Book 1), Born of Night (The League

"They call him Nemesis. Once a renegade assassin, now a warrior-soldier sworn to protect the innocent from the ruthless mercenaries throughout the galaxies."
This implies quite the hero, and Nykyrian lives up to this promise of a troubled hero who thinks he needs to love from afar. He has always admired Kiara when she danced. Now his feelings lead him to accept the job to keep her alive. Kiara is intrigued, intimidated and confused by Nykyrian. She knows she can trust him with her life and to keep her safe, but can she trust him with her heart? She realizes that he does love her but cannot say it.
Kiara has a death contract on her because her father, Predident of the Gourish Consolate, Commander Tiarun Biardi, refused to be intimidated by Probekin threats. Against his better judgement, he hires Nykyrian but when it looks like Nykyrian has harmed his daughter, Commander Tiarum puts a contract on Nykyrian. Not the best move, since Kiara has married Nykyrian and danger to him is danger to her. Just being married to Nykyrian put her in danger, because he has many enemies. One who captures her and Nykyrian goes to save her knowing it will cost him his life...
This is a fast paced adventure with many emotional scenes that make the book hard to put down. The HEA ending is a must for my enjoyment of a book... and I did enjoy this one.

The story line could be very good, but the author is a little too enamored with the characters' sexuality. The attempt at torrid romance/sex really interferes with what could be an excellent book. Definitely light reading.

CAUTION SPOILERS

This book has all the things I didn’t like about the Dark Hunter series and the reasons why I stopped reading Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Since this was the first book she’d written and a different series, I was expecting it to be different than the DH series. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The “world”, the setting, some details might be different, but it’s basically the same formula for every other book I’ve read that she’s written. Even some of the names were either the same as the ones in Dark Hunter or very similar to them.

Nykyrian is the overly tortured hero. Now, I love me some tortured heroes but this is just too much. The whole excessive beatings and abusive behavior by everyone known to the hero has gotten a bit old and unfortunately featured in every book. It feels contrived, drama just for the sake of drama and instead of feeling sorry for the hero I just want to roll my eyes with every discovery of his abuse.

I don’t even want to get started on the heroine, Kiara. She was spoiled, whiny and utterly annoying. She complains when any of her protectors do the stuff necessary to protect her. She wants to do stuff her way even when her way can get her killed. Nykyrian saves her life and she gets all high and mighty about how he did it. Instead of being grateful that he just saved her life and she didn’t end up dead, she’s disgusted with him because he killed the people that were sent to rape, torture and kill her.

My favorite part in the whole book was when Syn finally told her off for her stupidity. And the thing I liked most in this book was the character of Syn.

There’s plot points that didn’t make much sense and also seemed contrived. The character of Nemesis was one of those that I didn’t really understand. Nemesis is Nykyrian’s alter ego because Nykyrian is marked for death. But then Nemesis is also marked for death so basically it defeats the purpose of having an alter ego. Better to stay as Nykyrian since he’s better known as the more accomplished assassin.

But the most contrived part and shows how thin the plotting really is, is when Kiara finds videos showing the abuse Nykyrian has gone through. She has just shown him how disgusting she thinks he is because he killed the people that were after her and feels little remorse, and she finds some videos marked as “Private”. The videos show Nykyrian through the years starting off as a young boy. They are videos of all the horrible abuse he’s suffered at the hands of his adoptive father and brothers, schoolmates and even intimate moments with girls in the privacy of their bedrooms. However, it does not state how those videos were recorded. Unless he’s in a similar situation as in “The Truman Show” or he had a full time film crew hiding and documenting every moment of his life, these videos are not possible. But it serves its purpose as Kiara, after seeing the unbearable abuse, now feels sorry for him and they have sex.

But even with all that. Even thinking that some added scenes in the newer edition should have remained edited out because it was boring and not needed, I was willing to give the book 3 stars. Where it lost me was when Nykyrian finds out he has a teenage daughter he had no idea about and she’s being raised by his sworn enemy. Then he finds his long lost parents and it turns out that his mother didn’t give him away. She’s always wanted him and has never stopped looking for her lost son. The person that gave him away so callously was his mother’s cousin that just so happens to look identical to her so much so that her own son didn’t know the difference between the two. So now he’s the prince, because his brother is evil so they’ve kicked him out, and the contracts on his life are no more. They could live happily ever after.

I know many people like Sherrilyn Kenyon but I just don’t think she’s for me. I’ll skip the rest of this series and all her other books.

Read from April 02 to 22, 2014

Bad bodice ripper masquerading as space opera science fiction. I got 30% of the way into the book and just got tired of it. So far it's the unrequited lust of two characters that just goes on and on and on and on. Nothing happens really except the author drives home the point that two characters seriously lust after each other. Did I tell you that it's about the secret desires of two characters who really need to just go to bed and get it over with? How about the chapters where the two main characters really think about their crush on each other with endless descriptions of how sexy they are and how they imagine what making love would be like. You get the gist. All right already! How some books bet published I'll never know. The author can write, I'll give her that, but the boring repetitive story line just gets really old. I'm so glad I got this at the library.

I read the Kindle version acquired from my local library.

I enjoyed many of the "Dark Hunters" series and had very high hopes regarding this series. While I can't say that I enjoyed it as much as The Dark Hunters, I did enjoy the premise.

As this was the first book in a series, I had expected to learn how the universe worked, unfortunately I still have major gaps in how this universe operates. What I do know is that there are several planets involved, several species and a League of Assassins. the League of Assassins works in the open, the assassins are trained from childhood, once excepted in the League the assassin is given assignments that are sanctioned by the government. The assassins are not supposed to have significant others and there is no retirement plan from the League. They do not have the option of not fulfilling a contract.

While the League is described in some detail, the rest of the universe is left hazy and I'm still not sure how all of the species interact.

There were several characters whose actions did not make sense, Kiara's father's actions were so over blown they just didn't resonate with me. While I thought the H/h could have been developed a little more, I did like them although by the end of the novel their personalities changed instead of evolved.

So while I felt there was a lot missing from the universe description, and there were several holes in the plot and some issues with character development, I still enjoyed the story.

Even with it's flaws, I still recommend it.

I have known of Sherrilyn Kenyon for a while, but I have avoided her books because I don't like paranormal romance. When I read that this is a space opera romance and that it does not involve vampires or other paranormal, I was excited because I would have the opportunity to read a Kenyon book, and I had understood the Kenyon is a good author.

I was disappointed. The space setting was superficial. The predictable and formulistic romance could have been set just about anywhere - a mafia-type historical setting or a dystopian Earth future.

Here are a few things that bothered me about the book, with non-spoilers first. I think Kenyon overwrites, with overly dramatic endings for sections and/or chapters. A couple of non-spoiler examples:

"But as her father would say, life was about making adjustments. And her life had just been seriously altered."

50 or so pages later:

"But inside she knew instinctively that she'd been altered by all this and that nothing would ever be the same again."

100 pages later:

"But even as he said the words, [one character] had a strange premonition [that another character] was headed straight into death."

***From here on, examples and discussion might includes spoilers.***

This phrase came from the beginning of a chapter, but I thought it was kind of funny:

"The scent of her skin hung heavy in his nostrils while he ran his hand down her silken arm in a tender caress."

Another example. On page 452 of the book version I read, the hero meets 2 relatives for the first time since early childhood. He agrees to meet them for dinner that same evening, and he does so on page 479. Kenyon writes that the hero "still hadn't reconciled his past where [the relatives] were concerned or come to terms with their parts in it." That puzzled me because I wouldn't think a few hours would be enough for anybody to process just having met relatives for the first time. I think Kenyon could have handled that better.

And, Kenyon goes into great detail about the hero's horrible childhood. I "got it," so I began just flipping pages whenever she would, repeatedly, go into more detail about exactly what had happened to this character in his childhood. I found these passages unnecessary and revolting. Basically, I would have appreciated a lighter hand throughout the book.

While this book was not horrible, and I am giving it 3 stars, I did not like it enough to continue reading Kenyon's books, including this series.

Any and every tired cliche and overused romance novel trope is thrown together in this disappointing book. And at the end, you're the one feeling tired and bored with no reason to continue the series. Even for free, it wasn't worth the price.
While i don't want to give spoilers, this book contains mismatched social class, virginity, angst, battles, over the top childhood abuse, twins, lost families, instant-love/lust, bad boys with heart of gold, and more. Just ugghhh.
Don't waste your time, even if the book is free.

I must admit that I found this book entertaining. I read it all the way through in a couple hours. However, this book makes so little sense. Where do I start?

First of all, why on earth would Nyk, who is an assassin who is wanted by the League, create an alter ego who is also an assassin who is wanted by the League? Isn't the idea behind an alter ego to move about under the radar? Think Batman and Bruce Wayne. If Bruce Wayne was also a superhero, what is the point of Batman? None. This makes no sense. Not only that, but when he goes out on the town, he uses his real name anyway. Still trying to wrap my head around that.

Secondly, how is it possible to go from planet to planet in just a few minutes/hours? These folks engage in some serious planet hopping and barely any time goes by at all. Not to mention all these said planets can support life and large populations. Yet, when visiting other planets there is no need for oxygen suits, and the climates are about the same apparently. There is very little explanation in this book, or world building.

Another thing that bothered me is the dumber than dirt heroine, Kiara. For goodness sakes, she did stupidest things it was unreal. After almost being killed so many times she still insists on going to the restroom by herself without a guard. Why??? Why would she be so dumb? And after guys try to kill her, she freaks out on Nyk for killing them without trying to reason with them first. I swear, I wanted to smack her at least 100 times by the time the book was finished.

Some of the supporting characters don't seem too bright either. Nyke asks his buds to watch her at a criminal bar hangout that is super filthy and overcrowded with rapists and other seedy folks, but as soon as Nyk leaves for a back room, his friend just moseys out of there to socialize with criminal friends, leaving Kiara with one other protector. And that protector is someone who regularly gets his arse beat by his uncle and sometimes even his brother, and isn't consider an adult until he is 30 or something like that. Not the kind of guy you want watching over your girl in a den of thieves. I understand accidents happen, but when lives are at stake, taking the job seriously is key. Why would these trained men constantly let their guards down? Uh, because Kenyon needed Kiara to get kidnapped and almost raped a bunch of times to move the plot along.

These are just some of things I chose to write about. There are many more strange plot holes and inconsistencies throughout the book that I won't get into or my review will become a novel too.

I won't be reading any more books in this series. Honestly, I am not sure why I read the whole thing after I came across so many glaring holes in the plot and lackluster characters. I may have enjoyed it somewhat, but I am not proud of that fact and I can't explain it. The Dark Hunter series is much better and worthwhile reading, especially the earlier books in the series.

I haven't read much fantasy/other world romance before so this was different for me. After a bit of a slow start, I did enjoy it. I'm honestly not sure I could articulate the world building aspect of the novel as I'm not sure I understood all of it. That could be on me more than the author though since I was anticipating the romance more than anything. I enjoyed the two main characters but was sometimes a little lost in the details of all the other side characters that actually played a very large role in the story. As much as I loved the H/h's love story and watching it unfold, at times I think it become a little too formulaic. I also felt like some of the conflict resolution took the easy and most obvious way out so that it always nicely resolved. The ending also seemed a little too hearts and roses for a character who endured such unspeakable tragedy.

I did think the author did an excellent job character building. Many of the heroes traits were very well scripted and felt so real I could feel his pain and anguish. I'm very interested to see where the rest of the characters go from here. With such tragic back stories, the men in this series need to find love and peace and I can't wait to see how it happens.

Nykyrian is the younest ever commander of The League, a group of assassins keeping order under their own rule. When ordered to take out a whole family, a child included, Nykyrian leaves, and in doing so lands a bounty on his head, along with a death sentence.

After being kidnapped, again, Kiara, daughter to a powerful player in interplanetary politics, finds herself under protection detail of Nykyrian and his merry band of misfits, outcasts, and other assorted deadly assassins.

Question is... who will get to Kiara first? and can Nykyrian keep her aline long enough to make her his?

In the interests of full disclosure, I should up front, this is totally NOT what I was expecting! I was, for some reason, expecting vampire assassins, bad ass dudes keeping the peace. NOW I know different and I'm not a single bit disappointed!

This is the first I've read of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books, and of The League, and it had been sitting on my wish list for some time. I bit the bullet and bought the 5 most expensive books off that list at beginning of August 2014 and this is the second Ive managed to find time to read.

This book has a lot going for it, it takes place in the solar system, somewhere, and has a huge assortment of aliens, hence the fantasy/sci-fi shelving. It has heat, BUT not as explicit as some books, it has violence, and that IS graphic, painful to read at times. It has all manner of back stabbing, double crossing, life threatening "people" (and I use the term loosely!) that some I just wanted to scream at and deliver unto them that which they deliver unto others. I mean, come on! (He'll hate me for saying this but poor) Nykyrian never had a childhood, and those people who made it such a hard time?? oh they get their comeuppence at Nykyrian's hand. Kiara, she led a sheltered life til she and her mother were kidnapped, after that, it became a prison of sorts. And while she doesnt understand, at the beginning, HOW Nykyrian and the others live the life they do, she comes to understand WHY.

I loved this, but couldnt quite stretch to the full five stars, I think it was the violence. Its quite intense, especially Nykyrian's childhood and move up the ranks of The League. the second book is safely on the wishlist, but now stands at the most expensive book there.

Nykerian. Nykerian. Nykerian. His character alone does it for me. It has been while since I've read a Kenyon book but this one about assassins and League and so I had to get it.

Nykerian Quikiades is quitting the League of assassins because he actually does not want to kill harmless people like women and children anymore and so he becomes a kind of protector. Then there is Kiara Zamir-ballerina and daughter of a powerful politician on the planet Gouran. When she is kidnapped and nearly raped, it is the man in dark uniform and shades that rescues her and for the life of her she wants to know: Who is Nykerian really?

I am warning you. The stuff Nykerian went through as a child up to now is grotesque and brutal and that is me being polite about it. The atmosphere of the book is dark yet surprisingly hopeful because although Kiara comes from a background of "rainbows and sunshine", she and Nykerian can and will learn from one another.

And let's not forget the SIZZLING romance that burns up the darn pages.

I absolutely loved this book. It had dangerous missions. War fleets of ships. Interesting animals and aliens. And the power of love even for man who feels he was Born of Night.

~Reviewed by SUZANNE & posted at Under the Covers Book Blog

Princess Kiara has once again been kidnapped, only it looks like she may not survive it this time. The last thing she expects is to be saved by the infamous Nemesis, an assassin reputed to be cold and ruthless and the only assassin to have ever quit The League, the corrupt organisation that governs the universe, and continue breathing. Nemesis has vowed to protect the innocent now that the League no longer has him on a leash, but the feelings he has for Kiara are far from innocent and she soothes him in a way his tortured past has never experienced.

Until I read Born of Night I have never been a fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon, I find her tendency to inflict torturous pasts on nearly every single character she has ever written a little disturbing and melodramatic. However, for some reason if her poor characters are floating around in space apparently I will enjoy it.

I confess I do love a romance sci-fi, all those alien wibbling their bits about, love it! But Born of Night wasn’t my typical corny sci fi romance, it has started to build an interesting universe with characters and races I can’t wait to hear more about and with a ruthless and corrupt organisation, The League, that I can’t wait to see be torn down.

As for the romance, it was all sweet and sexy, Nykiarrian and Kiara were a lovely couple, who both needed one another. As typical with a book penned by Sherrilyn Kenyon, both characters had their horrific pasts to contend, especially Nyk, but although I have read that kind of thing before, I still enjoyed reading as love conquered all! As for Nyk, he has made it straight in to my harem, something about that long blonde hair and green eyes rawr *claws air*.

This is basically Dark Hunters in Space, but instead of paranormal warriors and gods we have aliens and space ships, now I am not a fan of the former, but I love the latter. I highly recommend giving this book a try even if you don’t normally read sci-fi, if you enjoy romance, especially of the Sherrilyn Kenyon variety, then you will love this.

I like Born of Night more then I thought I would. I loved the two main Characters Nykyrian/Nemesis and Kiara Zamir. Their romance is very well written and believable. Kiara was a smart heroine who was able to reason situations out that she at first found horrifying. Smart Lady!! Nykyrian Quickides a major Alpha Bad Ass was also a great tormented soul who did not lose his humanity after all the horrific physical abuse and degradations he suffer from age 5. He also was beaten and tortured, humiliated, dehumanized and suffered from degradations in ways that will make you sick to you stomach. Thus the 2 stars. The story also has several plot holes that don't make sense. Sherrilyn Kenyon is know for this gory horrific abuse to her main characters but this just went beyond the pale even for her. The Sodomy of a child is more then I care to read. Despite this the Nykyrian and Kiara were a great couple.

An assassin has been hired to guard the daughter of a politician. In the process she learns about his brutal up-bringing and falls in love with him despite his flaws. He also falls in love with her while protecting her from the many criminals who would hurt her father by kidnapping her. In an effort to keep her safe he takes her where even her father cannot reach her temporarily and, thus, brings the wrath of the father upon himself. There is a happy ending to this first book full of fierce warriors.

An excellent read - a science fiction romance with an action [lots and lots of action!] based plot and filled with engaging characters.

First let's get the caveats out of the way. This is NOT hard science fiction and the science is occasionally dubious. The political background [and the League] are not well defined. The assassins may be over the top, but the soldiers [such as those guarding the heroine at various times] are pretty lame for presumably elite troops. You'd expect more Special Forces and less F Troop for the guards on the ranking people of the entire planet... Should these reasons stop you from reading the book? NO!

So, why should you read this book? Nykarian is the hero and the poster boy for tortured heroes who manage to come out the other side as lethal and deadly, but with a sense of honor. Kyria is the heroine. She spends most of the book being either kidnapped or attacked. She is a princess who has a very naive world view, especially given that she experienced violence at its worst. When she was 8 she and her mother were kidnapped and she was forced to watch as her mother was raped, tortured, and murdered - just before the bad guys put three shots into her with intent to kill her. [I couldn't help but think that an 8 year old is not very big - couldn't they manage to hit something fatal on her? More of the F Troop syndrome.] Yet when Nykarian kills 20 men intent on killing HER, she freaks out on him for his violence. She gets over it [and succeeding moments where the big, bad world keeps crashing in] and she and Nykarian find in each other things they have never had before. Acceptance. Loyalty. Love.

The supporting characters are as fascinating as the hero and heroine. They live and breathe and suffer [and produce some nice snarky dialogue] along with the hero and heroine. It's a vintage Kenyon plot - bad ass hero, beautiful heroine, evil villains galore - and that's a good thing.

League
The League 01-Born Of The Night
The League 02-Born Of Fire
The League 03-Born Of Ice
The League 03.5-Fire And Ice
The League 04-Born of Shadows
The League 05-Born of Silence
The League 06-Cloak & Silence
The League 07- Born Of Fury

Any and every tired cliche and overused romance novel trope is thrown together in this disappointing book. And at the end, you're the one feeling tired and bored with no reason to continue the series. Even for free, it wasn't worth the price.
While i don't want to give spoilers, this book contains mismatched social class, virginity, angst, battles, over the top childhood abuse, twins, lost families, instant-love/lust, bad boys with heart of gold, and more. Just ugghhh.
Don't waste your time, even if the book is free.

I must admit that I found this book entertaining. I read it all the way through in a couple hours. However, this book makes so little sense. Where do I start?

First of all, why on earth would Nyk, who is an assassin who is wanted by the League, create an alter ego who is also an assassin who is wanted by the League? Isn't the idea behind an alter ego to move about under the radar? Think Batman and Bruce Wayne. If Bruce Wayne was also a superhero, what is the point of Batman? None. This makes no sense. Not only that, but when he goes out on the town, he uses his real name anyway. Still trying to wrap my head around that.

Secondly, how is it possible to go from planet to planet in just a few minutes/hours? These folks engage in some serious planet hopping and barely any time goes by at all. Not to mention all these said planets can support life and large populations. Yet, when visiting other planets there is no need for oxygen suits, and the climates are about the same apparently. There is very little explanation in this book, or world building.

Another thing that bothered me is the dumber than dirt heroine, Kiara. For goodness sakes, she did stupidest things it was unreal. After almost being killed so many times she still insists on going to the restroom by herself without a guard. Why??? Why would she be so dumb? And after guys try to kill her, she freaks out on Nyk for killing them without trying to reason with them first. I swear, I wanted to smack her at least 100 times by the time the book was finished.

Some of the supporting characters don't seem too bright either. Nyke asks his buds to watch her at a criminal bar hangout that is super filthy and overcrowded with rapists and other seedy folks, but as soon as Nyk leaves for a back room, his friend just moseys out of there to socialize with criminal friends, leaving Kiara with one other protector. And that protector is someone who regularly gets his arse beat by his uncle and sometimes even his brother, and isn't consider an adult until he is 30 or something like that. Not the kind of guy you want watching over your girl in a den of thieves. I understand accidents happen, but when lives are at stake, taking the job seriously is key. Why would these trained men constantly let their guards down? Uh, because Kenyon needed Kiara to get kidnapped and almost raped a bunch of times to move the plot along.

These are just some of things I chose to write about. There are many more strange plot holes and inconsistencies throughout the book that I won't get into or my review will become a novel too.

I won't be reading any more books in this series. Honestly, I am not sure why I read the whole thing after I came across so many glaring holes in the plot and lackluster characters. I may have enjoyed it somewhat, but I am not proud of that fact and I can't explain it. The Dark Hunter series is much better and worthwhile reading, especially the earlier books in the series.

I haven't read much fantasy/other world romance before so this was different for me. After a bit of a slow start, I did enjoy it. I'm honestly not sure I could articulate the world building aspect of the novel as I'm not sure I understood all of it. That could be on me more than the author though since I was anticipating the romance more than anything. I enjoyed the two main characters but was sometimes a little lost in the details of all the other side characters that actually played a very large role in the story. As much as I loved the H/h's love story and watching it unfold, at times I think it become a little too formulaic. I also felt like some of the conflict resolution took the easy and most obvious way out so that it always nicely resolved. The ending also seemed a little too hearts and roses for a character who endured such unspeakable tragedy.

I did think the author did an excellent job character building. Many of the heroes traits were very well scripted and felt so real I could feel his pain and anguish. I'm very interested to see where the rest of the characters go from here. With such tragic back stories, the men in this series need to find love and peace and I can't wait to see how it happens.

Nykyrian is the younest ever commander of The League, a group of assassins keeping order under their own rule. When ordered to take out a whole family, a child included, Nykyrian leaves, and in doing so lands a bounty on his head, along with a death sentence.

After being kidnapped, again, Kiara, daughter to a powerful player in interplanetary politics, finds herself under protection detail of Nykyrian and his merry band of misfits, outcasts, and other assorted deadly assassins.

Question is... who will get to Kiara first? and can Nykyrian keep her aline long enough to make her his?

In the interests of full disclosure, I should up front, this is totally NOT what I was expecting! I was, for some reason, expecting vampire assassins, bad ass dudes keeping the peace. NOW I know different and I'm not a single bit disappointed!

This is the first I've read of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books, and of The League, and it had been sitting on my wish list for some time. I bit the bullet and bought the 5 most expensive books off that list at beginning of August 2014 and this is the second Ive managed to find time to read.

This book has a lot going for it, it takes place in the solar system, somewhere, and has a huge assortment of aliens, hence the fantasy/sci-fi shelving. It has heat, BUT not as explicit as some books, it has violence, and that IS graphic, painful to read at times. It has all manner of back stabbing, double crossing, life threatening "people" (and I use the term loosely!) that some I just wanted to scream at and deliver unto them that which they deliver unto others. I mean, come on! (He'll hate me for saying this but poor) Nykyrian never had a childhood, and those people who made it such a hard time?? oh they get their comeuppence at Nykyrian's hand. Kiara, she led a sheltered life til she and her mother were kidnapped, after that, it became a prison of sorts. And while she doesnt understand, at the beginning, HOW Nykyrian and the others live the life they do, she comes to understand WHY.

I loved this, but couldnt quite stretch to the full five stars, I think it was the violence. Its quite intense, especially Nykyrian's childhood and move up the ranks of The League. the second book is safely on the wishlist, but now stands at the most expensive book there.

Nykerian. Nykerian. Nykerian. His character alone does it for me. It has been while since I've read a Kenyon book but this one about assassins and League and so I had to get it.

Nykerian Quikiades is quitting the League of assassins because he actually does not want to kill harmless people like women and children anymore and so he becomes a kind of protector. Then there is Kiara Zamir-ballerina and daughter of a powerful politician on the planet Gouran. When she is kidnapped and nearly raped, it is the man in dark uniform and shades that rescues her and for the life of her she wants to know: Who is Nykerian really?

I am warning you. The stuff Nykerian went through as a child up to now is grotesque and brutal and that is me being polite about it. The atmosphere of the book is dark yet surprisingly hopeful because although Kiara comes from a background of "rainbows and sunshine", she and Nykerian can and will learn from one another.

And let's not forget the SIZZLING romance that burns up the darn pages.

I absolutely loved this book. It had dangerous missions. War fleets of ships. Interesting animals and aliens. And the power of love even for man who feels he was Born of Night.

~Reviewed by SUZANNE & posted at Under the Covers Book Blog

Princess Kiara has once again been kidnapped, only it looks like she may not survive it this time. The last thing she expects is to be saved by the infamous Nemesis, an assassin reputed to be cold and ruthless and the only assassin to have ever quit The League, the corrupt organisation that governs the universe, and continue breathing. Nemesis has vowed to protect the innocent now that the League no longer has him on a leash, but the feelings he has for Kiara are far from innocent and she soothes him in a way his tortured past has never experienced.

Until I read Born of Night I have never been a fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon, I find her tendency to inflict torturous pasts on nearly every single character she has ever written a little disturbing and melodramatic. However, for some reason if her poor characters are floating around in space apparently I will enjoy it.

I confess I do love a romance sci-fi, all those alien wibbling their bits about, love it! But Born of Night wasn’t my typical corny sci fi romance, it has started to build an interesting universe with characters and races I can’t wait to hear more about and with a ruthless and corrupt organisation, The League, that I can’t wait to see be torn down.

As for the romance, it was all sweet and sexy, Nykiarrian and Kiara were a lovely couple, who both needed one another. As typical with a book penned by Sherrilyn Kenyon, both characters had their horrific pasts to contend, especially Nyk, but although I have read that kind of thing before, I still enjoyed reading as love conquered all! As for Nyk, he has made it straight in to my harem, something about that long blonde hair and green eyes rawr *claws air*.

This is basically Dark Hunters in Space, but instead of paranormal warriors and gods we have aliens and space ships, now I am not a fan of the former, but I love the latter. I highly recommend giving this book a try even if you don’t normally read sci-fi, if you enjoy romance, especially of the Sherrilyn Kenyon variety, then you will love this.

I like Born of Night more then I thought I would. I loved the two main Characters Nykyrian/Nemesis and Kiara Zamir. Their romance is very well written and believable. Kiara was a smart heroine who was able to reason situations out that she at first found horrifying. Smart Lady!! Nykyrian Quickides a major Alpha Bad Ass was also a great tormented soul who did not lose his humanity after all the horrific physical abuse and degradations he suffer from age 5. He also was beaten and tortured, humiliated, dehumanized and suffered from degradations in ways that will make you sick to you stomach. Thus the 2 stars. The story also has several plot holes that don't make sense. Sherrilyn Kenyon is know for this gory horrific abuse to her main characters but this just went beyond the pale even for her. The Sodomy of a child is more then I care to read. Despite this the Nykyrian and Kiara were a great couple.

An assassin has been hired to guard the daughter of a politician. In the process she learns about his brutal up-bringing and falls in love with him despite his flaws. He also falls in love with her while protecting her from the many criminals who would hurt her father by kidnapping her. In an effort to keep her safe he takes her where even her father cannot reach her temporarily and, thus, brings the wrath of the father upon himself. There is a happy ending to this first book full of fierce warriors.

An excellent read - a science fiction romance with an action [lots and lots of action!] based plot and filled with engaging characters.

First let's get the caveats out of the way. This is NOT hard science fiction and the science is occasionally dubious. The political background [and the League] are not well defined. The assassins may be over the top, but the soldiers [such as those guarding the heroine at various times] are pretty lame for presumably elite troops. You'd expect more Special Forces and less F Troop for the guards on the ranking people of the entire planet... Should these reasons stop you from reading the book? NO!

So, why should you read this book? Nykarian is the hero and the poster boy for tortured heroes who manage to come out the other side as lethal and deadly, but with a sense of honor. Kyria is the heroine. She spends most of the book being either kidnapped or attacked. She is a princess who has a very naive world view, especially given that she experienced violence at its worst. When she was 8 she and her mother were kidnapped and she was forced to watch as her mother was raped, tortured, and murdered - just before the bad guys put three shots into her with intent to kill her. [I couldn't help but think that an 8 year old is not very big - couldn't they manage to hit something fatal on her? More of the F Troop syndrome.] Yet when Nykarian kills 20 men intent on killing HER, she freaks out on him for his violence. She gets over it [and succeeding moments where the big, bad world keeps crashing in] and she and Nykarian find in each other things they have never had before. Acceptance. Loyalty. Love.

The supporting characters are as fascinating as the hero and heroine. They live and breathe and suffer [and produce some nice snarky dialogue] along with the hero and heroine. It's a vintage Kenyon plot - bad ass hero, beautiful heroine, evil villains galore - and that's a good thing.

League
The League 01-Born Of The Night
The League 02-Born Of Fire
The League 03-Born Of Ice
The League 03.5-Fire And Ice
The League 04-Born of Shadows
The League 05-Born of Silence
The League 06-Cloak & Silence
The League 07- Born Of Fury

I have just finished my re-read of the League series, and I'm still in love with every word and every character.

Nyk and Kiaras story started it all for me, and I couldn't keep myself away from the cast of characters.
I love how our Alpha male overcomes challenges and can face the truth that he can't live without Kiara. It's such an exciting book to read, and the reader really gets behind the characters.

One of my favorite things is that there is adventure and more than just the love story in each and every book. I feel like I'm reading a whole experience, not just a small slice of someones life with a little spice thrown in. These are the kind of books I keep buying and going back to.

I had just finished a book by this author, and loved the way she wrote, and was waiting on the second book in that series to arrive so I went to the library, and found another series by the same author to read while I wait on the other book.

Born of Night is the first book in a series called The League. The League is an elite solider training group, and these guys are trained as assassins, once you are part of The League, you are part of it until death.

Nykarikan is done. He is out of the League, he no longer wants to play by their rules, but no one leaves the League, but then again, Nykarikan is not just any other assassin either, he is the most elite they have ever trained, so if anyone can leave, it would be him.

This story follows Nykarikan years later, he is still hiding from the League, and doing a good job of it, along with some other guys who fly under the radar of society in a future world, they protect the innocent and police those who are suppose to be policing the world. Corruption is everywhere, same as today, so they are the "Robin Hoods" of the future in a way.

He is tasked with protecting a Princess and it goes against everything he is, and it pushes him to places and decisions he never wanted to make, to discover things that are even worse than he thought were the truths of his past, and to come to terms with them.

The whole concept of the worlds is fun and exciting, and the interactions between the characters and the relationships are well developed and they mirror so many other realities of life. It is just a great book. I was so engrossed in the book that I read it in one day!

I was a little apprehensive about getting into this book for several reasons. Firstly, because while I'm a huge fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon, I had read a couple of her very early works and not been impressed (they weren't horrible, just not up to par). Secondly, because I've been put off by sci-fi romance attempts by other authors.

I was encouraged right away, though, by the author's note before the story. Due to a variety of reasons, she was unable to publish this book in its entirety in its first incarnation. In this revised edition, she was able to present it as originally intended...and with a couple decades worth of experience under her belt.

The premise of the story is of a rogue assassin with the reputation of being the most brutal of them all is the only hope of survival for a politician's dancer daughter whose lived her entire life under threat and attempts of assassination.

I've always loved Kenyon's knack for creating wounded alpha male characters who are inherently dangerous but have noble hearts. She doesn't fail here, as not only the main character but secondary characters as well, prove to have their own sort of moral code. Much in the same vein of her other series, there is a soldierly/brotherly bond between the male characters that is both admirable and amusing.

The heroine of this story is strong and willing to rethink her assumptions. While prone to prejudice and a bit of hypocrisy, she owns up to it when experience puts her in the wrong. While not a bad ass, she's brave and stubborn.

There are always a lot of similarity in Kenyon's books, but I'm not complaining, because I love what she does. She always makes me laugh, breaks my heart and leaves me smiling in the end.

Author Sherrilyn Kenyon needs no introduction, as she has been a best selling author for quite awhile now. In her first book of the "The League" series, "Born of Night" is a strong opening for what should be a fun group of books to follow. Main character Nykyrian Quikiades is a ruthless assassin that has chosen to lead a group of fellow assassins carrying out contracts and always looking over their shoulder as Nykyrian has turned his back on The League that at one time he was the Command Assassin of.

Nykyrian rescues the kidnapped Princess Kiara and he and his band of assassins try to keep her out of harms way, facing desperate parents, numerous assassination attempts all while Nykyrian has to come to terms with his tortured past, inability to let any close and his growing feelings for a Princess he has to protect. Princess Kiara is struggling with her unhappy life of expectation in a career that is emotionally draining. Having to learn how to keep her strength up when she is being hunted for reasons she doesn't understand and having a terrifying group of people around her for protection is almost too much to bear.

While Nykyrian is the typical, unbeatable, extremely good looking main character, the depth of character that is revealed in him is impressive. Kiara although a bit whiney and who wouldn't be going from a palace to targeted for death, goes through her emotional roller coaster we all go through when your solid rock is destabilized in favor of a sudden harsh and terrifying reality is imposed on your life. The self-discovery process that both go through is well thought out and implemented here.

I think it's fairly obvious that the message here is about not judging a person necessarily by what you see or what little you know of them. Life's circumstances often shape a personality into something that is completely defensive while the real person is dying to get out of their shell.

"Born of Night" has good pacing, exciting action and great character development. 4 out of 5 stars for me.

You can find out more about Sherrilyn here: www.sherrilynkenyon.com

This review is originally posted here: http://clubfantasci.wordpress.com/2013/03/07/book-review-born-of-night-by-david-lowry/

I found this book looking for Futuristic Romance, it had a little of both, but not enough to warrant 539 pages worth of reading. Its a long one and halfway through you need a second wind because the story starts to lag. The characters are likable and well developed. The problem with the book is that it just goes on and on about everything and everyone.

To explain it would be to give away the plot and that wouldn't be any fun. I guess I would say its not a terrible read, but I'll hold off for the rest of the series because its wasn't exciting enough for me to want to know what happens in everybody else's story. If you already have the book then have at it, but I wouldn't recommend buying it.

This book is so. So. Good. It is full of depth. The universe, characters, and love story all feel real and the author is extremely talented. I absolutely love Nyk. I like that his past abuse is talked about. It's part of his story and helps you understand why he is the way he is. I'm already reading the second book in the series! I plan to read all of this author's work. She's a true artist.

Futuristic sci-fi books are not necessarily my favorite genre, but this book rocked my socks off every bit as much as one of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter books. The flavor may be a little different, but the woman can write one hell of a love story in the midst of fantastic world-building.

Nykyrian is a half-breed... part human, part Andarion, rejected by both species. He is a hardened assassin, formerly a soldier of The League, who now runs a rag-tag group of warriors who police the corrupt agency. On a run, he comes across Kiara, the daughter of a statesman, who has been kidnapped. He helps rescue her and returns her to her father. But he is quickly sucked in to a job as her bodyguard. Political enemies of her father have taken out a hit on Kiara's life.

Kiara is drawn to Nykyrian's powerful presence. And he is attracted to her like he has never been to anyone else. But Nykyrian is one of the most tortured heroes out there. (Kenyon is excellent at writing those!) He has never known kindness or love; he was horribly abused as a child; and he thinks himself unworthy of Kiara. Watching her break down his walls was breathtaking. I loved watching how she transformed him from a shell of man to someone who finally allowed himself to feel. As with most Kenyon books, the sexual tension is great and the payoff is HOT.

We also have great supporting characters in Nykyrian's band of brothers. Each character is distinct and entertaining. And the set-up is firmly in place for Syn's book, Born of Fire.

A fantastic, sexy read that is full of heart. I didn't want to put it down. 5 stars.

I was first introduced to Sherrilyn Kenyon's The League series by a friend a while back, but for some reason never picked it up. It was not until a couple of days ago, I was shopping at a book thrift store and happened to come across three of the first to the series and decided to buy it.

In a universe that detains highly trained assassins where the cruelest of violence-robbery, rape, and murder seems of the norm, it was a wonder as of how Sherrilyn Kenyon will bring the characters together and have their relationships develop. At first, before I started the book, I actually thought that it would have another typical "damsel in distress falling for her hero" plot line. However, it wasn't how I imagined it at all. Nykyrian is one of the most deadly killers. People fear him, hate him, are disgusted of him and want him dead; can't say that Kiara doesn't feel the same, or, at least that is what she keeps reminding herself.

If I have to choose one point of the book that I liked about the most, I would have to say it is the characters-their infamous backgrounds, and heart-wrenching, yet, relatable past; it gave the characters a realistic touch. Bit-by-bit as their secrets unravel and former sentiments are brought up, we as readers are pulled into this overflowing phase along with them.

I rated this book a 4 out of 5 stars because, although I enjoyed the plot, characters, and the overall futuristic vibe I got from the book, there was just something that made me just "liked" it-something I can't put my finger on. Even so, I am still looking forward to reading the second book to the series, meeting the old characters again, and introduced to the new ones!
-Cee's Goodread review

I discovered Sherrilyn Kenyon just this year when I was introduced to the Dark Hunter series. Gotta admit, once I started with "Fantasy Lover," I COULD NOT STOP. I hoovered down the entire series in four months, wholeheartedly submerging my mind and heart in SK's delicious world. But what's a gal to do when when the literary pool of Hunters suddenly dries up (at least until August 2011)? Check out The League and pray Kenyon's magic touch doesn't stop with "vampires" and Greek Mythology, that's what.

Well, THANK GOD, "Born of Night" was AWESOME and Kenyon is not a one-hit-series wonder!

I loved getting to know the Ichidian Universe, its political hierarchy, and Nykyrian (aka Nemesis) and his band of not-so-merry soldiers. Sherrilyn Kenyon has a way of not only writing a sizzling love story, but of developing multi-dimensional worlds where lots and lots of conflict and action occurs. In other words, her plots are just as intriguing as her characters. And she's not afraid to go dark, violent, and graphic as necessary to make you feel wholly submerged in each situation.

Gotta say, I LOVE Nykyrian. I believe she wrote "Born of Night" long before her first Dark-Hunter novel, and because of that, I can see where she pulled many of her ideas/characteristics for Acheron from. He and Nykyrian have a ton in common. But I think I actually love Nykyrian more. I adore Acheron, don't get me wrong. But there's just this intangible thing about Nykyrian that's engrossing; at least to my heart. I think perhaps it's that while Acheron is a god, Nykyrian is forced to deal with his past and all of his problems as a human, which means he's much more vulnerable than Ash. (Sorry to go into the comparison, especially if you haven't read a Dark Hunter book, but it's an inevitable comparison for any true Kenyon fan.)

I liked Kiara, and was interested in all her reactions at being placed in Nykyrian's world of assassins. She really gets schooled on the dangers of her universe, even beyond the horrible things that happened to her as a child. And she's forced to decide what in life is really worth fighting for and what will keep her warm at night: Fame or family. The best part of Kiara's "education" is seeing her slowly come to understand and appreciate Nykyrian's bonds with his friends and to make friends with those unusual people herself. She has her eyes opened to the difference between the shallow people in her own life and these fighters who share deep, abiding connections with each other. Something she thought was not possible for people who have basically been trained to be killing machines.

Overall, this was a fantastic read. I highly recommend it, and can't wait to start on "Born of Fire," the next book in the series.

This is my first experience with this author. Now I understand why people absolutely rave about her books. I adore how this book was written from beginning to end. I loved how the author explored the main characters past with timely flashbacks or thoughts that led to flashbacks. Here are my thoughts:

Nykyrian Quiakides is a top ranking assassin whose heritage as Hybrid Andarion lead to him never showing his emotions at any cost. He is owned by body and soul to The League yet his last assignment leaves him utterly cold and knowing something must change period because no one ever really leaves The League alive right? Nine years later Kiara Zamir has been taken hostage before and she's fighting tooth and nail to escape this unending nightmare. She's just wants to dance or so she thought. She's rescued by Nemesis and returned to her father's care. She doesn't know that she's become another target and it's up to Nykyrian and company to protect. Kiara is strangely attracted to Nykyrian and the feeling is entirely mutual. Nykyrian has watched Kiara from afar for so long he doesn't know what to do when he's in her constant presence. Kiara has way of looking at things and people that all but elimates personal barriers. Can Nykyrian heal from his past? What does Kiara see? Who wants Kiara died? Can Kiara admit her feelings? Your answers await you in Born of Night.

I rarely regret buying a book but I can say with all due honesty, I regret this purchase. This book is so silly that I had to give up trying to read it. Kiara is a imbecile who's behavior is so ridiculous it comical. The 'oh my god he is so handsome I want to roll in flour and fry myself for him' And the 'she is so small and sexy my pants just exploded' crap is so freaking mind numbingly tedious.

I gave up on this one, it's not worth the effort.

I had to force myself to finish reading this book in the hopes it would get better, it did not. The male kept repeating his inner dialogue of "no one will ever love me" over and over till I wanted to puke. The second book in this series is exactly the same!! I bought the first 4 books. and now wish i had not. Also, must all the male characters in her books be raped? what the heck? Worst romance book EVER!

Nykyrain an assassin without a name becomes a true leader in more ways than one. A high commander assasin and the infamous Nemesis. What Nykyrain endured as child most men did not. For me it was an emotional book which I liked to read out what he went through as a child. To be taken away from his parents, resented for being an Andarion and half human then falsely accused of kidnapping the very person he is protecting. This story in someways deals with today's society. If you are born of a certain culture not everyone will believes that you may be telling the truth. I preferred this story because there was more action, intrigue and a serious plot. I only wish that Nykyrain and his adoptive brother, brother actually did hand to hand combat. What was interesting to me was that the lorinas were not used for anything but housepets. They could have been a great help to Nykyrain and his crew.

This is an enjoyable book to read I hope the author continue to be more creative with the next book.

The League series originally made it's debut in 1996. The books are being re-released, expanded and with new cover art.

Once an assassin for The League, Nykyrian is constantly being hunted down, with a price on his head. Now he fights to protect the innocent. He hasn't had the easiest life unloved and abused most of this life because of what he is, he has built a thick skin around himself letting no one in. That is until he takes on the protection of Kiara Zamir. She changes everything.

Ms Kenyon has done it again. She has created a world that has sucked me in. I absolutely loved this story. This was a non-stop adventure and steamy romance, that I just couldn't put down. I loved the lead character Nykyrian. He is dark, surly and stubborn. He doesn't feel he is worth caring for or loving. I wasn't sure I was gonna like this book, but he turned out to be one an intriguing character. He's journey was wonderful to read, I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

Trite one-dimensional characters, ridiculous faux scifi plot, juvenile writing -- all equals a novel not worth the time. I got it from the library and returned it after a few chapters. Not worth the time on this ultimately boring story. Could have been written by a inexperienced teenager with a bit of writing talent...and maybe it was as this was her first book. Can't imagine reading this book and the entire series if this is the quality.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. All the characters were wonderful, even if all were damaged in some way! Although the book is quite violent the comradery and humour with the characters break it up. The romance was endearing and the book was packed with action. The descriptions were full and imaginative. It was very hard to put this book down. I would definitely recommend this book and I have the next two on order!

I began reading Sherrilyn Kenyon Darkhunter novels and fell in love with her writing, so when I ran out of Darkhunter novels to read I started with The League and I was totally rewarded! I was taken away and enveloped into another world and the mix of science fiction and romance had me hooked. The main character of Nykyrian was a man living with the scars of a traumatic childhood who never lost his deep seated sense of right and wrong and developed the skills to fight for these standards in blood. Having such a tough character learn the softer side of life and himself through the love and compassion of Kiara was so beautiful and I couldn't help but devour this story and anticipate many more to come.

Never have I found a true sci-fi book that contained all of the action and romance that I want from a book. This story is amazing as seen by the fact that I am now reading it for a third time and plan to reread the series again during the coming new year.
This story is so amazingly complete and there's just something so noble and real and old-world about the characters that draws you in. Their sense of honor is realistic and wholesome yet remarkably balanced by their ruthless defense of family and friends.
Truly a heart rending series that you cannot walk away from once you start it.

I read this twice in a few days - that's how much I love this book.

I purchased this because I was intrigued to see what Kenyon would do with assassins, seeing as I have an odd, twisted soft spot for them. And before I read it (several months after purchasing it), I kept sneaking peeks at random passages. Every time, I'd catch something new that made me want to read it all the more. Bits of the dialogue and narrative were incredibly interesting and surprising at times.

When I finally sat down to read it, I fell in love. It was a curious blend of what I was expecting and not at all what I expected. Those little glimpses reeled me in, but they certainly didn't ruin any of the story. It turned out rather different - and that's great. At the time I purchased it, I didn't realize it was a romance. But as luck would have it, I think I love romances this way. It makes Harlequins look like they're YA.

First off: I absolutely love the darkness entangled in the entire story, through the characters and the plot. It's what drew me to the series to begin with.

Second: it pulled on my empathy from the start. The relationship between Nykyrian and Syn is brilliant, and their individual stories and personalities kept me glued to the page. Their banter is hilarious.

But there's more. I found it engaging and intense with awesome images I could hold onto. Some of the dialogue was an absolute joy and at certain points, I couldn't help but laugh rather loudly. It was a roller coaster of emotions: sometimes I felt really sad for the characters; other times, I could've slapped the heck out of them. I'm a sucker for raw emotions and characters working through their pains, and this offered all of that.

Why this is a 4 out of 5: There were several points where I thought the editing wasn't at the level it could've been. Too much repetition, not just of the same words, but descriptions, over and over. The head hopping also threw me at several points, especially when things would change every couple paragraphs. I also found it frustrating how Kiara would seem to "get it" and start to understand how things were, but then she'd turn around and revert back to "I don't get it" the next time, even though things were similar.

Then there was the last third of the book, which was a bit lacking. The first half of the book was amazing and I couldn't stop reading. But once Syn showed his more snarly, aggressive side, it kind of started moving in a funny direction. The last third seemed rushed relative to the rest of the story; a bit chaotic, like cramming a lot of things into a small space, and making a couple situations a little too neat and/or underplayed. I didn't get to savour them like I'd hoped.

However, it didn't stop me from reading it over again just as soon as I'd finished. I enjoyed the world-building, creating a more science fiction/fantasy blend that I got into really easily. And I fell in love with the male characters. Nykyrian's a keeper. I loved Syn in the first half, and then Darling upstaged him (I'm *dying* to know more about Darling). Hauk was hilarious and Jayne sounded fun, just underutilized.

Favourite scene: the exercise room. I seriously can't get the scene out of my head and the "prissy" comment. Kiara gets brownie points galore for her part in that situation.

Overall, it was a brilliant read. I'm so, so, so happy I bought it and I'm wondering how I never came across it before. But I'm buying more of the series ASAP. Must. Know. More.

(I also have to wonder if Drowning Pool realizes their song "Bodies" makes a fantastic anthem for assassins?)

OK, I confess I only picked this book up at the airport, needing something to read. I am a science fiction fan, and am writing this from that perspective. I like aliens done well (Cherryh, e.g.) and good characterization (Bujold, e.g.). I see the flaws in her writing (zooming to the next planet over to shop in defiance of the laws of physics, e.g.), and of course there is a heavy "romance" bent to this book, but I love her (hint of, not fully fleshed-out) Ichidian universe and its aliens. I'd love to read more about the League. I also thought the characterizations of Nykyrian, Syn, and Kiara were very well done. I was impressed. I do wish she would write more (and ramp up the SF elements). Looking forward to Born of Fire and Born of Ice (I already found the older versions of them. If all you have read is the older version of Born of Night, I recommend you buy the newly-published version. (by the Carol half of doncarol)

I heard this SK masterpiece via Audible, and I couldn't stop listening. I admit that it started off a bit slow (as most first books establishing a new universe tend to be). Well worth it!! Once introduced to the main players and the setting, the book FLEW by. I sum it up by this quote from it:

"For the first time in his life, he truly understood love. It wasn't just an intangible emotion; it was when his own happiness was found by making HER happy. It wasn't something found in a grandiose gesture; it was found in the simplest form... A single smile that made a cold-blooded assassin weak in the knees." ~Sherrilyn Kenyon

While the character of Nykerian was fully developed, the lead female character, Kiara, was nothing more than a rich, spoiled brat. And really, that is that was said about her. Therefore, how Nykerian could possibly want any kind of relationship with her does not make any sense. However, the characters Nykerian, Syn, Cruel and Hauk make up for Kiara.

If you are attracted to masculine, emotionally damaged but strong, lethal,compassionate, morally questionable and intelligent "bad boys" with a sense of honor this is the series for you!

This is more a science fiction book than a paranormal romance, and I am a huge fan of Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. Thus, the first time I read the books I was a little disappointed with this series. However, after reading all of them (written to date) I came to really like them.

Another series by what use to be one of my favorite authors. Though I wish Kenyon would get back to writing more Dark Hunter or Lords of Avalon series this one is OK.

"Born of the Night" follows Kenyon's usual formula for romance. A fiercely dark hero who has an extremely dark past, who walks the line between being evil and good and does not trust easily.

The two main characters are Nykyrian and Kiara.

Nykyrian Quikiades (aka Nemesis) is a highly trained assassin and is the best of the best but does not enjoy what he does.

Kiara, is a princess and has faced terrible a tragedy and due to her father's position she is often the target for assassination attempts.

I really enjoyed the story line and I also enjoyed the hero, Nykyrian even though some parts of the story rubbed me the wrong way. I guess to show how untrusting Nykyrian is of people (and for good reason) he sometimes comes across as a jerk and the heroin, Kiara is put into the position to really work for his love/trust.

The heroin sorta bugs me because I see her as being so weak. I try to keep in mind the author is basing her weaknesses on her past history. If it wasn't for this emphasis and reminders I would be seriously annoyed by her and would have rather had a woman with a bit more strength.

Another part which annoyed me is the deus ex machina where Kiara ends up finding videos of Nykyrian's closely guarded past?

What I did like is in this story there is no magic which in several of the author's past stories could resolve almost anything. I also enjoy several of the supporting characters in this book and I see that they may also receive their own stories down the road.

The story line is good and I did enjoy Nykyrian's character even with some of the minor annoyances I had.

Picked this book up a few days ago and I eagerly devoured it in 2 days. Loved it, Nykerian, and Kiara were an unmatched couple at first, but she showed her true strength despite her small size when it counted. Princess Kiara, a Ballet Dancer is a target by the League, and her father calls in Nykerian and his band of warriors to protect his daughter. Unfortunately, Nykerian and his warriors become the target by her father and his soldiers. Sounds comfusing, not really just an action packed book that had me until the very end. I loved all the characters and my heart went out to these men, that have been picked on by everyone, and they did not deserve it. Can't wait to read the next book in this series called Born in Fire, with the hero being Syn, my favorite of the guys. If you want to read a Sci-Fi novel with loads of action, romance and humor read this book.

If your a fan of Knight's Dark Hunter Series, Nykyrian is a prelude to writing Acheron.

Unbelievabley, unbelievable. Too many inconsistancies and too much stupidness. The hero, Nykyrian, I liked. The heroine Kiara, is too nieve and too inconsistant: she was kidnapped and shot and was about to be raped when Nyk saved her, and saved her her again and again.... So she throws up graphically and gets mad at him because he killed someone to protect her, who was oh so happy to tell her about how he was going to torture, rape and kill her. She knows of his tortured past, and yet throws in it in his face when he is at his most vulnerable, she said some things I might not forgive, then on the next page, she is loving and oh so kind. She continually goes off by herself knowing people are trying to kidnap her poo pooing what the trainied Assasin and leader of the retrieval team knows about the bad guys. (I was starting to want her to get taken half way through.)

Onto the side characters. Each team member was more tortured that the last and the people who were supposed to love them (parents, friends, etc) people whom we were supposed to like or respect? were unlikeable, evil, a$$holes, who all deserved a butt whopping and jailtime. The bad guys were comic book bad and deserved to die, but the good guys who should have stopped those people just let them run amock. The misunderstood good guys would continually let the bad people live or get away with whatever they were doing, yet described as killing without remourse and they all had death sentences out on them. So why would they care about following some stupid rules that got those they loved hurt or killedd? Made no sense.

The plot was invisible sometimes and toward the end of the book you were just awaiting the next Make No Since Scene and wishing everyone was wiped out in a big explosion. I am trying not to give away too many spoliers its hard since some scenes were ridiculous. I would have given this book a 2 if not for Nykerian and Syn. They were the only two characters in the book I liked.

~3.5 stars~

I liked this story for the most part. It was action packed. The one thing I couldn't stand was the heroine. It seemed like on every page she was crying, sobbing, or having a meltdown. She just came across as beyond weak. Also her being a book a gorgeous book virgin in her late 20s was almost a deal breaker. The price of this book seems overpriced to me as well at $7.99. It was a.decent story but I did find the hero's back and forth personality tiring. Overall this won't be a series I continue.

Awesome read. Sherrilyn Kenyon is one of my favorite authors and all her books are phenomenal reads...whether period pieces, modern, or paranormal genre. This is part of paranormal series. The first book I had a hard time just finishing the book so I though maybe this series wouldn't be good....but persevere through the 1st book...each book after gets better and better...another great thing is they stand alone so you don't have to read them in order...although that's usually the best...characters tend to make cameos and then you know who they are.

I was very skeptical about this series. Although I really love the Dark-Hunter Series...dissapointment was looming. I am totally pleased. I have to say although it is not like the Dark-Hunter or Dream-Hunter Series it is just as exciting. I read a review today stating that "the earlier release was not as detailed" I am glad I had not read the first release. I went into this blind..I did not read any reviews or book excerpts before hand, that is so unlike me. But I wanted to judge for myself. I have not until 10/28/09 read any futuristic space/paranormal romance...I could not put it down. Now I consider myself a true Sherrilyn Kenyon fan. I plan to be at my local library on Wednesday 11/3/09 at 9 am to check out Born of Fire. "Love is a funny creature of habit even in the future"

While I'm a fan of the author, this book was just okay. I suppose if I'd read it in its true chronological order (first, before I'd read any other Kenyon books) I'd have liked it better. It is clearly an early book from and author who had not reached her potential. As a fan of her Dark Hunter books, it was fun to play "spot the character". She has recycled character from this series and names for her Dark Hunters: Nykyrian is a mix of Acheron and Kyrian, names such as Julien and Syn make appearances. Though they have different names, even Nick, Liza, and Styxx make appearances. It is fun for fans and will give you a Kenyon fix as you wait for the next DH book, but it is really only okay.

According to the "Author's Note" at the beginning of the book, this was Kenyon's first book that has been republished. I thought the story was good, but a still a bit amaterish even though she readded previously edited-out parts and polished it off.

Overall, I liked the story of assassins and their good side. I thought the by-play between the male characters funny. I didn't care for Kiara. I thought the character sounded juvenile and annoying. Especially when Kenyon had her in panic-attacks throughout most of the story.

I do plan to read the next one just to see how it goes, and if perhaps Kenyon created a more likable and stronger female heroine.

I LOVE this book. I was introduced to this author because my boyfriend researched sci-fi/romance blends which I don't see a lot of, and it turned out to be the best gift. Princess ballerina and hybrid alien assassin who fall in love under life threatening circumstances? SO my thing! I raved about this book to all my friends. I already bought the next one.
The only issues I had were with the pacing of the ending and the unexpected twists that made me think less of some characters but I don't want to spoiler alert. End of the day, very satisfied reader! Romance and badassery abound. Now to go read everything she has written then write something just as good ;)

I love, love, love this book. I could not put it down. Right from the start, this book was one of those I knew I would really enjoy. I came to love the hero, Nykyrian, immediately. His past touched my heart. The relationship which slowly grows between he and Kiara is absolutely romantic. Her character was perfect for him because she soothed the rage that roared inside him which he could hardly control until he spends time with her. Ms. Kenyon teases you with their relationship. I loved how the two main characters are constantly together instead of separated like other books. This book will definitely be placed above my other favorites to be read again and again.

I usually buy books, read and quicly pass them around...Not this one.This one I'm keeping for myself and will tell my friends and family about. They can buy it on their own.
I was so taken back by the Hero in this tale Nyk. His is a tale of horrible abuse that no one should have to endure. In comes the Kiara who has been scarred by a horrible event in her life. The only issue I had with this story was Kiara measuring her pain to his at times. True by "normal" standards she should be scarred,but nothing compares to him.
I loved this story on all levels. It has lots of bloody action, wonderful friends, and the most Beautiful and tender love scene I have ever read. I'm not a sci-fi fan, but the story seems to take place between planets. Don't panic I swear nothing crazy at all! You will not have to learn klingon or far out language to enjoy this book. Before I even completed the first one ordered the second. Give it a shot I think NYK will find a place in your heart as well.

***SPOILERS IN REVIEW***
***SPOILERS IN REVIEW***
***SPOILERS IN REVIEW***

This book did not start off well for me. The author has a really bad habit of over describing everything. Every reference to something was like it was the first time. We had to hear the exact description all over again. Also, I really, really hate when an author has a character think something then immediately qualifies it. Like: he didn't have time to humor her, but he ached so badly inside with the need to comfort her. That was my own example, but crap like that happened constantly. Also, Nykyrian and Kiara did nothing but run around aching. Every time I turned a page Kiara was aching to kiss him again (while she hated him). It was ridiculous.

Let's talk about Kiara. I disliked her for the first 100 pages and absolutely hated her for the next 200. I'm serious, I have never before loathed a character I was reading about. If I could have reached through the book to take her out of my misery I would have. She was such a rhymes-with-witch. Nykyrian and his crew get hired to protect her from the multitude of assassins after her. How does she respond to this? She whines. Oh no, don't put better security on my home. I liked it how it was! Take your stupid blast shields and leave me here to die. She was like that about everything.

People constantly referred to her by her status, Princess. That's exactly what she was. A spoiled, snotty, self absorbed princess. When Syn finally saw her true attitude and blasted her for it I just wanted to give him a big smooch at how someone finally gave her the smack down and introduced her to reality. Unfortunately, she was too dumb and self absorbed to be moved by anything he said. They're animals because they're not upset when they kill the people who are trying to kill her. I mean seriously, what kind of idiot is this girl? These people want to rape and kill you! They've captured you more than once. But you're mad because Nykyrian killed them and saved you from them? She was so disgusted by him she threw up later. I have to stop talking about her, I'm getting mad all over again.

Nykyrian was a typical hero by this author. He's huge and a bad ass and has a tortured childhood. If you've read a book by her you'll recognize him. I didn't really mind that part, but I did mind his relationship with Kiara. The situation reminded me of a stray dog who has been beaten often. He's frightening and apt to attack first rather than let anyone get close. But still that dog longs for someone to pet him. So, he meets this human. The human is mean to him too. But one day the human decides to take pity on him and feed him and love him. This dog is eventually so grateful that he gives her all his love and devotion and totally ignores any time she's mean to him. That's exactly how their relationship was. To my eyes anyone would have done. He caved at the first hint of basic human kindness. It was sad, not sexy.

By the way, when Kiara's so called "turning" point came about she was watching private movies of his childhood. No explanation was ever given for why any of these things were ever recorded and how he got a hold of them. These were not regular movies. They were recordings of him being beaten at home, at school, and one of his first meeting with Syn out on the street where no one else was. So, where did these movies come from? It makes no sense and was rather weak. So, seeing these movies "changes" Kiara. He's pissed at her (rightfully so) for watching his movies, but two seconds later they're making out. Their sex life takes off from there.

After that point in the book it's like we're reading about a whole new character. She's still irritating, but now she's sickly sweet too. I seriously wouldn't have been surprised if she had grabbed his cheeks and rubbed noses with him while calling him snookums. Blech. So they continue their relationship until the big misunderstanding. The end comes pretty quickly after that with a pretty lame reveal about Nykyrian's past. Thank God that came along out of nowhere to help you have a future with Kiara.

The last 200ish pages were 3 stars for me, just average. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either. The first 300ish pages were a 1 star for me. Kiara made me loathe them. So I averaged it out to a 2 star.

I fell in love with Nykyrian from the first page of the book, the cast of this series is awesome. This happened to be the frst Sherrilyn Kenyon book that I read, and it probably will be the last(because I will keep rereading it). I'm currently reading the dark-hunter series, as well as the rest of the league.

Born of Night had plenty of action, adventure, romance, and even comedy that made this book extremely hard to stop reading. When I wasn't reading it I was thinking about what would happen next. If you like futuristic/science fiction romances, you will probably love the book. The reason why I picked up the book was because of the cover and title, I know they say "don't judge a book by it's cover" but I'm glad that I did in this case.

Ok my title isn't very fair, BON was written before Twilight, and its a pretty decent novel - however, Born of Night simply isn't my kettle of fish.

the novel follows nyk, an assassin of the highest order, if he just hadn't told his league to stick it. And Kiara, the dancing daughter of a high ranking military commander. Due to their positions both characters are in the targets of a variety of killers, and are thrown together when nyk is called upon to protect Kiara.

Of course both find each other to be unbelievably hot, good looking and think the other despises them. The first 2-3 hundred pages or so of the novel we spend time in each main characters head as they suffer the hots towards the other character while simulataneously believing the other hates them.

They is little to speak of from the action side of the plot, impotent assassins keep trying to take Kiara but of course Nyk deals to them easily.

WESTERN... Nyk is the leader of a motely band of scally-wags who zip around the galaxy doing good deeds brutally and outside the law. Of course all the crew are devestatingly hot,(except Hauk who is kinda the chewbacca of the group) and have horrible histories, usually in the form of being related to some super-crim.

We don't actually get much interesting stuff in terms of their activities, in fact most of the non-romance plot of the first few hundred pages of the book involves the horrible back story of Nyk, which is a bit over the top, he essentially endures every indignity the author could think of: rejection, rape, torture and even racism. I realise that one of the main themes of the book is redemtion from horrific pasts, but Nyk's backstory just becomes boring in its predictability. There is also an unintentionally hilariously stupid bit where Kiara views a video of Nyk enduring a medical examination, them somehow views video footage from all the significant moments in Nyk's life, even when he wanders the slums half dead and saves a waif who later becomes his best friend (this is stupid because how exactly did they catch so much of his life on video? It makes sense for the medical exam, but why is there video of his family abusing him, and Nyk wandering the streets?)

As the plot wears on things start to get a bit too fantastic. SPOILERS AHEAD Nyk turns out to be royality, and despite the harsh world the characters live in, his father immediatly accepts him and apologizes, his dialogue coming across like a senile uncle, Nyk turns out to have a daughter, who immediately accepts him as daddy, as if all that horrible backstory happened in a different universe from the one the novel is set in.

Born of Night is probably more for romance fans than sci fi, there isn't really much depth of new cultures, alien species or technology, only enough to keep the plot moving. The writing is solid and an easy read, but at more than 500 pages probably not worth looking at this unless you're sure it'll be your thing

Wow! I thought that nothing would take my attention from the Dark Hunter series, but this book... OMG! Somehow Sherrilyn Kenyon has found what I hadn't know she'd lost in her previous book until I completed this book. The book has great character development, it is action packed, and the readers began to love the hero NyKyrian and Kiara almost from the very beginning.

Kiara, despite her traumatizing experience as a child, has lived what appears to be a very sheltered life. In some ways she is naive (without being a complete dunce) but she makes up for it time and again throughout the entire book. Unfortunately, Kiara has become a target because of her father's high ranking status and enters NyKyrian. NyKyrian's life in a word was... brutal. In my opinion, the tale of his life makes the reader sorrowful because he's so self-enclosed, refusing to become vulnerable to anyone for fear of being hurt and/or disappointed. It was quite easy to relate to him for me.

I absolutely love how Sherrilyn told a tale of the brutality of NyKyrian's life without it being gory or making the reader feel as if they are involved in the torture and degradation of the hero/heroine. I just loved this book.

Basically, the story centers around Nykyrian and Kiara, who couldn't be more different. Nykyrian is a highly skilled assassin who was tortured and abused during most of his adolescence and Kiara is a Princess and professional dancer. I really enjoy this book, It was an amazing read, and I am very much looking forward to read the rest of this series. If you're not a Kenyon fan you will be after reading this book. Another book to put on your list of reads The Blessed Evil A real page turner!!

I think this book proves my theory that SK's books written in the past have much more depth and character interaction than her newer books do. This story seems like it should have been the book Acheron had. I was much longer than Acheron and had much more feeling and it stayed true to the character. I wish SK could reach back and write books like this again. I loved Kiara (even though she was annoyingly naive at times) and felt horrible for Nykyrian. This was a real romance book and if she could put that back into her Dark Hunter series I would be overjoyed.

This is the third book of this author's I've tried and the third I couldn't finish. I know everyone has their own tastes, but I just dont get the great reviews here.

There was a lot of internal "Whoa is me" and hardly any action. The two "heroes" were sad saps and constantly THOUGHT about how attracted they were to the other but why they shouldn't be. I get that many romances have that, but not 8 chapters without much else.

Great story - The book was 533 pages and I sailed through it. Held my attention, I laughed, cried, cringed and related to the characters.

This is the story of Nykyrian who is a lost soul, assassin who has shut down his emotions in order to survive a life filled with pain, rejection, distrust, discrimination, hate, and regret. He has resigned to the fact that he will be alone the rest of his life and is ok with that. The problem is a certain dancer who has grabbed his attention with her dancing...

OMG OMG OMG!!! I call total BS. I was enjoying this book thoroughly until I didn't....

SPOILERS

He has a kid!!! One that he never knew about with a woman who was a total witch to him. She kept his kid from him, married his evil brother and allowed his child to be raised by an abusive jerk!!! She slept with him and tossed him about in the cruelest way possible!!! He plainly states that he hasn't touched a woman in 20 years but this kid of his is a teenager!!! I am so disgusted by this. And of course the horrible witch woman dies and leaves the H and h to raise this kid. I'm no longer a Sherrilyn fan, this was a terrible betrayal this late in the book.

I love the futuristic world she's made for this series. I've been kinda burned out on her Dark Hunter stories, they are getting so campy sometimes and she seems to try to be too funny. With this book, there was none of that, or if there was, it was minimal, thus making this a great read. There wasn't a constant repeating of phrases that make you roll your eyes. It wasn't overly sappy and at times, like all books, it moves too fast or too slow, but all in all, a solid read.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Well worth the cost of this one.

I am a lover of romance. So while this is really a futuristic type of book, involving other planets and species besides humans I could really appreciate the development between the main characters and the relationship that built.

This book had a flawed hero who most people would probably consider broken and unfixable but not the heroine. It was really good. I loved reading it and would love seeing a movie made of the book one day.

PROS: I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book version of this book. The narrator (Kelly Fish) had me transfixed. I am an avid reader of both sci-fi and romances and just started to listen to audio books recently. Despite several glaring inconsistencies in the storyline I would recommend it as worth listening to. CONS: The timeline for several events did not make sense. Nykyrian is somewhere between mid- thirties and mid-forties with contradicting dialog (not just a single mistake that could be marked as an editing blooper) that was easier to catch when listening to the story then when reading it that made it impossible to figure out. There were many contradictions from minor contradictions of general physical descriptions of characters to major contradictions (i.e. Andarion Half-breeds are abominations and unheard of and Nykyrian is unique and easily recognized but on the other hand his biological father and brother didn't recognize him? He was held by his hair in one scene of abuse at the hands of his stepfather after being brought back from a two-day stay in jail yet when the event was described later to his biological father, his head was supposed to have been shaved. Etc. ...) One of the worst parts is the existence of videos of his childhood that was conveniently found among his collection of entertainment disks in his media room ...WHAT? It was obviously used as the fastest way to reveal Nykyrian's past to Kiara but really...it was ridiculous enough to pull me out of the story and had me pause it. Some attempt could have been made to explain them to make it at least a little credible: Perhaps if the events outside of the hospital scenes was viewed from Nykyrian's point of view from a recording from a device that was implanted in him as a child in the hospital? He would have access because he could have downloaded it directly from his own head for example. How Kiara got the chance to view them could have been more inventive as well. Did the Author never see a basic sci-fi movie or read a sci-fi book? Kiara's (the heroine) character flipped back and forth from unlikable to likable, which is not a complaint really. It is her inconsistent behavior at several points that was problematic. There was some dialog to explain some inconsistencies in her personality and behavior for some scenes but better editing could have made her much better. According to the Author's comments on her website, kiara's character was changed significantly before the story was re-release (originally printed 1986) to a version of her character as she was portrayed in her original manuscript, which may explain some of this. SUMMARY: If rewritten more carefully and if the Author more thoroughly explored the sci-fi background and characters (the planets, politics, language, races, the sentinels, the league and especially adding several events that molded Nikyrian to allow him to credibly retain his `humanity' despite his horrific upbringing), this story could been improved from an entertaining but flawed romance with a vague sci-fi background to a great story about Nikyrian(probably a trilogy at least required) on par with Margaret Weis or perhaps even Lois McMaster Bjold. While these issues were frustrating, I did enjoyed the narrated version enough to give it five stars.

This book was interesting. The characters are set up in a way that the next books will have them intersecting and make the basic "League" storyline flow.

This was a good introductory book for the League storyline. Kip is a hardened assassin with a conscience. His history while heinous, has not completely made him a monster. He is always trying to find his humanity and it makes the story touching.

Good first book in the series. Excellent start and worth reading.

I loved this book. A great beginning to a series. I zooomed through this one. Nykyrian is hot and the heroine is cool too. I am a big fan of this couple and I think I always will have a special spot for them since they started my love of the League. If you can make it through this book without crying, you way better than me.

I love DH series. This one is similar to every other DH or other books by SK. Tortured hero- check. Heroine has some issues but manages to heal hero- check. Doom and gloom- check. Other hero's friends are also tortured- check. Remarkedbly short time for hero to accept heroine while he never trusts his own best friend- check.
This is getting tiredsome. At least DH has some interesting characters but in general, their stories follow the same pattern. I feel like I read different version of a book. It seems like every hot (and 7 ft tall) men are tortured.
Unless SK writes some DIFFERENT book (meaning no tortured hero), I feel very weary to pick up her book now because I can almost have a pretty accurate image after reading the sypnosis.

Since I've read pretty much everything Kenyon has published, I was very excited when I saw this was coming out. I love alpha males and believe me when I say Nykyrian had the makings of an amazing one. The prologue set the stage for a novel about a tough, no-nonsense assassin who was emotionally deadened and brutally fierce. What I got was an angst ridden hero so obsessed with the heroine it was ridiculous. I'm also sorry to say the heroine was just not likable. The pinnacle of unlikablity came when the Hero had just killed mulitiple men (very cool scene)who were trying to kill the heroine. She was disgusted by his cruelity and brutality to the point she throws up. What woman would act this way? He just saved your life! From men who wanted to torture and kill you! UGH! She just proved to him that he was as dirty and worthless as he thought he was. Also, it was just too contrived for him to discover his parents AND his daughter almost on the same page. It was as if Kenyon was taking all these plot ideas from numerous books and rolling them all into one. This book could have been so good! I do plan on buying the next one just to see if it gets any better so the author will get her money's worth from me but she has made me skeptical and I just can't bring myself to recommend this book.

I think this book proves my theory that SK's books written in the past have much more depth and character interaction than her newer books do. This story seems like it should have been the book Acheron had. I was much longer than Acheron and had much more feeling and it stayed true to the character. I wish SK could reach back and write books like this again. I loved Kiara (even though she was annoyingly naive at times) and felt horrible for Nykyrian. This was a real romance book and if she could put that back into her Dark Hunter series I would be overjoyed.

This is the third book of this author's I've tried and the third I couldn't finish. I know everyone has their own tastes, but I just dont get the great reviews here.

There was a lot of internal "Whoa is me" and hardly any action. The two "heroes" were sad saps and constantly THOUGHT about how attracted they were to the other but why they shouldn't be. I get that many romances have that, but not 8 chapters without much else.

Great story - The book was 533 pages and I sailed through it. Held my attention, I laughed, cried, cringed and related to the characters.

This is the story of Nykyrian who is a lost soul, assassin who has shut down his emotions in order to survive a life filled with pain, rejection, distrust, discrimination, hate, and regret. He has resigned to the fact that he will be alone the rest of his life and is ok with that. The problem is a certain dancer who has grabbed his attention with her dancing...

OMG OMG OMG!!! I call total BS. I was enjoying this book thoroughly until I didn't....

SPOILERS

He has a kid!!! One that he never knew about with a woman who was a total witch to him. She kept his kid from him, married his evil brother and allowed his child to be raised by an abusive jerk!!! She slept with him and tossed him about in the cruelest way possible!!! He plainly states that he hasn't touched a woman in 20 years but this kid of his is a teenager!!! I am so disgusted by this. And of course the horrible witch woman dies and leaves the H and h to raise this kid. I'm no longer a Sherrilyn fan, this was a terrible betrayal this late in the book.

I love the futuristic world she's made for this series. I've been kinda burned out on her Dark Hunter stories, they are getting so campy sometimes and she seems to try to be too funny. With this book, there was none of that, or if there was, it was minimal, thus making this a great read. There wasn't a constant repeating of phrases that make you roll your eyes. It wasn't overly sappy and at times, like all books, it moves too fast or too slow, but all in all, a solid read.

I can't wait to read the rest of the series. Well worth the cost of this one.

I am a lover of romance. So while this is really a futuristic type of book, involving other planets and species besides humans I could really appreciate the development between the main characters and the relationship that built.

This book had a flawed hero who most people would probably consider broken and unfixable but not the heroine. It was really good. I loved reading it and would love seeing a movie made of the book one day.

PROS: I thoroughly enjoyed the audio book version of this book. The narrator (Kelly Fish) had me transfixed. I am an avid reader of both sci-fi and romances and just started to listen to audio books recently. Despite several glaring inconsistencies in the storyline I would recommend it as worth listening to. CONS: The timeline for several events did not make sense. Nykyrian is somewhere between mid- thirties and mid-forties with contradicting dialog (not just a single mistake that could be marked as an editing blooper) that was easier to catch when listening to the story then when reading it that made it impossible to figure out. There were many contradictions from minor contradictions of general physical descriptions of characters to major contradictions (i.e. Andarion Half-breeds are abominations and unheard of and Nykyrian is unique and easily recognized but on the other hand his biological father and brother didn't recognize him? He was held by his hair in one scene of abuse at the hands of his stepfather after being brought back from a two-day stay in jail yet when the event was described later to his biological father, his head was supposed to have been shaved. Etc. ...) One of the worst parts is the existence of videos of his childhood that was conveniently found among his collection of entertainment disks in his media room ...WHAT? It was obviously used as the fastest way to reveal Nykyrian's past to Kiara but really...it was ridiculous enough to pull me out of the story and had me pause it. Some attempt could have been made to explain them to make it at least a little credible: Perhaps if the events outside of the hospital scenes was viewed from Nykyrian's point of view from a recording from a device that was implanted in him as a child in the hospital? He would have access because he could have downloaded it directly from his own head for example. How Kiara got the chance to view them could have been more inventive as well. Did the Author never see a basic sci-fi movie or read a sci-fi book? Kiara's (the heroine) character flipped back and forth from unlikable to likable, which is not a complaint really. It is her inconsistent behavior at several points that was problematic. There was some dialog to explain some inconsistencies in her personality and behavior for some scenes but better editing could have made her much better. According to the Author's comments on her website, kiara's character was changed significantly before the story was re-release (originally printed 1986) to a version of her character as she was portrayed in her original manuscript, which may explain some of this. SUMMARY: If rewritten more carefully and if the Author more thoroughly explored the sci-fi background and characters (the planets, politics, language, races, the sentinels, the league and especially adding several events that molded Nikyrian to allow him to credibly retain his `humanity' despite his horrific upbringing), this story could been improved from an entertaining but flawed romance with a vague sci-fi background to a great story about Nikyrian(probably a trilogy at least required) on par with Margaret Weis or perhaps even Lois McMaster Bjold. While these issues were frustrating, I did enjoyed the narrated version enough to give it five stars.

This book was interesting. The characters are set up in a way that the next books will have them intersecting and make the basic "League" storyline flow.

This was a good introductory book for the League storyline. Kip is a hardened assassin with a conscience. His history while heinous, has not completely made him a monster. He is always trying to find his humanity and it makes the story touching.

Good first book in the series. Excellent start and worth reading.

I loved this book. A great beginning to a series. I zooomed through this one. Nykyrian is hot and the heroine is cool too. I am a big fan of this couple and I think I always will have a special spot for them since they started my love of the League. If you can make it through this book without crying, you way better than me.

I love DH series. This one is similar to every other DH or other books by SK. Tortured hero- check. Heroine has some issues but manages to heal hero- check. Doom and gloom- check. Other hero's friends are also tortured- check. Remarkedbly short time for hero to accept heroine while he never trusts his own best friend- check.
This is getting tiredsome. At least DH has some interesting characters but in general, their stories follow the same pattern. I feel like I read different version of a book. It seems like every hot (and 7 ft tall) men are tortured.
Unless SK writes some DIFFERENT book (meaning no tortured hero), I feel very weary to pick up her book now because I can almost have a pretty accurate image after reading the sypnosis.

Since I've read pretty much everything Kenyon has published, I was very excited when I saw this was coming out. I love alpha males and believe me when I say Nykyrian had the makings of an amazing one. The prologue set the stage for a novel about a tough, no-nonsense assassin who was emotionally deadened and brutally fierce. What I got was an angst ridden hero so obsessed with the heroine it was ridiculous. I'm also sorry to say the heroine was just not likable. The pinnacle of unlikablity came when the Hero had just killed mulitiple men (very cool scene)who were trying to kill the heroine. She was disgusted by his cruelity and brutality to the point she throws up. What woman would act this way? He just saved your life! From men who wanted to torture and kill you! UGH! She just proved to him that he was as dirty and worthless as he thought he was. Also, it was just too contrived for him to discover his parents AND his daughter almost on the same page. It was as if Kenyon was taking all these plot ideas from numerous books and rolling them all into one. This book could have been so good! I do plan on buying the next one just to see if it gets any better so the author will get her money's worth from me but she has made me skeptical and I just can't bring myself to recommend this book.

I loved Born of Night. I needed a book for the weekend and picked this one up because I love Sherrilyn's Dark Hunters. I was not disappointed. I loved the reactions of the herione as she learned about the dark past Nemesis endured, the author didn't just sugar coat it and have her automatically forgive all the killing he had done.
I also loved all the side characters. I can't wait to read about Syn's love story next.

I was surprised by this book. I usually don't read books that are set in space, but I gave it a try because of the Dark-Hunter series. The story was really good and the characters are great. Nykyrian and Syn are spot on for the whole tortured hero and the rest of the secondary characters are pretty interesting too. Can't wait to read more in this series.

This book is my ultimate favourate of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books and I read it every year if not twice a year. Nykirian and Kiara are so perfect together despite all the hardships and changelles they go through to eventually end up together. A heart wrenching story of true love and they greatest sacrifice one can make for the person they love. Love it Love it Love it !!!

I was looking forward to Born of Night after reading some good reviews and wasnt disappointed. The story was good and the characters well written. My only gripe is that it was a little to familiar to her DH characters e.g tortured man, family abandoning him, beautiful woman teaching him to love etc etc.
Good secondary characters

I hate stories about tortured heroes, but this hero is tortured beyond anything believible. Kiara is just plain stupid. Her motto seems to be "My life is in danger but I'm going to do everything stupid that I can think to do". Poor writing and annoying lead characters who are too stupid to let live. I will find a different author to read.

This book is definitely a great read! Kenyon is one of my favorite authors. The world that she creates is just so enthralling and enchanting. I can never get bored. EVEN THOUGH I can't stand Kiara, I'm still addicted to this book. I'm not sure why I can't stand her, but maybe because Kenyon generated her character to be one of those girls that I just want to slap! LOL ARGH she gets on my nerve!!! I'm so into the book that even though I can't stand the main girl I still read it to the end! I think Nykyrian could do a lot better. Maybe he can cheat on her or something. Okay now I'm just hoping for too much. Oh well!!! Don't mind me! =)

Either way, this is one awesome book. It shows how great of an author she is, when I dislike the main heroine and still read the book until the end. AWESOME, AWSOME book!!!! Definitely a great read!!!

P.S. I definitely love the side characters!!! =)

Summary of the critique
This book was really poor.

What I liked
I liked the characters.
Why I liked it
The idea was good. The execution was really bad, filled with deux x machine, and poorly executed plot devices.
What I didn't like
The plot was OK. The execution was poor. The understanding of science was really poor.
Why I didn't like it.
The material is really weak.

First let's start with the fact that the author felt compelled to include every single possible cheezy movie of the week cliche into one book. Traumatized, abused children struggling with adult life? Check. Long lost royalty? Check. Cheesy cliche of mother who never gave up? check. Long lost child main character didn't know about? Check. Unplanned pregnancy? Check. I mean it was just pathetically bad how many phony, contrived and fake obstacles the author tried to cram into one plot.

Then there was the fact that this universe which apparently spans several planets is apparently so small, that the main female character somehow knows every single major player in the life of the main male character. Talk about a small universe and they can apparently zip back and forth amongst the planets in this universe in an hours time. All of which sustain life. Convenient.

Then there's just the absolute lack of logical plotting that takes place. Why precisely is an illegitimate child who is being trained to be an assassin and is considered an animal who can barely be controlled going to school with the heir to an Empire? I don't care what universe this is supposed to take place in, it doesn't happen. Those classes don't mingle. And why, if Andarians are considered such savages in the first place, that people scream and shriek at seeing Nyk in the store, why then is the heir of the people allowed to roam about apparently unfettered and accepted in society, even though supposedly he has MORE of the beasty traits than Nyk? How does that remotely gel? Either the species is considered tainted and feared, or it is not. Which is it?

But the absolute most stupid contrived device in the novel is the Nemesis character. So Nyk is Nemesis, only no one knows he's Nemesis and to be known as Nemesis is to be marked for death...except uh hello DUH he's the only assassin who has ever escaped them so he's already marked for death under his own name! How does creating an alter ego that's also marked for death helpful to him at all? Why would he bother? He's already marked for death under his real name, what's the point of him being marked for death under ANOTHER name? That's just stupid. And why would Nemesis, who no one knows, be considered more feared than the top assassin of all time who escaped their training? What kind of stupid logic is that? Not to mention, why would Nemesis be feared at all if the goal of their organization is "Protect the innocent". So everyone knows he's a ruthless killer and how to contact him, but don't know the limits of the missions he'll accept? Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

I could go on, but what's the point. Never has a novel been so poorly thought through or planned. Really if not for the fact that I had nothing else to read whatsoever, there is no way I could have finished it. There was literally not a SINGLE plot device in this story that made the slightest bit of sense.

This is not my first time reading this book. I read it when it first came out and fell in love with the the group that makes up the League novels. My husband loved this book so much he named our son Nykyrian. I highly recommend reading the whole series. I have them all and I can promise the books keep you coming back over and over. Excellent reads!

I have (I believe)the entire collection of Ms. Kenyons' dark hunter/dream hunter series and these went along with them perfectly. Great story. I just love when the bad guys are really the good guys and it all comes together in the end.

Definitely a must read.

"They call him Nemesis. Once a renegade assassin, now a warrior-soldier sworn to protect the innocent from the ruthless mercenaries throughout the galaxies."
This implies quite the hero, and Nykyrian lives up to this promise of a troubled hero who thinks he needs to love from afar. He has always admired Kiara when she danced. Now his feelings lead him to accept the job to keep her alive. Kiara is intrigued, intimidated and confused by Nykyrian. She knows she can trust him with her life and to keep her safe, but can she trust him with her heart? She realizes that he does love her but cannot say it.
Kiara has a death contract on her because her father, Predident of the Gourish Consolate, Commander Tiarun Biardi, refused to be intimidated by Probekin threats. Against his better judgement, he hires Nykyrian but when it looks like Nykyrian has harmed his daughter, Commander Tiarum puts a contract on Nykyrian. Not the best move, since Kiara has married Nykyrian and danger to him is danger to her. Just being married to Nykyrian put her in danger, because he has many enemies. One who captures her and Nykyrian goes to save her knowing it will cost him his life...
This is a fast paced adventure with many emotional scenes that make the book hard to put down. The HEA ending is a must for my enjoyment of a book... and I did enjoy this one.

While waiting for the next Dark-Hunter book I decided to try Kenyon's League series. They sat on my bookshelf for 2 months and then finally read them over the Easter long weekend. OMG! Born of Night was so entertaining with great flow. I could not put it down and ignored my family for the day.

I enoyed this book. I kept thinking ot Asheron's tormented life throughout this book. The reviews I've read about the rest of this series, plus the publisher's price makes me hesitate buying any more of this series.

This book touched me deeply. It was very emotional. This book isn't for the faint of heart. But it will leave you feeling what they felt. I can't wait to read the next book in The League series. Very good SIFI fantasy.

For those that are fans of Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter novels, you will find quite a few familiar themes within this book. You have the troubled rogue male character with a soul in dire need of love and the lead female character in need of a quick rescue (not to mention a reference to vampires and a guy with creepy eyes that always wears sunglasses). The formula works for the DH novels - we all know that! It turns out that based on the information in the forward, these novels were created before the DH series and have been updated and republished.

So, if you are a DH fan and don't mind seeing the similarities, then buy the book. It's a heck of a lot better and cheaper than buying Bad Moon Rising. Take it with a grain of salt and just enjoy it as a fan of Kenyon.

If you have never read any of the Dark Hunter series or Kenyon and like paranormal romance, I would still recommend it. Keep in mind that it is more sci-fi (the setting is outer space) than romance but still turns out to be a good, quick read.

I have to say that I LOVED it! This was the type of writing from Ms Kenyon that made me a fan in the beginning! Lately, most of her books have been fair to making me wonder why bother-I am glad I tried again! The characters have depth and I cared what happened to Kiara and NyKyrian. Also, there wasn't any of the phrases that her more recent novels are overrun with. I look forward with relish for her next League novel with Syn!!

I couldn't put this book down, and I couldn't figure out why. But I felt like I had seen this story line somewhere else...and then it dawned on me.... The romantic interraction between the two characters is much like Wesley (as Dread Pirate Roberts) and Princess Buttercup in the princessbride. "You mock my pain!" "Life is pain!" Ahhhh...a childhood story retold with gratuitous sex and violence.... TWO THUMBS UP!

This is another great book. Born of Night is a great story and fast paced. The book will not disappoint, it is excellent. I hope that the series is a long series just like her Dark Hunter Novels. Another Hit...way to go!

There were so many scenes that were extremely difficult to read... I just skip those and go to the heart of the story. I like this Ichidian Universe that Kenyon has created. This book has its moments, but I am excited about the potential of this universe and her characters.

Kenyon has developed an intriguing universe and compelling characters. Similar in setup to her Dark Hunters' series, the League series has one main couple focus for each book while the over-arching series story line continues on.

Incredible book! After reading over 20 books & short stories by Sherrilyn Kenyon, I felt the same writing style including the strength in her characters but in a totally different environment than all others.

Really liked the outer-space. Nykyrian and Cyn were great charters. I liked Kiara but she seemed a little to fragile for the type of macho men in this story.The love story sizzled and the ending was great.

I own all Sherrilyn Kenyons books and they take pride of place in my libary, but some of her later work just is not her best. This book takes me back to discovering Sherrilyn Kenyon years ago with her earlier Dark Hunter series....I will never not buy any of her work but its just great to read vintage Kenyon again

I was so thrilled to be able to get ahold of this book. I have enjoyed every book that Sherrily has written. I have been lucky enough to have met her in cyber-space and found that she is a wonderfully nice person with a great sense of humor. I hope to meet her in person some day. Until then I will have to read all of her books again and again.
Now this book is tied in with her book Paradise City. Both are sci-fi romances that pack a lot of action and heat. The hero of this book, Nemesis, is a dark, fearsome warrior who has a fierce reputation as a mercenary. He also has a secret. He has admired and dreamed about the heroine for years. Princess Kiara is a wonderful dancer who soon finds herself in very close quarters with Nemesis. He is protecting her from her father's enemies but at a high cost, his heart. The two are trying to fight their growing attraction for each other but failing. The passions soon ignite and the fireworks are fantastic.
I loved the supporting characters. They added humor and really tied the whole book together.
I hope that there maybe more in this series. Hint, Hint! If you can get this book and Paradise City as well.

This was the first Sherrilyn Kenyon book I have ever tried to read. I love unusual romance novel however this book was just really far out there, and frankly not that good. The characters seemed boring at times and the story seem to being moving slow.

This story may have been original when Ms. Kenyon first sold it, but after years of Dark-Hunter novels it definitely falls short on originality. It seems as though Ms. Kenyon has stretched herself a little thin and perhaps both she and her loyal fans would be better served if she did not try to juggle so many series and storylines at the same time. Whether Nykyrian reminds you of Kyrian or Acheron or embodies so many other Dark-Hunter characters she's published since she originally wrote this book, this book pales in comparison to other works. Even considering the lesser quality of her recent works, this was disappointing in its familiarity. Loving Ms. Kenyon's previous work isn't good enough reason to buy this book.

I really like all of Kenyon's books. This one just didn't seem quite as well written as some of her later ones. The heroine was way more girly, however, the hero was wonderfully tortured and antisocial as seems to be the Kenyon special. :) All in all it wasn't a bad book, but her later ones were much better.

I Love the Dark Hunter Books and wasn't sure about another series but if the rest of the books in ths sries are as good as the first one Ms Kenyon has another great series in the making.
Every spare moment I got was spent reading this book. It is one I am sure that I will be reading over and ver again.

This is the first installment in "The league Series."

Tis series is the the first the author wrote and the books are very hard to find, but worth the effort.

They are:

1. Born of the Night.

2. Born of Fire. (e-book)

3. Paradise City.

4. Fire and Ice. (reprint in "Man of my dreams.")

I really hope these will be reprinted, so we can all get a copy, because i like the ones i have, especially Born of the night. This author is good, and her books prove it.

I read Born of the Night the same day i got it, and did not put it down before it ended.

I don't get the great reviews. Obviously an early attempt at this genre by Kenyon. Has some of the elements
we have grown to love and expect in one of her books but lacking somehow.Kind of like some of her most recent works.
Think I'm gonna pass on the next two releases in this series.

I have read ALL of Kenyon's dark hunters book I love them. I decided to buy Born of night after I read the first 9 chapters online. I ran to the book store yesterday and finish today. I LOVE this book. I laugh and I cried. I can't wait to read Syn book.

The whole beaten, tortured, starved, unwanted, and unlovable hero thing is getting a little stale. The futuristic world is not inviting. I have all of the DH books and I can see how the early stuff evolved. At least the DH stories had some interesting characters.

This is my second time reading this book and this series. I fell in love with this author's work when she first started writing. Sherrilyn Kenyon is one of my all time favorite authors! Her character's come to life on the pages of her books! Nykyrian and Kiara are two of my favorite characters. He's been abused for most of his life and as a result is always expecting his few friends to betray him. Kiara was kidnapped along with her mother as a child. The kidnappers tortured and killed her mother in front of her. The also shot her three times and left her for dead. That these to damaged people found each other and fell in love was a miracle in it self. This is a book that's a must read.

I read the first version of this book, and enjoyed it. Then when Ms. Kenyon got the rights back for the book, she rewrote and restored it to the original version...and I absolutely loved it! I attended her kickoff signing for The Chronicles of Nick and asked her how it felt to finally publish her intended version. Her reply was, "You can't imagine. There are no words to describe it." If you like your hero totally Alpha, damaged, but tender and with a heart of gold...your heroine strong, independent and loyal to her man, you'll love this book, too.

Ms. Kenyon's knack for snark, snappy dialogue, sarcasm, action, descriptions of worlds beyond our imagination, redemption, love, cast of secondary characters that have you laughing and cheering, keeps you turning the pages and eager for the next book when you reach the last page.

Well done, Ms. Kenyon. Very well done!

This book is so. So. Good. It is full of depth. The universe, characters, and love story all feel real and the author is extremely talented. I absolutely love Nyk. I like that his past abuse is talked about. It's part of his story and helps you understand why he is the way he is. I'm already reading the second book in the series! I plan to read all of this author's work. She's a true artist.