Pleasures of the Night

Like most readers, I have a list of autobuy authors. Sylvia Day is one of them. Reading Pleasures of the Night reminded me why.

In the Twilight between sleep and consciousness, a battle rages between Dream Guardians and Nightmares. Captain Aidan Cross is a legend, as skilled in fulfilling erotic dreams as he is with the glaive that kills his enemies. Women see Aidan as part of their fantasies . . . except Lyssa Bates. Exquisite, desirable, enigmatic Lyssa perplexes this immortal seducer because she sees him as he really is. And as he attempts to unravel her secrets the unthinkable occurs: Aidan Cross falls in love.

Lyssa has been having the most incredible dreams about a man whose blue eyes hold the promise of decadent pleasures and tempting intimacies. And then he appears on her doorstep! This intoxicating stranger is just as irresistible as the man of her dreams . . . but with her surrender there is also grave danger . . .

Because Aidan is on a mission, and the passion that consumes them body and soul could have dire consequences. Loving the mortal woman prophesied to destroy Aidan's world is not only impossible . . . it is forbidden.

Let's get this out of the way. The Alyssa mentioned in the acknowledgements? That's me. Now, here's what I thought of the story.

I love the Dream Guardian world--I think it's interesting and original. Sylvia's got a terrific idea here, and she pulls it off well. Aiden is completely believable as a disillusioned captain who yearns for something more. He finds it in Lyssa. I love their first meeting, where Aidan is intrigued by her no-nonsense attitude. Lyssa's history is also interesting. Though she sleeps a lot, she doesn't really rest.

The story intensifies when Aidan leaves the dream world and comes to Lyssa in the flesh. Day does a great job of showing Lyssa's conflicting confusion and trust when this man she doesn't know appears in her life. Watching their relationship develop was fascinating, and it leads to an amazingly poignant scene toward the end of the book.

I already knew Sylvia wrote wonderful historicals; Pleasures of the Night confirms her position as a leader in paranormal romance: 4.5 out of 5.

Should be interesting to see how the larger story of the Dream Guardian world unfolds.