Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

Book Description: 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. . . .

Published: May 1, 2007

(Image and description from Amazon.)

My comments:

Funny story about this book.  I re-read some of JR Ward's books last week and I was looking for something new to read and was looking through the "readers also bought" section on Amazon and this book was on there.  I read the description and downloaded the sample.  After reading the sample, I thought that the book might be interesting, so I went to purchase it.  Only for Amazon to tell me that I had purchased it on May 22, 2009.  I had no recollection of ever reading this book and after finishing it, I still don't.  I don't know if Stew downloaded it on one of his download all of the free books frenzies or what, but I sure didn't read it when we bought it. 

Being a fan of Ward and Showalter, this book fits into the same sort of concept as those; however, this first book wasn't as good as any in either of those series.  It was very slow and the introductions to the characters and the environment in which they live took a long time and wasn't nearly a smooth process.  It involved a lot more telling than showing.  I'm intrigued to find out what the conflict is between Lucan and Tegan.  Even though the writing was a bit stilted, the characters were well developed.  I thought the conflicts between Lucan and Gabrielle were too easily resolved and that her introduction into their world wasn't as developed as it could be.  I was happy to learn that some of the warriors had already found their Breedmates (the established relationship between Tohr and Wellsie in the Ward books was a good plot device) and that Adrian killed one of her warriors in the first book shows that the author is willing to show that the good guys don't always win and I like that in a story since it is more fitting to a true scenario.

So all in all, the book was good enough for me to want to read more from this series.  I downloaded the second book in the series last night so I'll see if, now that all of the introductions are out of the way, if the book reads more smoothly.

Grade: B-