I had started reading Kiss of the Night when I realized that this was book 4 of the series so I put it aside and started on book 3 of the Dark Hunter series.
Wow…I loved Dance with the Devil…caught me from the first page….I found it difficult to put it down to do other things….
The story is about Zarek,, the illegitimate son of a Roman general, was sold into slavery to continue the cruel and abusive life he had endured since birth by his brothers and parents. After being executed for a crime he did not commit , he was turned into a dark hunter and had been banished by Artemis (the Greek goddess from hell!!) to Alaska for thousands of years for crimes he supposedly had committed. Such a hard, cruel, sad and solitary life he has led, rejected by everyone ….how could this not drive a person mad….but …. Underneath that cruel, scary and soulless façade, which scares even the immortals, lies a gentle, pure and compassionate and kind person..his favorite book is The Little Prince…. He reminded me of Zsadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood book by JR Ward. Both gorgeous, psychologically scarred, captive slaves who had hideous human lives and now find themselves living a new immortal life just as sad and lonely as before.
Artemis has decided to kill Zarek off but Acheron…(Oh I love this guy…he is the ultimate cool immortal!!) steps in and it’s agreed to send Astrid, one of Artemis cousins, to judge whether he should live or die!!!!
Naturally there is always an ulterior motive with anything Artemis does…what a wicked WITCH…I really hate her…I wish Acheron would let Simi eat her!!!!
Anyway Astrid and Zarek meet in a cold and blinding storm somewhere in Alaska…and we know that these two will get together despite all the obstacles in their way. She is the first person to show him kindness, love and acceptance. She touches his heart and feelings he thought he had lost forever. What else could they do but fall in love.
Zarek has a great sense of humor…believe it or not!!! And gorgeous to boot!!!!! He’s a hero. And a poet at that!!!!
I loved Astrid….what a beautiful soul….the ending….on the beach, happy together.
Sasha….the Katagari were-hunter posing as a wolf pet of Astrid, is really funny…he wants to bite Zarek and is not prepared to let him wear his favorite designer shirt…..I laughed out when reading the part where Zarek snaps back at Sasha… the dialogue is brilliant…
“And you, Kibbles,” he snarled at the wolf, “had better lay off me. One more growl and I swear I’m going to geld you with a spoon”.
And we meet Simi, Acheron’s adopted daughter, is a cute and funny demon his mother sent to protect him …check this dialogue….
“Fine.” Ash looked down his right arm at the she-dragon tattoo that ran from his shoulder to his wrist. “Simi,” he commanded. “Take human form.”
The dragon lifted itself from his skin, shifted its shape into that of a young demonic woman, no taller than three feet. She hovered effortlessly to his right.
In this incarnation, her wings were dark blue and black, even though she usually preferred burgundy for them. The darker color of the wings combined with the color of her eyes told him just how unhappy Simi was to find herself here on Olympus.
Her eyes were white, rimmed in red and her long yellow-blond hair floated around her. She had black horns that were more beautiful than sinister and long pointed ears. Her flowing red dress wrapped around her lithe, muscular body that she could mold into any size from one inch to eight feet tall in human form or as large as eighty feet as a dragon.
“What’cha want, akri?” Simi asked Ash.
“Kill Thanatos.”
Simi flashed her fangs as she rubbed her hands together gleefully and cast an evil smirk at Artemis. “Oh goodie! I get to make the red-headed goddess mad!”
“He won’t last long, akri,” Simi said to Ash, using the Atlantean term for lord and master. Her voice was quiet, but powerful and filled with a sing-sing quality that was quite musical in tone. “Thanatos is barbecue.” She smiled at Artemis. “And I like my barbecue. Just tell me how you want him, akri, normal recipe or extra crispy. I’m partial to extra crispy myself. They crunch louder when deep fried. Reminds me I need some bread crumbs.”
Simi paused and lifted her head up from her list to snort at Artemis. “The Simi is very environmentally sound. Eat everything except for hooves. I don’t like those, they hurt my teeth.” She looked at Ash. “Thanatos don’t have hooves, do he?”
Some more great dialogue that I loved-
"I understand all right. I understand the bitch-goddess needs the Simi to barbecue her until she learns to be nice to people. I think she'd be rather attractive on fire. I could make her look like that old sea hag or something." Simi
“It is only with the heart that one can rightly see. What is essential is invisible to the eye.” Acheron
“Hopeless implies that at one time there was hope. And that’s another word I don’t understand. Hope only exists for people who have choices.” Zarek
“Hopeless implies that at one time there was hope. And that’s another word I don’t understand. Hope only exists for people who have choices.” Zarek
“I don't suffer from my insanity -- I enjoy every minute of it.” Sasha
“I have found my star. She is beauty and grace. Elegance and goodness. My laughter in winter. She is courageous and strong. Bold and tempting. Unlike any other in all the universe, and I cannot touch her. I dare not even try." [Zarek]”
This is a great story….I am definitely going to read it again.
Now going back to finish Kiss of the Night
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