Product Description

In a world of shadows and dark, cosuming hungers, desire is the deadliest weapon...

For journalist Dylan Alexander, it began with the discovery of a hidden tomb, thrusting her into the center of a gathering storm of violence and secrets. But nothing is as dangerous as the scarred, lethally seductive man who rises from the shadows to draw her into his world of dark desire and endless night.

Fueled by pain and rage over a shattering betrayal, the warrior Rio has pledged his life to the war against the Rogues. He will let nothing stand in his way—least of all a mortal woman with the power to expose the entire vampire race. For an ancient evil has been awakened, and a stunning darkness is on the rise. Suddenly Dylan is powerless to resist Rio’s touch, even as she uncovers a shocking link to her own past. And now she must choose: Leave Rio’s midnight realm, or risk it all for the man who has shown her true passion and the infinite pleasures of the heart. . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6656 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-25
• Released on: 2008-03-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780440244448
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
“Evocative, enticing, erotic… enter Lara Adrian’s world and be enchanted!” —J. R. Ward, author of Lover Unbound


From the Paperback edition.

Review
“Evocative, enticing, erotic… enter Lara Adrian’s world and be enchanted!” —J. R. Ward, author of Lover Unbound

About the Author
Lara Adrian lives in New Hampshire with her husband where she is at work on the next novel in her sexy vampire series featuring the Midnight Breed.

Customer Reviews

Fourth in series
Lara Adrian has really hit her stride! This is the fourth in her series about the Breed, vampires who battle the rogue members of their kind and who, one by one, find their mates. The first couple of books seemed to rely very heavily on J R Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" series for ideas but it seems, in this book and to some extent in the last, that Lara Adrian has found her own voice. Yes, many aspects of the Breed's life seems like that of the Brotherhood but as Lara Adrian has explored her world more fully in these books they seem to have taken on more of a life of their own.

The hero of this book is Rio, scarred and wounded after the betrayal of his Breedmate Eva. Rio was meant to have destroyed a cave which contained the hibernation chamber of one of the Ancients in the middle of nowhere in the Czech Republic but as the story opens he hasn't yet done it. Several months have passed with Rio living in the cave almost like some kind of animal, suffering from the blackouts and mood swings as a result of his injuries in the explosion in the first book, trying to work up the energy to destroy the cave - and himself with it. Unfortunately for Rio the cave is discovered by a young American woman on holiday with some friends; not only does she discover the cave and see Rio, she photographs the contents. Rio desperately needs to do some damage limitation to prevent the photographs being shared with other people and the existence of the Breed perhaps being made known to the world. He tracks the woman, Dylan Alexander, but when he finds her he discovers things are worse than he had feared - she's a reporter and has sent the photographs back to her editor in America who has passed them on to some other people.

Rio realises all he can do is destroy the cave, kidnap Dylan and take her back to the Breed headquarters in Boston to get the other warriors to help to scrub the minds of the people who have seen the photographs before they are printed in the magazine. Things are even worse when Rio discovers Dylan is a Breedmate and that she has a very strong reason not to settle into the Darkhavens but to carry on her life in New York City. As Rio and the other warriors try to keep their secrets under wraps, investigate some strange murders and keep Dylan safe, things get very complex indeed.

This story was stronger on characterisation than some of the others in this series. Rio plays the damaged, wounded man very well - and he's also remarkably close-mouthed when it comes to secrets. Dylan, being a journalist, is full of questions, most of which aren't answered to her satisfaction. She is described very well so that we understand why she doesn't fear Rio as much as she might and how she is able to cope with and accommodate to the drastic changes in her life.

The other characters from previous novels are in this book, including Andreas Reichen in Berlin and Sterling Chase, the Enforcement Agent-turned-Warrior. However the vast majority of the pages focus on Rio and Dylan and their interactions; the 'baddie' in this book gets a few pages to himself but this isn't a distraction from the overall central plot - Rio's post-trauma problems and Dylan's life choice. It was a great read overall, probably the best in this series so far. I look forward to the next story, focusing on Nikolai, due to be released in December 2008.

enjoyable romantic fantasy
Dylan Alexander is in the Czech Republic when she sees the ghost of a young woman who begs her to save him. She finds a cave with a stone coffin inside and glyphs on the wall. In the cave is also Rio a Breed vampire whose face is scarred due to a fight he got into with Rogues in Boston (feral vampires who drink human blood). A straightforward mission was compromised by the traitorous actions of his now dead wife Eva. He senses Dylan in the cave but isn't worried because when she leaves he will scrub her memory.

Rio destroys the cave, tracks her down and brings her to the Darkhaven in Germany; where Breeds and Breedmates live. He learns that she sent pictures she took out to her boss, relatives and friends. She shows him her mark and he knows she is a rare female known as a Breedmate. Dylan is having a hard time believing Rio, but at his Boston Order residence he tells her she must choose between living in a Darkhaven with a mate and having her memory scrubbed so she can return to her life. When she sees Eva's picture, she realizes his late wife is the ghost she saw and tells Rio. He goes into a rage and turns into his vampire form; forcing Dylan to believe. As they fall in love, they must find the Ancient vampire father held captive by a mad scientist experimenting on him and destroy them both.

Vampires, ghosts and breedmates seem genuine although it helps especially at the beginning to have read previous Breedmate tales (see KISS OF MIDNIGHT, KISS OF CRIMSON, and MIDNIGHT AWAKENING) to fully savor the supernatural goings on. The changing relationship between Dylan and Rio is wonderfully developed so that the audience appreciates each one as an individual and as a romantic couple. Fans of the series will appreciate Lara Adrian's latest romantic fantasy although the confrontation between good and evil sets up future entries more than it does plot closure.

Harriet Klausner

What happened?.............
I've read all the other books in the series. This is the first one that has disappointed me. It needed more story for the main characters. The beginning was ok. The whole romance between the characters was lacking. It was an ok book but the first three in the series were so much better. I'll still read the next one (book 5)but I'll get it from the discount store, where I got this one!