Pearl's World of Romance - Reviews with a Passion: Midnight Awakening

January 20, 2008

Midnight Awakening - Lara Adrian

8:39 PM |

HE HAS RESISTED TEMPTATION FOR CENTURIES, A STONE-COLD WARRIOR WHOSE FROZEN HEART REFUSES TO THAW--UNTIL HER . . .

With a dagger in her hand and vengeance on her mind, Darkhaven beauty Elise Chase prowls Boston's streets in search of retribution against the Rogue vampires who took from her everything she cherished. Using an extraordinary psychic gift, she tracks her prey, well aware that the power she possesses is destroying her. She must learn to harness this gift, and for that she can turn to only one man--the deadliest of the Breed warriors, Tegan.

No stranger to loss, Tegan knows Elise's pain. He knows fury, but when he slays his enemies it is with ice in his veins. He is perfect in his self-control, until Elise seeks his aid in her personal war. An unholy alliance is forged--a bond that will link them by blood and vow--and plunge them into a tempest of danger, desire, and the darkest passions of the heart . . . .

In the continuing battle against evil, an anguished warrior of the Order and a Breedmate on a mission of vengeance find themselves fighting not only an evil Rogue, determined to dominate both Breeds and humans but also the feelings that bare their hearts for hurt and vulnerability. Their collaboration leads to more than retaliation on the one responsible for their losses and in the process they gain something they never imagined wanting ever again...

Tegan is a Gen One (first generation) Breed, fellow founder of the Order with Lucan. Hardened through the centuries he doesn't care about anything or anyone.
He's crude, ruthless and has managed to turn emotional detachment into an art after the loss of his Breedmate.
But this all changes when he meets Elise Chase. Bit by bit she picks away at his cold demeanor and finds the man beneath. But his harshness and dispassionate behavior is just a façade, his way of protecting himself from any more pain and hurt. With her he's different, protective and even gentle.
Every time he tries to scare her away with his cold and blunt behavior, he discovers sides to her he can't but admire and he finds himself unable to keep fighting his feelings for her.
Elise too has known loss, losing both her mate and son to the Rogues. This has turned her into a woman bent on revenge against the ones responsible for her loss. A revenge that sends her straight into the arms of the coldest warrior of the Order.

Elise is a woman on a mission of vengeance. Like all the Breedmate she too has a gift. But her gift torments her. She hears human's thoughts to the extent that she physically suffers from them. We meet Elise in Kiss of Crimson (book 2) and now her story continues.
Tegan is nothing short of impressive. Tegan's gift is that of being able to tap into people's thoughts and feelings by touching them.
In many ways Elise and Tegan are very alike. Both trying to keep themselves detached from loss and pain.
The initial interactions between Elise and Tegan are intense and laced with underlying mutual attraction and sexual tension. When circumstances put them together the attraction and tension turns into full-blown passion and love. The chemistry between them is heartfelt and with every scene they have together you get wrapped into the raw emotions they both feel and fight against. Their struggle is really palpable.

The war between the Order and the Rogues, with the Darkhaven Breeds in the middle, rages on in this book, bringing it up yet another notch. It also brings us to other scenery, leaving Boston and taking the battle into Eastern Europe, Berlin, in a significant portion of the second half of the book.
The plot thickens and gets more and more intricate with twists to the plot and new characters added to the mix. Both characters and plot are able to fascinate and captivate.
We're allowed small glimpses of main characters of previous books: Lucan, Gabrielle, Dante and Tess. But the foundation for the next book is also laid in small glimpses of Rio in a few heart-wrenching scenes
Bits of history and background, nicely mixed and well dosed into the story, contribute to understanding the world of the Order, the Breedmates, the Breed and the Rogues.

Lara Adrian manages to give the recurring plot, the war against the Rogues, a new and unexpected twist in every book and again the cast of secondary characters from the previous book is expanded with some new intriguing characters. She does a great job of building up the world in a gradual but superb way, leading to a breathtaking finale.
The mix of love story and plot is perfectly balanced, blending together with little effort. Adrian manages to keep the focus on Tegan and Elise despite the exciting and intriguing battle against the Rogues and their leader Marek. He is the personification of a depraved evil, malice seeping from his every pore. But the final pages of the book showed me that he's only the tip of the iceberg. I'm bracing myself for much worse evil still to come.

I must say that this series gets better and better with every book. Introducing characters and plots able to mesmerize me and keep me wanting more.
I closed this book craving the next installment, desperate to know where Adrian is taking us. One thing I do know for sure: It's going to be a journey full of delicious alpha warriors, strong and gifted females, passionate desire and unpredictable plots.
This book held me tightly in its grip from the very first page never letting go of me. Oh yes, I'm still hooked on the Midnight Breed and getting more addicted with every new book.

Quote:
He held her as though she was made of glass, every inch of her precious and breakable. A treasure he was unworthy of, yet determined to cherish.

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