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Dark Desires After Dusk

Kresley Cole

Published 2008            368 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist...
Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny...
Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires...
Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs -- and claim his heart?

The Review

Dark Desires After Dusk is the fifth full-length novel in Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series.  Like previous novels in this series Dark Desires After Dusk is set in a modern day America where the hugely diverse supernatural creatures of the Lore secretly exist alongside humans.  All of the novels in this series are stand alone romances, meaning that you don’t have to rigidly read them in order, although you may want to because once you read one of these books you will be returning to the store to pick up the rest – they are just addictive that way.

At this point in the review I think it is only fair to point out that although Dark Desires After Dusk does mention vampires in the story, they are just used as a background element and are not the focus of the main storyline.  The story concentrates on Cadeon Woede, a character first introduced a couple of books ago when he was competing in the Talisman’s Hie (No Rest For The Wicked).  Cade has cropped up as a secondary character in all the books since then but now he finally has his own story.

For a while now Cade has been painted as a fun loving but slightly unreliable (if not down right unlucky) demon.  He was responsible for his brother, deposed King Rydstrom, losing the crown of their homeland and although he has fought along side Rydstrom for nine hundred years since then he has never succeeded in regaining the throne for his brother.  The Dark Desires After Dusk prologue finally tells readers exactly how he lost the crown in the first place and chapter one gives Cade a sure-fire guaranteed not to fail way to regain it and redeem himself with his brother.

All he has to do is capture the Vessel, a female of the Lore who is capable of giving birth to the ultimate warrior, and turn her over to an evil sorcerer who wishes to sire the ultimate evil warrior.  In return Cade and Rydstrom will be given the only sword in existence that can kill Omort the Deathless who stole their throne.  Determined not to get it wrong this time, Cade’s resolve is tested when he realises that the Vessel is the human female that he has been mooning over for the past year.  Recognising her as his own fated female, he has been forced to watch her from afar because a mortal female would not survive the mating ritual.  Will Cade be able to sacrifice the woman he loves for his brother and the good of their kingdom?

Holly, a mathematician suffering from OCD, has her safe controlled world ripped away from her when a posse of demons kidnap her from campus.  Frightened beyond all measure her body is kick-started into its transition from human to Valkyrie.  Thrown into the company of Cade, the pair makes a dangerous cross country road trip where they battle with demons, ghosts, vampires, noble fey and wendigo who all seem to want Holly either “dead or bred.”

Dark Desires After Dusk is yet another top paranormal romance read from talented author Kresley Cole.  This book seems to everything a reader could possibly desire - sexy heroes, feisty heroines, imaginative mythology and hot, HOT romance just for starters.  This combined with plenty of humour and an action packed plot that speeds faster than a bullet train, makes reading Dark Desires After Dusk an addictive pleasure.

Rated at 4.5 out of 5 (I knocked off half a star for the lack of vampires, otherwise this book is near perfect paranormal romance!)

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