Product Description

Acclaimed author Kresley Cole introduces a sizzling new series with this tale of a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire -- unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death.

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her . . .

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . . .

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire . . .

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Includes an excerpt from Kresley Cole's next romance novel, No Rest for the Wicked.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3793 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781416509875
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
"Not just another romantic read . . . this is a powerful experience!" -- Reader to Reader Reviews

"Rich mythology, a fresh approach, and excellent writing make this unique vampire tale superb." -- Fresh Fiction

"Unquestionably an awe-inspiring romance!" -- The Best Reviews

. . . intense action, devilishly passionate sex and fascinating characters . . . hot stuff! -- Romantic Times Magazine, 4 1/2 Stars, Top Pick!

"A unique romance -- it truly stands on its own!"-- Sherrilyn Kenyon, New York Times bestselling author

About the Author
Before becoming a writer, Kresley Cole was a competitive athlete and a Master's grad in English. She sold her first two novels in 2003, and since then, she has published eleven more books and has seen her releases translated into nine foreign languages.

Kresley followed her highly-acclaimed Sutherland Series historicals with the bestselling MacCarrick Brothers Series, a trilogy of Highlander historical romances, as well as the continuing Immortals After Dark Series, a Rita award-winning paranormal romance collection, all with Pocket Books.

In January 2009, she became a #1 New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller with her sixth IAD installment, Kiss of a Demon King.

Kresley lives in Florida with her husband and far too many dogs. She loves to hear from readers and invites you to visit her website: www.kresleycole.com.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Chapter 1

On an island in the Seine, against the nighttime backdrop of an ageless cathedral, the denizens of Paris came out to play. Emmaline Troy wound around fire-eaters, pickpockets, and chanteurs de rue. She meandered through the tribes of black-clad Goths who swarmed Notre Dame like it was the Gothic mother ship calling them home. And still she attracted attention.

The human males she passed turned their heads slowly to regard her, frowns in place, sensing something, but unsure. Probably some genetic memory from long ago that signaled her as their wildest fantasy or their darkest nightmare.

Emma was neither.

She was a co-ed -- a recent Tulane grad -- alone in Paris and hungry. Weary from another failed search for blood, she sank onto a rustic bench beneath a chestnut tree, eyes riveted to a waitress drawing espresso at a café. If only blood poured so easily, Emma thought. Yes, if it came warm and rich from a bottomless tap, then her stomach wouldn't be clenched in hunger at the mere idea.

Starving in Paris. And friendless. Was there ever such a predicament?

Couples strolling hand in hand along the gravel walk seemed to mock her loneliness. Was it just her, or did lovers look more adoringly at each other in this city? Especially in the springtime. Die, bastards.

She sighed. It wasn't their fault that they were bastards who should die.

She'd been spurred to enter this fray by the prospect of her echoing hotel room and the idea that she might find another blood pusher in the City of Light. Her former hookup had gone south -- literally -- fleeing Paris for Ibiza. He'd given little explanation for abandoning his job, saying only that with the "arrival of the risen king," some "serious epic shit" was brewing in "gay Paree." Whatever that meant.

As a vampire, she was a member of the Lore, that stratum of beings who'd convinced humans they existed only in imagination. Yet though the Lore was thick here, Emma had been unable to replace her pusher. Any creatures she could scout out to ask fled her solely because she was a vampire. They scurried without knowing that she wasn't even a full-blooded one, nor that Emma was a wuss who'd never bitten another living being. As her fierce adoptive aunts loved to tell everyone, "Emma cries her pink tears if she dusts a moth's wings."

Emma had accomplished nothing during this trip that she'd insisted on taking. Her quest to uncover information about her deceased parents -- her Valkyrie mother and her unknown vampire father -- was a failure. A failure that would culminate in a call to her aunts to get them to retrieve her. Because she couldn't feed herself. Pitiful. She sighed. She'd be razzed about this for another seventy years --

She heard a crash, and before she even had time to feel bad for the waitress getting docked, another crash and then another followed. She tilted her head in curiosity -- just as a table umbrella across the walk shot fifteen feet up to be batted high in the sky, fluttering all the way to the Seine. A cruise boat honked and Gallic curses erupted.

Half-lit by the walk's torchlights, a towering man turned over café tables, artists' easels, and book stands selling century-old pornography. Tourists screamed and fled in the wake of destruction. Emma shot to her feet with a gasp, looping her satchel over her shoulder.

He was cutting a path directly to her, his black trench coat trailing behind him. His size and his unnaturally fluid movements made her wonder if he could possibly be human. His hair was thick and long, concealing half his face, and several days' growth of beard shadowed his jaw.

He pointed a shaking hand at her. "You," he growled.

She jerked glances over both of her shoulders looking for the unfortunate you he was addressing. Her. Holy shite, this madman had settled on her.

He turned his palm up and beckoned her to come to him -- as if he was confident she would.

"Uh, I-I don't know you," she squeaked, trying to back up, but her legs immediately met the bench.

He continued stalking her, ignoring the tables between them, tossing them aside like toys instead of varying his direct pursuit of her. Furious intent burned in his pale blue eyes. She could sense his rage more sharply as he neared, unsettling her, because her kind were considered the predators in the night -- never the prey. And because, at heart, she was a coward.

"Come." He bit out the word as though with difficulty and motioned for her again.

Eyes wide, she shook her head, then leapt backward over the bench, twisting in the air. She landed facing away from him and began speeding down the quay. She was weak, more than two days without blood, but terror made her quick as she crossed the Archevêché Bridge to exit the island.

Three . . . four blocks covered. She chanced a look behind her. Didn't see him. Had she lost him -- ? Sudden glaring music from her purse made her cry out.

Who in the hell had programmed the Crazy Frog ring tone into her cell phone? Her eyes narrowed. Aunt Regin. The world's most immature immortal, who looked like a siren and behaved like a frat pledge.

Cell phones in their coven were for dire emergency only. Ringers would disturb their hunting in the back alleys of New Orleans, and even a vibration would be enough to trigger a twitching ear in a low creature.

She flipped it open. Speak of the devil: Regin the Radiant.

"Little busy right now," Emma snapped, taking another peek over her shoulder.

"Drop your things. Don't take time to pack. Annika wants you at the executive airport immediately. You're in danger."

"Duh."

Click. That wasn't a warning -- that was narration.

She'd ask the details once she was on the plane. As if she'd needed a reason to return home. Just the mention of danger and she would scamper back to her coven, to her Valkyrie aunts who would kill anything that threatened her and keep malice at bay.

As she tried to remember her way to the airport where she'd landed, the rain started to fall, warm and light at first -- April lovers still laughing as they ran under awnings -- but swiftly turning to pounding cold. She came to a crowded avenue, feeling safer as she wound through traffic. She dodged cars with their wipers and horns going full-force. She didn't see her pursuer.

With only the satchel slung around her neck, she traveled quickly, miles passing beneath her feet before she spied an open park and then the airfield just beyond it. She could see the diffused air around the jet engines as they warmed, could see the shades on every window already drawn tight. Almost there.

Emma convinced herself she'd lost him, because she was fast. She was also adept at convincing herself of things that might not be -- good at pretending. She could pretend she took classes at night by choice, and that blushing didn't make her thirsty --

A vicious growl sounded. Her eyes widened, but she didn't turn back, just sprinted across the field. She felt claws sink into her ankle a second before she was dragged to the muddy ground and thrown onto her back. A hand covered her mouth, though she'd been trained not to scream.

"Never run from one such as me." Her attacker didn't sound human. "You will no' get away. And we like it." His voice was guttural like a beast's, breaking, yet his accent was . . . Scottish?

As she peered up at him through the rain, he examined her with eyes that were golden in color one moment, then flickering that eerie blue the next. No, not human.

Up close, she could see his features were even, masculine. A strong chin and jaw complemented the chiseled planes. He was beautiful, so much so that she thought he had to be a fallen angel. Possible. How could she rule out anything?

The hand that had been covering her mouth roughly grasped her chin. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on her lips -- on her barely noticeable fangs. "No," he choked out. "No' possible. . . ." He yanked her head side to side, running his face down her neck, smelling her, then growled in fury, "Goddamn you."

When his eyes turned blue sharply, she cried out, her breath seeming to leave her body.

"Can you trace?" he grated as though speech was difficult. "Answer me!"

She shook her head, uncomprehending. Tracing was how vampires teleported, disappearing and reappearing in thin air. Then he knows I'm a vampire?

"Can you?"

"N-no." She'd never been strong or skilled enough. "Please." She blinked against the rain, pleading with her eyes. "You have the wrong woman."

"Think I'd know you. Make sure, if you insist." He raised a hand -- to touch her? Strike her? She fought, hissing desperately.

A callused palm grasped the back of her neck, his other hand clenching her wrists as he bent down to her neck. Her body jerked from the feel of his tongue against her skin. His mouth was hot in the chill, wet air, making her shudder until her muscles knotted. He groaned while kissing her, his hand squeezing her wrists hard. Below her skirt, drops of rain tracked down her thighs, shocking her with cold.

"Don't do this! Please . . ." When her last word ended with a whimper, he seemed to come out of a trance, his brows drawing together as his eyes met hers, but he didn't release her hands.

He flicked his claw down her blouse and sliced it and the flimsy bra beneath open, then slowly brushed the halves past her breasts. She struggled, but it was useless against his strength. He studied her with a greedy gaze as rain splattered down, stinging her naked breasts. She was shivering uncontrollably.

His pain was so sharp it nauseated her. He could take her or he could tear open her unprotected belly and kill her. . . .

Instead he ripped open his own shirt, then placed his huge palms against her back to draw her to his chest. He groaned when their skin touched, and electricity seemed to flash through her. Lightning split the sky.

He rumbled foreign words against her ear. She felt they were . . . tender words, making her think she'd lost her mind. She went limp, her arms hangi...

Customer Reviews

A Wildly Delicious Read!
Ms. Cole's latest effort is "wildly" delicious and entertaining. She has taken the paranormal genre and created her very own legends and lore...filled with ultra entertaining characters.

Emmaline is half vampire and half Valkyrie. She is known in her coven as Emma the timid. Her family is shocked when she decides she wants to travel to Paris alone to find out the truth about her father. While there she is attacked by a handsome, yummy, strong, yummy, scary...oh yes yummy man who scares the stuffing out of her. She is even more shocked to find out that in order to return to Louisiana she will have to help Lachlain MacRieve the leader of a Lykae Clan return to his home in Scotland. She'll do it believing she will be allowed to return home. She has no idea Lachlain is her forever mate and he has no plans on ever letting her get away.

Lachlain has spent the last hundred and fifty years being tortured by the vampire Demestriu. He is slowly going mad and then...he scents his mate. He has been waiting an eternity to find her and he is not going to let her get away now. He is shocked and somewhat disgusted when he finds out his long awaited mate is half vampire. But despite this he can't keep himself from feeling things for the wee little Emma. She fires his blood and he will do what he must to keep her...even if it means to lie to her. Anything to get her home to Scotland where he will be able to keep her safe and protected when he goes to get revenge against Demestriu. But, life doesn't always go according to plan and wooing Emma is just one of those things. Will he be able to keep her safe and with him or will the vampire horde take away the one thing he needs to live?

Lachlain and Emma are wonderfully constructed characters. These two are both strong likeable characters. Their conflict is entertaining as is their way of dealing with what they face. Emma is sassy and quick witted...Lachlain is patient and yummy. This is a great new series and I truly can't wait for the next installment. Ms. Cole has made her mark on the paranormal genre and is an author you need to add to your must read list!

What a great new series!
Lachlain MacRieve is the King of all Lycans. For hundreds of years he's been waiting for his mate to appear. He knows that he will recognize her the moment he sees her, or scents her. However Lachlain never expects to find his mate is half vampire. Lycans and vampires have been at war for a long time and the King of the Vampires imprisoned and tortured Lachlain for over 100 years. So when Lachlain finally finds his mate, he can't accept the fact that his enemy will be his Queen.

Emmaline's mother, Helen, was a Valkyrie. Before she died, Helen made arrangements to send Emmaline to her coven, with strict instructions to never let the vampires know of Emmaline's existence. On her first trip away from the coven, Emmaline is on a mission to discover information about her parents. She didn't bargain on meeting Lachlain. Before Emmaline knows what's happened, she finds herself captive to what appears to be an out-of-control Lycan.

Lachlain forces Emmaline to travel with him to his clan's home in Scotland, where he is determined that she will accept her position as his mate. The more time they spend together, the more the passion builds between them. But once Emma's coven discovers that Lachlain has taken her, they wage an all out attack to bring her home. And just to make things worse, the vampires have discovered Emmaline's existence and are determined that Emmaline belongs with them. Can Lachlain fight all these opposing forces to keep his mate? As the emotion deepens between them, will Emmaline accept her place as Lachlain's Queen?


A Hunger Like No Other surprised me! I've read Kresley Cole's historicals and certainly enjoyed them but with A Hunger Like No Other she surpasses her previous work. By turns sensual and laugh-out-loud funny, A Hunger Like No Other brings together the best of paranormal romance. Lachlain and Emmaline hooked me from page one. Filled with vampires, lycans, witches, valkyries and wraiths, you never know what's coming from one page to the next. Readers of Angela Knight and Christine Feehan will find what they are looking for here. E-book aficionados who are fans of Shelly Laurentson will definitely find A Hunger Like No Other right up their alley. I anxiously await the next installment from Kresley Cole in what I am sure will be a must-read series.

Melissa
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

NOTE: After I read this book I realized that there was a prequel to this book in the anthology Playing Easy To Get. I read Kresely Cole's story in the anthology and highly recommend that readers also get Playing Easy To Get as they will also find Ms. Cole's addition to the anthology just as enjoyable as A Hunger Like No Other. It will certainly help set up Emma's story and explain away certain comments made by characters. You can't go wrong with these books!

Now THIS is Paranormal Romance!
Lachlain MacRieve is leader of the Lykae Clan. After enduring centuries of torture in catacombs beneath Paris by the vampire horde, he's finally found a reason to escape when he senses his destined mate nearby. When he finally holds her within his arms though, he's literally disgusted to find she herself is a vampire...and something else too. Intending to deal with the detestable female in due time, he cannot dismiss the eerie calming effect she begins to have on his long raging mind. Lachlain intends to have his revenge, and just maybe through their connection as mates, his little vampire will be able to help him focus.

Emmaline Troy is tired of living under her very powerful family's shadow. She's taken a trip to Paris in a first step bid to win some independence. Dismissing the dire warnings of her family, she nevertheless regrets her behavior soon when she's taken prisoner by a mad Lykae. Not only is this deranged, too-sexy-for-words male making her life miserable, but the vampires, a race she's never had occasion to meet, is hunting her as well. Could it be her half Valkyrie nature they're after? Whatever the case may be, she's got plenty to deal with in terms of her captor, a frustrating, mesmerizing mess of a Lykae king who's all to ready to Kill her one minute and protect her the next. It's enough to make this vampire/Valkyrie hybrid more than a little mad, and more than a little leery of her heart.

Now THIS is paranormal romance! Action, drama, suspense, wit and more intriguing supernatural beings than we can shake a broomstick at coalesce into one of the best paranormal romances ever. This is an amazing intro into a very promising series, one with plenty of well-rounded secondary characters to carry on what begins here. Lachlain is at once a rough, anti-hero alpha and achingly caring and sexy. He's very complex given the nature of his last several centuries and he couldn't be better complimented by Emma's sweet, yet not-so-biddable nature. She's weak in the beginning, yes, but morphs into a powerful, kick butt type the longer she interacts with our hero. She's smart, witty and possesses a timeless grace that others around her can only dream of possessing. Her family of Valkyries is very intriguing and I'm glad to see Cole keeping their stories coming as well. This is a very fresh, very consuming addition to the world of paranormal romance. Very much worth as many rereads as the book itself can handle. It's on to the second in the series next, No Rest for the Wicked and the third, Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night, releases October 31, 2007.