Midnight Awakening by Lara Adrian

Midnight Awakening is the third in the Midnight Breed series. And I think I'm possibly the last person to review it. Following the events of Kiss of Crimson (Bk 2), Elise Chase has left the safety of the Darkhaven to seek revenge on the Rogues and Minions whose schemes led to the death of her son. But as the psychic gifts she uses to pursue her vengeance threaten to overwhelm her, it will take the intervention of the Breed warrior Tegan to bring her home.

I think for me this is the first story where I didn't feel the shadow of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. The Midnight Breed series is finally standing on its own. It helps that Lara Adrian writes such independent heroines, and also that we change locations, a large chunk of Midnight Awakening takes place in Germany. It places the series in a larger world.

Elise is another strong female character who knows her own mind, she's got a brain and she uses it. This is important, this story just wouldn't work with a heroine who wouldn't stand up to Tegan. There's a scene where Tegan chases Elise off by being his charming self, and she does run away. But, she also stops, thinks and goes back. That was a nice illustration of their characters.

The progress of Elisa and Tegan's courtship isn't simple, and it shouldn't be. They both have a lot of history and emotional baggage to deal with. It's realistic that it takes them over three quarters of the book to get themselves sorted out. And I think at the end, this gives us the most believable relationship of the series so far.

I think my favourite conversation between them, is the one about the brothel. :)

"I'm not afraid to go to a nightclub."
..."It's, uh, not that kind of club. You wouldn't be comfortable there. Trust me."
Her eyes widened in understanding. "Are you telling me it's a brothel?"

Although this story is very much focused on Tegan and Elise, and we don't dwell on the previous pairings, there are some moments with characters from the first two books. Tess helping Rio, Gabrielle taking photographs of the daylight world for Lucan - little touches that give us an insight into their relationships. Sterling and Elise come to an understanding about their relationship. I still find Chase (Sterling) to be the most interesting seconday character and I have to add here, that I KNEW Dante and Chase would end up as friends. :)

If I had any complaints it's that Marek who had such potential to be an outstanding bad guy is reduced to the status of pantomime villain. To me this feels like a wasted opportunity, and is almost too easy. I felt a little like the author thought, 'Oh, I've come up with a better idea, let's just scrap the first one.'

Midnight Awakening acts as a conclusion to the first three books, whilst at the same time the plotline is opened up with a new and more threatening danger awakened. I look forward to Rio's book to find out what happens next.

Kiss of Crimson by Lara Adrian

This is book 2 of the Midnight Breed series. Which started with Kiss of Midnight. Carrying on from where the first book left off. Kiss of Crimson follows Dante, as he and his fellow Breed Warriors search for the suppliers of a drug called Crimson. This drug has the unfortunate effect of triggering the users change into a Rogue vampire. During the course of the investigation Dante is injured and takes blood from Tess, who unbeknownst to him is a Breedmate. Having started the blood bond, he now finds himself drawn to her. But Tess is more closely linked to the distribution of Crimson than she knows, putting both herself, her friends and Dante in danger.

Tess is a strong heroine, who even when she's in trouble, never stops thinking. She's got a mind of her own and she isn't afraid to stand up for herself, which is good, else Dante would walk all over her, and this relationship wouldn't be lasting very long.

I like that even though Dante and Tess are essentially fated to mate once he's fed from her, that they both don't immediately succumb to it. He fights it, knowing he's fed from a Breedmate, and she fights it because she doesn't understand it. Initially neither of them are particularly thrilled about the situation. It's handled in a very realistic way. There's no immediate jumping into bed together - though that does happen, and yes he has a huge penis LOL - they test the ground with each other first. Tess is understandably wary having just come out of a bad relationship with her ex-boyfriend Ben.

Ben I couldn't help but feel sorry for in a way. He's almost a perfect illustration for the road to hell being paved with good intentions. He desperately wants to do the right thing, but he's weak. His jealousy becomes like a cancer inside him, and eventually he's eaten away.

The subplot of both the Crimson dealing, and new guy Chase and his unrequited love for Elise are smoothly intertwined into the main story. His longing comes across powerfully on the page and she is oblivious to it. All she wants is for her son to come home safely, and Chase wants to be the one to give that to her. I find myself hoping that Chase will be getting his own story, as he's by far the most complex character introduced so far. He says he doesn't give into his urges, but when he gives into them, it's almost with a sense of self-loathing and it happens in public with Tegan (Breed Warrior) watching - Ouch! He intially joined the Warriors with his own motives, he fucks up and then has to help put things right. But because of his error in judgment it's too late to rescue two people who might otherwise have been saved.

I also think in Kiss of Crimson we get a better idea of what it means to go from being human to being a minion. How someone's humanity is stripped away until all that's left is the will of their master. Very well done.

My favourite bit of the story, is when Dante tells Tess he has a dog - which he doesn't - which he then spontaneously names Harvard - his nickname for Chase. Of course now he's told her he's got a dog, he has to get one. This so humanized him for me, the fact that this lie came out of his mouth, probably whilst his brain was going WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? Then when he rings up the animal shelter to get a dog.

"I need one of your animals," Dante told her.
"Excuse me?"
"The dog from your website, the old one. I want it."

He does slightly come across like he's planning an animal sacrifice. LOL

There are other nice touches. When Dante and Tess are discussing the myth of Endymion and Selene at the museum, there's the whole other subtextual conversation going on. The dead pool the other Breed Warriors have going on how long it's going to take Dante before he cracks and kills Chase. It's these little things that raise this story above other vampire novels around at the moment. It's things like this that make the Midnight Breed world real.

I am picking up on some inconsistencies. Bloodlust is apparently a one way street, but I thought in book 1 it was said they managed to bring Tegan back from it. Maybe the cost to benefit ratio is too high for this to be practical for everyone? Also when Dante first meets Tess his mind control doesn't work on her, and then she's suddenly susceptible? Maybe he was too injured when they first met for it to be effective?

I'm still seeing similarities here between the Black Dagger Brotherhood and Ukiah Oregon series. Rio - horrifically scarred and misogynistic confronts Tess (Z confronting Beth), and the Ukiah Oregon series has a drug called Invisible Red. Having said that I think the Midnight Breed series is slowly coming into its own. And I hope that by book 3 - Tegan's story, I'll be able to completely immerse myself in the Midnight Breed world without being distracted.

Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW SPOILERS BELOW

After Gabrielle Maxwell witnesses a brutal attack by a pack of Rogue Vampires outside a nightclub, she is plunged into a war that most humans don't realize is happening. A war where Breed Warriors fight to keep the world safe from vampires who have succumbed to the lure of bloodlust and turned rogue. Little does she know, this is a world that has touched her before, and this time it's a world she won't be able to leave.

I've had Kiss of Midnight in my TBR pile for a while, as well as the next book in the Midnight Breed series (Kiss of Crimson), but just haven't got round to reading it. I think partly because word of mouth said that Book 1 wasn't as strong as Book 2, but I didn't want to start Bk2 without being properly introduced to the series.

If you've ever wondered what kind of story you'd get if you crossed J.R.Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood with Wen Spencer's Ukiah Oregon, and kept it firmly on the side of paranormal romance - then wonder no more. Lara Adrian's vampires are the progeny of aliens who crash landed on Earth centuries ago. The original aliens were voracious predators, eventually wiped out by their children. But something of the monster still lurks within, and the vampires fight against a bloodlust which if they give into, will see them marked for death by the Breed Warriors.

Kiss of Midnight introduces us to this world through the eyes of Gabrielle Maxwell and Lucan Thorne. Unbeknownst to Gabrielle she is a Breedmate - a human female genetically compatible with the Breed (all vampire children are male). Lucan Thorne is a Gen 1, (the first generation of alien children who rose up to kill their fathers) as such, he struggles harder against the bloodlust than his compatriots. But that doesn't stop him from being drawn to Gabrielle, even though he feels she would be better suited to a pairing with another vampire.

I really enjoyed this story. Maybe because I went into it with the expectation of being underwhelmed. Instead I was racing through it wanting to know what happened next. After a slightly slow first few pages, the plot moves along nicely, characters are well drawn and believable. And I ended this story happy I could move onto book 2 straight away, and disappointed that I was going to have to wait a couple of months before I got my hands on book 3.

Lara Adrian's world is well thought out. There are a couple of very nice touches, not necessarily part of the main storyline, but they serve to make the world more real. For instance, I like that Dante has to wait for Lucan to finish before he can feed - it illustrates the animalistic hierarchical nature of the vampires without beating us over the head with it.

I also thought the funeral ceremony was well thought out and movingly written.

And although most of her bad guys are rogues, consumed with the need for blood, sex and death. The head guy is a very well written anti-hero. I'm interested to see where Lara Adrian goes with him. She leaves you with the feeling that though he's committed heinous acts, there's a possibility he could go either way. He could be redeemed. It's the fact that there's thought and calculation behind his every action, and we don't yet know if there's only cold intellect there, or something more.

Her love scenes are hot. :)

Is it perfect? No

It's almost bound to be compared to Dark Lover. There are a couple of scenes reminiscent of that book - when Lucan breaks into Gabrielle's apartment for example. And Lara Adrian does use what readers might have come to consider as the vampire group sterotypes. Lucan - the oldest and in charge, Gideon - the computer expert, Tegan - the loner, and later in the story one of the warriors is horrifically scarred. Oh, and in case I forget to mention it Lucan has a huge penis. LOL

I find myself very much liking the character of Savannah (Gideon's mate). And hope she isn't going to get killed off (a la Wellsie).

There are a couple of slips, or maybe I just misinterpreted.

Exactly what colour is Gabrielle's hair. For the most part it's described as ginger, but it's once described as burnt gold. To me, ginger and burnt gold just ain't the same thing.

And we never see K***** die. Or did I miss it? I don't know if this is intentional or not. She's told to jump off the roof after the vampire master leaves. But the vampire master and Gabrielle go up to the roof and whilst they're fighting in the helicopter we never see K***** take her leap. I don't know if we're meant to assume she jumped from a different part of the roof or that she got away?

Despite these minor niggles, this is a fantastic start to a new vampire urban fantasy series. And I think if the stories remain this strong any comparisons between Lara Adrian's series and others will pretty soon be inconsequential. I'm hooked.