Persy -- Born Of Fire by Sherrilyn Kenyon

If you're familiar with my reading preferences, you know about my six absolute favorite authors. I will buy and read anything by these six authors and so far, I have failed to really dislike a single book by any of them. Sure, a few haven't been up to the standards, but they were still good. One of these authors is Sherrilyn Kenyon.

Okay, so maybe she shouldn't be lopped in with my six favorite authors (who I may unveil in the future for those of you who don't know) since I've only read three of her many, many books, but I love those three books so much that I'm willing to take a chance, and say that Miss Kenyon is a favorite.

Last year I reviewed Born Of Night, the first book in Miss Kenyon's League series. Born of Fire is the second book, and is about one of the more minor characters in 'Night', C.I. Syn, a bloodthirsty, alcoholic filch (hacker). Well, he's not that bloodthirsty. Or at least, not as bloodthirsty as they all say. He'd rather drink some Tondarion A-Grade Hellfire (you know I'm obsessed when I know the names of all the alcoholic drinks in a book) than anyone's blood. I mean, ew.

Anyway, back to the book.

Shahara Dagan is a Seax, sort of like a cross between a bounty hunter and police officer. Seaxes are bound to uphold the law and keep their honor, and they do this by signing contracts for specific criminals. Shahara is the best of the best, the only one to pass the Seax test in the last generation. But despite being an amazing Seax, she comes from a poorer than dirt family, with a younger sister with a gambling problem. When Tessa gets into trouble again, Shahara must come up with some money fast, not only to pay of her sister's debts, but to pay the hospital. And the only contract that'll pay enough is Syn's, so Shahara goes after one of the scariest criminals known to the Ichidian universe.

But what she doesn't know is that Syn is Caillen Dagan's best friend. Shahara's brother's best friend. They didn't tell Shahara because they knew she'd throw a hissy fit because hey, she is a police officer.

It gets even more interesting when it's revealed that many years ago, Syn discovered evidence of a dangerous secret, and now "they" have found out where he is. Before she can properly sort everything out, Shahara finds herself signed up to trick Syn into leading her to the evidence, betraying him in the end. But as she gets to know C.I. Syn, she discovers that he may not be the villainous criminal she's always heard about...

Unless of course, he steals her heart!

Sorry, couldn't resist. *suitably ashamed*

I recently read this book for the second time, and to my surprise, it was almost just as good as the first time through. When I reread "Night", I found lots of things that bothered me a little, but it looks like Miss Kenyon's writing gets better and better. True, it's a bit heavy on the love-at-first-sight-oh-my-stars-she's-the-most-beautiful-woman-I've-ever-seen-why-am-I-so-attracted-to-her thing, but that's okay. Syn and Shahara are still some of my favorite characters, and Shahara is stupid in all the right ways. As in, she doesn't really know what she's doing half the time because she hasn't done it before, but she picks up fast enough. The only thing that bothers me about her is that she seems to have some deep-rooted fear of everything. Heights, tight spaces, men. I mean, seriously, girl, get a grip. One phobia is enough, two is pushing it.

My favorite part of Sherrilyn Kenyon's writing is how unafraid she is to seriously beat up her characters. Almost all of them have some of the worst pasts you can imagine, which makes the Ichidian Universe a seriously miserable place. You start wondering how it could get any worse, and booyah, you find out. Just once, I'd like to meet a Sherrilyn Kenyon character who had a happy childhood. Thinking, thinking...no, can't think of one.

Another thing I like about Sherrilyn Kenyon is her website. Best author website. Ever. It gives you the reading order for all her books (very nice), character bios (nice), and book playlists! I LOVE playlists! And Miss Kenyon obviously has very nice taste in music (except that Bauhaus song. That was just painful).

Okay, so maybe this isn't much of a review, it's more of me gushing about Sherrilyn Kenyon, but I'll just sum it up real quick in a cheatsheat: If you like romances but aren't afraid of gore, horror, and various other R-rated scenes, this is the book for you! And if you like lots of action and science fiction atmosphere and can take lots of romance, this is still the book for you! But if you don't like any of the above-mentioned things, don't even touch it.

--Persy