Dark Bites: A Short Story Collection

Dark-Hunter

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

For years, eager fans have been clamoring for an all-in-one collection of #1 bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon’s novellas. At their enthusiastic behest, we have delivered this brand-new short story collection, including stories previously exclusive to Sherrilyn’s 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 Kenyon’s rich and imaginative world and experience the heart-racing moments that never stop coming!

Included novellas:
House of the Rising Son
Phantom Lover (V’Aidan)
Winter Born (Dante)
A Dark-Hunter Christmas (Gallagher)
Until Death We Do Part (Velkan)
A Hard Day’s Night Searcher (Rafael)
Shadow of the Moon (Fury)
Fear the Darkness
Where Angels Fear to Tread (Zeke)
Love Bytes
Santa Wears Spurs
Redemption (bonus scene from The Guardian)

Genres: Paranormal, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Fantasy, Vampires, Anthologies, Urban Fantasy

748 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 21, 2014

About the author

Official Author site
Official Nevermore site
Official Deadman's Cross site
Official Chronicles of Nick site
Official Silent Swans site
Official Hunter Legends site
Official Witch of Endor site
Official Lords of Avalon site
Official Facebook site

New York Times and international bestselling author Sherrilyn Kenyon is a regular at the #1 spot. With legions of fans known as Paladins (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-Hunters, 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 Paladins online at MySherrilyn.com and www.facebook.com/mysherrilyn

Fan Run International Sites:

Argentinian FB Page 

Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon en Columbia 

Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon en Chile 

Filipino Fans on FB 

France/French 

Italy/Italian 

Portugal 

Soy Fans de Sherrilyn Kenyon 

Dark-Hunter Spain 

Spanish

Reviews

[Sophia Triad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has many short stories from the Dark-Hunterverse.
I will rated and reviewed them separately:

1. House Of The Rising Son:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

2. Phantom Lover:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

3. Winter Born:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5 stars

4. A Dark Hunter's Christmas:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

5. Until Death We Do Part:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

6. A Hard Day's Night Searcher:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3 stars

7. Shadow of The Moon:
....https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5 stars

8. Fear The Darkness:
....https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

9. Where Angels Fear To Tread:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
3 stars

10. Love Bytes:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

11. Santa Wears Spurs:
....Review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
4 stars

12. Redemption, Bonus scene from The Guardian:
....Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
5 stars

[Alp · Rating 4 out of 5]

HOUSE OF THE RISING SON: 4 stars


Another tear-jerking paranormal romance story from Sherrilyn Kenyon. It was sweet, beautiful, yet heartbreaking. There were two main characters whom I found very endearing, and there were villains whom I hoped rotten in hell. This novella gave me so many feels. There were moments of love, joy, laughter, and heartache, all rolled into one amazing read.

However, please note that there was mild cliffhanger in the end and no HEA, but thankfully, we can read more about Aricles and Bathymaas in Styxx. I just hope they will live a happy life together eventually.


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PHANTOM LOVER: 5 stars


Read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2462415127


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WINTER BORN: 4.5 stars


Read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1978567900?book_show_action=true&from_review_page=1


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A DARK-HUNTER CHRISTMAS: 4.5 stars


Love Simi!


"This is the part where you say, 'Yes, Simi, I would like to be your family.' 'Cause if you don't, then I'll have to take my mitt back and barbecue you. Akri is still upset about the last Dark-Hunter I barbecued and that was... oh, a thousand or so years ago. He part elephant when it comes to remembering things. So tell me, do you want Simi to be your family?"
He smiled in spite of himself. "Yes, Simi, I would like to be your family."
She beamed. "Good. You're such a smart Dark-Hunter."

She really made my day!

This was such a beautiful and heartwarming short story. If you read this one, you will love Simi as much as I do for certain!


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UNTIL DEATH WE DO PART: 2 stars


My least favorite novella by this author so far. Two main characters totally got on my nerves. I didn’t like either of them. Argh, I don't even want to think about them! Velkan and Retta wasted over five hundred years of their lives because of their stupidity! I mean seriously.

Nope. Not for me.


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A HARD DAY'S NIGHT SEARCHER: 3.5 stars


A lovely story. Rafael and Celena were a perfect match. Another great addition to the series.


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SHADOW OF THE MOON: 4.5 stars


I've never expected Fury to have his own book, so, when I found out that Shadow of the Moon is his story, it was a pleasant surprise to me. Fury is one of very interesting characters in Were-Hunter series. He caught my attention right away in Night Play (Vane and Bride's story), and in this novella, he thoroughly won me over with his loyalty towards his family and his love for Angelia. But Angelia, on the other hand, couldn't redeem herself well enough in my eyes.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading this story immensely. And when I finished, it left me wanting more!


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FEAR THE DARKNESS: 2.5 stars


Nick Gautier's short story. It was too short. I’m still not sure what I got from this one…


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WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD: 3 stars


Too short to say whether I liked it or not, so I'm going with 3 stars.


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LOVE BYTES: 4.5 stars


What a lovely, lovely story! The romance between Adrian and Samantha was soooooo sweet. Adrian is exactly my dream man. Everything about him screams hot! Oh yeah, I love geek, especially this awesome geek! Oooh, be still my heart…

Loved it!


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SANTA WEARS SPURS: 2.5 stars


Neither good nor bad. I just couldn't feel it. Guess it's me, not the book.

[Carmen · Rating 2 out of 5]

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.

We learn this is because she has watched two Dark-Hunters die and is terrified of it happening again.

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 he IS her great-grandfather. 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. 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.

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. The epilogue has her getting her first novel published. It's about vampires. 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. 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.

Also, I know romances are silly, but there were 2 or 3 moments of complete idiocy in the novel. For instance, 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.

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 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.

[Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠]

I'm reading these short stories/novellas in the order the author has listed on her site for the Dark-Hunter series. I'll update this as I read.

1. Phantom Lover: Dream Hunter V'Aiden & Erin. 4 stars

2. A Dark-Hunter Christmas: Dark Hunter Jamie Gallagher. Five stars, because 70% of it is Simi!!!!

3. A Hard Day's Night Searcher: 2. Kinda boring. Dark Hunter Rafael (pirate)& squire Celena

4. Until Death Do We Part: 3 stars. Dark Hunter Prince Velkan Danesti & Princess Esperetta (Vlad Dracula's daughter).

5. Fear the Darkness: 1 star. About Nick coming home to New Orleans two years later & seeing the destruction from Katrina. He's still a giant, idiotic asshat who seems incapable of thought.

6. Where Angels Fear to Tread: (Hellchaser). Very short story about Zeke. Makes very little sense at the moment, so I assume he's a character that'll appear in later books. 2-3 stars.

7. Shadow of the Moon: Were-Hunter 3.5. Fury & Angelia.

[Gavin]

I'll be updating this review as I make my way through the Dark-Hunter novellas in this anthology.

I've read a few so far and most have been pretty good so I'm already happy that this collection has been worth the buying. A lot of the novellas were available in other collections, but the big plus the Dark Bites anthology has is that there is an audio version narrated by Fred Berman.

A Dark-Hunter Christmas

This was a tiny novella that focused on the Dark-Hunter, Gallagher, as he found himself in the New Orleans, and Sanctuary, for the Christmas period. Gallagher seemed an interesting enough Dark-Hunter, but it was Simi who really stole the show in this very short story.

Rating: 3 stars.


Winter Born

This is the story of the romance between Dante, a Katagaria were-panther, and Pandora, an Arcadian were-panther. The pair meet at a fantasy convention and are instantly drawn to each other. I took a bit of time to warm to both of them as characters and as a couple, but I was happy enough with them by the end.

I do still think the Were races in this series can be a bit weird!

The big plus for this story was that Acheron was also at the fantasy convention along with, the always hilarious, Simi!

Rating: 3.5 stars.


A Hard Day's Night Searcher

This was a fun novella set in the Dark-Hunter world. It was originally published in the "My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding" anthology.

This followed the story of the Dark-Hunter Raphael, a one time pirate. His lazy and generally incompetent current squire Jeff finds his life in danger after he decides to publish a fictional book series that is a barely disguised rip-off of the Dark-Hunters and their war with the Daimons. The Squire council unsurprisingly take a dim view of this breach of their rules and sends another squire to arrest Jeff. While Raphael agrees that Jeff is a total idiot he thinks that imprisonment or death would be a bit harsh so he strikes a deal with Celena, the attractive and capable, but extremely paranoid and uptight squire who comes to collect Jeff - Spend a week with as his squire and prove that she can resit breaking any of the squire laws. If she fails she leaves Jeff alone and if she succeeds Raphael will reveal where he is hiding Jeff.

I loved the dynamic between Raphael and Celena. They were polar opposites, but despite that they both offered each other the balance that was missing in their life. It was also pretty fun watching poor Raphael suffer the shock of the switch from a lazy and barely interested squire to one that wanted to monitor his every action in order to maximize his safety.

This was a fun read and I have a feeling it could have been even better if it had been a full sized novel as the only flaw is the romance felt a touch rushed.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Until Death Do We Part

This novella in the Dark-Hunter universe was a decent enough read without being anything special. It was a weird mix of the Dracula myth and Romeo & Juliet.

This is the story of husband and wife, Velkan and Esperetta, who have been avoiding each other since a tragic misunderstanding 500 years in the past. They are flung back together as Esperetta comes on the radar of some of Velkan's enemies.

It was a decent enough read. It would likely have been better if it was a full sized novel and the characters had longer to grow on me. Their story was interesting, but they never really resonated with me as characters to care for.

Rating: 3 stars.

Shadow of the Moon

This was Fury and Angelia's story. I thought it was pretty good, but it could have been so much better. The big flaw was that everything happened too quickly. The story was just under 3 hours in audio but probably needed the 8-12 hour limit of a regular Dark-Hunter novel to properly develop the story as the romance felt a bit rushed.

Fury was one of those secondary characters that stood out in Vane's book so I was glad he finally got a story of his own. I liked Angelia. She was not the average Kenyon heroine. She had made mistakes in the past but was looking for redemption in this story.

We also got an appearance from Savitar which is never a bad thing.

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Where Angels Fear to Tread

This was a tiny novella. It lasted less than half an hour in audio.

Zeke was an ordinary insurance advisor who found himself caught up in a crazy new destiny after inheriting a magical medallion from his long lost great uncle and unwittingly using it to grant him a life less ordinary. That life is as one of the seraph, beings who's job it is to fight demons who prey on humans. He got cool fighting skills, a shape-changing companion, and a guardian that seemed far from impressed with him, as part of the package. He also got told life expectancy in his new job was just two years and not to give up his day job as this one comes with no pay!

It was more of an intro to a story than an actual story but it was pretty awesome and I so want to read more about Zeke and his new companions. He needs a book of his own ASAP!

Rating: 4.5 stars.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Audio Review]

House of the Rising Son: New story, first time in print. Setting starts in 12,252 B.C. This one tells the story of Aricles and Bathymaas. It also features Galenus and Caleb Malphas. An interesting tale but not my favorite of the Dark-Hunter short stories. I would say this is a bit of a prequel to Styxx, but also a stand alone story.

Phantom Lover: I first read this story when it was published in the anthology Midnight Pleasures. This was an introduction of the Dream-Hunter. This one features Dream Hunter V'Aiden and Human Erin. A Good read. Their journey was dark and sensual.

Winter Born: I originally read this one when it was published in the anthology Stroke of Midnight. This is a Were-Hunters story featuring Dante and Pandora. With appearances from Acheron & Simi. I loved reading/listening to their story again. It's still one of my favorites. One of the great things about this story is that it takes place in Atlanta, Georgia at DragonCon.

A Dark-Hunter Christmas: First published in The Dark-Hunters Companion. This one features Dark-Hunter Gallagher and Simi. Gallagher finds himself in New Orleans for Christmas and he's missing his family. Simi teaches him that his loved ones might be gone but he still has a family. Good Story!

Until Death We Do Part: First published in Love At First Bite. In this one we meet Dark-Hunter Velkan and his wife Eperetta, the daughter of Dracula. They have been bound together for 500 years and its been very rocky. But they must come together to defeat an old enemy. This is another one of my favorites. Just wonderful characters.

A Hard Day's Searcher: Originally published in My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding. Features Dark-Hunter, pirate Rafael Santiago and Squire Celena. Rafael's Squire stupidly publishes a story that resembles the Dark-Hunter legend to a T. A unique situation that brings Rafael & Celena together. This was a fun story.

Shadow of the Moon: This one was originally published in the anthology Dead After Dark, featuring Were-Hunter Fury and Arcadian Lykos Angelia. There is a lot of bad blood between the two, but it makes for a good read. Fury is one of my favorites. It's too bad he didn't get a full novel.

Fear the Darkness: (there might be spoilers) First time in print. It was originally released in eBook format. This one features fan favorite Nick Gautier, who has just returned home to New Orleans as a Dark-Hunter. His mom is dead and Katrina has done her damage. To say he is pissed off is an understatement. I enjoyed this one, but looking forward to his full novel.

Where Angels Fear to Tread: Originally featured in the anthology Blood Lite. Featuring Hellchaser Zeke. I remember reading the anthology but don't recall this story. So this one was a new one to me. It was an interesting. It Introduces the Hellchasers and how Zeke becomes one. I loved his obsession with the Transformers.

Love Bytes & Santa Wears Spurs: Love Bytes was originally published in the anthology Naughty or Nice. Santa Wears Spurs in the anthology All I Want for Christmas and written under Kinley MacGregor. These two stories are unrelated to the Dark-Hunter world. Neither of these were my favorites, but they were good stories.

At the very end you'll find a bonus scene from The Guardian, featuring Seth & Lydia. With an appearance from the mysterious Savitar.

The stories in Dark Bites are narrated by Fred Berman. He also narrated Styxx. I'm finally getting use to Mr. Berman's voice. His interpretation of Simi is just so fun.

[AL · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's only one short story that I haven't read and that related to the Dark-Hunter World is House of the Rising Son. Styxx and Bethany's past life as Aricles and Bathymaas. Reading this story has made a lot sense to me. Everything is clearer now like how Aricles died by Bathymaas hand because of the clever treachery of Apollo. There was such a sadness in this story, short even though but still the strength of the sorrow is like a punch to your stomach again. I'm glad I read Styxx and know what happened. I can't wait to see how Styxx and Bethany are now with their new born son, Aricles Galen.

[Lelyana's Reviews]

OHMYGOOOOOOOOD STYXX???????

WHEEEEEEEEN????????

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great in between and filler stories for the Dark Hunter Universe. There are two stories that aren't from there, a modern day sweet office romance and a western. Both are written with Kenyon's brilliant and sexy style.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark Bites is a collection of novella's, some previously seen on her website and one that's all new. We're taken from Dark Hunter's to demigods, from Dream Hunters to demons, and everything in between. And all in once place for the ultimate Kenyon fan.

The stories are very short, I feel I should point out. So short that the characters and plots lacked depth, and all of the stories felt very very rushed. I feel like a lot of Kenyon fans are going to be very very disappointed with this book, and that it's not going to be what they expect.

A good half of the stories are boring and very meh, while the other's are just okay, or at least where to me. I think a lot of people are expecting longer stories, but that's not what you'll get. Dark Bites contains what can only be described as excerpts from her stories, and they where not written to her usual and renowned standard. It's a total mish mash of stories that are already published and available and some that quite frankly...maybe shouldn't have been.

I would recommend if you haven't read Styxx yet to read the Bathymus and Aricles story before you read Styxx, as it will provide more insight in to the story. There's a mediocre contemporary romance slyly hidden in the middle, so not all the stories are paranormal or even Dark Hunter ones.

Kenyon's hardcore fans will have read all of these, and this will be a disappointment and waste of money to them. Sorry Sherrilyn.

[Maxie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark Bites Sherrilyn Kenyon

I have been bitten by the versatility of the dynamic writing skills of Sherrilyn Kenyon. A reader will savor the tenderness of love, heaviness of death, war and the tranquility of peace, spiced up with the sensuality only a gifted writer Sherrilyn Kenyon can conjure up. Dark Bites has it all and worth every thrilling heart pounding moment I spent although I burned a few batches of cookies. I could not eject myself from this bewitching book bejeweled with searing action, sensuality, tenderness, heartache and victory. I fell head over heels with the heroines and heroes that graced each story. Ms. Kenyon's imagination is truly representative of heavenly dreams and devious thoughts of bodily pleasures. Ms. Kenyon takes the reader through millenniums where time and space that flows seamlessly from peace to war and the impact these forces have plagued mankind since the creation of the universe to current day and beyond.

Dark Bites will take a big hunk out of your heart as you delve into one of the best collection of short stories one could hope for. Every story in Dark Bites has yummy morsels of action, sensuality, personal conflicts and resolutions one can connect with as they reflect on their experiences.
Dark Bites is a must read!

[Lauren (The Novel Lush)]

Okay, sooooo I guess I'll review each individual story as I get through them? This is my first review of an anthology (I think) so we'll go with that for now, especially because I'm reading them out of order.

Phantom Lover (V'Aidan and Erin): Ehhhh, the Dream-Hunters were already my least favorite of the DH universe because I tend to not like the My-Race-Doesn't-Have-Emotions trope unless the character was struggling with gaining them BEFORE meeting their love interest, because it's kind of hard to write a likable emotionless characters, because if they're done right, they're usually flat as hell. So usually those characters are sarcastic, angry, derisive etc... those are all emotions. Yes, even dry humor counts.

That being said, I know it's a novella, but good LORD the insta-love was rapid even for an SK or Paranormal Romance. Boy meets girl, boy swings sword, boy kisses girl, BAM boy yanks girl from middle of battle and voila, they're having sex. Um, okay. For someone who doesn't experience OR understand emotions, that was hella fast homeboy. It made their soon-to-follow "I can't live without him/her" just a smiiiidge unbelievable.

Pair that with the fact that the magic rules are kind of all over the place (they're just yanking each other into various worlds that aren't supposed to be possible) and I give this one a loose ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sherrilyn Kenyon is a master storyteller. When you combine a bunch of her novellas into a book you can't go wrong. Dark Bites is a fabulous example of Kenyon's writing abilities. This book highlights many of her marvelous series with this collection of short stories...making me want to delve deeper into Kenyon's highly imaginative worlds. I found Dark Bites a brilliant collection of utterly entertaining stories that left me wanting more. As a fan and avid follower of every one of Kenyon's series, I adored this book.

I received this ARC copy of Dark Bites from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. This book is set for publication on January 21, 2014.

[Pamela(AllHoney) · Rating 4 out of 5]

House of the Rising Sun
Phantom Lover
Winter Born
A Dark-Hunter Christmas
Until Death Do We Part
A Hard's Day Night Searcher
Shadow of the Moon
Fear the Darkness
Where Angels Fear to Tread
Love Bytes
Santa Wears Spurs
Bonus - Redemption

A collection of short stories. There are a few that are part of the Dark-Hunter Universe and a few stand-alone stories, etc... Most are romance but not all. I liked some and I loved others and then one or two were just meh for me. Still if you love the Dark-Hunter series then you will want to check this out.

[Wayland Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sherrilyn Kenyon is very good at what she does. This is a collection of novellas from her various ongoing stories (Dark-Hunters, Hellchaser, Dream-Hunters, and Were-Hunters) as well as some new tales of characters I don't think we've seen before. If you like her work, you know what's coming for most of these tales: bad-ass men with attitude, capable women, sex, love, magic of various kinds, generally angry gods somewhere along the line, and sex (yup, said it twice).

Among the ones we've seen before are featured characters V'Adain, Velkan, Rafael, Fury, Zeke, and the former friend turned sulky foe Nick Gautier. There are what seem to be a few new creations, so possible additions to Kenyon's canon. And, just to be different, the last two (discounting a bonus section of a previously published book) are a modern day office romance and a Western that both are real-world with no magical elements at all. I admit, I kept waiting for something from the fantasy genre to happen in each, but they were perfectly good stories on their own.

If you like magic, hot sex scenes, and true love finding the most unlikely people, this is a great batch of stuff to read, and I don't think you need to be up on all the different series to enjoy it. While I don't really like what Nick has become, I enjoy the other recurring characters and their world, and I've always loved Westerns, so that inclusion was a nice change of pace.

As a personal plus, one of the stories is set at DragonCon, which tends to be the high point of my year each year. On the minus side, one story has a bunch of the characters as regulars at Chik-Fil-A, which I'm surprised about since Kenyon is, as far as I can tell, pro-LBGTQ, and Chik-Fil-A is notoriously anti.

Well worth the read to get a bunch of slices of life of various characters from the Dark-Hunter world and beyond.

[Dasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

He leído esta antología a lo largo de varios años. Algunos relatos son relecturas, unos pocos leídos por primera vez.
Supuestamente, todos relacionados con el universo de los Cazadores oscuros aunque hay un par que no he logrado ubicar, imagino que no tienen nada que ver con ese universo: Santa Wears Spurs y Love Bites. El protagonista es ¿rubio? Quizás es un apolita... 😅 Nah. Creo que tampoco tiene nada que ver. Ambos son relatos románticos típicos bastante básicos. El primero me gustó más que Love Bites. Estos dos junto con A Dark-Hunter Christmas, para mí relectura, son navideños.
También incluye un capítulo extra de la novela El guardián y como me gusta bastante fue una grata sorpresa. Estaba reservándola para cuando me tocase la relectura de la novela. Es un capítulo corto y tan tierno como Seth, el prota.
Phantom Lover, Winter Born y A Hard Day's Night Searcher son mis relatos favoritos y escritos de más a menos. Todos ellos relecturas para mí.
House Of The Rising Son era el último que me faltaba por leer y, la verdad, ha sido un poco insatisfactorio como relato pero es que es la historia de una pareja que aparece en Styxx y es en esta novela donde se pone el punto y final a su historia.
Los relatos que faltan: meh.
Está claro que si eres fan de la autora esta es una antología imprescindible aunque se pueden encontrar casi todos los relatos por separado o en otras antologías.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadow of the Moon : 5 stars

Fury and Angelia's story was cool. Nice to see Vane, Bride, Fang, Zarek, and all the others again. Hope Fury and Lia will have a nice long life together. Want to learn more about Dare.

Where Angels Fear to Tread: 5 stars

Hope to see Zeke again. Hope he will do good as the Seraph. How did his granduncle Michael survive so long?

Love Bytes: 5 stars

Adrian and Sam's story was cute. Wonder what it would be like to work at a company and fix lots of repairs like Adrian. Hope they went to Christmas dinner together.

Santa Wears Spurs: 5 stars

Liked Michael and Catherine's story. Always like stories from the Old West. Nice to see that they had a daughter, Diana. Hope Pete will change.

Redemption: 5 stars

Nice to see Seth and Lydia again. Congratulations on their marriage and baby. Hope they'll have a good life together.

Overall, I would give this book five stars. Lots of good stories. Would recommend for fans of Sherrilyn Kenyon.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was filled with short stories of mix demons like dark hunters and were demons, and others but it gave a lot of little missing bits that are missing in each other their stories. Some of the stories I didn't know some of the characters but I'm sure once I get through to the other stories I will. There were some steamy moments in this book as in all the Dark Hunter stories but with add steamy were demon stories too. I loved all the different stories. Now to the next book :)

[Angela Carr]

More Kenyon! *happy dance*

[Timelord Iain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mixed bag of short stories in the Dark Hunter universe...

[Jenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an anthology of short stories with characters from Kenyon's various series many of which involve crossover. I got it b/c one of them was listed as related to the Deadman's Cross series. 
I didn't read the whole book, so this is my ratings for each of the stories I did read. They are mostly paranormal & steamy romance stories.
Overall rating for the anthology is 3 stars.

1. A Hard Day's Night Searcher: 2 stars 
Rafael Santiago from Deadman has become a Dark-Hunter and becomes involved with Celena, a squire for Ephani. I like Rafe so was glad to see him get an HEA.

2. Fear the Darkness: 1 star- DNF
I tried to read this one which I believe involves Nick from Chronicles of Nick series. But since I haven't read that one, I was lost. Also, information overload. After yet another 2 pgs. of backstory, I gave up. It was too much!

3. Winter Born: 3.5 stars 
Story of relationship b/w Dante & Pandora, both are were-panthers of opposite packs who meet at a Dragon Con convention. Very steamy for a short story w/good chemistry b/w the characters. 
I started it b/c Archeron & Simi are in the story. I like them. 

4. Until Death do We Part: 3 stars
Story of Esperetta and Velkan reuniting after 500 years. She's the daughter of the original Dracula. He's the son of a family who hunts the demons. Original Romeo & Juliet.  I found it a new spin on the Dracula mythos.

5. Where Angels Fear to Tread: 4 stars 
A cute, very short origin prequel story of Zeke Jacobson & how he became an Angel avenger (?). I liked Zeke & would be interested in reading more of his story but since I'm not familiar w/Kenyon's milieu, I'm not sure if he's in any of the books.

6. Love Bytes: 3.5 stars
a contemporary romance story b/w tech geek Adrian & Sam. Definite slow burn in a short story which works well for the characters who have good chemistry.

7. Santa Wears Spurs: 4 stars
A sweet historical romance about repentance & 2nd chances during Christmas. Michael is a drifter who’s returning stolen money from orphans when he’s reunited with his wife, a woman he left years ago. 

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short stories that slide between or compliment her longer dark hunter books.

Except the 3 at the end that seem to have nothing to do with this series so I am not sure why they were included.

Overall, most of the short stories bounce between 3-4 stars. While you won't miss any details if you don't read them that will affect your understanding of the series they were fun to read.

[Genea]

So Far:

A Dark-Hunter Christmas - 4 Stars
Such a sweet little morsel. I loved this so much, wish I had read it during Christmas time, I would have probably felt even more touched by it. It was also a surprising departure from the typical Dark-Hunter story. And Simi is the best, kinda scary sometimes with that appetite of hers, but she is the smartest and most adorable demon ever.

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

My wife convinced me to try this series.
It is decidedly not my jam.

I like urban fantasy, and I like fantasy in general. I even like erotica on occasion, but I think what I've learned is that I'm not a fan of the blending of the two and this is SUPER erotica. Every single story ends in love and batted eyelashes and then raunchy sex scenes with quivering members.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Novellas:


25.5. House of the Rising Son (Aricles & Bathymaas)
3.5. Phantom Lover (V'Aidan & Erin)
8.5. Winter Born (Dante & Pandora)
3.6. A Dark-Hunter Christmas (Gallagher Ft. Simi)
12.5. Until Death We Do Part (Velkan & Esperetta)
10.5. A Hard Day’s Night Searcher (Rafael & Celena)
15.5. Shadow of the Moon (Fury & Angelia)
0.6. Where Angels Fear to Tread (Zeke)
13.5. Fear the Darkness
Love Bytes
Santa Wears Spurs
Redemption (bonus scene from The Guardian)

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great short story collection that gives us more insight into the background of some of our favorite Dark Hunters.

[Lauren Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic collection of short stories! My favorite one was House of the Rising Son! ❤️❤️❤️

[Debbie Loader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of those informative and relevant tales that bridge the gaps to all the others tied up nicely inside one book. Brilliant

[David Veith · Rating 3 out of 5]

lots of short stories, some real short, some longer. Some good some not.

[Joanne Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

All the Dark Hunter stories in the one novel could there be anything better. Well more Acheron I guess but you can't have everything.