Dance With The Devil by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Dance With The Devil

Book #4 in Dark Hunters series
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Paranormal Romance

Zarek's Point of View:

Dark-Hunter: A soulless guardian who stands between mankind and those who would see mankind destroyed. Yeah, right. The only part of that Code of Honor I got was eternity and solitude.

Insanity: A condition many say I suffer from after being alone for so long. But I don't suffer from my insanity-I enjoy every minute of it.

Trust: I can't trust anyone...not even myself. The only thing I trust in is my ability to do the wrong thing in any situation and to hurt anyone who gets in my way.

Truth: I endured a lifetime as a Roman slave, and 900 years as an exiled Dark-Hunter. Now I'm tired of enduring. I want the truth about what happened the night I was exiled-I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
Astrid (Greek, meaning star): An exceptional woman who can see straight to the truth. Brave and strong, she is a point of light in the darkness. She touches me and I tremble. She smiles and my cold heart shatters.
Zarek: They say even the most damned man can be forgiven. I never believed that until the night Astrid opened her door to me and made this feral beast want to be human again. Made me want to love and be loved. But how can an ex-slave whose soul is owned by a Greek goddess ever dream of touching, let alone holding, a fiery star?

Gosh, I'm so close to sobbing I'm practically a basket case. It's been a while since I've read Zarek's story and it packed just as powerful a punch as it did the first one. Wow. Sherrilyn truly is the Queen of Tortured Heroes. Everything about Zarek made my heart bleed and wish desperately for a happy ever after for him. This was such a gut wrenching story that I had to stop quite a few times just so I could remember to breathe.

I love the Dark Hunters. There's something about them that just revs my romance loving heart. They are unbelievably sexy and powerful, their sex appeal literally oozes off the pages. I've always been a sucker for the REALLY bad bad boy and you can't get much worse than Zarek. I'd say the man has a death wish but you'd have to actually care and he is so beyond it, it's almost a little scary. The nurturer in me BEGS for a way to save him and it took an amazing woman with unfathomable courage to reach in and touch him. Good gosh, I can feel the tears starting to fall!

I can't even begin to imagine how horrific it was growing up the way Zarek did, to wish for death and wake up each morning being denied the peace it would bring. Where all others saw was a sociopath in need of a serious putting down, thank heavens for Acheron who KNEW Zarek's heart and believed in him. Makes me love that man even more *insert sigh* It was never that Zarek didn't want to be friendly and reach out, he just didn't know how and each time he did, he became vulnerable and it was open season on him. People can be cruel, vicious even and what they don't understand, they reject. It would take a special person to FIGHT to get beyond the extremely toxic barriers Zarek had put up over the centuries but Astrid was the woman.  My giddy romantic heart wants to sing praises for the woman the kept looking, searching for that small glimmer of hope and who held on tight when she found it. *insert another sigh and wipes away a stray tear*

This book was an emotional goldmine for me because it had me cheering for the underdog, touched deeply by the struggles he had overcome and for the unbelievable risk Zarek took by letting Astrid into his heart. Loving someone is easy, it's accepting it... owning it... putting your heart in the other's hands that's difficult and I LOVED watching his transformation. Seriously, I'm a gooey mess here because this is why I LOVE reading romance. To win against all the odds. It's beautiful.

I say, you'd be crazy not to read Dance With The Devil.... to not read any of the Dark Hunters series. Sherrilyn really does have a gift for writing sexy tortured heroes and I'm looking forward to devouring each book! She writes an amazing story, with a plot that's thick with action and humor. Gotta love the snarkiness but most of all... I love the chemistry and the tension as the characters do the "I want so bad... I need so bad but I'm not good for them" dance. I love watching the stubbornness wash away and seeing the passion between them. Definitely sizzling in places and that's just how I like my Dark Hunters! Happy reading!

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