Lynn Viehl – Nightbred

The second book in the Lords of the Darkyn series, published December 4, 2012.
Genre: paranormal romance
Cover: he is not handsome at all, but the background is nice.



New York Times bestselling author Lynn Viehl's enthralling new series continues as a valiant warrior sets out on a dangerous quest for immortality...and endless love...

Jamys Durand has survived being made an immortal Darkyn, horrific torture, and years of gruelling warrior training. But he has no future to offer Chris, the mortal woman he loves, without his own territory. When he learns of a lost Templar treasure, Jamys vows to possess it and win his lady's heart.
No one knows Chris Lang wants to be a tresora so she can live with Jamys, her secret love. Her superiors offer to make her dream come true, but only if she finds the lost treasure before Jamys can. Working together, Chris and Jamys track the jewels through a shadowy maze of priceless artifacts, decadent secrets, and one ruthless opponent who can possess an immortal's mind...and will stop at nothing to have Chris.


I have to admit, I don’t like this series nearly as much as the original Kyn books, or the Kyndred spinoffs. And I don’t really know why. But first, if you don’t know these books at all, you can’t start with this one, you will have no idea what is happening, who is who or what the world building is. You need to start with the first series, trust me.

Three years ago, Jamys Durand and Christian (Chris) Lang fell in love, while Jamys was staying with Lucan and Sam. Thinking they are not worthy of the other, they still kept in contact through email over the years. Chris has given up her gothic looks and has done her best to become the most perfect tresora so she can give her oath to Jamys. Jamys in turn has gone back to his father’s stronghold, and started training to become a warrior himself. He wants to be the suzerain of his own jardin, so he can take care of Chris and ask her to be his mortal wife.
Jamys knows it is time to claim Christ for his own. Richard Tremayne, The High Lord of all the Kyn, has announced a treasure hunt for some magical emeralds. The Kyn who finds them, and hands them over to the High Lord will get the reign over Ireland. And with all the Kyn fleeing Europe where the Brethren are persecuting them mercilessly, there are plenty of people in need of a new place to live. Before long, only the deserts and wastelands will be available in America. The influx of refugees from Europe is really causing trouble for Lucan and Samantha, and somehow, Lucan is not behaving as he usually does.
When Sam goes of on a new police investigation, Lucan is really unhappy about that, and tries to prevent her from doing her job. And when she seems to be having an admirer, he totally goes over the line when he decides to take the man out himself. Somehow, he has lost 5 hours of his live, and has no idea why Jamys and Chris are on the run from him, or why Sam is so very mad at him. But still it takes a long time before someone finds out what is wrong with Lucan and knows what to do about it …

Both Jamys and Chris want to find the emeralds. Chris has been asked to by the Tresora Council, with the vague promise of getting what she wants most after handing them over. The council really does not want the High Lord to get his hands on them, as they fear for the world. With those emeralds he will supposedly be able to turn as many humans into Kyn as he wants, creating his own immortal army. But Chris can give up her dream of becoming a tresora, when she finds out that Jamys really is in love with her, and wants her to be with him for as long as possible. And so they start working together, following the last known traces about the emeralds. Revealing a lot of Chris’ dark past in the process.

And in the end it all comes together, the secret enemy who wants to take over Lucan’s jardin and wife, and Chris, and the man who lost the emeralds in the first place … and an ancient pirate legend involving a Dutch legend …


All the trouble for Lucan and Sam did get a lot more attention than the romance between Jamys and Chris, but it fitted the story and was very well written. I did have my suspicions about the bad guy early on, but did not connect everything. It also did not take very long to be swept up in the world of the Kyn again, their unique lore and culture.
Chris has worked so very hard, training with every possible weapon there is, in order to defend her lord when necessary, to deal with blood loss for a prolonged amount of time and still be able to do her duties, and whatever else can be asked of a tresora. No one suspects that it is not Lucan or Sam she wants to serve, but Jamys.
Jamys looks 17 forever, although he is several hundreds of years old already. Both his father and he have been tortured by the Brethren for decades, and when they were freed, no one thought they would ever be able to recover, and be sane again. But they did it, first Jamys’ father, when he found his new sygkenis, and Jamys started healing inside when he found Chris and her unwavering trust in him. Still he is treated as a boy by his father, and he is tired of it. This is why he started training as a warrior, to be a real man in the other man’s eyes as well. To earn his respect and that of the garrison that serves his father. I think that must be totally frustrating, to be a boy forever and treated as such.
They take great care of each other, and I liked reading about that. Jamys also has no hesitation whatsoever; he easily uses his Kyn powers to manipulate humans to give him whatever he wants. And Chris accepts it, and does not protest on behalf of the humans. This is kind of refreshing as well.

There was also another hidden enemy, speaking and capturing both Chris and Jamys in dreams. I do wonder who he is, and what will happen in the next book. I wish there was some more action on the Brethren side, but they don’t seem to be very organised in America at the moment.

The world Lynn Viehl has created, you either love it or hate it, there seems to be no way in the middle. I am one of the loving fans, but this book/subseries is just not as good as the rest. And although I did enjoy the story in this book, not as much as I used to. I will read the next book a bit sooner, Nightbound is already on my shelves.

7 stars.

© 2013 Reviews by Aurian