Night Play (Dark-Hunter, Book 6)

I had no intention of reading any of the Dark Hunter books because I thought they would be too mushy and full of sex for my tastes. I happened to read the reviews and was livid over some of the remarks. These reviewers didn't like Bride being a size 18 because that's . . .uh . . .obese. I bought the book and expected to read about a huge woman waddling across the room crying over her weight all through the book. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Vane, a were-hunter, had just lost his sister. His brother retreated into a coma in wolf form after he and Vane escaped death at their father's command. Vane's mother hated him and also tried to kill him. Having never known parental love nor acceptance from anybody but his sister and brother, Vane was feeling pretty low and hopeless when he saw Bride. He was attracted to her and found himself in her store. Bride was flabbergasted at the attention he was giving her because he was the best looking man she had ever seen. Of course she was going to worry about her size, but she did NOT moan and groan about it any more than was normal. Of course she wanted to be smaller and felt inferior. The reviewer who would like to lose ten pounds has no idea how a size 18 feels. Bride knew there were a lot of people out there like a couple of the reviewers and she couldn't believe he would love her for herself. Gasp! Perish the thought!

Though I thought the first sex scene happened too fast, I enjoyed the book and plan to get the rest of the books in the series. I don't like sex overkill (think the last 3 Anita Blake books ) but I did like this book. Too bad there aren't more Vanes walking around. Maybe there wouldn't be so many people with body image hang-ups.

Ms. Kenyon is an amazing talent in the genre of paranormal romance! I wish she could turn these dark-hunter stories out faster! Night Play is a Were-Hunter story and is amazing as any of the previous stories in this series! Normally I tend to get bored with a series if it drags on to much...this is SO not the case with Ms. Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series.

This book has it all! Yummy dark hero, Vane who we met in Talon's story (who just so happens to be a wolf, Vane not Talon) yummy dark secondary characters (Fang, Fury...), a great heroine named Bride (who is not a perfect size 2 but instead a woman that is more average then we really want to admit too), and a storyline that is action-packed as well as the added historical detail to the myth of the Were-Hunter! Vane and Bride have incredible chemistry, and their romance not only made me laugh out loud a few times, it also made me sigh! *AH, ROMANCE*

If you have been a die hard loyal reader of Ms. Kenyon's Dark-Hunter series this is a must read that you need to pick up. If you are new to the very talented author, and her great series, then get ready to order her older stories. Old friends, and favorite characters are included in this story, and we are even introduced to new characters. Plenty of potential for new stories for this series! I'm so excited!!!

This was a very fast read, and one that I was loathed to put down until the last page. This is one author, and one series that I highly recommend without any reservations to the romance reading fan!

Official reviewer for [...]

Like many that have been waiting most impatitently for Vane's book I didn't put it down until I had read it from cover to cover. A fantastic book!!!!

Night Play continues on the legend that is the Dark-Hunters, Were-Hunters, Dream-Hunters and the gods and fates that still love to meddle in the lifes of us mere mortals. The main story between that of Vane and his heroine Bride is one many can relate to. Bride isn't a "perfect" model thin heroine with superficial woes and complaints, she is a real woman, with real issues, a realistic weight and a heart of gold. You find yourself understanding and empathising with her from the first moment you meet her.

Adding to the great story of Vane and Bride is the reaccurance of some familiar characters that add to the story and also to the whole series. Kyrian, Amanada and Tabitha return to help Bride with some tough decisions, Val and Otto make an appearance to not only progress the story but prepare us for Val's up and coming book, Acheron is back with more great fortune cookie pearls of wisedom and a bit more of his background comes out and Nick, the wise cracking, hawaiian shirt wearing, charming cajun squire (can you tell he's my fav character??) is back with dating advice that would make you cringe if you weren't doubled over in hysterical laughter.

All in all an amazing read! Good on it's own but if you want to fully appreciate it and get a full understanding of the Dark-Hunters and Were-Hunters so far I would suggest locking yourself away for the weekend and enjoying all the books in the series so far.

6 stars, 2 thumbs up...A great book from the Paranormal Romance master of them all! Way to go Sherrilyn.

I am a fan of Kenyon's DH series and have read almost all the others and so was quite surprised to find this one dull and lifeless throughout. While the male lead (Vane) is typically wonderful, the female lead (Bride) is consistently nervous, frightened, whiney and completely ineffectual in that all she does through the story is tag along quietly, never actually doing anything at all, let alone contributing anything important. The love scenes are totally lacking in pizazz, or indeed any emotion at all. Kenyon can do much better than this [see Seize the Night, Winterborn, Fantasy Lover, etc.] No matter how well Vane treats Bride, how sweet, generous, giving, accepting, and noble he is, she is unable to rise above her whiney fear to actually give him anything back or contribute to the relationship in any way. She lacks personality, having neither strength (like Amanda and Grace), humour (like Tabitha), or loyalty (like Astrid, Maggie and Danger).

Indeed, when pressed to come up with her positive attributes, the author and the male lead can only list her "softness". Which, at dress size 18, is not really surprising. I don't have an issue with her weight one way or the other, and much has been made of how great it is to have a romantic lead who is not waif thin. That's fine. But she is hardly a role model for real women as she spends the entire book obsessing about her weight and never just relaxes about it and moves on to developing any actual personality.

An interesting point for those who feel Kenyon has done a service to large sized women by casting one in the role of female romantic lead: the male lead stays with her not because he has fallen in love with who she is, but because the Fates have decreed that they are mated and if he doesn't stay with her he can't have sex again until she dies. Not exactly free will here, folks -- Bride does not win Vane fair and square, rather Kenyon has had to stack the deck to keep Vane focussed on Bride. Indeed, when Bride asks Vane if he is with her because of who she is or because of the Fates' decree, he has to honestly reply "I don't know". It would have been a much better service to women to give this character some personality over and above her weight and nervous fear, so that we'd see that a large sized woman can be sensual, funny, playful, strong, smart, loyal, helpful and good to be with. You won't find that in this book.

That being said, the interaction between Vane and his brothers [Fang and Fury] was fun, as was the crowd at Sanctuary and all the cameos by other characters we've come to know and love.

Still, overall, a big disappointment in the core love story which was lifeless, flat and dull throughout. Don't waste your time on this one. Any one of Kenyon's others would be a much better choice.

Where to start. Okay, enter "Bride", the "heroine" (loose use of the term), atypical for the part. She is a boring pushover, idiotic, weak of character, whiney, self-deprecating, irritating at best and obsessed with the fact that she is nearly the size of two heriones (size 18) yet does nothing about it except express excuses, self pity, and low self expectations.

In the opening chapters of the book she is dumped by her 'boyfriend' of five years via Fed Ex and she is 'devasted'. Apparently she is quick to recover, however, because inside of 30 minutes she's "having the longest climax of her life" with a complete stranger in her shop. There was no chemistry build up to this scene. I don't believe a stranger buying her a necklace constitutes conjugale rights. Not my idea of "romance". Where is this woman's self worth?

The man, Vane, (much more appealing in his short stints in early novels)is the were-whatever. Throughout this book he conveniently gains new magical talents, chapter by chapter, to the point where he is nearly invincible, (yet inexplicably still concerned for his safety?)

Okay . . . if you buy all that, Bride spends the rest of the book vascillating between obsessing on her old boyfriend, and wondering "Why" Vane wants to be with her. (This is a role model for large women? Sherrilyn you should be ashamed of yourself for slathering Bride with every cliche that is associated with the same.)

The lack of free-will for Vane only adds to the insult here. Even he isn't sure if he is with her because he loves her, or because the "Fates" deemed it so. If he choses otherwise, he would be celebate until the day she dies . . . what choice do you think he will make here . . .

Vane spends the rest of the novel in what appears to be "old home week" with characters flashing in and out of each chapter, people flashing here and there, food flashing in and out, clothes flashing on and off, etc.

As with the last book, the real climax of the story takes place about 100 pages before the book ends. The rest of the story is meandering filler which includes . . . are you ready for this . . . all the were-whatevers dancing the MACARENA . . .

Everytime I would try and get beyond the self-deprecating thoughts of Bride long enough to try and find some value in the story, the author would use lines such as "She couldn't stop blubbering." Based on the cliches for large women that are rampant in the book, I really don't believe that Kenyon has done anyone any favors with her portrayal of Bride.

My pet peeves with her writing in no particular order:

* Maybe it's just me, but I find the constant references to her other works and websites in these books extremely cheesy.

* Sophomoric sex talk

* Two dimensional characters

* NO Romance - only Gratuitous sex

* Inconsistencies from story to story

* Juvenile dialog

* Riddled full with cliches

I really didn't care for any of the characters in this book regardless of their size and shape, not even the bit players. I plugged through it to end the agony. I read the first five and loathed them. This one I liked even less.

I'm mystified by the high reviews for these books . . . .

I love Sherrilyn Kenyon's four Dark-Hunter novels that have been released so far. I really think that she should just stick to writing those and abandon these spin-off series. I absolutely detested her short Dream-Hunter story from last year and I don't think this first full length Were-Hunter novel is much better. Many times I almost put the the thing down for I couldn't see the point. Sometimes I would even flip to the back, start reading the teaser from the next DH book, and wish Night Play would magically morph into that one.

When Kenyon writes for her Dark-Hunter series I expect cool, action-packed plot lines and characters that leap off the pages. Unfortunately, Night Play's plot is as skimpy as Brittany Spears' thong and the heroine is so tedious and annoying I want to drown her in a bathtub.

Meet Bride McTierney, the plus sized heroine that everybody's wetting their panties about. I sure wish I hadn't. If Bride is supposed to empower women who have meat on their bones, we live in sad, cruel world indeed. Bride is a insulting joke. I know many people have body image issues. Heck, I wish my thighs were slimmer and I could shave off ten pounds really quick, but I don't spend all day thinking about it. Bride is a character that is solely defined by her body image issues and her own insecurities. It almost seemed like for every page of action, there were two pages of Bride whining about what an unloveable lard-butt she is. Maybe I would be more sympathetic if Bride started dancing with Richard Simmons instead of doing her tedious pity party thing all the time. Even worse is Kenyon making Bride come across as a complete loser, from Bride's involvment with her jerk wad ex-boyfriend who she stayed with because there was no one else to her being stood up at the prom for being a 'fatty' to her OWN sister ridiculing her while Bride takes it like a doormat. The only thing I can figure is that Kenyon made Bride the world's toilet bowl so getting the studdly hero would make her victory over all the naysayers who treated her badly would be sweeter. Of course, the perfect chippendale hero that serendipity provides for her, Vane thinks her cellulite is the sexiest thing ever and through his sexual healing, Bride gains her self-esteem. I just think there is something really condensending to all that.

There is a really skimpy subplot about Vane's wolf-pack wanting to kill him and an indepth delving into of Vane's non-stop tragedy of a past. The crux of the book is Bride wringing her hands and worrying in between bouts of lovemaking if Vane can love her and her blubber. I start wondering if it's really her personality and not her weight that's the cause of her problem with men, so don't look a gift horse in the mouth, sweets. There is also some ridiculous subplot about Vane worrying about how she will react to him being a werewolf. I mean, Bride hangs around with the Deverauxs, knows Kyrian and Acheron, and her dad even knows about the were-Hunters. How can she not have a clue about the supernatural stuff!? If the Dark-Hunters want to keep their war with the Daimons secret that need to do a much better job of hiding themselves cause it seems like all of New Orleans knows about them.

Even the vibrant side-characters couldn't save this book. Normally I'd be thrilled to Acheron, Simi, and the rest but this time they only enforce what a tedious character Bride is.

I was disappointed in this book, even though I still love Darkhunter novels. I'll probably buy and read them as long as the author writes them, but there's just no way to honestly say this one (or the last one) are anywhere near as good as the first few in the series. If you've never read a Darkhunter novel, don't start with this one - it might turn you off to them and then you'd miss out on the earlier, much better books in the series.

The problem is that the book just goes through the motions. It didn't have the passion of previous Darkhunter stories, and the characters didn't have as much depth. We don't really get to hear much about the hero at all, and there is a lot of indirect speech instead of dialogue. It's very repetitive, and you keep hearing the same things over and over again from the author, like how hurt Bride was by her ex, and how Vane can't believe she will accept him, but there isn't a lot of action and dialogue to really show you that these things are true.

I never felt anything for Vane - in fact, he was more impressive in his brief appearance in a past novel than he was here - and never really liked Bride, whose only distinguishing feature is that she's fat. Really, really fat. She didn't do or say anything to make herself loveable, either, so I couldn't see any rhyme or reason to the fact that Vane fell for her. She seemed to spend most of her time whining about her ex-boyfriend (even after she'd met Vane, which made no sense), and worrying about her weight. In fact, it seemed there was more attention paid to Bride and her weight than to the hero. I would have preferred to read more about the hot wolfman, and much less about the insecure, obese shop owner.

The book is a big zero on the sensuality scale, too, unlike previous books. The love scenes are as passionless as the characters, and there is no anticipation since they make rather dull love the first time they meet.

All in all, the book goes through the motions and follows the formula, but it's uninspired.

Being an avid fan of Anne Rice and Laura K.Hamilton I bought Night Play because of the similar content, and also the review on the back cover said "move over Anne Rice". To say I was disappointed is an understatement.

Night Play lacked the depth, details and intelligence of any of Anne Rice or Hamilton novel. I thought the plot was generic and immature. Reading this book, I felt like I was eavesdropping on some 20 year old's fantasy. Let me refer to the a scene where Taylor (the evil ex-boyfriend) comes to drop off Bride's things and intends to just leave them on the curb. But wait, here comes Vane to the rescue, roaring in on a motorcycle, clad in black leather. He jumps the curb, hauls Bride into his arms and pays the movers $10,000 to put her stuff "anywhere she wants." When the movers express doubt over his offer, he whips out his cell phone and pushes button 1, his banker, who agrees to anything he wants. Button 2 is his attorney, who will handle the lawsuit Taylor threatens when Vane tries to pummel him. It was way over the top.

In most other books similar to this series I can pick up anywhere in the series and pretty much follow along. But with Night Play I was left wondering, what is a were hunter, who are dark hunters, what are sentinals... and what exactly is Vane?? A were hunter? A sentinal? It was suggested that he was a lot more. Actually, there was a lot left unsaid, very poor descriptions and details. The humans turned to were-whatevers by "flashing"- "Poof!" In fact, there was a lot of flashing going on. Vane "flashed" here and there to different locations, back and forth in time, in and out of wolf form. Even the coffee was flashed!

Basically, this is a good book if you are looking for a light romance about mystical beings. However, if you want a book that is a little more intense and meaningful stick with, or try Anne Rice or Laura K. Hamilton. I would not say you could fly through those books in a couple hours, like many reviewers said of this book, but the time spent is well worth the effort.

What a great addition to the Dark Hunter series. I was caught at the first page and read it in one sitting.

Although Vane is a Were-Hunter instead of a Dark Hunter he is just as gorgeous and heroic. He and his brother have been exiled and sentenced to death by their father. If that isn't bad enough their mother also wants to kill them.

After escaping the death trap where they were left to die by their father, Vane takes his brother, Fang, to the Sanctuary of the were-bears. Wandering down a street in New ORleans he finds his way to Bride Mctierney's shop.

From the first he has been attracted to Bride. Today Bride's boyfriend for the last 5 years has dumped her. She has realized that he used her to get in with some of her family who own a TV station. Now that he is a news anchor he no longer needs her.

Vane feels Bride's pain and tries to help her. They wind up in bed and later the mate mark appears on Vane's hand. HE knows it has to be Bride who is his mate, so he determines to protect her for the next 3 weeks. If she doesn't accept him by then he will be unable to mate until she dies.

Between fighting off his father's pack, who are trying to kill him, and protecting Bride, as well as looking after his brother. Vane has alot on his mind. And women do not mate or anything else like the females of the pack.

With appearances by various characters from the other novels, he finally makes a way and a life for himself and Bride.

What a wonderful story. Forget the series, forget the author. I know nothing more about Sherrylin Kenyon or the Dark Hunter novels other than this book. And it's a darn good good stroke of luck too, considering some of the heavy criticisms and outlandish comments being being made about this book.
I went ahead and purchased it half expecting it to be the silly waste of time that some people have pegged this to be. Even I can admit that the premise of a wolf having three weeks to convince a human woman to be his mate or be 'neutered' for the rest of his life is a little ridiculous, albeit curiously interesting. Plus the fact that many reviewers seem to be placing so much unwarranted emphasis on the fact that the main heroine/ love interest happens to be a bonafide plus sized woman has detracted from what this story really is. This is a love story. And a very sweet, cleverly written one at that.

Vane Kattalakis is quite literally a rare breed. Aside from being an absolutely gorgeous looking, rich and kind hearted man there is much more to him than just that. The details are a bit lengthy if I get into them all but essentially there are two types of 'were'beings. The Arcadians are born human and stay human until they reach puberty, at which time they become and have the option of becoming an anaimal. Some are Bears, Wolves, Hawks, etc. Basicly your normal werewolf scenario. Katagarians on the other hand are the exact opposite. They are born as animals and become human once they reach puberty. The two species hate eachother because they both believe that their kind is superior to the other.
In Vane's case, he is a Katagarian Wolf who finds himself inexplicably drawn to a human woman for the first time in his life. Bride is a kindhearted shop owner who is greiving over the fact that her boyfriend of five years has been using her all along and has just left her. Vane on the other hand is grieving over the recent death of his beloved sister and the comatose state of his brother. The two are heavily attracted to eachother and have a one night stand right in the backroom of her own store! Afterwards they reluctantly part ways and probably would have never met again if not for the strange greek markings that appear on both their hands. Vane recognizes the mark as the mating mark. In his species, once you have slept with the woman that fate has intended to be your mate, you must either consumate the mating and be bound as mates forever or be rejected by your mate and spend the rest of your life as a eunich. There are many more details involved that rationalize this whole idea that are impeccably explained almost to the point of normalcy.
Although both Bride and Vane share an emotional connection that neither of them can deny, there are many complications.
Bride isn't sure if she can trust a man after what her ex-boyfriend did to her and she has self esteem issues because she isn't model-thin and doesn't understand what Vane sees in her.
Vane doesn't know how to even tell Bride what he really is, let alone get her to accept him and love him for who he is. Plus he doesn't want to burden her normla life with all the magic and unconventional aspects of his. It also doesn't help that several other wolves, including his parents, have set out to kill him( even wolves have dysfunctional families ).
Will Vane and Bride be able to love and accept eachother for who and what they are?

This is more of a romance fantasy with a bit of action mixed in rather than something worthy of having "A Dark Hunter Novel" come right after the title. Although that is reflective of the series and not the plot itself, that happened to be an assumption of mine, being the first time reader that I am.
The story is sweet, witty, and lighthearted at times. The book has it's share of comical moments but there is nothing that I would consider to be immature or in bad taste or silly. As for the reviewer that found the scene where Vane shows up on a motorcycle and puts Brides jerk of an ex boyfriend in his place to be very over the top... what exactly were you expecting from a novel where one of the main charactors is a wolf and about 90% of all the charactors are either some type of animal, Dark hunter, demon, or other nonhuman species? I thought that scene was one of the best of the whole novel and was very humorously done and in perfect relevance with the rest of the plot. If you were expecting something different then I guess this book just wasn't for you. And as for those reviewers lamenting about Brides full figure being a distraction or of some big relevance to the story, you are only deluding yourselves to believe that because you must not be able to accept the idea of a plus sized woman being sexy and appealing enough to be the main charactor and love interest in a romance novel, which is sad. Brides weight is only a very minor issue that is brought up to reflect the part of Brides personality that WOULD feel insecure about herself. Even a thin woman would feel this way when with someone as physically immaculate as Vane. If anything, her weight issues and body image are a benefit to her charactor and the story because they show Bride as being all the more human, thus in contrast to the perfect, shapeshifting, immortal Vane.

This was a wonderfully entertaining read and I recommend it to anyone looking for a nice love story that meets all criteria for a great romance without all the normal settings and cliched charactors. Even after reading all the negative reviews I still gave this book a try, and you should too.