First of all, the cover is pretty horrible! This is not Korvel. I imagine him more like this...



I understand the reason for copper coloured hair, but he is frigging blond! Ugh.

Secondly, I am very surprised this book is marketed as a new series when it can easily be the continuation of Lynn's successful Darkyn series.

OK, my little rant out of the way, I actually really love Lynn Viehl. You might have noticed that I don't read many paranormal romances unless they are crossovers with urban fantasy, and it's just the case with the world of Darkyn.

Lynn usually combines gorgeous world building, dark fantasy, plenty of action and very much kick-ass heroes and heroines. I wouldn't recommend Nightborn to someone who is not familiar with Lynn's work, because they would miss out too many details which otherwise are quite clear to those who read this author's work continuously.

If you take work of Lara Adrian for example (I have a huge grudge against her, sorry), her women no matter how talented and independent they are in the beginning always end up barefoot and pregnant. In Lynn's world they are fierce and fiercely independent. Their men pretty much have to adapt to their world not the opposite - they are cops, surgeons, thieves, knights, FBI agents, assassins, etc. and they don't change themselves to suit the world they are drawn into. I think this is one of the main reasons I love Lynn so much.

What happens in Nightborn is that Korvel, loyal servant of Richard is sent on a wild chase to France to get the artifact which can make a human immortal. There are other forces who try to get the artifact as well.

Simone who lives a quiet life in a nunnery is in fact a guardian of the artifact and an enormously skilled assassin. When what she guards is stolen she and Korvel both go to get it with different goals in mind. There is plenty of action, tortured past and deeply hidden secrets, there are also quite a few twists which change your perspective on what is happening.

I wasn't a fan of the love story, it was way too awkward for my liking, however my favourite of this series, Alexandra, makes a cameo appearance, which made me forgive any drawbacks this book night have and just enjoy the drama. Simone also simply rocks. She is way ahead of Korvel most of the time, and it's her who makes things happen *grinning*

Overall, I highly recommend Lynn Viehl's work in general, especially her awesome kick-ass heroines. I think this mix of urban fantasy and paranormal romance will be appreciated by fans of both genres, especially by those who love J.R.Ward, Lara Adrian and D.B.Reynolds. ( )

Raised as her father's successor, Simone Derien would have been quite content to stay a housemaid to the order of blind nuns. Unfortunately, fate - and the Darkyn - have other ideas. An old enemy has stolen a powerful Darkyn relic, and Simone will have to retrieve it.

Korvel's service to the Darkyn High Lord has been centuries long - and he's not overly pleased to be turned into an errand boy. But when Richard sends him after a long-hidden scroll, he's determined to carry out his orders.

With all the resources of a powerful, deadly assassin stacked against them, Simone and Korvel are hot on the trail of the scroll - but finding it means one of them has to die.

A bit convoluted, but readable. ( )

Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Ms. Viehl’s characters live in a strange, strange world.

Opening Sentence: A shout outside the barbican tower jerked Brother Frémis from his contemplation of the inside of his eyelids.

The Review:

A strange, strange world indeed. For who in their right mind would train a tiny little girl to become an assassin by having her attacked by a crap load of males her own age. Oh, and for kicks let’s video tape it for posterity.

Let us concentrate on the hero and heroine of this particular story. Korvel is Darkyn, a certain breed of vampire. These guys are not deathly allergic to sunlight, but it does weaken them quite a bit. They do drink blood, however, and very often mix it with wine, especially when it is older or bagged. Oh, and these guys, they smell good. So good, that often they can use their scent, or l’attrait to turn any human into one who will do their every bidding. Nifty trick, that. We met Korvel in a previous book in this series, and forgive me for not remembering which one. Back then we were meant to hate him, for he did something seemingly horrible to one of the heroines from that series. Nice to see Korvel get some redemption, because I think we all knew that down deep, Korvel really is a nice guy.

Korvel is the Kyn high lord’s right hand warrior, his seneschal, and is currently on a secret mission for the high lord to recover an ancient Kyn artifact, one that contains the secret to immortality. When he arrives at the last known location of the artifact, he is ambushed by assassins trained to defeat his kind, and finds a nun who is also being attacked. After rescuing her, and suffering some battle wounds, he is taken to a nearby convent to heal before continuing his mission, for which he has now also acquired a partner, that very nun whose life he saved.

But, our little Simone is no nun; in fact she has been trained to be rather deadly since she was a young girl. She is also a trisori sentinel, a member of a group of mortals sworn to aid the Kyn, but also sworn to follow the orders of the tresoran council. The tresoran council has not only sworn allegiance to the Darkyn, but has also taken on the job of protecting the mortals of the world from them as well, if necessary. The council has ordered her to kill Korvel after he helps her find the artifact that has been in the care of her family for generations, because they don’t think his master should get a hold of it. Simone may have been trained as an assassin, but killing for the sake of killing has never been much to her liking, and this particular order becomes even harder to follow when she becomes romantically involved with the subject, or when the subject becomes romantically involved with her.

On their mission to find the artifact, they are met by a few blasts from the past, Nick, Gabriel and Alex. Nick and Gabriel were sent to find Korvel and help him; Alex appears off and on to brandish her infinite doctorial skills and sarcasm. We also bear witness to some of their struggles in life and love. But one question…when did her man Michael start letting Alex wander the countryside without him? If I remember correctly, wasn’t he all master of the caveman tendencies where she was concerned?

Needless to say, the hero and heroine accomplish their mission and live happily ever after (in a fashion). But, I want to know: Do we get to see more of Simone’s “brothers”? Sounds like some of them could be interesting, maybe even quite handsome…

I find this book does a decent job at standing alone, though previous knowledge of the Kyn and tresora, Nick, Gabriel, etc. would seemingly make some parts of the book more meaningful. Especially the parts with Alex, and those focusing on the Nicola/Gabriel relationship, and all of its hardships. Also, I do remember the complexity in Ms. Viehl’s writing from before, and the knowledge of having to read them in order. It’s a sound idea, starting from the first book, but that’s just a suggestion from me to you. Thankfully, I am up on the list to reread the whole series, start to finish, for DFT. So maybe in the future I will revisit this one, and at that point my review will seem to make more sense, at least to me anyway.

Nevertheless, I liked it as much as I remember liking her others, and would recommend it to my friends. That is if I had any friends who would actually read something about vampires, and stuff like that.

Notable Scene:

The first charged at her from behind as two flanking her ran a cross pattern. As soldiers, they had been trained to fight upright, falling prone only to take cover or to change position, and expected the enemy to do the same. Simone dropped, seizing the blades and diving between the legs of her first attacker, cutting his hamstrings. She rolled over in time to parry the man on her left as he struck down, grabbing his shoulder and using his momentum to throw him into the third soldier, who collapsed in a tangle with him.

Back on her feet, she moved to the scaffolding, using a running jump to pull herself up to the first level and turning to drive her boot into the face of the guildsman who pursued her; she leaped over the one who followed him and swept her arm back, slamming her elbow into the base of his skull.

She regarded the five who were left, and how they rearranged themselves. These were the watchful ones, the martial artists with their black belts and their clever techniques. They would be strong, practiced, and deceptive, but they had been trained to read the body of the enemy to anticipate his or her actions.

Simone remained still, holding her arms to shield her upper body while she shifted her eyes from one chest to another. Two of the men danced back and forth as they approached, feinting strikes at her head before they lashed out with their feet at her legs. She fell before they could touch her, jerking the legs they stood on out from beneath them.

Both fell back, one striking the back of his head and going still, the other managing to partially break his fall with an arm. The snap of his ulna sounded like a brittle branch as Simone wrapped an arm around his neck and dragged him up, heaving his body toward two more guildsmen.

That left one standing only a few feet from her, and he stepped forward, keeping his eyes on her face as he bobbed in a shallow bow. He raised his arms, his hands cupped, his legs slightly bent at the knees, prepared for any move she intended to make.

Except this one, Simone thought, raising the .22 she had taken from one of the soldiers and shooting the last guildsman in the knee.

The Lords of the Darkyn Series:

1. Nightborn

2. Nightbred

FTC Advisory: Penguin/Signet provided me with a copy of Nightborn. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

I came back from a week away to discover a present. It was my turn to read Nightborn, which had come while I was away. I knew all too well what this meant. I would struggle to be productive around the urge to keep reading.

Lynn Viehl lived up to my expectations well.

The Darkyn world was already complex and multilayered from the start. Then she blended in the Kyndred, and now this. It says a lot for the environment that it smoothly incorporates new aspects without undermining the existing structure, and the roots of these new aspects are either plausible or well-seeded all the way back to the very first novel in these related series.

Like the original Darkyn series, this one focuses on a specific Darkyn and his struggles to find a place and a partner in this world. What makes Nightborn more complicated is the character chosen. Korvel has played the role of villain as much as any of the Darkyn except possibly Richard’s wife, and he tried to destroy the bond between Alex and Michael, a key foundation for the original series and not something to make him loved. But Lynn never makes things simple, and Korvel has suffered for his crimes, has suffered enough, apparently, that he’s due a second chance when he was sure there could be none.

So you might ask how the Lords of Darkyn is any different than the Darkyn series considering that it has the same basic setup with choosing a known Darkyn to pair up. Well, Korvel is only half of the pair. Simone Derien makes up the other half, and she’s neither Darkyn nor Kyndred. Nor is she merely a common human.

Simone brings in a hidden side to the bond between the Darkyn and the humans who devote their lives to serving the Darkyn. She’s living as a nun, allowed to stay by a deal made with her father, a man who brutally trained her to fight and kill.

They are brought together by word that a significant Darkyn treasure is now at risk, one Simone’s family has guarded since the Darkyn first walked the Earth. Richard wants it for his own purposes while Simone needs to keep it from the Darkyn lord because of promises made generations ago and more recently to her father.

Nightborn brings into play complicated characters with issues of their own, aspects of the Darkyn that have not yet been explored, and new aspects that yet have foundations in what Lynn has established for the world. It maintains the strengths of the other books while opening the door to a new focus. Though Alex shows up, it’s not her story. I suspect Simone and Korvel will form the key couple for this series, but it could just as easily be Nicola and Gabriel, who also play an important part in this opening salvo.

In case you couldn’t tell, I enjoyed Nightborn, and look forward to the rest of the series. I’ve tried to give enough to intrigue without giving away much of anything, but as usual it’s a difficult task. This series stands on the back of what came before, but at the same time, if you’re the type of reader able to accept the characters did not spring onto the page unformed, I think you can read this book without reading the rest and still enjoy it. I also think that, having done so, you’ll go back and read the rest. ( )

Our Review [by Michelle L. Olson – LITERAL ADDICTION’s Pack Alpha]:
I have thoroughly enjoyed Lynn Viehls Darkyn and Kyndrd series. In this 2nd spinoff to the Darkyn series, Lords of the Darkyn, she hits another homerun with some old and new characters and thoroughly engaging plotline.

Korvel, seneschal for high lord Richard, is sent on a quest to find an artifact used and hidden by his kyn back in the Templar days.

He meets up with Simone, a pseudo-nun with an interesting past and an even more interesting secret.

Their journey to find the scroll is action packed and thrilling. Their chemistry is amazing, and despite the hardships they encounter they make a wicked team and bring things to a satisfying conclusion.

I was ecstatic to finally see a happily ever after for my beloved Korvel (he’s been the underdog that I’ve been cheering on for 2 series now) and having 2 of my sassy kyndred turned kyn heroines – Alexandra and Nicola – back was an amazing treat. It was also very interesting to see a little bit deeper into the relationship between Nicola and Gabriel. There’s has probably been the rockiest of them all, but they’re also a couple that you want the best for.

I’m really excited to see where the Lords of the Darkyn series goes. I loved the way it started and I’m looking forward to book #2.

LITERAL ADDICTION gives Nightborn 4 Skulls, and would recommend it to all Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance readers. While you don’t have to read the Darkyn and/or Kyndred series before reading this book, I would suggest that you do. There’s SO much history there and this book will be way more enjoyable with that knowledge locked away. All 3 series have been incredible and they’re definitely worth the time and money. ( )