Sherrilyn Kenyon - Born of Fire

After falling in love with Kenyon's Ichidian Universe in Born of Night, I drove in with both feet and started reading the series in a glom.  That is really my favorite way to read! :)

In the next book in the series, C.I. Syn is having a rough day.  He just found out one of his best friend's beloved older sister is the assassin hired to kill him.  So he can't just kill her and get rid of the body.  Instead, he feels he needs to protect her.  Which would be ok with him - she is an incredibly beautiful woman.  But when he lets her go and pays her sister's medical bills (the reason she took the job in the first place), she ends up turning him in to the man that wants him tortured and eventually dead.  For days, Syn is tortured by the one man in the universe who has the most to lose from Syn's knowledge.  Beaten to within an inch of his life, Syn sees the betrayal as pretty standard.  Everyone will betray you eventually.  He learned that lesson the hard way throughout his life.

Shahara Dagan is also having a rotten day.  Her little sister is in the hospital, in desperate need of medical care, and she doesn't have the money to pay for it.  Taking a contract to kill a deadly killer who is accused of raping and murdering an innocent princess seems like something her conscience can handle.   Until Syn pays off the debt for her sister and she realizes that Syn is the man that has been helping her brother and sister for years.  And they are utterly devoted to him.  Yet she had him captured and tortured.  Opps... Now, to be sure that she can save her family from hating her, she sets out to save the man that she had imprisoned.  But forces work against her and the world that she steps into is more complex than she could have imagined.  Faced with the choice of betraying Syn again or taking a chance, Shahara will have to face her conscience again and do the right thing - for herself and her heart.

I liked the twists that this plot takes.  It is much smoother than the first in the series which my only complaint had too many twists and turns and at times was contrived.  This book is much more seamless and the relationship between Syn and Shahara is much less intense.  They talk, they laugh, they joke with each other.  Syn is the debonair romantic of the Sentella and it was a refreshing change of pace to have a warrior whose mode of grovel was more than just baring his heart.  That is nice, but sometimes that little extra effort, like Syn takes, is extra special!

My one complaint is a general Kenyon complaint.  I never know where to go after reading a book in a series.  The next in the series is Born of Ice, which is the story of Syn and Shahara's son.  But book four goes back to the comrades of Syn and Nykyrian so I am not sure which should actually be read next in line.  The good thing is that I will learn soon enough and others can benefit from it!  :)  These books seem to all work as a group and stand alone at the same time.  I know that there were publisher issues that lead to the books being released the way that they were, so I'm going to give Born of Shadows a try and hope that I am reading them right! :)

Though Sci Fi Romance has never been my thing, a Kenyon is a Kenyon wherever it takes place.  That is the sign of a strong author.  I would read just about anything Kenyon writes whether it is a book or a grocery list!  Yes, it is that good.  So all you Historical Romance readers, you can have your Dukes - leave The League to me! :)

~ Aimee

Book: Born of Fire
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Others in The League Series: Born of Night, Born of Ice, Born of Shadows, Born of Silence, Born of Fury (Nov 2013)