it traps you within the first few pages. I have been patiently awaiting this new novel and was not disappointed. Night Pleasures is another great book and I look forward to more from this author. This one is a keeper!
Although this appears to be a first in the Dark Hunter series, the author has included the characters from her Fantasy Lover novel - (which is also a great book) Grace and Julian's story. It was good to have an update on their lives.
It is hard for me to believe that this same author wrote Master of Desire and Master of Seduction, (as Kinley MacGregor) which I have also read and consider to be average, they just do not compare to the writing she's done as Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Sherrilyn Kenyon gets better and better with this first novel in her Dark-Hunter series.
'Night Pleasures' is a great read, full of the spirited characters that have come to be one of Ms. Kenyon's trademarks. She mixes Greek mythology, vampires, and a magickally eccentric family that makes the gals on 'Charmed' look like The Waltons.
Kyrian of Thrace is every woman's wet dream, but Ms. Kenyon infuses him with so much humanity that he doesn't come off as being a typical cardboard romantic hero. I'd have to say that he is a hybrid alpha-beta male. He's charming, loyal, brave, infuriating and sexy as all hell.
Amanda, like her sister Grace (whom hopefully you've met by now from 'Fantasy Lover') is a spunky heroine who believes herself blessedly 'normal', and likes it that way. Of course, it's always the ones who swear they're normal who turn out to be anything but.
I love the fact that Ms. Kenyon's heroines are unashamedly sexual, and they enjoy oogling over gorgeous men. And from the description of Kyrian in the book, I certainly wouldn't toss him out of my bed for eating crackers!
Though at first glance this novel might come off as another vampire romance, Ms. Kenyon creates an entirely new mythos for our favourite undead creatures.
There are gods and goddesses with typical bad attitudes, a psychotic demigod with a serious need to talk with Sigmund Freud, a Squire with a taste for hacking and grunge fashion, who just so happens to drive a Jaguar, and an old woman who makes some rather lethal dolls.
For those of us who loved Grace and Julian, they're back too, with kids. By the way, Julian still hasn't quite figured out how to drive a car.
Oh, and did I mention that this book has some really funny moments, like when Amanda wakes up handcuffed to the insanely gorgeous Kyrian?
Oh, and I forgot to mention that Kyrian is about two-thousand years old and has mastered modern slang. For those of us a little tired of the typical 'old-world' bloodsucker.
A fun romp, and now I eagerly await Talon's story. He's a hunky Celt who could give The Croc Hunter a few pointers.

Well, I didn't love this one. I liked Kyrian's back story. I thought Amanda suited him well. I thought the crossroads at the end was fitting. But the sex scenes were ho hum and let's face it, that's the main reason to read these types of books. I also thought it was over too quickly, there wasn't a lot of detail. I really enjoyed the first book, though, so I'll keep reading.

I liked the book but hated the twin sisters. I read this as book one since that is what her website said, but here it is called book two. Maybe I missed something I needed to know. The heroine had her moments but she was soooo weak and eager to please her twin that she seemed to have no sense.

Sherrilyn Kenyon does it again - writing a wonderful fantasy romance. Her "-Hunter" series promises to be an exciting one. She fully develops the mythology surrounding her characters and slyly introduces several new players, which the reader immediately becomes attached to and wants to know more about.
As a series long fan of both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, I appreciate the detail that Kenyon shows in describing the strict code and rules that the -Hunters will abide by.
This book is exciting, sensual and detailed. I highly recommend it as a great read!

I bought this book after having tried Fantasy Lover which was much more funny and entertaining than this novel. All the ingredients of a popular, modern romance novel are there (see all the glowing reviews just on the store.com). Yet I found the plot meandered around a lot and I skim read several sections to get on with the real action. I had the sense while reading the book that Kenyon is laying the ground work for the future Dark Hunters series at the expense of this particular story. But, this was a good trashy read, and I always like to read books where the author has a sense of humour!

This is another series I can look forward to with relish! I was very pleased w/the character development in this book. The dialogue was snappy, and memorable. You can see lots of future books based on the characters in this one.
If you like Karen Marie Moning, you will love these books. I much prefered this one over the 1st in the series. The female protaganist is wonderful. She does not take any of the male macho stuff, and has great lines.
I really liked the relationship that the guys (other dark hunters) had, and can not wait to read the future stories.

I bought this book (and unfortunately 4 more) in a boxed set to support a "local artist". Sherrilyn Kenyon is from my small town in Georgia, and I thought that after reading the rave reviews, I would go ahead and buy her boxed set to support her writing addiction.

This book- is beyond bad. It's terribly written. Mrs. Kenyon states that she is an English major, but there were several glaring errors. The overuse of the words : "hiss" and "hissing" made the book seem very comical and not in a good way... in a "why am I wasting my time reading this garbage" way. As someone who studied Ancient Greece and Rome I was not impressed with her attempts to blend "the classics" into her novel.

There was very little plot. The plot that was there was highly predictable. I really hope the next books in the series don't have me pulling my hair out as much as this one did. I may as well attempt to read them. The characters are not strongly balanced or introduced.

There were definitely way too many bad puns in this book. They were meant to be funny, but they weren't even remotely cute.

Let this be a lesson to you: Just because you CAN write a novel- it doesn't necessarily mean that you SHOULD.

I found this interesting, if a tad improbable. The heroine was witty, but there were definite holes in how she developed her powers. First she was normal, liked her life like that, and didn't want anything to do with the supernatural. Suddenly he 'read her mind' and knew she had all these powers, and just like that she accepted them and the bad guy unlocked them? Not seeing it.

While the story was good, and moved quickly, the hero, too, lacked realism. Apparently all the heroes, these Dark-Hunters, are tall blondes from a few thousand years ago. Up until recently, the average height was about 5'5"; yes, there were those taller around, but not many. Ms. Kenyon has obviously found all of them for her series.

Recommended, but I'm afraid once you've read one, you've read all the series.

Have to have pointy Teeth & Leather? Well Kenyon's books are for you!! Her Dark Hunter Characters are Lovable & Unique..Unlike Many of the other "vampire" themed Novels I've read which seem to have the "Same" character, but with a different Name, background and Girlfriend....LOL!
Kenyon has a knack for mixing the Modern with the past w/ a Somewhat Spunky & Punky Twist!!
In this Book, our Yummy Dark Hunter find's himself Handcuffed to a Woman who Tries to Deny the reality of Who & What she is. Her family consists of Witches & Vampire Hunters :) Who could have guessed this of a Straight laced Amanda Devereaux. Again, Sherri greats us with a mix of Laughs & Steamy Love scenes.
If you Love guys in Leather...You gotta read her books :)

This is my favorite Kenyon book by far. ( closely followed by "Fantasy Lover").Yet another story about a handsome god-like man falling for a normal gal because no one else had loved him before. I tell you what, I think any gal would end up falling for any one of these dark hunter types with the way they ooze sexuality so this premise is getting a little old... but anyway. Hot sizzling sexual tension in this one and I like that the girl isn't a wuss. I get a little tired of the way Kenyon loves to torture her leading men with unbearable pain from pent up sexual desires,but it's still a nice story with nice characters and fun smart-mouthed dialogue. It'll even get you tearing up in some spots. Definitely a keeper. I think that I've found the dark hunter for me and I'm gonna stick with this one.

A man without a soul, destined to protect humankind. A woman who has enough heart and soul for both of them...

Kyrian has hunted for centuries, solitary in the darkness. Then Amanda stumbles into his life, full of light and she makes him remember things best forgotten. She makes him long to love again, even though he knows he shouldn't. Together they must face a god to win the greatest prize of all...each other.

Sherrilyn Kenyon is amazing!

Exciting Paranormal Romance. Kyrian is sexy and he alone is worth the read. The chemistry between the characters constantly leads them to a steamy sex scene. During one scene unique in this, the couple held a element of a shared power while in the act. Hot!

Lots of excitment is stuffed in these pages with no room left to get bored. But a warning, SK's story telling is often like that kid's whose making up all the rules as they go along. Some out of the blue thing happens, then, sure to follow; some simple matter-of-fact explanation. It reads like that. Because once upon a time, cause this is why, cause that's the rule, cause ...

I loved this book! I am not a huge fan of vamipre stories but this one book has totally changed my mind.
We briefly met Kyrian of Thrace in Fantasy Lover. In this story he is a Dark-Hunter that goes after the really bad guys. He has traded his soul to seek vengence on his wife, but unable to kill her he now walks the world in the shadows of night.
Amanda has powers that she is unaware of or unwilling to admit too. She does not believe in the supernatural, or dark things. She is an accountant and feels that she is not a part of her wild gypsy family. (Selena from Fantasy Lover is her sister)
These two unlikely people get paired together in a very unlikely situation. As a result there are laughs aplenty, great romance, and a lot of the supernatural! These two characters are perfect for each other. Hunter does not give his trust easily, and Amanda is not even aware of her appeal.
You will not be let down by this fast page turning read. Plenty of the trademark sensuality and humor that is Sherrilyn Kenyon can be found in this book.

I LOVED this book. This is my second read by Miss Kenyon..DEFINITELY NOT my last!! MY GOD!! Kyrian was sooo delish I could have died!! amanda was his perfest match. I loved this story...yes it was totally unbelievable,but thats the fun of it! I really enjoyed revisiting with Julian and Grace from "Fantasy Lover" as well..its always fun to see what is happening with past favorite characters....I highly recommend this!! Its soo entertaining!

I was disappointed in NIGHT PLEASURES, especially after reading all the great reviews about it. Sad to say, the book actually reminded me of a poorly scripted, poorly acted made-for-TV movie on the Sci-Fi channel. NIGHT PLEASURES is the story of vampire hunter Kyrian, who must face his torturous past to help protect Amanda, a mortal sorceress, from being killed by a demigod. Amanda, in the meantime, strives to help Kyrian, a vampire himself, regain his soul. While the plot itself is not bad, the way it's written is. A lot of the story is cheesy, especially the action sequences (which feature somersaults and lame one-liners). In fact, the only thing I liked about NIGHT PLEASURES was Acheron, the fascinating Dark Hunter leader (judging from the author's website, it looks like there's going to be a book about him published in 2007).

Anyway, NIGHT PLEASURES is book #1 in the Dark-Hunter series, set in modern times. However, it would be helpful to read its prologue, FANTASY LOVER (which I enjoyed immensely). I also liked book #2 in the Dark-Hunter series, NIGHT EMBRACE, and am looking forward to reading book #3.

Amanda Devereaux just wants to have a quiet, boring life. One that is the direct opposite of her vampire hunting sister's. But when Amanda awakens to find herself handcuffed to a stud with fangs, her life takes a turn for the paranormally adventurous. Night Pleasures, a direct sequel to the previous Fantasy Lover, launches a new series that will quickly be filling my shelves, if the books continue to be as fun as this one was. Recommended.

This was a great start to the Dark Hunter series. I loved how it tied in with Fantasy Lover and Kyrian and Julian found out each other were still alive. Amanda and Kyrian's meeting and banter was fun loving and funny and I love Kyrian's explosive jump right in nature. You meet a lot of important characters in this book and beginning to get to know others that will follow in later books - very good.

Night Pleasures mixed Vampires with Greek Mythology. I don't think that's something I've seen before in fiction, but I have to say, they mix well. There is a whole new world created in this series, with all different kinds of hunters and creatures. It made for an interesting read.

Every once you take a break from reading those intellecutally driven books and read something just for the sake of reading it. This book was enjoyable in that sense. It didnt stimulate any deep thinking but it was relaxing in the fact that you could just read something without looking for any hidden meaning. All the characters in this book are considered "drop dead gorgeous" and have mind controlloing powers and perfectly sculpted bodies. They also constantly have sex. Although not too realistic, Sherrilyn Kenyon has created a novel that was fun to read. And contrary to most trashy romance novels, this story actually had a very interesting, unique plot!

Awesome. I wasn't too sure about this does but I've gotten hook. The action, love, and plot are flawless. I read this in one day. I've already purchased the next few books and can't radiotherapy for the next plot to begin.

I enjoyed this. Thanks to the reviewer who compared it to BDB. Not as engrossing in my opinion but BDB is the best of the best. I had this on my to read list for years - bought the first set quite a while back. Glad I did - a fun idea, well-written and an easy read.

I purchased this novel with high hopes, considering all the rave here. I had no idea this novel was a romantic comedy! The hero Kyrian, is your typical fabio-esque vampire complete with leather clothing and an-un-thracian appearence. The heroine Amanda (a blackbelt!) is a silly chit whose internal monologue was painful to read. Tired cliches abound in this novel...

I honestly tried to finish this book, considering how popular this author is. But the dialog was too painful to read (the banter reads like a tv-sitcom aimed for 13 year olds..) "Yummy leather guy?" "Do Me Gorgeous Man Man is a Vampire?" Please.

I guess I thought this novel was meant to be serious paranormal. Instead it read like something a fanfic writer might produce. 2 stars. Not my thing I guess.

I am not sure what I am displeased with more Ms. Kenyon's repetitiveness about the main characters' throbbing need for each other or the UTTER trashy reading of this book. How many times do we have to hear about the main characters' yearning for each other??? And how many times do we have to hear the main character's self loathing...even though he is gorgeous, intelligent, considerate, amazing, a warrior and is a thousand years old...but for some odd reason he has it in his head that he is not worthy of any love at all. But alas he finds a girl who loves him almost immediately (so would I if I were to meet him but the narrator makes her sound like a half-witted nincompoop). Ahhhh but he yearns for her sooooooooooo much and he has never met someone like her in ALL his life. So far fetched!!! seriously folks maybe just maybe I would have overlooked so many of my complaints had it been a better narrator. REALLY REALLY hated her adaptation of southern accent. She made almost all the characters sound very stupid and very TRASHY.

***I really hated **listening** to it so much that it compelled me to write my first dang review online. boom!

There are already many reviews here so I'll keep this one short.

This is the book that made me want to continue reading the series. This is the first book I read where the hero was actually in danger, where the hero was actually hurt and needed help. He wasn't this unmoving boring rock that never bled. Kyrian remained a bad boy full of action and force, yet we also saw his fear and his hurt. Amanda alone saw his vulnerability and wanted to help. This is an amazing book. Read it and you won't regret it.

AG is a wonderful author and I hope her future books will continue in this theme.

This is a great book, and so far a really good series. I would give the story 5 starts BUT only gave it 3 because the kindle edition has so many spelling errors in it that its very hard to read and very distracting. Its hard to get into the story with so many errors. Ive always found a few in most kindle edition books but never this bad. It makes me nervous to get the next book.

I really love this book. Sherrilyn Kenyon is one of my favorite paranormal romance novelist. She really rocks. I love the wise cracks from Nick, however I didn't care for Tabitha or Esmeralda. I just didn't care for these two characters, they were just so annoying in their views on vampires. They could have been kept from the book. But all in all this book was super.

Heavy on the erotica and the corny dialogue, I still enjoyed the story. You really have to stretch your imagination with these tales of Greek gods, spirits and vampire like creatures. Everything works out in the end even when the situations are beyond absurd. But I am hooked and will continue to read this series.

Well, I got this book for free as part of an auction of mostly Anita Blake books. I haven't finished it yet, and I'm not sure I'll be able to. I'm writing this review as a guide to others like me who love the beautiful, dark, cold and dangerous vampires of the Anne Rice genre - here are a few clues to help you decifer whether this book is for you.

Characters: Amanda, the heroine, is a sweetly innocent accountant with a very weird family. She's slightly inconsistent - she tries to be normal as possible and doesn't do any of the crazy weird things like witching and vampire hunting, and because of it, she considers herself boring. She's very feminine in her pink sweater, comes across as being a bit soft, then suddenly as they're being attacked manages to kick some vampire butt and mentions she is a black belt. She also seems more freaked out by the hero's driving than by fanged soul stealers jumping at her in the night.

Kyrian of Thrace, the hero (if the name Kyrian of Thrace made you roll your eyes and gag, there's your first clue this book may not be for you) is essentially your typical romance novel hero, with fangs. Yipee! He has the body (pretty much literally) of a Greek god, a perpetual unexplained tan, skintight leather pants, caring, protective instincts, and a tortured past. He dates back to ancient Greece, but tends to finish off sentences in French. ???

Okay, plot. A bunch of the plot and the premise were actually pretty good. Vampires according to Greek Mythology. Quite intriguing. Hero and heroine meet by waking up locked in a basement handcuffed together. Heck, yeah. But the general cornyness of the book kind of ruined the plot for me. Of course upon seeing eachother they fall immediately in *cough* lust. They are released and have to hide somewhere for the day so our perpetually tanned hero can hide from the sun. That day is pretty much continual looped oh-my-God-you're-hot-kiss-kiss-pat-pat-no-we-musn't. Hero can't trust women after the one who betrayed him thousands of years ago, and heroine isn't particularly fond of the idea of sleeping with a corpse. If this last paragraph made you run away screaming, there's your second clue this book may not be for you.

After the initial day spent panting over eachother, they manage to get separated and part ways. Neither can forget the other though, and hero keeps having tender protective urges concerning the heroine. Sniff. So he shows up to pick her up from work in his lamborghini. Woo woo! You guessed it - there's your third clue this book may not be for you.

Okay, not going to spoil any of the rest just in case you like romance novels. If you like romance novels, you may like this book. If most romance novels make you retch, then this book is not for you.

If the rest of this series is as good as this book. Ms Kenyon will get my business. Kyrian is torment hero. Amanda is has secret she doesn't wish to acknowledge. These two are perfect for each other. The scene were Amanda helps Kyrian overcome the fears of his past is steamy. The relationship that grows between these two burns up the pages. Bring the next book out soon, please!!

This book was pure fun all the way through! Outlandish, over the top, campy, can all describe NIGHT PLEASURES by Sherillyn Kenyon. It was all of that but also very sexy and quite touching in places when you learn more about Kyrian and how he came to be what he is - a Dark Hunter. Fabulous reading! Wonderful romance!

The previous review of this book is what sold me to try it, and, was I hooked fast! The story is original with many wonderfully witty characters. The Dark-Hunters and their ties to ancient gods, fighting good vs evil, and other realm "hunters" are truly fascinating and I applaud the author on her wonderful imagination! I also like the fact that Amanda wasn't too squeamish about accepting her true feelings. She went through the initial heroine's "Oh, I can't love him because..." but then she got over it and involved herself in loving her man and having quite the adventure! Michelle

I started this book at 8:30pm and couldn't put it down, litteraly, I read straight thru the night and finished at 4:00am the next day! Ms. Kenyon brings you right into the story and doesn't let go unit the ride is over, twists and turns and suprises along the way keep this book going and the reader enthralled.
I have read a couple of her books and this was the only one that I had to read front to back in one sitting (with many different positions :)
I highly recommend this book and her other Dark-Hunter series.... it makes you want to be a squire just so you can be around these hunky characters!

Big Bad Hero meets His Match!, Amanda and Kyrian are Great together! They have ups and downs and some hot steamy times, this book just makes you want to read it till your done so you can find out what happens to these two. this is the first in the dark hunter series and these characters also pop up in future books which makes it even better as you get a look at what their future brings them, I cannot find a downside anywhere!!!

SHERRILYN KENYON IS MIND SHATTERINGLY SUPERB!!!!

She has created an eccellent twist to the everyday Vampire story. All of her books in the series thus far have been awesome. Kyrian of Night Pleasures is a hero to die for. All of the supporting characters are tremendous. I love her style of writing, and have not been able to put her books down. Her fantasy world is so real. I reccomend purchasing all the books in the series.

I Vant to suck your Blood! It looks like another vampire romance, but it is not. This book takes the genre to a whole other level. The characters are complex and nuanced, with shades of good and evil in each of them.
Great Protagonist, and spine chilling ending.

I read for pleasure - sometimes to learn something. I'm about half way through this book and will be real happy to be done with it.
The sex every other page thing is waaay stupid - not tantalizing, just stupid. Unfortunately, after reading the good reviews, I bought a series of her books. UGH!!! Good thing they are a fast read........

This is a great book! I have only recently started reading paranormal romances. I started with Christine feehan, who seems to lack the humor that Ms. Kenyon has. I have read it at night and during my breaks, and any other time that I can fit it in.

I strongly recommend this book.

VERY sexy hero. But there is also a fine story plot. You have to feel sorry for him and are glad of the ending. It also re-introduces another of her old world charaters from a previous novel. He was about as sexy as they can get. It is nice to find out what happened to his life in the end.

I have to say that I am a so so fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon. But I could not put this book down. It was money well spent. I look forward to her dark series and you can bet I will be buying another of her books without a thought. Great book and great story try it you will not be dissapointed I wasn't.

I loved the book. I thought that it was as well-executed as the other Dark Hunter books. Each book stands alone but, together, they form a complex puzzle of mythology, legend, and romance spanning centuries and beyond. If you like romance books, vampire books, mythology books, or are just looking for something different, give this book a try.

I've read several books by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Although I started backwards, I decided to catch up and begin at the beginning to follow all my favorite lonely, handsome dark-hunters, were-hunters and dream-hunters. Quarky heroines give the books a nice twist and quick witted banter is fun to read. Laughter is good for the soul.

This book was so good it almost left me speechless when I closed it. It's one of those books that at the end you say 'perfect'. Awesome book, with a new idea of the paranormal world that just adds loads the imagination. Aya

This is a good one. The story line of Amanda and Kieran flows really well, so you want to turn the page to find out what happens next. Being the second book in the series you are still learning about the characters' background so it interested me to the last page.

Now this is a well written book with lots of colorful characters to read about. I could NOT put the book down. It's the type of book that keeps your interest alive. Night Pleasures is a well written book. Hats off to Cherrilyn Kenyon!!

Didn't enjoy as much as the first but kept my interest enough. LOVE Sherrilyn's humor as well as romance and action. Lead characters were likeable but not as much as the first book. Will keep reading the series.

This was just as fun to read as the first one. I love the darkness of it and the suspense. I couldn't put it down, I think I'm fully addicted to her writing style now and I can't wait to get my hands on the third book!

Night Pleasures is a winner the story line was fun to read, and really got into the characters heads I just love that. The plot also had some twists that were interesting and added some depth to the story as well a very good read and one I would truly recommend over and over.

I've been an avid Sherrilyn Kenyon reader in the last four days and I have to say, this is better than FANTASY LOVER. WIth more humor and a less repetitive reminder of how the lovers can't be together (though still comes up after EVERY chapter in the end), this one is packed with more steamy love scenes and the characters are more in tuned to each other, making it an excellent read.

I LOVE SHERRILYN KENYON, AND LOVED THIS STORY. LIKE THE OTHERS, THIS HAS A GREAT STORY LINE AND GREAT CHARACTERS. I HAVENT READ ONE OF THESE BOOKS THAT I DIDN'T HAVE A HARD TIME PUTTING DOWN. GREAT!!! I CANT WAIT FOR FUTURE BOOKS FROM HER TO HIT THE BOOKSHELVES!

I am a johnny come lately with Ms. Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. I boy was it worth the wait. I've never enjoyed a paranormal story such as thas NP. I look forward to sitting down and catching up on the series and awaiting future publications. I am disappointed however that I must wait until 2007 to read Ash's story.

Not once did I get annoyed with any of the characters in this story. All were well developed, along with an excellent storyline!

This is the first book by Sherrilyn Kenyon I've read, and will most likely be the last. I thought the underlying story was interesting and enjoyed parts of the book very much, but it seemed like every other paragraph was a sex scene. It ruined it for me. Though her sex scenes were well written, if I'd wanted to read a trashy romance, I wouldn't be looking in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. It just wasn't what I had expected.

This book was not a disappointment major or otherwise. I look forward the rest of the series quite eagerly. It has taken a common story and turned it into something quite unique and thrilling. I can't wait till she eventually does Ash's story.

Sherrilyn Kenyon! ^5!
I must say that I have been waiting for this book for just about 2 years, being a dark-hunter.com addict, I'm not dissapointed.
If you like sensual, sophisticated and sarcastically witty males, pick up this book! Can not wait for the rest of the series.

I really like this book. I thought it was the first one but Fantasy Lover has Julian and Grace in it. I thought it was different and I loved the twist it had. To set it in New Orleans was great. I have read all in the series and can't wait for the rest.

Kyrian kept me at the edge of my seat. Grace is a strong woman who draws you in. She is not the typical heroine in one of the romance novels who needs saving, since she is strong and sure of herself. This book was erotic and enticing and I would highly recommend it!

I almost stopped this book in the first couple of chapters. I've only done that with one other book. This book is an empirical proof, like rap proves that anyone can be a rock star...this book proves that anyone can be an author.

You have "good" vampires (who look like Greek gods) acting like "Highlander" while battling bad vampires, all under the direction of Greek gods. I doubt you could get any more cliche' than this. The amazing thing is that Kenyon seems to have been extremely (financially) successful doing it. She's generated well over 50 books in the last 10 years. You would have to think that its made her a reasonable sum of cash, although I couldn't find a networth on her.

The only positive that I can think of is that she has a nice breezy style that's easy to digest and moves quickly. Every think (thing...Freudian slip) that has to do with plot.....sucks.

An annoying detail for me was Kenyon creating a helicopter that could fly faster than the speed of sound. Helicopters are speed limited since the blade loses lift based on how fast the chopper is moving forward. Move too fast, and the air rushing past the chopper is at the same speed as the blade, thus no lift when the blade is moving toward the rear. Move fast enough, and this dead spot grows to a point where there is not enough lift to keep the chopper in the sky. But, you could have found this out by reading Wikipedia, although in fairness, I don't think Wikipedia was fully developed at the time this book was published.

In short, avoid this turkey.

Call me crazy, but when I spend 7 - 8 dollars on a PAPERback book, I expect to get value for money spent. NOT so with this book. I wasn't expecting an intellectual read, but I was expecting something worthy of being published. My bad.

I read the Fantasy Lover and loathed it. I can say that the author is consistent. Same quality, or rather lack thereof, as her previous work. If nothing else, this book confirmed for me that I will be hard pressed to read ANYthing else by this author. Your IQ may actually DROP after reading one of her 'novels'.

The characters are idiotic and unrealistic to the extreme. ("Wake up, yummy leather guy." ?) At times I felt like I was reading about [...] teenagers with the incessant hormonal surges at the strangest times of (supposed) plot development.

And again with the hissing and growling. . . . Cave-man mentality . . . that is expressed in these pages. No imagination for character development, plot development, or sexual tension. WEAK story line.

I could go on and on "hissing and growling" but it won't be with pleasure . . .

After reading the reviews below, I was eager to delve into these stories by Kenyon. Boy was I led down the alley of disappointment. When in the first few pages the heroine in a perilous situation said "Wake up yummy leather guy" I should have put the book down. Unfortunately I suffered through the entire book in the hopes that the characters would improve. I liked some of the mythos Kenyon created, but her character are almost all idiotic, self-important, over sexed, and have the intuition of a rock.
In a nutshell if you like your hero's brooding and stupid and your heroine's dingy but indignant then these are the books for you.

I love the way Ms Kenyon handles her characters and plotline. She effectively combines mystery and romance with a touch of humor. I highly recommend this book and have recommended it freely to friends

I really liked this book I've read several books from the dark hunter series and love them, I started of with bad moon rising which is vanes brother fangs book and I loved that I got to see what happend when fang was in a coma, I recommend this book to everyone, and any sherrilyn kenyon book.

its written by sherrilyn kenyon

enough said!!!!

its reali awesome...

her books are terrific and once u start reading, u will be hook

im a series kinda fan

there's nothing more addictive than reading her dark-hunters novel

cant wait her unleash the night

I loved this character the best so far. I kinda felt like he losses some of him badass-ness midway through the book but the beginning was great. There were several times when I laughed out loud. I couldn't put it down. I loved kyrian it was a nice change of pace from Julian. I loved the twilight series so if your looking for another series I would highly recommend the dark hunter series. Although its not your typical vampire story but the Greek mythology brings soon much more to the story. Its a total fantasy series and sucks you into their world.

I stumbed apon this book when I was out in the local book store and boy I wish I kept my money. Don't get me wrong,. the book was funny,.. but it wasn't all that. Ms Kenyon needs to brush up more on the vampire legends before writing out anymore books. Frankly Christine Feehan and Laurall Hamilton are much better authors, because they describe their characters more realistically and have a much more solid basis then Sherrilyn Kenyon.
I mean come on,.. a dark hunter is suppose to be a vampire hunting and killing other vampires yet, these guys eat pizza and regular food? Sounds like a cheap substitute to the real thing. They sound like their more involved with how good they look than doing what they're suppose to do. The story has no real basis, it lacks no orignality and it seems more like a Buffy sitcom than a solid story, standing on it's own. Another thing I noticed is that according to mythlogy the Greek Gods were selfish and therefore do not like to share their domain. So what gives Artemis the power to raise the dead? Isn't that Hades' job? After all He IS the lord of the underworld. What I mean about that, is that Ms Kenyon says nothing about how Artemis is able to get these souls from Hades. Because once they die, a mortal's soul belongs to Hades,.. right? Ms Kenyon seems to have totally left him out of the picture.
The concept and premise behind her books overall needs alot more work and research as well. Her stories are confusing and need to be better played out. Another thing I noticed is that she made the villians aka the Daimons to easy for the dark Hunter to kill. I remember reading a sceen in her book about the hero and that character cliff were attacked by a group of daimon. However, as soon as the hero kills one of them, the rest started to run away!?! Come on, people vampires aren't going to run away that easily nor should they be so easy to kill. Ms Kenyon needs to play her characters more realistically that way it gives them an edge. My overall opinion is that Ms Kenyon needs to get better, more concrete foundation for her published works.

Call me crazy, but when I spend 7 - 8 dollars on a PAPERback book, I expect to get value for money spent. NOT so with this book. I wasn't expecting an intellectual read, but I was expecting something worthy of being published. My bad.

I read the Fantasy Lover and loathed it. I can say that the author is consistent. Same quality, or rather lack thereof, as her previous work. If nothing else, this book confirmed for me that I will be hard pressed to read ANYthing else by this author. Your IQ may actually DROP after reading one of her 'novels'.

The characters are idiotic and unrealistic to the extreme. ("Wake up, yummy leather guy." ?) At times I felt like I was reading about [...] teenagers with the incessant hormonal surges at the strangest times of (supposed) plot development.

And again with the hissing and growling. . . . Cave-man mentality . . . that is expressed in these pages. No imagination for character development, plot development, or sexual tension. WEAK story line.

I could go on and on "hissing and growling" but it won't be with pleasure . . .

After reading the reviews below, I was eager to delve into these stories by Kenyon. Boy was I led down the alley of disappointment. When in the first few pages the heroine in a perilous situation said "Wake up yummy leather guy" I should have put the book down. Unfortunately I suffered through the entire book in the hopes that the characters would improve. I liked some of the mythos Kenyon created, but her character are almost all idiotic, self-important, over sexed, and have the intuition of a rock.
In a nutshell if you like your hero's brooding and stupid and your heroine's dingy but indignant then these are the books for you.

I love the way Ms Kenyon handles her characters and plotline. She effectively combines mystery and romance with a touch of humor. I highly recommend this book and have recommended it freely to friends

its written by sherrilyn kenyon

enough said!!!!

its reali awesome...

her books are terrific and once u start reading, u will be hook

im a series kinda fan

there's nothing more addictive than reading her dark-hunters novel

cant wait her unleash the night