He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell’s deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night—or this man—is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed—a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite.Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind—and the unwitting humans existing alongside them—from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands.
Here, in the arms of the Breed’s formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all. . . .
Title: Kiss of Midnight
Author: Lara Adrian
Format: eBook
Genre: paranormal romance
Source: Amazon Kindle Store – free read
Published: May 2007
Buy the book: The Book Depository | Kindle
My Thoughts
I got this as a free Kindle read. I love reading about alpha male vampires and their seducing ways so I decided to give it a try.
Gabrielle is out celebrating with her two best friends at a nightclub where she alone witnesses a gruesome fight outside a nightclub. Being a photographer, she has the mindset to take a picture of the fight with her cell phone. She goes to the authorities and shows them the picture but no one can make out what the photo displays. Lucan later shows up at her door and convinces her that he’s a detective. He tells her he’ll be working on the case and needs to take her cell phone to collect the photographic evidence, which conveniently gives him an excuse to come back and see her.
Lucan is a strong, alpha male vampire. But he’s not just any ol’ vampire; he’s a Gen One Breed Warrior meaning he was sired by one of the original 8 alien warriors. This makes him very old and very powerful. You definitely don’t want to cross paths with this guy.
During on of his “official” visits to Gabrielle’s apartment, Lucan discovers a tiny teardrop shape falling into the cradle of a crescent moon behind Gabrielle’s ear. This indicates that Gabrielle is a rare Breedmate, a human gifted with unique blood and DNA properties that compliments those to his kind, but she doesn’t know it. This means that Lucan can’t have a casual fling with Gabrielle; if he tangles with her, they’ll be bound for life.
One scene I really like that demonstrated the initial attraction between the two was when Lucan was checking out Gabrielle’s work. He defined her work in mere moments, something no one - including herself - had ever done.
The one thing I could have done without was the alien ancestry with the vampires. I am not a sci-fi fan and I don’t like my vampires mingling with aliens. But I’m willing to overlook this detail. In fact, I will probably ignore it completely if possible.
I really couldn’t help but notice the similarities between this book and Dark Lover by J.R. Ward. Maybe that’s part of the reason why I liked reading Kiss of Midnight. You have a group of alpha male vampires bonded in a brotherhood set to fight the bad guy. Lucan and Gabrielle reminded me a lot of Wrath and Beth from the BDB series. Instead of Lessors you have Rogues (vampires who caved into the bloodlust and thus are the bad guys). Just like there’s an all-out war going on between the BDB and the Lessors, there’s a similar war going on between Lucan and his crew with the Rogues.
I enjoyed reading Kiss of Midnight, even though it reminded me a lot of the BDB series, and I can’t wait to read the rest of this series. If you enjoyed reading the BDB series, then you’ll like this series. I mean, who ever gets tired of alpha vampires and their seducing ways? Certainly not me.
The Book Vixen’s Rating 
The first one is not the best one in the series. This is actually a really good series and while it is similar to BDB it is also different. I really enjoyed the whole series and can't wait for the next one. :)
ReplyDeleteI won the 1st 3 books in this series, it is out of my norm but I look forward to trying them.
ReplyDeleteI sure as heck don't get tired of em!! My fave Breed is Tegan, and then Rio. Something about those brooding wounded boys, yummy ;)
ReplyDeletePaula
Tomes Devotee
I really do enjoy this series and I think what a lot of people have an issue with is that they read it looking for a series like BDB and they end up comparing the two. This isn't a good idea because BDB is definitely the better series in my opinion but this one is good also. It needs to be read as a series on its on no as a substitute for BDB.
ReplyDeleteStephanie G
I have been looking for a yummy new series to read! Thanks
ReplyDeleteI love her work, and this was actually one of my favorites. Love your review BV!
ReplyDeleteI love the BDB ! So, I'll check this one out. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteCarole
The Romance Reviews
I have also read this one. But never got to read the followers. Because as you said. This one is to similar to BDB. And that ruined it for me. Since thats my favorit series :)
ReplyDeleteBut I think it´s a great series. But guess I wount be reading the others since I will stik to BDB. :P
Great review though :)