Stay the Night (Darkyn, #7) in Vampires, Weres and Fae!

Nov 08, 2009 Melindeeloo rated it really liked it

Shelves: urban-fantasy, vampires, paranormal-romance

7th and final Darkyn Novel, but don't fret it's not really the end
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the Stay the Night. I liked Robin, we met the infamous charming thief of Robin Hood fame two books ago in Evermore: A Novel of the Darkyn (Signet Eclipse). Robin's love interest Chris is the perfect torture for him, a woman who is totally immune to his Kyn power of charm. As an FBI agent out to catch the Magician, as Robin the thief is known to the art world, Chris is also the nemesis to Rob 7th and final Darkyn Novel, but don't fret it's not really the end
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of the Stay the Night. I liked Robin, we met the infamous charming thief of Robin Hood fame two books ago in Evermore: A Novel of the Darkyn (Signet Eclipse). Robin's love interest Chris is the perfect torture for him, a woman who is totally immune to his Kyn power of charm. As an FBI agent out to catch the Magician, as Robin the thief is known to the art world, Chris is also the nemesis to Robin's thieving self to boot. I liked that Robin had to work to win Chris' heart despite the obvious chemistry - it was amusing to watch his affront when he wakens after their initial joining and discovers that He is the one who has been used. It was also entertaining watching him try to get through Chris' disbelief to convince her of the existence of the Darkyn. Actually I still liked the second half of the book but in the end the romance with Robin and Chris feels less finished than usual - I wasn't sure whether Robin was going to be spending the rest of his 'new life' in prison. The resolution of the centuries long conflict between Robin and Notingham (Guy) in this thread was a nice touch though.

As usual the romance shares the story with Alex and Michael's(the leading pair from when If Angels Burn: A Novel of the Darkyn (Signet Eclipse))continuing saga. I know some readers don't care for Alex but I have always liked her snarky forthrightness in dealing with all of the medieval macho Darkyn men. Alex's intelligence and ability to put things together is part of why I've always had a fascination for this series even when they occasionally were a bit dark for my tastes. And here, Viehl totally caught me up in Alex's frustration at being back in ruthless Darkyn King Richard's sphere of influence, he is despicable as always. But it was worth the frustration to watch the Alex neutralize yet again the threat Richard presents and to see her deal head on with a ghost from her past by confronting Korvel the Darkyn who would still bind Alex against her will if he could.

Stay the Night, is less dark than most of Vielh's Darkyn novels. There is less violence in this one with the evil Brethren working their torturous plots off screen - we only see the survivors and their hideous injuries. Normally the violence is what makes me qualify my recommendations of Viehl's Darkyn books, even though I find Viehl's writing extremely interesting. But this time my heads up to would-be readers is for sensuality instead of violence - though there is a reason why we need to know that Phillipe, Michael's seneschal, prefers men to women - the explicit scene in which Phillipe 'crosses swords' with another Darkyn, means that this still is not the book for everyone.

Since Stay the Night is the `last' Darkyn novel, Viehl ties up some threads with Alex, her search for 'the cure' and the secret behind the Brethryn's experiments on orphans. But Viehl leave other threads hanging and unravels a few more for John and Guy, but the Darkyn are supposedly done so Viehl is stringing us along to the start of a new connected series. There is an except in the back of Stay the Night for the Kyndred, who are up next with Shadowlight coming November of 2009. ...more

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