Night Play, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Night Play, by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dark Hunter Series, Book 5
reviewed by cfmomLisa
Bride McTierney has had it with men. They’re cheap, self-centered, and never love her for who she is. But though she prides herself on being independent, deep down she still yearns for a knight in shining armor.
She just never expected her knight in shining armor to have a shiny coat of fur…
Deadly and tortured, Vane Kattalakis isn’t what he seems. Most women lament that their boyfriends are dogs. In Bride’s case, hers is a wolf. A Were-Hunter wolf. Wanted dead by his enemies, Vane isn’t looking for a mate. But the Fates have marked Bride as his. Now he has three weeks to either convince Bride that the supernatural is real or he will spend the rest of his life neutered–something no self-respecting wolf can accept…
But how does a wolf convince a human to trust him with her life when his enemies are out to end his? In the world of the Were-Hunters, it really is dog-eat-dog. And only one alpha male can win.
This is the first book in the Dark Hunter series that Sherrilyn Kenyon really allows the reader to begin to learn what were-hunters are. If you think you know – you’re probably wrong. There are two kinds of Weres in SK’s world, and trust me they aren’t anything like your typical run-of-the-mill “werewolves” that have invaded paranormal fiction. They are just as large, leather wearing, super tall, fantastically gorgeous men as her immortal Dark Hunters. And yes, I do mean 100% drool worthy delicious.
Okay, the basics: there are two types of weres – the Arcadians and the Katagaria. The Arcadians are born human, live as human, and when they hit puberty they change into an animal: bears, wolves, jackals, leopards, tigers, and even dragons. There are all different families of weres. Once they’ve hit puberty, and made that first change during they learn how to survive in their human form until they can control their powers and switch back to their base form, they can always shift into their animal form again, however, they are primarily human, and if they’re hurt in animal form they will not be able to hold that form and will switch back to human immediately. Oh, and don’t call them animals – they don’t like it at all. The Katagaria are the same only in reverse. They are born as animals, they live as animals, and when they hit puberty they turn into humans. They can also always shift into their human form after that first change, but they prefer to live their lives as animals and feel they are much more trustworthy than their were-cousin counterparts. They will quickly tell you that animals only kill to protect their clan or food. Humans are so much more deceitful, and honestly I can’t really disagree with them about that.
That’s right, the weres are related. The very first two weres created were actually brothers, the beloved sons of a sorcerer King who had unknowingly married an Apollite woman destined to die at 27. After watching his wife die a horrific death at 27, he refused to allow his sons the same fate, and used his powerful magic to splice their souls with the most powerful animals he could find. This magic, as a lot of magic will do, backfired a bit and his sons ended up with two souls inhabiting one body – one human soul and one animal soul. The fates, angry that he had changed their destinies, demanded the King to kill his sons. The King of course refused, so the Fates cursed his sons to always be at war with each other. Did I mention that their father also blessed them to be powerful sorcerers able to wield magic as easily as breathing? Yeah, another one of the perks. They can even time jump into another century. Where is all this going? It’s all a rather lengthy explanation to better understand our hero, Vane.
Oh Vane. Where do I even begin? An animal with the heart of a man, or maybe a man with the heart of the animal; you see, Vane – sneaky thing that he is – is hiding. He was the eldest of a litter born to an unholy match between an Arcadian woman (wolf species) and a Katagarian man (also of the wolf species). Three of the babes in the litter were human, the other three were pups, and the woman cast the pups out to live with their evil and hateful father, Markus. Another thing about the weres that’s important to know is that the power of the mating process is in the female’s hands. Once the Fates reveal who the mated couple match is, something that only happens after having sex with your mate, a symbol appears on each partner’s palm. The woman then has three weeks to accept the mate, and by accept, I mean she has to have sex with him, guiding him into her girlie bits with no help from him while their palms are joined, and say ritual words that bind them together. Weres mate for life. If the female chooses not to accept the male then she can go on her marry way and have sex with others but will never bear children, while the male is impotent for the rest of his long life span which usually lasts 700 or so years. Yeah, awesome female power, right?
Anyway, back to Vane. Living with his father’s pack has never been an easy road for Vane, his brother Fang, or his sister Anya. Well, their father always had a soft spot for Anya, and it was only because of her that their father didn’t send assassins to kill Vane and Fang centuries ago. As this book begins, Anya is dead (which we read about in Talon’s book) and their father has used her death as an excuse to issue a death warrant for Vane and Fang stringing them up in the New Orleans Bayou with collars around their necks that will prevent them from wielding any magic to escape. He has also tipped off Daimons on where his sons are strung up so they can suck out their souls, effectively killing them. Father of the year he isn’t. Unbeknownst to Markus, Vane was one of the most powerful weres in the universe. Only a few creatures were more powerful than he was, but he had always kept this hidden from his entire family, including Fang and Anya. He didn’t wish for his special status, and felt the heavy weight of responsibility on his shoulders to take care of his siblings. After narrowly escaping the Daimons, Fang is left in a comatose state and Vane has to hide them both in the hopes that Fang eventually heals. He lives and works at Sanctuary, spending his time talking to his brother, visiting Grace Alexander (yes, from book one with the hottie Julian) for therapy sessions, and strolling in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Enter Bride McTierney, who Vane lusted after in Talon’s book while guarding Talon’s mate, Sunshine, during the daylight hours that Talon was locked indoors. Bride is the first human woman that Vane has ever considered taking as a lover. To him she is the most beautiful creature he has ever laid eyes upon, and both the man and wolf inside of him yearn for her. The fact she’s a size 18 – which I totally love that SK’s heroines are never drop dead gorgeous or perfect – is an only bigger part of Bride’s appeal, and Vane would love to have her as his mate. It’s nothing but a pipedream for him though as she’s human and he’s definitely not. She so far out of his reach that he feels she’ll never be more than a dream. Still, he just can’t resist entering her shop and speaking to her. Bride has just been dumped by her boyfriend of five years for being too fat, and Vane is certainly a boost to her ego with his hot and lustful stares. For once in her life she does something crazy, and has sex with Vane in her shop dressing room experiencing the most amazing sexual experience of her life. Vane feels the same, but leaves her after walking her to a restaurant where she’s meeting friends, never expecting to see her again.
As I’m sure you can guess during dinner, and while Vane is working a shift at Sanctuary, the mating mark appears on both of their palms. Bride has no idea what it is, but Vane certainly does. He now has three weeks to convince her to accept his as his mate: a human woman accepting an animal as her mate for life? He doesn’t think there’s a chance in hell. Oh Vane of little faith. The human heart is capable of so much love and acceptance. Given the death warrant hanging over his head, and the fact the his scent will be all over Bride until the three weeks are up and the mating mark disappears, he decides to spend time with her at first in his wolf form and then in his human form so that he can protect her from any of his pack sent to kill him. All kinds of adventures and craziness ensue, but the ending is quite satisfactory and there are all sorts of fun appearances and tidbits of information revealed along the way.
This ranks as probably my second favorite in the series beyond Kyrian’s book and I would recommend to everyone. It’s a great read even if you don’t read the entire series. There are some backstory pieces and characters that are from earlier books, but I don’t think they’ll necessarily detract from the story. So check it out and tell me what you think.
Until next time,
~Lisa
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