Truly more of a 3.5 Star rating. 
 I greatly respect that Kenyon's engaging style seems to have developed incrementally with each book. 
 The book is a continuation of the vague side-story readers received when Zarek's character played a relatively small but integral part in 'Night Embrace,' picking up where we left off with everyone out to kill him. (Nothing new for Zarek.) While he's the tormented type who behaves as though he's been raised by wolves, we quickly learn he would have been far better off if that were true--his loveless backstory being so riddled with rejection and abuse. Crass, surly, and bitterly cynical, his volatile temperament screams "kickass anti-hero." 
 But given his soft spot for defenseless women and furry animals, readers will realize halfway though that he's really more of an armored teddy bear with a potty mouth. 
 Don't get me wrong--I loved Zarek. His apathy and candor were refreshing, and his wounded/healer chemistry with Astrid made perfect sense. His tragic backstory was just SO over the top. And toward the end there were a few incidences of convenience in both the limitations and surprise capacity of certain character's paranormal powers that gave me pause. But for the most part, the story did draw me in and hold me there. 
 Just as with the previous book in the series, we also learn more about Acheron--the illustrious leader of the Dark Hunters and all around overpowered-yet-benevolent demigod. But even more interestingly, we're introduced to his delightful tattoo pet (baby?), Simi. If Zarek's character growth hadn't made the book worthwhile all on his own, Simi's fanciful eccentricity would have done the trick.