Back Cover:
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 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. . .

Alexandra Maguire is fearless, vulnerable, independent and courageous, and a loner. She's a female bush pilot who flies supplies to the Alaskan settlements but she’s also a Breedmate, who can spot a lie by touching the person speaking it. 9-year-old Alex and her father fled from the evil that killed her mother and brother. That was 18 years ago in Florida, now the evil is back to haunt her in Alaska.

Kade is one of the newer recruits to the Order. He has a wry sense of humor that contradicts his intense and quiet demeanor. He's the black sheep of his family but he's proud, strong, noble and lethal. His talent is that he is able to connect psychically with predator animals and direct their actions with his thoughts. Kade left Alaska a year ago to eagerly join the Order and when the Order sends him back on a mission there, he sees his hopes of never returning to Alaska crushed. His reason for not wanting to return to Alaska lies in the tension between him and his family, especially his father. Kade is seen as the reckless, prodigal son whereas his twin Seth is seen as the sensible, cerebral one, the favored son. But Kade's brother is a killer and Kade knows this and kept it a secret at the expense of the respect and favor of his family and father.

There is a lot of bloodshed in this installment of the Midnight Breed series and again not much Order interaction in the first half of the book, which again fed my feeling that it doesn't reach the level of the first few books in this series. Still I liked it a lot better than ASHES OF MIDNIGHT because I could connect much better with Alex and Kade as main characters than I could with Reichen and Claire. However, the romance between Kade and Alex wasn’t as mind-blowing hot as I wanted it to be and also I really missed the wonderful world building that Lara Adrian spoiled me with in the first installments of this series. Admittedly the second half was much better than the first because the second half contained more Order induced action whereas the first part was a lot of setting up. When Alex found out what the deal with Kade was, about the Breed and that she was a Breedmate, it brought more pace and action to the story. This definitely reminded me of the way the first book of the series, KISS OF MIDNIGHT, felt to me. The pace and build-up of these two books was very similar so I think if you really liked KISS OF MIDNIGHT you will also love SHADES OF MIDNIGHT.

Even if SHADES OF MIDNIGHT doesn't reach the mind-blowing level of KISS OF CRIMSON, MIDNIGHT AWAKENING, MIDNIGHT RISING and VEIL OF MIDNIGHT, Lara Adrian still managed to surprise me with her world building and plot arcs. As with all the other books, nothing in the plot goes as suspected or expected and surprising twists are integrated in every single one of them. Once again this installment has left me with questions, wondering where the overall plot is going, and after SHADES OF MIDNIGHT I am dying to read if my speculations about Brock and Jenna (Alex's best friend) are correct because after the things that happened in this book, Brock's story is going to be very interesting, to say the least.

It's a real pity that the book needed to build up momentum in the first part, because the second part was great and brimmed with action. I do hope Lara Adrian finds the momentum from the beginning in the next book because had that been the case in this one, it definitely would have gotten a much higher rating from me.


Rating: 7.0 out of 10