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Ashes of Midnight

Lara Adrian

Published 2009       368 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

A woman driven by blood. A man thirsting for vengeance. A place where darkness and desire meet...

As night falls, Claire Roth flees, driven from her home by a fiery threat that seems to come from hell itself. Then, from out of the flames and ash, a vampire warrior emerges. He is Andreas Reichen, her onetime lover, now a stranger consumed by vengeance. Caught in the cross fire, 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. Blood-bonded to his treacherous adversary, Claire can lead Andreas to the enemy he seeks, but it is a journey fraught with danger - and deep, unbidden desires. For Claire is the one woman Andreas should not crave, and the only one he’s ever loved. A dangerous seduction begins - one that blurs the lines between predator and prey, and stokes the flames of a white-hot passion that may consume all in its path…

The Review

Ashes of Midnight is the sixth book in Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed paranormal romance series. Each book in this series is a stand-alone romance, and could be read as such, but there is a long-running story arc that winds through the plots of these books and a cross over of characters from previous novels as well. With this in mind it’s probably advisable to read these books in series order for maximum enjoyment.

For those of you not yet familiar with the Midnight Breed series (where have you been hiding?) these stories follow the lives of a group of vampire warriors, called The Order, who protect their species from Rogue vampires and their human Minions. Rogues are vampires who have given in to their blood lust and this blood addiction makes them dangerous to humans and vampires alike. Minions are the mindless human servants of rogue vampires and live only to serve their evil masters.

Not all vampires are evil, although they all live off human blood. These vampires are born, not made, and they can only have children with a special group of genetically compatible human women called Breedmates. The vampires themselves are always male, and are all descended from seven ancient aliens who crashed to Earth a thousand years ago and promptly started drinking the blood of the human population. Burnt by UV light the aliens only came out at night – launching all the vampire myths and folklaws in the process.

While the first couple of books in this series had a background that concentrated on battles that The Order had with increasingly organised groups of Rogues, later books have developed the plotline further to hint at a secret society of power-hungry vampires with plans for world domination. This plotline continues through Ashes of Midnight as The Order gets confirmation of their worst nightmare, an Ancient (one of the original aliens) thought long-dead but actually hidden by this society for the purpose of breeding a new race of unstoppable killer vampires.

Andreas, a character featured in several previous books, has crossed the path of this secret society and lost his whole family as a result. Bent upon revenge he has nothing left to live for - except the death of his enemies. Claire is the lover from his past, now the Breedmate of his mortal enemy, who has the task of pulling Andreas back from the brink of self-destruction.

Ashes of Midnight has the perfect balance of fantasy action and hot romance. While the increasingly exciting plotline drives the story forward it doesn’t swamp the relationship development of the protagonists and it leaves plenty of room for romance. All-in-all Andreas and Claire’s story makes a solid addition to the series that shouldn’t fail to satisfy Midnight Breed fans.

Recommended reading for paranormal romance fans who like their hero’s to have a little extra bite…

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