In the Dark of Dreams is the tenth book in the Dirk & Steele series of paranormal romances by Marjorie M. Liu. Thankfully for this reviewer, who had not picked up a book in the series previously, it could be read standalone with very little difficulty. I’m sure some of the nuances and inside jokes and comments were lost on me because I didn’t read the previous nine novels, but overall it didn’t cramp my enjoyment one bit.

There is a lot of subtext and hints at past books, but Liu kept the book firmly in the “here and now.” What leaked through was important to understanding to the plot, not unnecessary exposition being used as filler. The real draw in this book was the strength both Jenny and Perrin had, as individuals and as a team.

Neither of them forgot that moment on the beach when they met, two young children from different worlds who found a way to communicate and offer comfort. Nor did they forget the feeling of reassurance they offered one and other in the intervening years, both through their memories of that night and the dreams they shared. Arguably the thought of Jenny gave Perrin more strength and reason to live, but Jenny’s belief in Perrin–in what he represented (a whole world she didn’t know existed)–was the impetus for her own life choices.

I appreciated that even though the two had a connection (and attraction) to each other, Liu didn’t make it an automatic “love conquers all” scenario. While Perrin was sure as all get about Jenny, his re-entrance into her life was anything but ideal. Especially after what she goes through at the hands of a person she’s trusted for years (who has a connection to Perrin as well). Perrin slowly builds his rapport with Jenny up, slowly gives her reasons to trust him and believe in what they have. He’s battling his own demons, failures and inadequacies he hasn’t overcome in the eight years since he was exiled from his home.

The two of them are scarred and scared to let the other see the darker side of their lives. The tension between them was palpable, as was the almost desperate urgency that Jenny felt. She needed to be able to trust him, knew she could despite her misgivings, but too much in the past kept that from being a reality immediately.

Les, who’s a charming, mysterious friend of Jenny’s, was a different story. At the end of the novel I could see where Liu was leading us, in terms of his characterization, but during the novel he was as scattered as marbles. Not the coherent kind of scattered where you could see it gradually building; no, he just went unhinged and stayed unhinged.

Technically the agency of Dirk & Steele are part of the plot. Jenny’s grandmother’s sister is one of the co-founders of Dirk & Steele, so Jenny has always been aware of them. And the upper echelon of D&S knows about her. This is probably the only part of the book that I was kind of confused with, because the family split 3 ways–D&S, the Consortium (bad guys) and the A Priori (Jenny’s grandparents), but I was unclear as to why D&S and the A Priori weren’t working together. Matter of politics? The A Priori seemed more interested in research and the scientific angle while D&S seems more about helping the not quite human folks, so I don’t see how they couldn’t work together to stop the Consortium (who just seem bad, period).

The romance is a slow burn in the book, building from their attraction and bond with simple gestures of affection and deeper feeling. I liked that; I liked that for the two of them they wanted it to be special and mean something more than just lust. And that they worked out a lot of their issues with each other before settling into bed.

This was a wonderful introduction into Liu’s novel works, and in particular her Dirk & Steele novels. And the cover is just gorgeous (even if Perrin’s hair isn’t the right length). ( )

I'm a big fan of this series which uses non traditional magical creatures. By that I mean not the European tradition of vampires, werewolves and fae. These are full of shapeshifters from other cultures, people with odd ball pyschic abilities, and in this one mer people.

These two met in the prologue on a beach in Maine when they were about 12 years old. They communicate through dreams for the next 8 years. He is then exiled from the ocean and they can no longer contact each other in dreams. She spends her time looking for him/mer people in the ocean while he is on land.

This book was full of angst and romance. He thinks he will be killed for going back to the ocean to save her when he inexplicably "hears" her again and she is in trouble. He basically says words to the effect that if he can just live long enough to save her, his life will not have been in vain. He is very self sacrificing.

The only part of the story that I didn't like was that the Consortium was trying to capture her. The Consortium is the group of bad guys which throughout this series captures these shifters and pyschics and all for purposes of experimenting on this and trying to breed up new ones to use to conquer the world. At the end though they send her a letter saying never mind, we don't need you right now after all. She is related to some of the bad guys. So that was sort of a cop out. The Consortium was used to create tension and peril then the author said 'never mind'. So total cop out. But the rest of the book was so good in the shear romanitc aspect that I'll forgive her for it but really, don't do it again, ML.

I liked the physical descriptions of the characters especially the hero. His merman coloring made him appear to be an albino to humans which is an interesting choice. ( )

Another story featuring the Krakeni. Interesting storyline. Liked it but didn't love it. ( )

Loved the mermaid angle, but I felt like the storyline dragged in a few places. ( )

Didn't really care for this. There was just too much of nothing going on. ( )