Casee‘s review of Taken by Midnight (Midnight Breeds, Book 8) by Lara Adrian.

In the frozen Alaskan wilderness, former state trooper Jenna Darrow survives an unspeakable breach of body and soul. But with her narrow escape comes an even greater challenge. For strange changes are taking place within her, as she struggles to understand—and control—a new hunger. To do so, she will seek shelter in the Boston compound of the Order, an ancient race of vampire warriors whose very existence is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps the most mysterious of them all is Brock, a brooding, dark-eyed alpha male whose hands hold the power to comfort, heal . . . and arouse.

As she recovers under Brock’s care, Jenna finds herself drawn to the Order’s mission: to stop a ruthless enemy and its army of assassins from subjecting Earth to a reign of terror. Yet in spite of their resolve, a purely physical relationship without strings soon binds Brock and Jenna together with a desire fiercer than life and stronger than death itself—until a secret from Brock’s past and Jenna’s own mortality challenges their forbidden love to the ultimate trial by fire.

I thought this was one of the better books in Adrian’s Breed series. Instead of Breed + Breedmate = lurve, Jenna was a human. Well, sort of human. In the previous book she was held captive by the Ancient and he put some kind of parasite or equally sci-fi strange thing in her body that has attached itself to her spinal cord. All of a sudden she’s not quite human. Her ability to heal is faster, she can hear things she shouldn’t, she can run faster and leap tall buildings in a single bound. The thing is, she doesn’t like it. All she wants to do is go back to her old life.

Brock has felt responsible for Jenna since the moment the Order found her on the verge of death in her cabin. Since bringing her back to the compound, Brock has stayed at her side using his gift to block her pain. When she wakes up and freaks out (which is putting it mildly) he is there to take the brunt of her anger and pain. The weird thing is he doesn’t mind it. His feelings for Jenna are bewildering, especially since she isn’t a Breedmate.

As the days go by, Jenna’s natural fear of what is happening wears off and her desire to help kicks in. As she gets to know the Breedmates, she realizes the enormity of the task they face. Finding missing Breedmates is something she thinks she can help with, using her years of experience as a cop. As she begins to help, she also opens up to Brock which is something that she isn’t ready for. It’s something that she hates herself for as a matter of fact. Since the night that her husband and daughter were killed in a car accident, Jenna has blamed herself. She believes that she has no right to happiness.

There was definitely forward momentum in the series as a whole. I’ve been reading the series since the first book came out, so I really appreciate how far it has come. I think that Adrian has continued to make it interesting and has kept the reader guessing. That’s important when you have a series that has as many books as this one.

What I liked about this book was that Brock didn’t let the fact that Jenna didn’t have a Breedmate mark effect his love for her. He loved her. Period, end of story. Sure, there were drawbacks, but Brock wouldn’t let that get in his way of being with Jenna. He also helped Jenna overcome her past. How can you not love a guy like that?

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from Dell. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

The series:

Casee‘s review of Shades of Midnight (Midnight Breed Series, Book 7) by Lara Adrian.

In a frozen wilderness steeped in darkness, the lines between good and evil, lover and enemy, are never black or white but drawn in Shades of Midnight.

Something inhuman is stalking the frigid Alaskan wilds, leaving unspeakable carnage in its wake. For bush pilot Alexandra Maguire, the killings stir memories of a horrific event she witnessed as a child and evoke in her the inexplicable sense of otherness she has long felt within herself but never fully understood . . . until a darkly seductive stranger with secrets of his own enters her world.

Sent from Boston on a mission to investigate the savage attacks and stop the slaughter, vampire warrior Kade has his own reasons for returning to the frigid, forbidding place of his birth. Haunted by a secret shame, Kade soon realizes the stunning truth of the threat he faces–a threat that will jeopardize the fragile bond he has formed with the courageous, determined young woman who arouses his deepest passions and most primal hungers. But in bringing Alex into his world of blood and darkness, Kade must confront both his own personal demons and the even greater evil that could destroy all he holds dear.

I didn’t really like Ashes of Midnight. It split the series off from the core of the series which is the Order. Even though I didn’t like Ashes of Midnight, I really enjoy this series. I like where she’s taken the series and look forward to seeing how it end. And there is an end in sight. I really hope that Lara Adrian doesn’t go the whole “this series is open ended” route. That would be really disappointing.

Alex is speshal, but she doesn’t know it. She’s a Breedmate, a woman that is revered by the Breeds and protected at all costs. Breedmates have unique psychic gifts that can easily be explained away if the woman in question doesn’t know what she is. That’s the case in Alex’s situation. She has always been able to detect when people are lying. It’s an uncanny ability that she has just accepted about herself.

When Alex goes to deliver goods to the settlements in the Alaskan bush, she walks into a nightmare from her past. A family of six that she has know for years have been brutally murdered. By something that’s not human. Alex recognizes it right away, but doesn’t know where to turn.

Kade was sent to Alaska by the Order to check out the murder of the family and see if it’s Breed related business. Being from Alaska, he’s the obvious choice to send. When Kade meets Alex, he knows she’s different in some way, but he can’t figure out how. It doesn’t take much investigating for Kade to know that it’s more than a Rogue on the loose in the bush. Now he needs Alex’s help. Then he’ll scrub her memory. Yeah, I didn’t like that very much.

Kade finally figures out (d’oh) that Alex is a Breedmate. He wants to do the right thing and leave her alone, but he just can’t. He thinks he’s cursed b/c of his gift and that he would hurt anyone that was stupid enough to love him. He’ll just stay with Alex for a little while.

The story was good, but it wasn’t captivating. I thought Alex fell for Kade too fast, but then isn’t that usually the case?

3.25 out of 5.

This book is available from Dell. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

The series: