Fantasy Lover
Prequel to Dark-Hunter Series
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon
Reviewer: Stephanie
Rating: A+; Nearly Perfect a Keeper/4 – Very Hot
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 307
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperback
ISBN: 0-312-97997-5
Release Date: 2002
Source: Purchased by Reviewer


Grace Alexander hasn’t had it easy. Her parents died in a car accident while she was still in college. Grace turned to a man she thought she could trust but he shattered her. Now Grace plays it safe. She has a successful practice helping people get past sexual road blocks, yet she can’t seem to get past her own. Every night she goes home (the house she inherited from her parents) alone. On Grace’s birthday her best friend from college, Selena, brings over pizza and a gift. It’s an old book rumored to be prison to a Greek love slave. To satisfy her, Grace goes through the summoning ritual though she knows it won’t work.

Julian of Macedon finds himself in yet another strange place and another strange time. Julian now leads a life of deprivation. He misses his home. In one swift act, Julian lost everything he held dear. In exchange his life is now one constant form of punishment after another. Each woman who summons him seems to find new ways to make his imprisonment outside of the book torturous. There seems to be one marked difference this time: his summoner doesn’t want him.

Grace is the first woman in two millennia who sees past Julian the love slave to Julian the man. She wants to know about him and his time, how the curse was brought about, but most importantly, how to break the curse. Julian doesn’t know how to deal with this kind of attention. He has never seen his punishment as something that can be altered. Until Grace, he has never dared to hope. 

Ugh! This book killed me, but in a good way! I adored it from page one until the last page. It had everything that I like in a book: Greek mythology, tortured hero, shy heroine and one helluva ride! Grace won me over from the beginning. She’s an avid book collector, she’s reserved and she is constantly thinking of others. Julian, on the other hand, is a tough nut to crack. He’s built up so many walls simply so he doesn’t lose his mind. Julian’s torture would break most people after a few days. Deep underneath those walls is a heart begging to be loved for the man he is.

All of the secondary characters were great. Grace only had her college roommate Selena but Julian surprisingly brought quite a few. As it turns out he’s related to quite a few of the Greek gods and goddesses. The story flowed well and it didn’t ever seem to drag. Some of my favorite parts involved Julian learning and adapting to our world. The scene where Julian, with a little help from Selena, undoes damage done by another nearly broke my heart. I’ll admit that I cried a little.

Paranormal romance fans, Greek mythology fans….really probably any genre romance fan would immensely enjoy this book! Dark Hunters is a daunting series to start but after reading Fantasy Lover, I can’t wait to jump in!