Lankylil's 2012 reading log.

Ashes of Midnight (Midnight Breed book 6) by Lara Adrian

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ashes-Midnight-Breed-ebook/dp/B004E9SYE2/ref=pd_sim_kinc_5

“A woman driven by blood. A man thirsting for vengeance…As night falls, Claire Roth flees, driven from her home by a fiery threat that seems to come from hell itself. Then, from out the flames and ash, a vampire warrior emerges. He is Andreas Reichen, her one-time lover but now a stranger consumed by vengeance. Caught in the crossfire, Claire cannot escape his savage fury – or the hunger that plunges her into his world of eternal darkness and unending pleasure.Nothing will stop Andreas from destroying the vampire responsible for slaughtering his Breed brethren… even if he must use his former lover as a pawn in his deadly mission. Claire can lead Andreas to the enemy he seeks but it is a journey fraught with danger – and deep desire. For Claire is the one woman Andreas should not crave, and the only one he’s ever loved. So a dangerous seduction begins – one which blurs the line between predator and prey, love and hate…”

Book 6 of The Midnight Breed series. Andreas is the leader of a Darkhaven in Germany. A Breedmale that has already been introduced in previous books. A horrifically violent incident unleashes his carefully controlled “gift”, making him dangerous to himself and others. Claire is the Breedmate that he loved but abandoned for her own safety. She consequently married the enemy of Andreas.

Andreas is seeking revenge for the horrors that he has experienced, despite the personal risk it places him under. Claire wants to steer him away from the dangerous path that he has chosen.

The Order is still trying to track down The Ancient One. They are becoming increasingly worried as they are beginning to find out more about the atrocities committed by The Ancient One and his grandson. They need to track down this evil before mankind, as well as Breed, are threatened even more than they already are.

Lara Adrian obviously immerses herself in her work whilst she is writing ~ I was amused by a line whereby, instead of calling Danika by her name, she calls her “the tall blond female” as The Breed would have done.

There is a scene where Andreas is praying in the compound’s chapel, Claire goes to him and they have sex. This is the second time that the author has had her characters make love in a Holy Place, which makes me wonder if she is trying to make a point of some sort.

I thought that this book seemed longer than the other books so far, slower paced. I enjoyed it nonetheless. Tegan, my favourite Warrior so far also pops up quite a bit in this story, along with other now familiar characters.

34. Shades of Midnight (Midnight Breed book 7) Lara Adrian

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Shades-Midnight-Breed-ebook/dp/B004E9SYFG/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1337375386&sr=1-1

“Her sanctuary has become her blackest nightmare… Life is tough in the Alaskan tundra but lately something wholly inhuman has let itself loose on the territory, leaving a wake of unspeakable carnage. For bush pilot Alex MacGuire the wreckage is especially chilling – Alaska is the place she fled to after her mother and brother were brutally murdered in Florida.When the Midnight Breed is alerted to this slaughter, they send Kade to quell the danger and ensure Alex does not learn the truth behind the attacks. And soon Alex will be tested by the threat of otherworldly evil, and by her unexpected desire for Kade, a man she should fear but who has become her seductive guide into an erotic realm of blood and darkness.”

Alex has recently lost her beloved Father to Alzheimer’s. A worse tragedy lurks in her childhood … where she witnessed her Mother and brother being brutally murdered by monsters. Her Father and she escaped from Florida …. Fleeing to Harmony in Alaska and building a new life for themselves. Alex has done everything she can to escape the past but she can’t outrun it forever. She discovers the murdered bodies of a family of friends and her life begins to spin out of control. A complete stranger inspires trust when familiar friends cause unease. She is certain that she knows what has committed the atrocities but how can she tell the townsfolk without them believing her insane?

Kade escaped Alaska a year ago. Escaped his brother’s dark secret, his own wildness and the disappointment of his Father. The invite to join the Order had given him the perfect excuse to escape it all … or so he thought. However, now he’s back, investigating the brutal killings of locals and finds himself drawn to the local bush pilot, who just happens to be another Breedmate.

Kade initially suspects the murders are committed by Rogues. Then he begins to have misgivings about the innocence of his own brother. Something far more sinister then rears it’s ancient, alien head.

Kade falls hard and fast for Alex. He knows that he has to tell her the truth about who he is, who she is and about the world they inhabit but …. How can he confess to being the very thing she despises and fears?

This is book 7 in the series. It has it’s predictable twists. Every book features a different Breedmale (usually a Warrior) and how he meets his human Breedmate. Despite this predictability, the on-going story of the escaped Ancient, the evil Dragos and the thousand year old battle that the Warriors have waged keeps the stories fresh and interesting. These books are action-packed, fast moving and an enjoyable read.

Spoiler:

An interesting twist is that The Ancient is ready to die. He willing went into hibernation when his fellow Ancient Aliens had been killed to stop their bloodthirsty massacres. He’d thought that he’d awake to a brand-new, better age for him. Instead he’s spent years being systematically tortured, drugged, starved and confined by his own grandson. His feeding rationed and monitored. His mating selected and monitored. He has escaped to Alaska but to what end? He knows that it will be difficult, though not impossible, for him to be killed but doubts his desire to continue living in the shadows and running from the order. He should be king of mankind, not hunted prey of his own descendants. However, Jenna has captured his interest and he leaves her with a parting gift …

35. Phantom King by Heather Killough Walden

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Phantom-King-Kings-ebook/dp/B0082SJRMY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1337984729&sr=1-1

“The Phantom King by Heather Killough-Walden is book two in the Big Bad Wolf spinoff series, The Kings and sequel to The Vampire King. Siobhan Ashdown was born of magic; it rides her blood like a phantom, tainted and dark and unpredictable. She is a warlock, and the power within her is unlike any before known to her kind. So it’s no surprise that the most powerful of the demons who feed off of this warlock magic not only recognizes the enormous potential she represents but determines that he will possess her at any cost. Even if it means war with the entire supernatural world. Thanatos has ruled Purgatory as the Phantom King since time immemorial. King of a vast plane of solitude, he is a free spirit, a lone rider, a tattooed man of wind and dust and nonexistent boundaries. Then he turns around one morning to find himself face to face with Siobhan Ashdown, a woman with hair as red and wild as his soul, eyes like melted gold, and a spirit as elusive as his own. Time stops, the world tilts, and the fact that she attacks him right off the bat does little to deter his romantic convictions. Thirteen Kings are severed by lust and greed, an ancient vampire and his rogue creation lay claim to what is not theirs, the whisperings of war begin to shake the foundation of the supernatural world, and primordial evil awakens from its slumber to slither across the land in this second installment in the Big Bad Wolf spinoff series, The Kings, by Heather Killough-Walden.”

Wow! What a great read! This is the second instalment of The Kings series, the sequel to Vampire King. It is a spin off from the fabulous Big Bad Wolf Series. Consequently we meet favourite characters from both the Vampire King and The BB Wolf books.

The book follows the meeting of Thane and Siobhan … both headstrong, determined and stubborn people who collide, butt heads and fall in love. Their courtship is brief but their characters are so similar and so sympathetic to each other that their whirlwind romance is entirely believable.

One of the Thirteen, Marius the Akyri King, has decided to risk war between species to satisfy his greed … seeking assistance from a law breaking supernatural being and his illegally created vampire Ophelia … who also happens to be the old love of the Vampire King, Roman. However, Roman is now married to Evie and Ophelia is very unhappy about that. The dark creature that has created Ophelia oozes evil and as the story continues, the reader realises that a bigger plot is unfolding concerning this being, one that will continue through future sequels.

Ramses (A.K.A Amon) is back after a five thousand year sleep and unsure of how to act. He is extremely powerful. The species that he once hunted … the Vampires, the Werewolves … are not the bloodthirsty savages that they once were. Consequently he is unsure of what he should do. His wife, Amunet, is lost to him and he still hopes to find her. This search inadvertently leads him to a daughter that he never knew that he had and her children … his grandchildren.

Lalura makes another appearance in this book and I have to say I love this character. She is very old and very powerful but so down to earth and no-nonsense.

Although Siobhan and Thane form the main part of the story, the other elements are just as important and form a continuing thread of story begun in the last book. The book is fast paced and action packed. There are a lot of characters but they are introduced into the story gradually and in such a way that it is easy to keep track of them all.

This was a wonderful tale written by a very talented author. Heather Killough Walden creates a world populated by big, protective warrior-like men, feisty powerful women, where good & evil battle constantly … the plots are written well enough to make the reader uneasy in some scenes and laugh out loud with others. Like her other books, the story throbs with sexuality and passion but it is in total context with plot. I loved this book and look forward to its sequel with eager anticipation.

36. Taken by Midnight (Midnight Breed) by Lara Adrian
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Taken-Midnight-Breed-ebook/dp/B004G5YPQU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338149641&sr=8-1

“Her desire for revenge is ice cold… In the frozen wilds of the Alaskan interior, former state trooper Jenna Darrow was taken hostage by a deadly vampire who terrorized her for hours, feeding on her blood and leaving her more dead than alive. But Jenna did survive – albeit as an altered being… Now Jenna wants revenge on that vampire, and for that she must turn to the very race of beings who terrify her the most: the Breed. But of all the Breed warriors it is Brock, the immense, forbidding male who makes Jenna feel most at ease. Even more unsettling are the unbidden emotions Brock stirs within her. And the affair that begins as a physical understanding devoid of emotional strings soon blazes into something much deeper – but just as their passion flares white hot so does a ghost from Brock’s past threaten to break their fragile, forbidden love.”

This series just doesn’t run out of steam! Each book (this is the 8th) is consistently written in a captivating and imaginative style that draws the reader in. I will repeat, as previously stated, this series is NOT for kids … though in context with the story, some sexual scenes are very explicit.

Jenna really isn’t in a good place. She has spent her life feeling that she has something to prove, to her Dad & brother, fellow officers, husband etc. She lost her husband and six year old daughter in an accident that she blames herself for. She is captured and persistently fed upon by the escaped Ancient one … the blood loss making her weak. Her brother is killed and she finds out that he was a dishonest cop. She then wakes up to find herself confined in some sort of high security establishment, confused and disorientated … and discovers that The Ancient one has implanted her with something that it is changing her DNA and molecular make up. She has grieved the loss of her husband for four years but finds herself falling for the big warrior called Brock … a tough, seasoned Breedmale who is willing to take her pain into himself to relieve her suffering … that is even willing to endure sunlight to save her.

Brock has allowed himself to grow attached only once before in his existence and distracted, he lost the very person he needed to protect. He has consequently kept all his relationships light and casual, sex only … with no feelings involved. He finds himself falling for the feisty ex-cop despite the fact that that she is only human. Only Breedmates can bond with Breedmales, only they can produce offspring and prolong their lives by exchanging blood with their mates. He can never have children with Jenna. He would have to watch her age and die … but still, he cannot help falling for her. However, the changes wrought by the implantation makes their future uncertain as Jenna starts demonstrating strange powers and body changes.

Dragos is angry about being forced out of his multi-million pound laboratory by The Order. He is still determined to force through his evil rebellion, despite losing his grandfather, The Ancient one … that he has tortured, experimented on and bred. Nothing is too evil for him to attempt when seeking his goal. Not the capture, imprisonment, rape, experimentation and death of innocent Breedmates. Not the mass murder of innocents. Not the creation of assassins. Nothing.

Dragos is escalating his manipulations and murders. He is determined to eliminate all the original Gen Ones and The Order. He is determined to see himself in power and mankind reduced to nothing more than slaves providing a ready food source to be used in any way that The Breed see fit. The tendrils of his power extend further than The Order could ever imagine but as they work tirelessly to track him down, they manage some successes of their own. However, Lucan realises that The Order are more vulnerable than ever. They may have successfully killed all but one of The Ancient Ones. They may have spent hundreds of years hunting and killing Rogues. However they are family men now. Having so many Breedmates in the compound makes them more vulnerable. Their battles with Dragos has resulted in a lot of bloodshed and they seem no nearer catching him, despite their constant searching and tracking. Lucan is beginning to feel like they are living in a house of cards that is ready to fall despite his best efforts to keep The Order and their families safe.

There were a couple of little inconsistencies but nothing that spoilt my enjoyment of the book … for example, when Alex refers to Breedmates several times before Jenna finally asks what the phrase means.

There are a few scenes when the impact of the powerful warriors fairly jumps off the page ~ like when Brock rips the freezer steel door off it’s hinges. The image of this powerful male, dressed in black fatigues, leather coat, fully armed and transformed, being so determined to rescue his woman that he literally pulls the door off is a very powerful one. Then, when Jenna is trying to take in all that’s happened to her, the supernatural beings that she is surrounded by and what has been happening to her, Dylan tells her that she can see dead people and she literally doesn’t know whether to burst out laughing or just give in to the madness around her.

I really enjoyed this book and the way that the story of The Order’s battle against evil escalates with each successive book. I have already started reading book nine!

Deeper than Midnight (Midnight Breed) by Lara Adrian

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deeper-than-Midnight-Breed-ebook/dp/B005E89GTO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338492563&sr=1-1

“In an instant her privileged world disappears and a new, dangerous and erotic one beckons… At the age of eighteen, Corinne Bishop is stolen from her happy, loving family by the malevolent vampire Dragos. After many years of captivity and torment, Corinne is rescued by the Order, a cadre of vampire warriors embroiled in a war against Dragos and his followers.
Assigned to safeguard Corinne on her trip home is a formidable golden-eyed Breed male called Hunter. Once Dragos’s most deadly assassin, Hunter now works for the Order, and he’s hell-bent on making Dragos pay for his manifold sins. Bonded to Corinne by their mutual desire, Hunter will have to decide how far he will go to end Dragos’s reign of evil—even if carrying out his mission means shattering Corinne’s heart.”

Book nine in the Breed series. The book follows the developing relationship between Corinne and Hunter.

Corinne was kidnapped decades ago. She has endured rape, brutality, experimentation, degradation and the theft of her baby … she has lived a life whereby she was nothing more than a vessel to provide Dragos with a means to expand his evil empire. She and the other Breedmates have been discovered and freed by The Order. However, the reunion with her family doesn’t quite go as she had hoped and she can’t shake herself of the yearning for her child.

Hunter had been taken from his Mum (who’d been kept in the same conditions that Corinne had endured) and spent his life being trained and groomed to be nothing more than a Hunter, an assassin for Dragos. A chance meeting with Mira changed his path but he still feels out of step with the rest of the world. He now hates his creator with an all-consuming passion.

Corinne and Hunter find themselves forced to travel together and begin to realise that they may not be as different as they first presumed.

Dragos is still pushing forward with his plans for domination of both Breed and Mankind. No atrocities or cruel acts are beneath him. He is devoid of compassion or empathy to any living soul other than himself and his own needs and ambitions. He is determined to destroy The Order and is feverishly working towards that end, using any means available. He is also plotting to gain as much power as possible in the human world.

Tess is drawing near to the end of her pregnancy and her Breedmate Dante is missing his friend, “Harvard” Chase (Sterling). However Chase walked out on the order and hasn’t returned. The woman that he has loved for decades, widow of his own brother, has given herself to Tegan. Chase has lost his brother, the woman he loved and has been forced to kill his own beloved nephew when he turned Rogue. Now Chase is haunted by a different pain … he can feel himself succumbing to Bloodlust (and the insanity that accompanies it) and is too ashamed to be with his brothers of The Order. He knows that he is losing control of everything that makes him “Chase” but finds it impossible to fight the madness. He can’t help still trying to track Dragos though and realises that there may still be one way to redeem at least some of his past honour …

This was yet another great read in the fabulous series. I liked the fact that Hunter … a huge, warrior and ex-assassin … is a virgin and has absolutely no experience with women. It made him the ideal partner for the vulnerable but tough Corinne. I like the way that as each person is introduced into the rich tapestry of this story, we don’t lose sight of them as their book ends, but continue to meet with them in consequent books. It is important to read these books in the correct order as the background story continues from book to book.

“In this spellbinding eBook novella of otherworldly desire, a woman whose destiny was born from a blood kiss discover that second chances do come... even for immortals.A shimmering holiday gala lights up an ancient castle in the Scottish Highlands, but beautiful widowed Breedmate Danika MacConn feels alone in the crowd. Even, among the friends and festivity of the Darkhaven celebration, she can't forget her lost love, a fallen warrior of the Order. Her brief return to her mate's homeland has become treacherous after rejecting the advances of a dangerous Edinburgh crime boss with a taste for blood sport. As Danika seeks to expose the vampire and his dark trade , she discovers an unexpected ally in his forbidding, enigmatic henchman, Brannoc, a man who exudes heat, danger, and
and dark menace..”

I have to admit to being a little disappointed with this novella compared with the other full sized books in this series. The plot had the potential to be so much more if it had been given the time to develop. The plot was good, the characters had plenty of potential … but it felt rushed due to the book size. The book broke away from The Order as it is set in Scotland (instead of Boston) … The Order are mentioned but the on-going Dragos plot is completely separate to this novella. I did wonder if it were setting Bran up to become an Order member but it would appear not.
It was scary when Dani foolishly decided to try to look around the Bloodclub and I was afraid for her (Dani is the Widow of Conlan, a Warrior from The Order that was killed early in the series).

The book was a little predictable … I suspected that someone wasn’t the bad guy that he was pretending to be and I predicted the scene at The Gathering.

The book provided an interesting diversion but I didn’t find it nearly as good as the others in the series. The plot wasn’t as thorough, due to the length of the novella …. it felt more rushed and less developed. I would have liked to have seen more character development for Bran, Dani and baby Connor. Reiver was obviously evil and his character and businesses begged to be explored and developed more.

Overall, whilst the book still demonstrated Lara Adrian’s skill as an author it felt unsatisfying and a little disappointing in comparison to the other books in the series.

39. Darker after Midnight (Midnight Breed) by Lara Adrian

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Darker-After-Midnight-Breed-ebook/dp/B005OYGOD4/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1338647422&sr=1-1

“The tenth book in the New York Times bestselling Midnight Breed series. The climactic novel in Lara Adrian's New York Times bestselling Midnight Breed series Darker After Midnight invites readers to enter a thrillingly sensual world where danger meets desire. After existing in secret for many centuries, maintaining a fragile peace with the humans who walk beside them, unaware, one single act of retaliation has put the entire vampire nation at risk of discovery. And it falls to the Order - a select society of Breed warriors pledged to protect their own and humankind alike - to stop Dragos, the power-hungry vampire at the centre of the conflict, before his lust for domination can explode into catastrophe. At the centre of the Order's quest is Stirling Chase, a troubled Breed warrior whose biggest conflict is the one he wages against his own savage nature. With addiction beckoning him towards eternal darkness, Chase's path to redemption lies in the hands of a mysterious and beautiful young woman who may be something much more than she seems...”

This is book ten in the series. Book eleven and twelve haven’t been published yet, unfortunately.

I really couldn’t put this book down and read it straight through in one day.

The book is as action packed and fast paced as the others have been … but with Dragos throwing caution to the wind and deliberately exposing The Breed to mankind in an attempt to escalate his own evil plans for domination … the story becomes even more violent and tense. His manipulations bring him closer to the highest seat of power in The US.

Chase has been fighting and hiding his increasing Bloodlust for six years but it has grown so bad that he can no longer disguise the madness that is creeping up on him. He knows how near he is to turning Rogue and either being killed or killing himself, as he edges towards insanity. The aggression that accompanies the Bloodlust is pushing him over the edge and causing him to make mistakes … to the point that he feels that he needs to leave The Order. Living in the shadows, feeling his madness increase … he still unable to let go of his desire to track down Dragos and continues to seek him alone.

The reader feels empathy and sadness when Chase realises that his downward spiral has removed him from the honourable position of Xander’s Godfather.

It is during his missions to track Dragos and his lieutenants, that Chase meets Tavia. Tavia has spent her entire life living with her aunt and being treated by a doctor for a mysterious illness that she is told could kill her if she neglects her medication. Whilst in the custody of Chase, her medication is missed and her whole life is exposed as a sham, as it becomes apparent that she is not who she thinks that she is … she is something no-one on earth could ever perceive or imagine existing.

She finds herself falling in love with Chase, despite his addiction.

Tess and Dante welcome their son, Xander into the world. Gabrielle wants a baby too but Lucan is worried about bringing a child into a world that is diminishing into a bloodbath of violence and torture. He is therefore taken back when somebody close to him reveals their plan to do just that …

The books imagery continues to hold the reader in its thrall ~ Scenes like the manic bloodbath in the Agency’s club is so vivid that a mental picture is perfectly painted.
I was a little confused by the references made a few times by Dragos who was seeking a weapon to take down The Order ... when the weapon seemed to turn out to be just a few human terrorists.

There was considerable interest given to Kellan, despite the initial impression of him only being a cameo role (in order to be the Trojan Horse in The Compound). However, when he asked Nathan to teach him how to kill, I did wonder if this was in preparation of him being featured in a future book. I also wondered if we would see more of Rowan in the future.

During the book, a theory arises as to how Breedmates are created … a link is made as to how each and every one of them has come to be, no matter who they are, where or when they were born. The link has the potential to provide a whole new spin-off plot to be explored and I presume that we will see more of this in subsequent books.
The series has introduced creatures of incredible evilness and violence. The Warriors are powerful, honourable men. The Breedmates are feisty women able to kick some serious butt!

Spoiler

Spoiler:

** I did find the end a little difficult to believe. Even if mankind were willing to accept that there were a difference between The normal Breed and blood thirsty Rogues, the Breed (unless mated) still need to feed on humans … I find it hard to believe that this would be accepted by humanity as a whole … to the point of officially accepting The Breed as a member of The United Nations **

I really enjoyed this book, found it hard to put down (I read it in one day) and look forward to more being published. This has proved a thoroughly enjoyable series, with a new slant on the Vampire genre, mixing sci-fi with the gothic. Although there has been an element of erotic romance in each book, the plot thread that has run throughout the series has been captivating and imaginative. I would heartily recommend this series.

40. Forever Neverland by Heather Killough Walden

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Forever-Neverland-ebook/dp/B004E3XV8C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338846874&sr=8-1

“It has been five years since Wendy Darling and her brothers returned home after a harrowing ordeal in which they'd "gone missing" for several days and nights. To Wendy, they returned by fairy magic, fresh from the fight with Captain Hook, a little mussed up but none the worse for wear. But to the rest of the world, Wendy and her brothers were abducted and put through such a traumatic experience, Wendy has subconsciously taken to hiding the truth from her brothers and herself by making up stories. Fairy stories – about a boy named Peter Pan and a world called Neverland. Life is anything but a fairy story for them now. Wendy is being subjected to unwanted psychiatric therapy, her brothers are bullied at school, and the family is falling apart. Then, one mist-filled night, a billowing black flag parts the clouds in the sky like the fin of a shark. It bears the stark white symbol of a skull and crossbones upon it.
Wendy has been forced to leave Neverland behind. But it is far from finished with her. In the blink of an eye, her world is once more turned upside down by a pixie in human form, a one-handed captain far more handsome and intriguing than she remembered him to be – and by a little boy… who grew up after all.”

Heather Killough Walden has taken a traditional story and given it a make-over … it has been five years since Wendy and her brothers returned from Neverland. Her parents are convinced that they were kidnapped and abused during their absence and that they are telling stories (of Neverland) to hide from the truth of their real experiences. They have moved to America and Wendy is being forced to see a shrink. She is seventeen. She is even being forbidden to write stories anymore, despite the fact that being a story teller is an intrinsic part of who she is. She is also angry with Pan, who has never returned to help her, despite her calling him.

However, Pan hasn’t heard her as he isn’t in Neverland … he is trapped here with Tink and doesn’t know why. He is growing older and despite his experiences, he feels trapped. He knows that without the intervention of Tink’s magic, life would be really hard.

Meanwhile Neverland has been asleep. All its inhabitants have been asleep. The sun hasn’t risen for a long time. However, Captain James Hook and his crew are awakening and find themselves drawn to where Wendy and Pan are.

This story gives a new twist to an old story. The plot encourages the reader to look at characters in a new light, realising that the bad guys might not be so bad and the good guys might not be as good as we originally thought. There are also some really interesting twists in the story.

I enjoyed this story and went straight online to order its sequel “Beyond Neverland” but unfortunately it hasn’t yet been published. It proves the quality of a story when I finish the book and immediately start hunting for the next one in the series!