Born of Night

The League: Nemesis Rising #1

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

In the Ichidian Universe, The League and their ruthless assassins rule all. Expertly trained and highly valued, the League Assassins are the backbone of the government. But not even the League is immune to corruption . . .

Command Assassin Nykyrian Quikiades once turned his back on the League—and has been hunted by them ever since. Though many have tried, none can kill him or stop him from completing his current mission: to protect Kiara Zamir, a woman whose father’s political alliance has made her a target.

As her world becomes even deadlier, Kiara must entrust her life to the same kind of beast who once killed her mother and left her for dead. Old enemies and new threaten them both and the only way they can survive is to overcome their suspicions and learn to trust in the very ones who threaten them the most: each other.

Genres: Romance, Paranormal Romance, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Paranormal, Aliens, Adult

539 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

About the author

Official Author site
Official Nevermore site
Official Deadman's Cross site
Official Chronicles of Nick site
Official Silent Swans site
Official Hunter Legends site
Official Witch of Endor site
Official Lords of Avalon site
Official Facebook site

New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot. With legions of fans known as Paladins (thousands of whom proudly sport tattoos from her series and who travel from all over the world to attend her appearances), her books are always snatched up as soon as they appear on store shelves. Since 2004, she had placed more than 80 novels on the New York Times list in all formats including manga and graphic novels. Her current series are: Dark-Hunters, Chronicles of Nick and The League, and her books are available in over 100 countries where eager fans impatiently wait for the next release. Her Chronicles of Nick and Dark-Hunter series are soon to be major motion pictures while Dark-Hunter is also being developed as a television series. Join her and her Paladins online at MySherrilyn.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn

Fan Run International Sites:

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Soy Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon 

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Spanish

Reviews

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

What up, what up, what up my friends.

How was everyone's holiday?

Mine was swell. I spent Christmas Eve spreading holiday cheer...

AKA champagne...

But what can I say.



And Christmas Eve hung the fuck over from all the champagne.

Whoops.



Let's just say I never realized how loud the ripping of wrapping paper sounded.

But I digress.

This book.

I deliberated over my rating on this for a bit.

I was really enjoying everything and then there were a few too many "convenient" twists toward the end for my liking.

But after further deliberation, I came to the conclusion...


Who the fuck cares.

As a PNR WHORE, I have some serious appreciation for world building done right.

And this book had that in spades. So for that alone it deserves a good rating.

I also really liked the hero.

The heroine...not as much.

But we can't always have everything, I guess.

Find me at:

[Nathaniel Hardman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Here are some taglines that would be really great to put on the back cover of this book:

"Troubled ex-assassin Nykyrian takes on his most difficult assignment ever - to protect the Princess Kiara from the universe's most deadly killers. But when things turn personal, Nykyrian finds that saving Kiara may mean facing the one enemy he fears most of all - love."

Or: "Like Twilight, but dumber and dirtier!"

Maybe I should say first that this was a new genre for me. One time I wrote a negative review of a book based on the Dungeons and Dragons board game, and I got some disgruntled feedback that I was really complaining about the genre and not the book. That may be the case here. Maybe space-sleaze just isn't for me. But I am astounded to see the average rating for this book. 4.24!? That's higher than Huckleberry Finn! Or To Kill a Mockingbird! Or A Tale of Two Cities. And those are like, REAL BOOKS. Anyway, I don't get it, and maybe I should leave it at that.

But I won't!

First, for a book about "deadly assassins", they sure don't seem very deadly. So this is the distant future (To illustrate how distant, they are always climbing in their "transports" or "fighters" and touching down on other planets just a few minutes later. There's absolutely no sense of space or time. Anyway, far distant future). And the bad guys want the princess dead at any cost. So the princess takes her bodyguards with her to a party (?), and rather than just shoot her from a distance, the deadly assassin comes up behind her in the bustling crowd, sticks a gun in her ribs, and tells her to walk with him out of the room. Then they get out of the party, and he throws her on the ground, and he decides to deliver a little monologue to her before shooting her (But what do you think? Does he finish and kill her before her bodyguard saves her? I won't spoil anything). Deadly assassins!

And romance! The hero in this book is just so hot! And mysterious and aloof! And he's a gourmet chef! He always wears shades to hide his eyes because he says that people always get uncomfortable when they see his eyes. But what do they look like? Did he inherit the red eyes of his Anderian mother? Or some freakish anomaly from being a half-breed? Nope. They're just normal green eyes. But they're really beautiful! And they expose a sensitive, fragile, wounded soul. I almost wept when I read about that, it was just so darn tender. Romance! Deadly assassins!

A couple of days after the party incident, the princess goes on a little date with her bodyguard/love-interest. They buy clothes! And ice cream! And eat at a really great restaurant! And he can totally buy her, like, THE NICEST THINGS!!!! So hot. Incidentally, did you know that in the real world, the longest confirmed sniper kill was over 1.5 miles? How far might trained, deadly assassins shoot in the future? That is a question that Sherrilyn Kenyon spent a lot of time not asking herself while writing this book.

Also, I just have to mention this because it's hilarious - at one point, our heroine is in the house of our hero-with-a-dark-secretive-past, and she's looking through his movie collection, and she finds a box labeled private (!). She puts in those movies, and - I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! - they're a history of his life in little vignettes. She sees him as a little boy, being horribly abused in an orphanage. She sees him at school defending a smaller boy from bullies and being beaten in return. She sees him coming home from prison (he was framed!) and being beaten by his foster father. She sees him being rejected by his first lover. She sees him in a dark alley where he's been badly wounded, and he's saved by the younger version of his current best friend. It's very touching and sad, and I bet she was glad that someone had taken the time to get all of these scenes on video so she could understand the troubled past of our brooding, beautiful hero. And how do you think this scene ends? Do you think our hero might show up while she's watching these private movies and be furious with her for invading his privacy? You'll have to find out for yourself! I won't spoil anything!

And then, holy cow does this turn into the craziest soap opera you've ever imagined. So they travel to this distant planet in the middle of nowhere, and the hero goes to talk to the wife of his arch nemesis - the guy who's trying to kill our heroine. And it turns out that the arch-nemesis's wife once slept with our hero, and our hero has a teenage daughter who has been raised by his arch-nemesis! Then they leave that house, and they're walking down the street, and they happen to walk past the hero's long-lost, half-crazy mother who recognizes him from when he was a four-year-old boy (he's now in his 30's). And it turns out he's actually the crown prince of the Anderians, but his grandmother hated him for being half-human, so she sent him to a human orphanage and faked his death so his family wouldn't look for him. And it turns out that the woman our hero remembers who threw him cruelly into the orphanage was actually his mother's evil, identical cousin! (Note: As if this story hasn't been crazy enough, why is there an identical cousin? Did the author think an evil identical twin was too cliche? She was right!)

Okay, one last thing, and this is just a laugh; maybe the author even did this on purpose. Several times she uses the word "busted" to mean "broke" (as in, "he busted the door down"). This was a little jarring every time, as I don't think this is a correct use of the word. But the last time she used it was really funny - one character in the book is an art collector, and one day he goes missing. The hero goes over to his house, and he finds everything a shambles, "the paintings slashed, the statuary busted." Was that an intentional joke? If so, good for her.

Okay, seriously, this is the last thing, a little gem:

Blind rage clouded his vision, but he knew better than to show it. Disregarding his parents, he grabbed Julian by his dinner jacket and hurled him across the nearest table.

Good thing he didn't let his anger show!

Disclaimer: This is the second time I've posted a review for a book I listened to rather than read. Usually I don't review audiobooks because I feel like I haven't given the book a fair chance with my undivided attention. This book, however, doesn't deserve anyone's undivided attention, and I'm very confident this review wouldn't be any nicer if I had read the print version.

If you enjoyed this review, check out this review of Some Girls Bite, a vampire novel of similar quality.

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 ahold 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.

Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot to rant about something that drove me nuts in the book! Kiara and her forgiveness of her father. Nykyrian takes Kiara back to see her dad and her dad orders him killed right there in front of her! She throws herself to the ground and "wails" until her dad comes and carries her away. She's cold to him for months, but she still stays in his home. Then when she finds out that Nykyrian isn't really dead she stops being mad at her dad entirely. The intent was still there! Just because it didn't succeed doesn't mean he should be forgiven. He never even apologized. He wanted to make her get rid of the baby so she could get back to dancing. He was a jerk!

[Bibi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I pray to the saint of books to please save me from simplistic plots and idiotic heroines. Amen

[Shawna · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars – Paranormal/Sci-Fi Romance

I’ve had Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series on my TBR list for quite some time now, but I’m a little bit intimated by the number of books there are to get caught up on. The premise of The League series sounded interesting, the characters seemed intriguing, and with only three books produced so far, it felt a little less daunting of an undertaking. The main word that comes to mind to describe how I felt about this book is...WOW! And if it’s indicative of her other works, then I can certainly understand why Kenyon’s Dark-Hunter series is so popular and has such a large fan following.

The Ichidian Universe that SK has created in The League series is unique and fascinating, and I never felt overwhelmed, confused, or bored at all by the world-building...just completely immersed and entertained. And oh my...Assassin Nykyrian is so sexy, mysterious, captivating, and complex, and he’s one of the darkest, most tortured romantic heroes ever. Seriously, he’s right up there with Judd from Caressed By Ice, Dante from A Rush of Wings and In the Blood, and Reyes from The Darkest Pleasure for the best anguished, tarnished hero (although no one can top my beloved Zsadist from Lover Awakened). Nyk’s past is so sad and brutally painful, that it actually brought tears to my eyes, and the romance between him and Kiara is intense, touching, at times heartbreaking, and very hot.

Born of Night is an amazing paranormal romance, and I’m looking forward to more in this awesome series...and hopefully to finally reading the Dark-Hunter books at some point in the future, too! Big 5 stars!

[UniquelyMoi ~ BlithelyBookish · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been a huge fan of Sherrilyn Kenyon’s writing ever since I first discovered the Dark-Hunter series and that amazing hero, Acheron. When I heard about the re-release of The League series, I was thrilled until I learned it was Sci-Fi because I’m really not a big fan of the genre. Truthfully, the only other Sci-Fi book I have ever read and really liked, loved in fact, was The Host by Stephenie Meyer. The Host, like Born of Night was pretty light on the techie stuff which is why it worked for me. The time period, the locations and everyday living were given enough attention to detail that there was no mistaking the book’s futuristic setting, yet at the same time I didn’t feel like I needed a degree in rocket science to understand what was happening. And while this has nothing to do with the genre, in the beginning there were so many characters being introduced, relationships explained and back-stories given, that I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to fully follow the story. However once I got into the book and became familiar with the names, I had no problem whatsoever.

Keeping in mind that this was Sherrilyn Kenyon’s debut novel, something minor I want to mention is that I know that sometimes when we buy a book for the author’s name, we expect it to be at least as good as their last book we read. I ran into this recently when I began reading some books that were written by one of my all time favorite authors, J.R. Ward, writing as Jessica Bird. The Bird books were excellent, but didn’t have the same “feel” or “flawless flow” as the Ward books do and while Born of Night is a great story, I could see a slight difference in the writing refinement. I’m truly not trying to be critical, merely pointing this out for readers who may not be aware that these books were written years before her Dark-Hunter series was released and might wonder about the difference in writing.

However, all that said, I’m very impressed by how well written this debut novel is. The plot is believable, the characters well defined and with a depth of moral character that I couldn’t help but be proud of these "criminals" who are consider to be low life scum by the “important” people, the ones who supposedly matter.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and adored Nykerian! As for Kiara - meh - she was annoying as all get out and I really didn’t see how I’d ever come to like her enough to want to see Nyk saddled with her for the rest of his life. Indeed, oft was the time that I silently urged Nykie to put her rear end on the first asteroid out of the galaxy, however, as only an author of Ms. Kenyon’s caliber can do, she took the irritating traits, flaws and weaknesses inherent in Kiara and explained them all so well that in the end, I had found it in my heart to forgive her and yes, even like her, and was very happy with the match.

If you find yourself tempted, yet hesitant to read this book because it’s Sci-Fi, I’d really encourage you to take the chance. What have you got to lose?

[Blacky *Romance Addict* · Rating 2 out of 5]

First half was GREAT! Loved the world building and action :)

Second half was horrible! The MCs acted like absolute morons and the whole second half was pretty much a pity party for the main guy to make us feel sorry for him. I felt sorry for him even in the first half, I really didn't need to have it shoved down my throat like that. You know like, too much sweets makes you sick, for me, too much forcing me to feel sorry for the dude made me irritated. Oh well.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought I might like this one. It opened with an intro to our anti-hero as he refused to kill a child in his role as exceptionally deadly assassin. He contacts a friend who it seems might be telling the story and takes his leave so as to protect said friend. He's going to fight rather than be killed by his former superiors...the only outcome for an assassin who wants to, "retire".

Then we jump to the point of view of a scrappy young woman who's been kidnapped. She fights against her situation, she will not give up, she'll die first. Then the ship (that's a space ship) in which she's being held comes under attack. Well she thinks, that's it I'll die here. Then against all hope she's rescued...by the universe's most feared (and possibly hated) assassin. She thinks almost hateful thoughts about him....

And then the book goes completely off the rails. From this point on neither character (victim or assassin) think of anything except their lust, love, obsession and desire for the other. Sweating, panting and over-heated the girl who was just rescued from certain death can't look at the guy (whom up till now she'd hated on principal from reputation alone) without losing it completely and falling into sexual fantasy. The hard, cold, viscous assassin whom no one has ever survived goes "hard" (the book's description not mine) at the very thought of the girl.

Excuse me while I stifle my gag reflex, roll my eyes and sigh deeply..

Look I can take a love story, I can take some romance...but I don't like books that are romances. If that's the point of the book, don't call it action. Don't give a synopsis about a galaxy class assassin and daring do if the books pages are going to be filled with adolescent lust fantasies.

So, don't care for it-can't recommend it. if you want a romance try this one. If you want an action read about a reforming assassin maybe not.

[Kristalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Final rating: 5/5 stars

“If I have to die, I’d rather die knowing someone cared about me, just once. Is that really too much to ask?"
"For us? Yes. It is. We are the gutter and the gutter is all we’ll ever be. Don’t reach out for the stars. They’ll burn you until there’s nothing left. "
"Then let me burn.”

Reread this because i needed to remind myself how much i love this series (i actually read all of the books and i am quite up to date with them, but i need to love them again). Not to mention how much i love all characters in it, especially Nykyrian, Syn and Darling & Maris ♥. I also cried again, little less then i cried the first time, but i also laughed like crazy woman on all those hilarious moments. My love for this series is huge, the characters are unforgettable, and it's the ability of Sherrilyn Kenyon to make them so loveable. I seriously love you woman!

Oh, and one more thing! The author herself said that there were two versions of this book. The earlier one, which has "the" in the title...aka "Born of THE night", and it's different, so i suggest you search for this one (there is a short author's note on the beginning, saying the version is new one).
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WORLD BUILDING AND THE STORY :
____________________________________________

Sooooooo....let me start with the introduction to the world.

♦ There is the League. They are assassins and they are cruel, vicious and sometimes horrible. They are legendary, they are unstoppable, and they are some kind of law.

♦ The Sentella on the other hand is a organization made to keep the League in the check - but they are all criminals and they are crazy. In a positive way, btw. It's an organization that has the same reason for existing as the League does and that is to protect people from those who are corrupted by power.

♦ Andarions are the race who genetically come from humans, but they refuse to acknowledge it. They are fierce, they are vicious, and are predatorial race that sometimes fed on humans. They are long fanged, have red rimmed eyes, and they always have black hair. And they are scary as hell to regular people.They also value physical beauty only second to physical strength.

♦ There are also many planetary systems, some of them are populated with humans and are empires and such. For example,there exists Caron, a human system, and so on and on....

The story on the other hand is about Nykyrian, a former League assassin - he left the League a long time ago, and they still haven't killed him - because he kills them first. He is a member of Sentella.

And then, one day, Sentella goes on a mission and Syn, one of them, finds Kiara and rescues her. Together with Nykyrian who is in disguise as Nemesis, the scarriest, the most brutal assassin Sentella has.

After they rescued her, Sentella signed up to be bodyguards for Kiara until the danger on her life passes...
____________________________________________

CHARACTERS :
____________________________________________

♦ Nykyrian:

Nykyrian...Oh Nykyrian... He is a hybrid of two races - he is half human and half Andarion. They are extremely rare, but the problem lies in the fact that Andarions think he is weak and therefore is an outcast, and humans fear him because they think he would eat them and therefore he had been outcasted again. If only it was an easy thing. He once had family, he had status, he had everything, until the day when he was a just a child, when he lost everything - and from that moment on, his life had been nothing but utter and complete misery, terror and suffering. He was trained to be the most vicious, the most lethal, emotionless assassin, until one day he decided it was enough and escaped. And then, he joined Sentella and became one of the most feared assassins, called Nemesis. But even he has a heart, and he has emotions, and deep inside, he is afraid of showing anything, lest he suffers rejection again. He never smiles, he is quite sarcastic and he is sometimes ironic as hell.

And then...he meets Kiara, who changes his perspective on the world...or not. She also many many times misunderstands him, and therefore, she hurts him again, and again and again. But he couldn't help eventually falling in love with her (which took half of the book) and he decided that he could change...for her. But, he doesn't trust easily, he doesn't open easily and he certainly doesn't feel like he needs someone. He is so much used thinking that he was alone, that he doesn't see the truth; people care about him, Sentella members especially, but he doesn't notice it.

“In your palms, I’ve placed my life, my secrets. I give you freedom to leave me at any time. I’m not easy to love. No one ever has. All I ask is that you always keep your silence, if not for me, then for the families of the others you’d destroy.”

Reading about his past always destroys me. I seriously wonder how he stayed sane through it all and how he turned out to be a seriously wonderful, gentle and sane person... It's a wonder.

♦ Kiara:

Kiara has everything - she is rich, spoiled, she has normal family, she is loved, she is famous, she is a dancer. But then again, is she good human being? Yes. She is, though sometimes she can be utter and horrible bitch (still i don't blame her). She doesn't think about the things she says, she thinks she knows it all, and she is quick to judge. I wanted to strangle her - and i wonder how Syn didn't do it already xD

“Everyone has a choice. (Kiara)
No, princess, they don’t. Choices aren’t always up to us. Life and circumstances can shred even the stoutest soul. No matter how pure and untainted you think you are, I promise you that you, too, can be shoved into the darkness, just like we were. (Syn)”

But, then again, she is wonderful, she is nice and she is total match for Nykyrian. She falls in love with him slowly, especially after she slowly cracks his shell... She finds out that life can be a bitch, that not everyone lived the same way as she did and it made her understand how happy she actually was and is in her life and in her skin.

“I wish I could take away your pain. I wish I could go back to when you were born and take you somewhere safe. Far away from all the people who’ve hurt you.”
His eyes were liquid emeralds. “You’re doing that now.”

♦ Sentella members:

The Sentella memebers are unique. They are all criminals, that is true. But - they are good - they are never bad and they have never been bad, but it doesn't make them less criminal. Everyone judges them before they even met them, and all of them hide some deep and traumatic pasts (not sure about Hauk though). They are batshit insane and crazy and funny as hell.

“What the hell was that action?” Syn asked him.
“I think it’s something called ‘paternal concern.’ ”
Syn scowled at his bland explanation. “What . . . ? You sure? I thought that crap was a myth.”
Nykyrian shrugged. “No, really. I watched it once in a documentary. It was fascinating. Believe it or not, there are people out there who actually have feelings for their progeny.”
“Get the fuck out. No way. You’re screwing with my head again, aren’t you?”
“No. I swear. You just saw it with your own eyes. I did not make that shit up.”
Syn shivered. “Yeah but it’s really messing with my concept of the natural order of the universe. Paternal love? What’s next? Limb regrowth? Genetic splicing reversals?”

Hauk is an Andarion, he is funny, scary and awesome (he is not interested in humans). Syn, one of my fav characters is crazy SOB who drinks himself almost everytime, not to mention that he considers Nyk his best friend, and he was always there for him. And his sense of humor is fascinating. Darling...oh god..Darling - i fell in love the moment i first read about him. He is a redhead(yes i had to say it), he is scarred, and he is...well...just fantastic (especially after you read his book). I always hated his situation with his family, and it hurt me every time :((

♦ Other characters:

All of the families in this series are insane! We have some overprotective fathers, dead mothers, dead sisters and unknown daughters, ignorant parents, psychotic brothers and lots and lots of killers. Well, let's just say, there is a long list of people/charaters i wanted to slaughter.

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OVERALL :
____________________________________________

Anyway...I fell in love with the dancer and the assassin. Just reading the synopsis for the first time grabbed my attention + it was Sherri, so could i ask for more? I think i love this series more than i love her Dark Hunters. And also, her ability to produce tortured heroes is amazing (even heroines). If you like science fiction, with good world building, romance, action and hotness, and if you love tortured heroes and great characters, than this series must be read.

The rest of the league books...Bring it on!!!
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● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
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MY THE LEAGUE REVIEWS:

◉ Born of Night (The League, #1)
◉ Cloak & Silence (The League, #7)
◉ Born of Fury (The League, #8)
◉ Born of Defiance (The League, #9)
◉ Born of Betrayal (The League, #10)



This review can be found on my blog: infinity-of-time.blogspot.com also known as...

[Jo ★The Book Sloth★ · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars



Nykyrian Quikiades is the man behind the Nemesis mask, a name that strikes fear to the hearts of the most hardened criminals. A fugitive from the League, with contracts for his assassination from several planets goverments, Nykyrian is a man fighting a war against an organisation that has grown too corrupt to dispense the justice and protection it was founded for. His latest responsibility is protecting Princess Kiara Zamir, a woman caught in the middle of her father's political differences with his enemies.

Kiara Zamir is no stranger to fear. She felt it to the bone when she was eight and watched her mother die on the hands of their kidnappers. Now the terror of running for her life is back by the target painted on her back but at least this time she has Nykyrian and the Sentella looking out for her. Nykyrian with the tortured eyes and the air of mystery that attract her as much as his assassin job repells her. Can she get over her aversion to violence to see the man behind the mask?



From one of my favorite Paranormal authors a series that's par Sci-fi, part Paranormal and all Action and Romance. Once again Sherrilyn Kenyon managed to suck me right in with her complex plotlines and multi-dimensional characters. She made me laugh and cry and sympathise with everything they went through. She made me want to learn more about them and their world. I'm not going to review every book in the series(because I'm sooo not reviewing 10 books right now) but I will say that much like her Dark Hunter series there is one constant in every book. Sherrilyn Kenyon sure loves to torture her heroes! She puts them through hell and in the end rewards them with what they want most for all the pain they've suffered. She also makes them resilient(some even immortal) just so she can torture them some more. AND I LOVE EVERY MINUTE OF IT!

Born Of Night is no exception to the rule. What Nykyrian has been through had me to tears more than once. The stuff he had to do to survive, the pain he had to suffer, the sheer strength of will it took to get through the hell other people's prejudice put him through, made me ache and root for him from start to finish. His badass attitude and hotness didn't hurt either.



Kiara was also no delicate flower. Despite the fact that she spent most of her life protected in the cocoon her father had surrounded her with, she had met her fair share of pain. She wasn't blind to the cruelty people were capable of, even though she may not have exactly been aware of the extend people could go to to hurt other people. I liked her backbone and her determination to not be a victim for anyone.

I also loved the world SK has created. Although ten books later I still have plenty of questions regarding how things work in the Universe she has created. Still, the intergalactic travels, the advanced weaponry, the out-there technology and the different forms of civilization are enough to keep this girl glued to the pages of each and every book!

[Danielle The Book Huntress *Pluto is a Planet!* · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, I think I am an official futuristic/space romance convert now. I loved what Ms. Kenyon did with this concept. I thought she did a very good job with the world-building, but I caught a couple of 'slips' where she would describe things that I really had trouble believing they would have in a futuristic setting on another planet. But then I have no creativity when it comes to making up technological devices and futuristic settings, so I can hardly judge her. Overall, I was happy and I didn't find those rare instances jarring. I think she did a great job coming up with the different cultures and races. It wasn't to the degree that I got bored, and neither was the technological references. I don't like my sci-fi to be top heavy with this kind of stuff. Just enough to make me believe the setting, thanks very much.

Some of the aspects with the League of Assassins Academy and the political structure aspects reminded me vaguely of Star Trek, but this book is not very much in that vein at all. If anything it is more like Firefly. Sigh. Yes, I definitely had happy reminders of the short-lived but brilliant show Firefly with this book. The characters aren't that similar but some of the aspects of the universe and the social/political structures are. There is the whole fancy politically-structured universe paired to the backwater planets theme that is prevalent in the Firefly universe. Also the group of smugglers and outlaws that Nykyrian associates with reminds me of heavily of the crew and passengers of Serenity, and some of the folks they encounter in the various episodes. That's where the similarity ends, because this story is Classic Sherrilyn Kenyon. Sorry, Malcolm Reynolds lovers. There is no Mal character in this book. But we have Nykyrian, and he rules this book.


A newbie to tortured heroes? Meet Nykyrian Quikiades. This man takes the cake for this hero archetype. Was that a bad thing for this reader? Certainly not. I love tortured heroes. Nykyrian earns his spot on my hero to die for list. I found myself rooting for him, crushing on him, and almost crying for him, and deeply feeling for him. That's a good sign.

And Ms. Kenyon reaffirms to me why I love her books with this novel. She writes romance novels that read like my favorite action/adventure movies (with the amped up romance that is usually missing from some of my cinematic fare of my choice). I know I talk about movies a lot when I review books. I can't help it. I am a Movie Buff and a Bookworm. Those areas often overlap for me. Anyhoo, there is a bit of Cleric John Preston in fair Nykyrian. Oh, yes. That is a good thing, since Cleric John Preston from Equilibrium is a Certified, Grade A Badass. So is Nykyrian. He is absolutely lethal and he doesn't have to concentrate to be that way. His lethality is actually hard for Kiara to deal with after he goes futuristic/medieval on some badguys who were trying to kill her. I had a little bit of a "I want to slap the heroine of this book really hard" moment when she treats him like garbage afterwords. I told myself to calm down and remember what she went through. She had been kidnapped and was tortured, had to watch her mother be tortured and killed, was almost murdered herself, and had survived several other attempts on her life. I could understand her dislike of violent people. However, there are some instances where violence is the answer for other violence. In other words, she lives in a shades of gray universe, not a black and white one. She should have been more conscious of that before she started condemning Nyk and his colleagues. There are many instances of violence towards her and the other characters, that really did demand a response in kind.

I was really glad that Nykyrian's friend Syn told her off. She needed to hear that because she had badly misjudged Nyk. I a not a fan of cruel bullies and conscienceless murderers (despite my love of antiheroes and assassins). It was clear to me early own that this was so not Nykyrian. I think that Kiara really needed a reality check on Nyk. She has a couple of moments where she shows some emotional immaturity that irked me, but overall, she really comes through for Nyk. So I guess she can have him (even though I want him all to myself).

He's got so much damage and pain in his past, present, and future. Ms. Kenyon says in the introduction that she added back the parts that the publisher would not allow in the first publication since they were too intense. Yup, they were intense. She definitely didn't pull her punches with this one. I haven't read Acheron yet, so I don't know if Ash had it worse, but gosh I don't know if I'll be able to stand it if he did. Nykyrian really had a crap life. Some really awful things happen to him, so the reader should be warned that some of this is not pretty at all. But it really helped me to understand the person that he is. No wonder he doesn't trust anyone and is cold, isolated, and lethal, or maintains a facade to this effect.

Kiara was a good heroine. She had her moments where she annoyed me, but she turns out to be the right woman for Nyk. Ms. Kenyon doesn't seem to do tormented heroines, and Kiara isn't exactly one. But she's had some bad stuff happen in her past that flavors her and gives her added depth. I liked the aspects of her career as a dancer. I think Ms. Kenyon must have known a dancer or have been a dancer, because this felt very authentic.

The love scenes are very light, so don't read this expecting a lot of steam. But I didn't mind that at all. I liked them, because they showed the tenderness and the connection between Nykyrian and Kiara.

I'm loving Nyk's friends and sidekicks. They were all very interesting, adding to the flavor of this book. The dialog between them was great. Kenyon certainly knows how to turn on the snark and to have you laughing. My favorite secondary character was Syn. I'm excited to read Syn's story. He's funny and interesting, and he's got a lot of anguish that should make for an interesting journey in his novel. I also really liked Darling. I hope he gets his happy ending (although it wouldn't be the traditional boy/girl kind of romance).

I don't want to give spoilers, but readers will find that Nyk's past intersects very heavily with his future, giving him closure and opens a door for new beginnings. I must say I enjoyed that aspect of this story.

I'm very glad that this League series came back into print. I love the setting and the characters, and it meets my sci-fi-loving needs, with some great romance and action in a wonderful combination. I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series.

FYI: The short story in the Man of My Dreams anthology is about Nykyrian and Kiara's son. It's awesome.

[ᴥ Irena ᴥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

I wish I'd read this when it was first published (and I hadn't been paying attention to certain things). I would have liked it more than I do now.

With that out of the way, if you aren't in the mood for a sci-fi paranormal romance featuring a very tortured hero and one of the most annoying heroines ever, I suggest you skip this. Since I was, you could say I kind of liked it. The first half of the story at least.
I like this idea of the Ichidian Universe, where a small group of former assassins and fugitives have to fight off other, worse groups of killers. Then you get a glimpse of different races, cultures living on The League from the series title is an organization some of the protagonists left and now they always have to look over their shoulder in case someone decides to fulfil the contract on their heads.
In any case, it's a first book in the series so it's quite possible that other books are better (or that they don't have a heroine this annoying).

I didn't mind Nykyrian being perfect at all. I found it refreshing after all the whining and flip-flipping the heroine was doing. I get that she is a total opposite, that she was sheltered and hasn't got a clue about anything really, but the I care-I don't care-he is evil-he isn't a monster-come here-go away juggling made my head hurt.
On the other hand, there were a couple of decent twists in the story.

In any case, I liked it enough to continue with the series. To say the world is promising would be an understatement (reason for my rating).

[Fani *loves angst* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was simply amazing. I thought I would get tired by its size, but as it turned out, I wasn't bored for a single minute while reading this. Fans of tortured heroes who also happen to be mercenaries/assasins/outlaws should grab this one asap as Nykyrian is one of the best heroes in that area. Think about Zarek or Judd Laurens or Bastien.

The last 100 pages disappointed me somewhat with the way the plot twisted in so many ways, but in the end, nothing can dull the awesomeness of this book. Happily continuing with the next in the series, Syn's story.

Warning: the book is sci-fi and the hero is not human, although he is basically human in appearance. I'm not at all a fan of sci-fi romance, but in this case, it didn't bother me in the least. It was mostly like those PNR books set in the future where a few impressive gadgets are introduced but most things are familiar nonetheless.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

*“You have to learn to smile through your pain. Sometimes it’s all we got.”*

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She belonged to the day, to warmth and sunshine.
Her world was light and wonderful, filled with love and laughter.
And he was born of night. His mother was the darkness, her cold embrace was all he had a right to crave.


I love that the story focuses more on the characters and not the sci-fi world!:) and its easy to read...

Nykyrian as the hero was hard to love, his cold approach to everyone, just wants you to squirm and hide and dang it frustrates me sometimes on his actions towards Kiara:(, considering his brutal past(definitely not for the faint of heart) was too raw and painful. And yes that's why he acted cold and unfeeling but behind those facade is a good man, who protects and saves the people he cared for:) and oh he can cook!!!:)

I hate and liked Kiara, its my first time to read a heroine from this Author that her character is flawed, weak, thoughtless and okay let's put what Syn said to her, she's a SNAP:“Single. Naive. Amateur. Person"
The way she acted towards Nykyrian when he killed his brother was a low blow, she should have thought Nykyrian's feeling and that he saves her again! she knows that he is an assassin, its already given he can kill anyone yet she overreacted hmp:( I know she had a trauma from her childhood but still... so glad she redeem herself in the end and I did like her more than before:)

Their first dance together was my favorite *swoon* and of course their first kiss *sigh*

I love Nykyrian's friends and colleagues, the men were quite charmers and to think Nykyrian is their boss was awkward lol...
their banter were hilarious and it provide a balance to the tension in the story.

I found another favorite series from my favorite Author and another tortured hero whom I want to hug again *sigh*:)

“Thank you."
"For what?"
"For giving me a life worth living. I know I’m not worth it, and that I don’t deserve it, but I swear to the gods I finally believe in that I will spend every moment I have left making you happy and trying to be worthy of you.”

“Nykyrian, you are worth everything to me. And you always will
be.”

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fantasy-A-Thon: Read a debut fantasy or backlist title

Born of Night probably isn't a 3 Star read but 2 Stars seemed harsh.

Born of Night is book 1 in The League series. Sherrilyn Kenyon is most known for her Dark-Hunter series but in the authors note Kenyon informs us that Born of Night was actually one of the first books she ever wrote. She began writing this book all the way back in 1986 but it wasn't published until 1996. Eventually it went out of print but thanks to a deal with St. Martin's she was able to get this book back into circulation with rewritten scenes and a more expanded world.

The League is a group of highly trained Andarion assassins. Nykyrian Quiakides once the deadliest of the League decided to leave but since the League is like the Mafia (the only way out is in a casket) he is now being hunted by his former employers. Now he lives as a sort of bounty hunter/assassin. His current mission is to protect beautiful ballet dancer Kiara Zamir from her father's political foes who want her dead.

I think we all know what happens next!

He saves her life, they fall in love, have hot sex and live happily ever after. That's not a spoiler its just what happens in all these sort of books. I have nothing against a predictable fantasy romance but at least don't make me wait until halfway through the book for the sex. Also how many times did Kiara need to be threatened with rape by her captors? It was a little much.

Born of Night wasn't bad but it wasn't all that interesting either. I won't be continuing this series, I much prefer her Dark-Hunter series.

[Shy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Spoilers are abound in this review. Read at your own risk.

Okay, well I lied about Darling's book being my last Kenyon novel and ended up doing this one on a dare. Why? Because I am silly like that and am just a glutton for punishment, especially since I know the punishment before it is even spoken -.-

Anyway, it's basically like any other book Kenyon has ever written. The only thing that consistently changes? The character names, nothing more, nothing less. We have the same setup for love, plot, back stories, and the always favorite, nonexistent character development. Is it bad I'm starting to wish that more novels had men or women in it without tragic or abusive histories? I mean, I love tragic heroes and heroines just as much as the next gal, but this is honestly a formula that has run its course long enough, especially with Kenyon.

I know the world is not perfect, and no one should be, but you can give a character a nice life without inducing a constant truck load of angst and still make them flawed. It would be nice to see a break from this shit, or at least, make it turn out a different way and do it well so readers like me don't eye roll at every single case of abuse or wrong that was brought up to make the hero/heroine more sympathetic. As said, you've made your point Kenyon. I get the hero was tortured/beaten/treat horrendously as soon as they left the womb. You don't have to keep shoving it in my face with all these mistreated revelations.

As usual, I hated the heroine. Why is they are always stupid, childish, easy with a capital E, weepy, and being utterly weak? Kiara I thought could be different and I was willing to allow her a pass for the first half of the book because she had been sheltered and it made her foolishly naive. But then as she became more aware of how the world works, and still remained completely foolbrained, the pass was gone. Actually, how can a daughter of a military commander even be so blind to the world? She even saw her mother killed and knows people are not NICE.

Then she actually has the audacity to wonder how her love interest can do what he does, especially when he did it to save her miserable life only to have her look down on him for it anyways? What really made me hate her was probably the way she acted when she found out Nykrian was alive. She was MAD at him for not telling her he was alive? Ummm, shouldn't you be happy he's alive and not dead, like you were going on about only moments before? She then even tells the baby growing inside her that if it turns out like its father, she'll beat it until it bleeds. W.t.f? This bitch is on some other shit.

That's another thing that bugs me, the heroine ending up pregnant every single time. Seriously, do these guys not even think of wearing condoms at all? So much for caring about the heroine, though she's just as much to blame for not bringing it up.

The hero was okay I suppose, but like Darling and Kenyon's other heroes, he's nothing more than a walking sex stick. There's no depth to him, no uniqueness, nothing. Yet, by now, I've gotten used to it.

No need to even talk about the plot because it was also stupid and if you've read any other Kenyon novels, this one's ending is no different. I could rant about other things about this book, but honestly, I've had no sleep and I'm exhausted from reading this shitstorm. So glad I borrow books from the library now instead of buying them.

[Esther · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Rating.

Short review.

Excellent plot, characters, chemistry, pacing and so much more.

Loved this tortured hero and beautiful princess love story. Nykrian the hero was incredible. My heart broke for him and all he endured in his younger years, just heart heartwrenching . He was everything I look for in a hero, alpha, brave, sweet and totally in love with the heroine, just about perfect. Kiara, the heroine was beautiful, sassy and irritating for about a quarter of the book but redeemed herself from that point forward by giving Nykrian everything and anything to win him and their HEA. Just a beautiful love story.

Something just draws me when the hero's character is an Assassin (but a redeemable one, oxymoron here I know) and the heroine a beautiful Princess. Kind of a fair tail love story I'm always a sucker for. The story was well written with the fantasy world coming to life and being so real like to the reader and clear. The character growth and depth was fantastic and well done. Secondary characters are almost as important and well developed as the MC. Pacing was fantastic, did not drag or seem slow at anytime in the book.

What a wonderful and beautiful ending and epilogue. Fantastic read and highly recommended.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. There are a few nitpicky things here and there that could have been improved on, but there was so many things that I loved that I can look past the bad.

This book is pretty much The Black Dagger Brotherhood in space. If you're a fan of the BDB, Zsadist in particular, then you'll probably love this as well.

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. Kiara's life is in danger because of her father and Nykyrian and his men are hired to protect her. Lots of things don't go as planned as Nykyrian and Kiara grow closer together.

Nykyrian does have a friend too, Syn, and their relationship also reminds me of the BDB. The banter between them is funny and Syn is really likable. I'm curious to read Born of Fire now since that's Syn's book.

One thing that got on my nerves is how Nykyrian and Kiara would get together and then something would pull them apart. Also, Kiara would claim to understand things and then she'd do something stupid. But ultimately, I think she matured a lot and grew up in the end.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series I so wish there was a lot more of them sherrilyn kenyon has got to be one of the best modern authors around.

[♥ Rebecca ♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review can also be found on my blog: A Match Made in Heaven

This book was amazing! It was the best book I have read in a long time! It was also my first Sherrilyn Kenyon book and I look forward to there being many more of them in my future.

I really enjoyed going back to my roots and reading some sci-fi, while still indulging my new obsession of romance. And it really had everything. Laser blasters, space dog fights, bars full of unidentifiable aliens. All very cool. But most of all it had romance. OMG I could die happy. And I just might if I dont stop thinking about Nykyrian. He is going to give me a heart attack. If you are a fan of tortured heroes, like I am, this book is for you! Nykyrian is the epitome of tortured heroes. Although I hear Sherrilyn Kenyon has some great tortured heroes in her historical romances, so I will definitely be checking those out!

Nykyrian is the most tortured hero I have ever met. He was not only tortured by his past, but he was tortured in his past. He was beaten down and abused, chained and treated like an animal, mutilated and raped, told he wasnt human and that he was worthless until he believed it. Eventually nothing bothered him anymore, physically or emotionally, he was untouchable, until Kiara. She was a ballerina that he thought was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and everything that he would never deserve. But after she is thrust into his path he has no choice but to protect her, and she wants nothing more than to show him his true worth.

As they grow accustomed to each other, Kiara gets enough glimpses into his beautiful soul to know that she wants more. Kiara does most of the work in this relationship, putting up with Nykyrian's attempts to protect himself by pushing her away, trying to break through and convince him he deserves everything she wants to give him. I cant help but want to love men like Nykyrian. And when he finally does find reason to let her in, he is so passionate. He has so much feeling in him that he never had a reason to use before. Its so poewrful. I just love how much they fought for each other. Through all the assassins, all the gun fights, their sights were still on each other. Always.

[Felicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

GUILTY PLEASURE HEYYYYYYY! So this book was really fun, about the biggest baddest space assassin falling for a princess/dancer. Yeah, that wasn't the best one-line summary, but I did enjoy this book. Nik was a GREAT hero character who was abused as a child and trained to be the ultimate badass assassin (who is on the run from the League, the assassin's guild, that he left for moral reasons). He ends up having to protect Kiara, a famous dancer/daughter of royalty, from assassination attempts and they fall in love.

YES the main character girl is really annoyingly helpless sometimes, and definitely don't try to dissect the actual SCIENCE parts of the book, but the group of guys with Nik who are assassins are so fun to read about that I totally forgave the other stuff. I guess each dude gets his own book, really looking forward to picking up the others.

[Rossy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed:
Nyk! He is the one that makes this book worthwhile. I enjoyed the banter between him and the other secondary characters. His personality was superb, particularly his loyalty to those he loves. His past broke my heart and had me tearing up. Needless to say that i have officially declared myself, his woman! *smirk*

I enjoyed the world the author has built for these characters and i like how we were given enough detail to embellish a bit.

Pet peeves:
While it's not the first time i wanted to slap a heroine. This one seriously touched on all my pet peeves. What a spoiled, whiny, judgemental and bitchy heroine!
Normally, it's just my taste in heroines that makes me feel this way when i start a book with such a character. In this case though, i thoroughly blame the author because it's not until almost the end that she starts redeeming herself to me. Even then, it was a case of too little too late.

Another part i had issues with was the separation. Personally i enjoy drama in my books, overly so though is unnecessary and just dragged the story with the drama of it all.

Overall though, the goods outweighed the annoying for me. I think some may find the heroine's actions to be understandable, her character just did not work for me.

[Jen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Lynsey A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending saved this book from a 3 star review for me.

This book definitely grew on me. At the beginning of the book I wanted to b*itch slap Kiara. I thought she was really annoying considering Nykyrian and the others were trying to protect her. I have to admit I really liked when Syn told her what was what. Well, finally after she watched the videos of Nykyrian when he was young she improved greatly.

Anyone who knows me knows I love books with babies in them so this was a pleasant surprise. The truth about Nykyrian's past was a surprise. I was really glad as I wondered how Kenyon would resolve certain issues.

I adored Nykyrian. Any man who can endure what he endured as a child and still love someone like he loved Kiara is a hero worthy of adoration. I wanted to crawl into the book and hold him I felt so awful for all that was done to him. "Kiara is my life" was one of my favorite lines in this book.

As to Kiara, she definitely took some patience. I can understand her trauma from her childhood but she had no reason to think so poorly of Nykyrian in the beginning after he killed his adopted brother right in front of her. He'd not once hurt her. However, she certainly got better as the book continued. Although, I didn't really like how she forgave her father so easily for gunning Nykyrian down right in front of her. In fact, I was not a fan of her father at all. Maybe if he'd actually apologized to Nykyrian for everything and, hey!, actually thanked him for saving his daughter's life NUMEROUS times, I would've thought better of him.

I loved the epilogue. It was an excellent end to the story.

[JAIME · Rating 3 out of 5]

I unashamedly love Sherrilyn Kenyon's books. Yes, even while I read them I am well aware that they are a bit stupid, a bit trite, but I still love them.

Born of Night is no different.

In fact, I think from memory that Born of Night was the first Sherrilyn Kenyon book I ever tried. I pretty much read all of her (then) available books back to back to back over a series of months and had a newfound love of all things vampire, gods and monsters.

Born of Night is the story of how a deadly assassin falls for a ballerina princess, whilst zooming all over the Ichidian galaxy on the run from other assassins and The League. It certainly starts off great, but I will admit to some skimming over the middle sections where there was a lot of denying of feelings, painful groins and finally sexy times.

There is a great secondary cast, all of whom get their own books throughout the series. (Darling's is the best IMO).

[Mojca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was mesmerized by the Ichidian universe when I read the short story Fire and Ice in the Man of My Dreams anthology and when I realized Born of Night was about Adron’s parents I was instantly curious…And in the end disappointed.

For starters, it was 200 pages too long, giving Ms. Kenyon the opportunity to transform Kiara from a whiny, and slightly annoying heroine into an obnoxious, selfish, spoiled, judgmental brat. One of those heroine you wish for someone to rape, strangle, stab, and dismember in the first few chapters for a completely different, and hero-worthy, woman to take her place.

Second, I saw too many similarities with Acheron for my taste. I know the two stories were written two decades apart, so this could be filed as a “rough draft”, but they were simply too similar for me to actually enjoy this story after reading Acheron. There’s a hero wrongly thrust into a life of pain and betrayal, that hardened him and made him suppress all emotions, there’s a woman who lightens his day, although he knows he’s too “dirty” to touch her, since she is the day and he belongs to the night…Yadda, yadda, yadda.
The only major differences were in the setting, the fact the reader is “spared” the most gory details of the hero’s past, and a tantrum-prone, obnoxious, and mercurial heroine .

All in all a solid book, but a pale copy of Acheron and a heroine who will make you wish for a maniacal serial killer roaming the Ichidian universe.

[Stacia (the 2010 club) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a tough book to categorize. It's technically sci-fi romance, but the storyline revolved around a world of assassins. The story did feature spaceships, other planets, and other races, but the main focus of the story shifted between the hero Nykyrian (and his tally of very detailed kills), and the woman Kiara that he was protecting.

Nykyrian is a scarred, lonely assassin who is cold and unwilling to get close to anyone. When he finds a hostage on a ship that his team was sent to destroy, he immediately feels drawn to the terrified princess that he rescued. She herself struggles to warm up to him because she has witnessed his murderous streak firsthand, but for some reason, she can't seem to completely push him away either.

Even though the book is long (500 pages plus), it was engaging the entire time. There was a lot of actual good plot/story in between the romance. I was sucked into the world of the assassins and never once got bored, even with multiple extensive fight scenes.

[CD {Boulder Blvd} · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was wanting a change from my normal genre, and was really looking forward to this, but... This book was overloaded with angst - pages and pages of the same angst. I had to start skipping some as I felt I had read the same lines over and over again.

The world being built had a lot of potential but it seemed to get lost in excessive past experiences of the most violent abuse.

The characters had some decent development (when not overloaded with angst of I'm not good enough or he's an assassin) but the plot seemed to be based on TSTL. The h has a contract on her, but let's give numerous opportunities to have her unprotected so that she's put in danger.

Even for a romance, things just wrapped up a little too perfectly...

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like Sherrilyn Kenyon, but my only complaint is that all of her heroes are either beaten, violated, verbally castigated, or all 3, and never feel they are worth anything. This is no exception. While I really enjoyed this story, much more so than I ever expected, I'm so sick of having the hero, the alpha male, feel he is worthless. that being said, I can move on.
I loved Nykyrian, I loved his honor, and sense of duty, and I loved how he was with Kiara.
I really liked our heroine Kiara. She was a different type of heroine, and I loved it. I also loved the plot twist of the teenage daughter, Thia, and the great happy ending. Can't wait for Syn's story.

[vale pao · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great read, definitely different from everything I have ever read which was a nice change. I must admit this wasn't as anything I had in mind I would be reading. I had read some reviews out there and formed a completely wrong idea about this series, that's why it took me so long to get to read it. I realized it's not easy to describe this series.

In this installment we get a lot on world building as it's usual in first books in a series, but that's not a bad thing in this case as the information is given in a way that seems just another part of the plot developing. The book is about different worlds with ships able to travel from one to another very fast. We read about different species, politics and assassins. I loved the plot more than anything, even the romance, I just wanted to get to know more and more about this totally new plot. I'm a paranormal fan, I love it even more than the romance, although I do need the romance to be able to fully enjoy a book so paranormal romance is my fav genre. What I adore the most is to read about series which are able to show me totally amazing worlds and realities that have nothing to do with the real world. Now this may sound easy but not many authors know how to do this, many try but they're just not good at it. To create places, species and beings from nowhere it's not something everybody can do, it takes a very creative mind and SK definitely has it.

While the plot was incredibly ingenious, the hero was another terrific addition to the book. I love strong and lethal guys with a very dark and tortured past. I adore to discover every little detail about it along and to see how he gets better with help from the heroine, I just have a soft spot for books like this. Nykyrian "Nemesis" Quiakides was an amazing hero and one I could have read about for days. My main problem was with the heroine, I really didn't like her. Every chapter about her ended up saying "and she cried till she slept". Agh!, I just can't stand whiny, weak heroines. She cried all the time and when she wasn't crying she was being kidnap and beaten. She got the sh*t beaten out of her many times but then she just went on as if anything had happened, that's not being strong, that's just not real. I like when heroines hurt but they are strong enough not to complain, but when they just forget they were beaten it seems unrealistic to me. Everything about her was just wrong IMHO.

But I still was able to enjoy this book big time so the rest of the things about it must have been really good. I really liked the rest of the characters and I can't wait to read more about them.