Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Fantasy Lover by Sherrilyn Kenyon is a paranormal romance. Before I review the novel, I want to tell a brief story about how and why I purchased Fantasy Lover, because it colors some of the things I have to say about the book.

I was at my local bookstore a few months ago, and my intention was to purchase one romance novel and one fantasy novel. I didn't have any particular author or series in mind. Standing in the romance section, I picked a different Sherrilyn Kenyon book from the shelf and began reading the back cover. There were several other women in the aisle with me, and one of them turned to me and said, "That's not the first book in the series. I've read all of Sherrilyn Kenyon's books." She picked out Fantasy Lover and said, "If you want to start from the beginning, you should read this one."

I wasn't sure I wanted to start at the beginning or not, but thought it might be best to follow the woman's advice so I wouldn't be confused by the book I had chosen. The result was that I purchased a book I wasn't 100% convinced was the book I really wanted to buy. Fantasy Lover looked interesting enough, so I brought it home and began reading.

I give Fantasy Lover 2 1/2 stars ** 1/2. I'll start with the things that made me knock it down to that level. Would I purchase this book over again? No. Did I enjoy reading it? Yes. It would be a library book if I had to read it over.

The first thing that annoyed me (and I'm sure wasn't within the author's control) was that the man on the front cover has dark hair. Julian in the book was a blond. As a result, I couldn't imagine the character properly while I was reading. I kept picturing dark brown hair and every time Kenyon referenced him as blond, I was jolted from my suspension of disbelief.

The second thing that irritated me about Fantasy Lover is that the perspective changed mid scene from Julian to Grace. It happened mostly in the first half of the book, but there were a few times in the second time as well. I was inside one character's head and then suddenly was trying to figure out why I was inside the other character's thoughts. The head hopping drove me crazy. Absolutely crazy.

Ok. On to the information about the book. Fantasy Lover follows the story of Grace and her friend Selena. Selena is convinced that Grace needs a man and to get intimate after being hurt by her last boyfriend, Paul, so she buys an ancient book and together they conjure up Julian, an ancient soldier and half son of the Greek gods, out of the book. There is a curse on Julian that he'll only be released for 30 days, and his job is to pleasure the woman who brought him out of the book, a little like rubbing a magic lamp and getting a genie to appear.

The idea is interesting, and compelled me to keep reading, only to find out that Grace is a sex therapist by profession.

I did a double take at this. Had she been a regular therapist, I would have rated the book much higher, maybe 3 1/2 stars or 4 stars. Her counseling patients is important to the plot, but I couldn't get past the idea that Selena would need to convince her to conjure up a Greek god from a book to be Grace's lover when the woman is a sex therapist. I presume that a sex therapist would be able to find a man on her own and would know when she was ready for one rather than allowing her friend to make the decision for her.

Ok, now for the things I liked about Fantasy Lover:

Kenyon does a nice job of weaving Greek Mythology into the novel in such a way that it is accessible to the modern reader. Although I have a B.A. in English Literature, I have to admit that I hated Greek Mythology in school, mostly because I couldn 't get the Roman names and the Greek names to sync in my head. Kenyon described the deities in such a way that I had a flood of knowledge come back to me regarding Athena, Aphrodite, etc.

Both Grace and Julian grow throughout the plot and redeem themselves multiple times. I found myself rooting for them to hook up at the end. Kenyon makes the happily ever after ending happen in a unique twist.

She also does a good job of revealing how and why Julian ended up cursed in the book. There is no information dump. She weaves the details throughout the plot.

I'll probably try another Sherrilyn Kenyon book again in the future, but won't listen to a random lady in the bookstore whom I don't know when I choose my next novel to read.