When I first read Fantasy Lover, I wasn't familiar with Sherrylin Kenyon's writing, paranormal romance, or novels filled with sexual tension. I was just beginning to read in English, listening to audiobooks, and the whole thing was like some huge discovery, a whole new escape door from boring chores or some of the less than pleasant aspects of my life back then. It was amazing. 
 Hence the 5 stars. 
 Now that I'm older (sigh) and wiser (wishful thinking on my part) some details bugged me. Like the heroine being a sex therapist, and being herself traumatized (view spoiler)[by a first experience that began as consensual and ended up as rape. Since then, she couldn't trust a man enough to engage in a relationship or a sexual encounter. (hide spoiler)] 
 Let's be clear : of course I don't believe someone has to be a superhero in bed or even sexually active to be a sex therapist. But being disturbed and in denial ? Errr... No. 
 Even if she had some nice moral and personality traits to speak for, Grace was as far from professional as one can be (view spoiler)[(thinking about the Hero during sessions instead of listening to her patients for example) (hide spoiler)] and all the parts of the book related to her work felt wrong and clumsy, thriller included. 
 Fortunately, the novel focused a lot more on romance and that brings us to Julian, the spartan warrior. 
 Here the author was much more at ease : her knowledge in history and mythology is undeniable and the mix with fiction was believable and pleasant. The gods were arrogant, selfish, and unreliable as they should be, the historical parts about the spartan << educational >> system was sadly accurate and Julian's fate and curse were as vile as possible. 
 What I found a little less accurate was the mild personality of a warrior raised with that amount of cruelty, and denied of love, or even appreciation, his whole existence. A man abandoned, betrayed, tortured or used by every woman he ever encountered. Instead of becoming a crazed woman-hater with homicidal tendencies (the logical outcome in my opinion), he ends up as a caring and loving guy, (view spoiler)[ ready to sacrifice himself for the heroine and to go on with an eternity of suffering in order to spare her discomfort and sadness. (hide spoiler)] 
 In one word : LOL. 
 Hey, I realize I'm rather harsh, because, after all, It's a paranormal romance. I know I have to accept total suspension of disbelief. I just had a hard time with the psychological inconsistencies. 
 And with all this, I still loved this book. 
 I liked that Julian's perfection was his burden and set him apart from everyone else. I liked the friendship stories, the sexual tension, the world building. 
 More than anything, I loved to read about two wounded souls finding each other in the most trivial circumstances and falling in love against all odds. Because that's the essence of romance. The author made me believe for a while that love can conquer all. And maybe that's the whole point.