Dark Bites (Dark-Hunter #23; Hellchaser, #0.

5;
Dream-Hunter, #0.5; Were-Hunter, #3.5) by
Sherrilyn Kenyon

Get audio book.

Original Title: Dark Bites (Dark-Hunter #23; Hellchaser, #0.5; Dream-Hunter, #0.5; Were-Hunter,
#3.5)
ISBN: 0312376863
ISBN13: 9780312376864
Autor: Sherrilyn Kenyon (Goodreads Author)
Rating: 3.2 of 5 stars (789) counts
Original Format: Hardcover, 576 pages
Download Format: PDF, DJVU, iBook, MP3.
Published: January 21st 2014 / by St. Martin's Press
Language: English
Genre(s):
Romance >Paranormal Romance- 133 users
Fantasy >Paranormal- 132 users
Romance- 119 users
Fantasy- 82 users
Paranormal >Vampires- 39 users
Description:

For years, eager fans have been clamoring for an all-in-one collection of #1 bestselling author
Sherrilyn Kenyons novellas. At their enthusiastic behest, we have delivered this brand-new short
story collection, including stories previously exclusive to Sherrilyns website, as well as an all-new,
never-before seen story!

Sherrilyn Kenyon takes readers from the Dark-Hunters to the demigods, from Dream-Hunters to
demons, and everything in between. Dangerous and exciting, each story is one thrill ride after the
next, proving time and again how Sherrilyn has captivated millions of readers worldwide. Now,
readers are invited to go deep into Kenyons rich and imaginative world and experience the heart-
racing moments that never stop coming!

Novellas from the World of the Dark-Hunters:

(links are for original publications of stories)

Phantom Lover (V'Aidan)

A Dark-Hunter Christmas (Gallagher)
Winter Born (Dante)
A Hard Days Night Searcher (Rafael)
Until Death We Do Part (Velkan)
Fear the Darkness (Nick)
Where Angels Fear to Tread (Zeke)
Shadow of the Moon (Fury)
House of the Rising Son**First time in print**

Unrelated Stories:

Love Bytes

Santa Wears Spurs

http://us.macmillan.com/darkbites/She...
About Author:

New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot.
With legions of fans known as Menyons (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-Hunter, 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 Menyons online at SherrilynKenyon.com and
Fan Run International Sites:

Other Editions:
- Dark Bites: A Short Story Collection (Dark-Hunter Novels)

- Dark Bites (Dream-Hunter, #1; Hellchaser, #1; Were-Hunter, #1; Dark-Hunter, #2.5, 2.6, 7.5, 9.5,
9.6, 10.5)

- Dark Bites: A Short Story Collection (ebook)

- Dark Bites: A Short Story Collection (Mass Market Paperback)

- Dark Bites (Dark-Hunter World)

Books By Author:

- Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunterverse #1)

 - Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter #3)

- Acheron (Dark-Hunter #14)

- Night Play (Dark-Hunter #5, Were-Hunter #1)

- The Dream Hunter (Dark-Hunter #10, Dream-Hunter #1)

Books In The Series:

- Fantasy Lover (Dark-Hunterverse #1)

- Night Pleasures (Dark-Hunter, #1)

- Night Embrace (Dark-Hunter, #2)

- Dance with the Devil (Dark-Hunter #3)

- Kiss of the Night (Dark-Hunter, #4)

- Night Play (Dark-Hunter #5, Were-Hunter #1)

- Seize the Night (Dark-Hunter #6)

- Sins of the Night (Dark-Hunter #7)

 - Unleash the Night (Dark Hunter, #8; Were-Hunter, #2)

- Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter #9, Were-Hunter #3)

Related Books On Our Site:

- Midnight Pleasures (Wild Wulfs of London #0.5; Dream-Hunter #0.5)

- Demon Storm (Belador, #5)

- Vampire Fight Club (Demonica, #6.5; Lords of Deliverance, #1.5)

 - Sunburn (Greek God, #3)

- Tapestry (de Piaget, #8.5; de Piaget/MacLeod, #8.5; Were-Hunter, #0.5; Entire

Dark-Hunterverse, #1.5; Dark-Hunterverse, #2; Highlander, #8)

- Knight of Darkness (Lords of Avalon, #2)

- Wild Wolf (Shifters Unbound, #6)

- Dark Wolf (Dark, #25)

- Wolf at the Door (Snowdonia Wolves #1)

- (Dis)content (Judgement of the Six, #5)

- Blood Lite (Hellchaser, #0.5)

- Dark Skye (Immortals After Dark, #15)

- Take It Like a Vamp (Take It Like a Vamp, #1)

- The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo (Love at Stake, #14)

- Puss in Boots (Timeless Fairy Tales, #6)

 - Captive Cowboy (Captured Hearts, #2)

Rewiews:

Apr 28, 2015

Carmen
Rated it: it was ok
Recommends it for:
Kenyon fans
Shelves: fiction, romance, short-stories, traditionally-published
I am reviewing this story-by-story, interspersed with reviewing Kenyon's actual novels (these are
novellas), and I am doing it in chronological order.
So consider this review a work in progress.
6.) FEAR THE DARKNESS
Nick Gautier mourns the effects of Katrina and generally acts like the biggest moron possible. Sad
to see him get used like a complete idiot. I can't STAND him anymore. What a weak-ass, pathetic
excuse for a man.
As a side note, Kenyon does herself no favors by putting this line on page
I am reviewing this story-by-story, interspersed with reviewing Kenyon's actual novels (these are
novellas), and I am doing it in chronological order.
So consider this review a work in progress.
6.) FEAR THE DARKNESS
Nick Gautier mourns the effects of Katrina and generally acts like the biggest moron possible. Sad
to see him get used like a complete idiot. I can't STAND him anymore. What a weak-ass, pathetic
excuse for a man.
As a side note, Kenyon does herself no favors by putting this line on page 1:
As the taxi wended its way from the airport in the midmorning traffic toward his Bourbon Street
home and he saw the scars that were still left by the hurricane Katrina, his blood literally boiled.
Really? I expected Kenyon to know what 'literally' means, and I am disappointed to find out that
she doesn't.
5.) UNTIL DEATH DO WE PART
This story about Vlad Dracula's daughter, Esperetta, and her love for the sorceress's son Velkan -
charmed me. It has very "Gothic" overtones and was sweet and well-done. Very Transylvanian,
very Vlad the Impaler. But also a sweet love story. I enjoyed it a lot.
4.) A HARD DAY'S NIGHT-SEARCHER
Rafael Santiago is a Taye Diggs look-alike former pirate and current Dark-Hunter. He didn't really
have much of a personality in this novella.
Celena D'Arcy is an 8th-generation Blood Rite Squire from Trinidad - a very uptight, rulebook-
bound one. She drives the Dark-Hunters that she works for crazy with methodical plotting and
constant safety checks. She is rather obsessive and meticulous. She reminded me of Kendra from
Buffy.
(view spoiler)[We learn this is because she has watched two Dark-Hunters die and is terrified of it
happening again. (hide spoiler)]
We are supposed to believe that these two are in love, but I don't buy it for one second. At most,
I'll believe that they want to have sex with each other, but that's it.
Oh, and Rafael has an idiot squire named Jeff. I'm getting very sick and tired of idiot squires, let
me tell you.
3.) WINTER BORN
I really loved the base of this story and its characters. Unfortunately, the topics of gang-rape and
sexual slavery really skeeved me out.
Now, Kenyon doesn't do anything untoward - the heroine is safe. Gang-rape and sexual slavery
are portrayed as bad, bad, evil things and are not romanticized. However, the fact that they are a
main point in this novella really makes me upset.
I read romance books/stories to have light, fluffy fun full of good feelings. I can't do that if my
stomach is in knots thinking about stuff like sexual slavery. I just can't.
...
The main couple is very nice. Dante is a were-panther (Katagarian) and Pandora is a were-
panther (Arcadian). They both have their issues trusting each other - deep, scary issues because
Kenyon loves writing characters with unbelievably brutal pasts.
But their love story is cute and enjoyable and sweet. Unfortunately, Pandora is on the run from
Katagarian slavers, who want to gang-rape her and make her a sex slave. Her sister is currently
enslaved to them right now, along with a lot of other females.
I just can't read about this crap, it's too horrifying and I am unable to enjoy the cuteness of the
main couple while all this background stuff is going on.
Of course, Kenyon gives us a happy ending, but that isn't good enough for me this time. :(
2.) A DARK-HUNTER CHRISTMAS
First, we are introduced to James Cameron Patrick Gallagher's tragic back-story. Born to poor
Irish-Americans, father was a drunk, 8 siblings - Gallagher becomes a gangster in 1916 when his
dad dies. He's murdered by the cops on his way to see his pure, innocent, Portuguese wife give
birth to their first (and only) child. He's turned into a vampire-hunter by Artemis. The Dark-Hunters
send another man for Rosalie to fall in love with, marry, and to act as a father to Gallagher's child
(interesting service provided for widows, here.)
So, 70 years later at Christmas, Gallagher, who usually hangs out in Chicago, is in New Orleans
(of course, because Kenyon is obsessed with New Orleans.) There he saves a young woman from
a vampire attack. When he's still there at the hospital and she wakes up and her family is there
too, they comment on how much he looks like their great-grandfather (view spoiler)[ he IS her
great-grandfather (hide spoiler)]. Ash and Simi volunteer at the pediatric section of the hospital
regularly by singing and playing guitar, which apparently has the effect of eliminating the children's
pain and also sending cancer into remission for 3 weeks. Sometimes I have no idea what Acheron
is doing with his life. If just singing a song can cause cancer to go into remission for 3 weeks,... I
mean, I just keep getting my mind blown by how powerful this guy is (I mean, he's not all-powerful
but it's pretty damn close) and how much good he could be (is?) doing in the world.
Feeling sad and missing his family, even though he's holed up with the infamous werebear family
at Sanctuary, he goes for a walk and meets Simi (Acheron's demon daughter). She is an
interesting combination of a 4-year-old who is spoiled and has no impulse control, a 17-year-old
who loves shopping and cute boys, and a demon who enjoys eating toddlers, bear cubs, and adult
males. I mean, eat them. With BBQ sauce. She's cute but also a bit disturbing and Kenyon
frequently uses her for comic relief in her books.
Simi informs Gallagher that he's being silly. He may have 'lost' his family (wife, son,
granddaughters, etc.) but he also has a family that consists of were-creatures and vampire
hunters.
We have three kinds of family. Those we are born to, those who are born to us, and those we let
into our hearts.
She also informs him that if he doesn't accept her as 'family,' then she will kill and eat him, so...
This is just a very short, Christmas-y story about family. There is no romance or sex.
1.) PHANTOM LOVER
Do you remember the movie Monsters, Inc.? Well, this romantic novella is like that. (view spoiler)[
Nightmare demons who feed off unconscious people's terror and fear discover that it is more fun
and more productive if they use sexual desire and orgasms instead. It's like a naughtier version of
Monsters, Inc. (hide spoiler)]
Erin McDaniels is having nightmares. They are so terrifying that she's barely sleeping and during
the day she's dizzy and weak. This culminates in her fainting at work. While she's unconscious,
she's plunged back into the icky scary cave of her nightmares, with gigantic monstrous beasts
fighting over the rights to consume her. Then this knight-type man named V'Aidan (who is, of
course, incredibly sexy) shows up and starts battling the monsters for her.
This being a romance novella, of course they end up having sex...
...
Kenyon really likes Greeks and Greek-accented English.
She is also well-known for her obsession with male orgasm denial, but thankfully she doesn't pull
any of that crap here.
Kenyon is also very, very famous for her 'battered abused heroes who have had a horrible hellish
life' tendency, and (of course) that is the case here. V'Aidan is beaten and tortured and jailed and
starved multiple times in this short little novella. Kenyon is brutal with her men and is always
making them suffer so that they can be 'saved by their one true love after living a life filled with
pain' or something. This isn't my 'thing.' I don't enjoy reading about people being tortured and
abused, and even if it would be an interesting angle for one book, after reading 20 versions of this
I feel very tired.
Kenyon occasionally has Erin describe herself as 'plain,' 'simple,' 'plump,' 'round,' and 'average-
looking' but let me tell you that this is bullshit. None of the descriptions of her read this way. I feel
like Kenyon here is just paying lip service to the whole 'I'm just a normal woman' schtick without
committing to someone who is actually unattractive by current standards in some way. Also I hate
(HATE) when people insult themselves. HATE IT. Listen, other people put you down enough
without you putting yourself down, goshdarnit. I don't ever, ever want to hear a character (or a
person in real life) bashing themselves. It makes me VERY ANGRY. I guess you, personally, as a
reader can decide if you can stand this and if it's better or worse than having a perfect-perfect
character. I personally wanted to scold Erin every time she started talking smack about herself - I
have no patience with this.
The sex is good and nothing weird happens. There's no blood-sucking or other strange creepy
sexual behavior in the story, just relatively normal, pleasurable sex. Kenyon describes sex in a
way that I like, so that it's not boring or creepy or disgusting. It's really difficult to write good sex
scenes, so praise where praise is due. There's plenty of kissing and foreplay, which is good. I am
annoyed when authors seem to think this is totally unnecessary and just jump right into sex.
There is a small 'author' angle here and I am not surprised by it. More and more authors are
inserting 'author' statements in their books. It comes this way: the nightmare demons are all after
Erin because of her 'repressed creative energy' that is very yummy apparently. In an attempt to
get the monsters off her trail, V'Aidan encourages her to express herself creatively. Upon hearing
this, Erin confesses a long-held dream of being an author. She abandoned this dream after
submitting a short story which is published by a department head as an example of 'what not to
do.' This crushes Erin's dreams and she never wrote again. However, with V'Aidan's
encouragement, praise and lack of any sort of criticism, she starts writing again. (view spoiler)[The
epilogue has her getting her first novel published. It's about vampires. (hide spoiler)] Sometimes
this authors-are-amazing, self-insertion thing really gets on my nerves. I've seen it done by
everyone. It must be very, very tempting when writing a book to start going on about how great
authors are and how hard they work and how unfair and soul-crushing it is when they get
criticized. Just cut it out. No matter how tempting it is to put this kind of fantasy scenario in your
book, don't. You always come off as whiny. I've seen everyone from Stephen King to J.K. Rowling
to Lori Foster pull this crap and I'm sick of it.
Oh, and Chrissy recommends that Erin visit a psychologist who specializes in sleep disorders. She
calls him and he suggests that they meet at a restaurant. That, in itself, should send out huge
warning signals to Erin. No professional would ever do this. (view spoiler)[So it was no surprise for
me to learn that he was really a nightmare demon in human form. Actually, Chrissy is a demon
too. And at the end it turns out that her boss John is an oracle. I was like, "Riiiiiight." I mean,
COME ON. Just silly. (hide spoiler)]
Also, I know romances are silly, but there were 2 or 3 moments of complete idiocy in the novel.
For instance, (view spoiler)[when John comments on Erin and V'Aidan's love when talking to Erin.
Blah, blah, sympathy, love. This same character expresses surprise and shock two minutes later
when Erin expresses worry, concern, and sadness when learning that V'Aidan is imprisoned in
hell. I mean, seriously?!!?!? Are you an idiot? Erin herself has a few of these moments. I was just
face-palming for a good portion of the novella. At one point, Kenyon has Erin picking up a red-hot
container to deliver water to her parched and chained lover. Okay. You cannot carry/pick-up a red-
hot container. Not without sustaining permanent and horrific damage to your hands. It was just
ridiculous.(hide spoiler)]
There's also completely pointless aspects to the story. For instance, Kenyon has V'Aidan running
down and fighting a purse-snatcher at one point. This was included for no other reason than to
have him do something heroic. It had nothing to do with the story, didn't further the plot at all, it
wasn't even Erin's purse that was snatched... It was just to show how 'manly and powerful and
chivalrous' V'Aidan was. This kind of extreme pointlessness also comes into play in the end, when
(view spoiler)[a sleeping (and mortal!) V'Aidan is delivered to Erin's bed, complete with a note.
It is through true love that all miracles are performed. If you really love me, Erin, kiss my lips and I
will be born into your world as a mortal man. Otherwise, I shall be waiting for you only in your
dreams.
You have until midnight to decide.
V.
Okay, seriously? This woman has gone to hell for him (literally), shielded him from beatings with
her own body, etc. and you're suggesting she might need some time to 'decide if she loves
him!?!?!?!!?' Of course, Erin immediately kisses him without needing any time at all and leaves me
wondering what the hell was the point of all this foolishness in the first place. Ridiculous. (hide
spoiler)]
29 likes
16 comments