Stay The Night (Darkyn series #7)

Stay the Night by Lynn Viehl


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
It seems that Lynn Viehl is trying to take the route of J.R. Ward and turn what was a good paranormal romance series into a mediocre urban fantasy.

Mediocre. That's what Stay the Night had written all over it. This was to be Robin and Chris's novel but just like Lover Enshrined(which was everybody's book but Phury's) this is everybody's book but theirs.

We figure out pretty early that Rob (or Robin) is Robin of Locksley (aka Robin Hood). And he's got a grudge against his cousin, Guy (who is Sherwood - of Sherwood Forrest fame). But we don't find out until MUCH later why.

Then there's Chris Renshaw who is a FBI agent. We don't get all the details but they are setting up a sting to capture a criminal known as the Magician. (This Magician as you can guess is Robin). But upon scoping out a bar to meet the Magician, Chris runs into Robin. Robin tries to work his Kyn flower power on her and it doesn't work. But he still propositions her to spend the night with him in his swanky downtown Atlanta highrise condo.

Of course Chris goes even though we aren't given a lot to work with on her emotional provocation for this. They kiss for a while and then she wakes up the next day. We are completely cut out of the equation. In Lynn Viehl's previous books, we were always given insight into the characters (why Valentin did this, what Jayr was thinking at this point in time, and what the impetus for Michael's actions on this matter were). But we were given NOTHING to go on for this story.

At one point, Chris even mentions his "vine tattoo" around his neck that someone had kind of messed up. Now it took me a while to figure out that he didn't really have a messed up tattoo. He is Kyn. He's allergic to copper and someone clearly tried to garrote him with barbed wire made from copper.

There is a plot even though it's murky. Our suspicions on Jayr's parentage are confirmed. And there is more of Michael and Alexandra's relationship shown and expanded upon than anyone's.

Seriously, the best part of this whole novel was the "scene" between Michael's second, Phillipe, and the second of a Chinese Kyn. Though it's not my cup of tea, the male on male action was the best written of the whole novel.

And to hear that this novel will be the last in the Darkyn series makes me think that Lynn Viehl was just trying to get the book finished and off to her publishers. I was very disappointed in this one.

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