Customer Reviews

Chasing Midnight (Super Nocturne)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

At first glance Allegra Chase, a vampire who spends her life seeking fun and pleasure as part of the speak-easy set, and solid upstanding millionaire philanthropist werewolf Griffin Durant have little in common. But in reality both use the life roles they have wrapped around themselves as armor to hide the scars from their pasts.

Chasing Midnight is set in the 20's in prohibition New York, but Krinard has layered it with the paranormal. Not only are there clans of vamps and packs of wolves, but the paranormal share the city in an uneasily balance with the human gangsters. When Griffin and Allegra meet they feel a draw that they try to deny, for not only do they walk in different worlds in their human guises but they also have to overcome the prejudices between races, as 'leeches' and 'dogs' are enemies. But fate has different plans for them, even as they try to avoid each other and the feelings they work so hard to rationalize away, they keep crossing paths. Soon Ally and Griff are thrown together to search the city in an attempt to save missing friends. They discover that their friends have become pawns in a plot to undermine the current clan and pack power structures. And as Aly and Griff are forced to work together, they are also forced to confront the demons of their own pasts and futures. Ally and Griff must accept themselves and each other, if they hope to save the city from all out war. And they must accept the love they try so hard not to admit, if they hope to save each other as well.

Chasing Midnight was an enjoyable romantic read. Along with Ally and Griff, supporting characters, Mal Griff's friend and Gemma Griff's sister were well developed and likeable. The story was complex with several threads running that enhanced and the furthered the story without detracting from the main storyline. And Krinard actually pulls all the threads together in a reasonable way at the end. This is not often done nearly so well. Also I thought that the time period for this historical romance was a nice change of pace, I found it more interesting than the medieval and regency periods that are so prevalent. Especially the emphasis of the move in society for more freedom for women like Gemma and Ally with the loosening of mores of this era, as strictures from the not to distant Victorian past are starting to be shed.

From the forward in the front of the book, it sounds as if this is the start of the series and I definitely look forward to reading the next book.

I did like this 488 page with tiny writing novel...but 3/4's of the way through the story started falling apart for me.

Mrs. Krinard was off to a wonderful 5 Star start in her world of a very large and complicated story of a Vampire Clan, Werewolf Pack and Mobsters where everything was as believable as it could be based on an Otherworldly book. Well except for the fact that Allie; a Vamp, could walk around in broad daylight.

But...the minute she brought human law and police officers into the picture she totally lost me. And this is where it started...There's a part where Griffin (Werewolf) and Ross (the Cop) rush into a (the) Vampire's lair in the middle of the night and demand, yes demand, that the Master Vampire Raoul release three people he kidnapped or they were going to bring the law down upon them.... And then he DID in turn release them...

Ummm....Not even in a make believe novel can I except this, not even a little bit! I truly believe this author couldn't continue with the very complicated story she'd started and she found herself a very unrealistic/realistic easy way out. I mean can you imagine if these characters were Wrath, Viscious or any of Kenyons Vamps? Griffin and Ross wouldn't have gotten past the mailbox. Vampires are bad ass...especially the ones this author was portraying.

So after that instance I lost most of my respect for the story.

I gave this 2.5/3 Stars instead of 2 because I did enjoy most of the book.

I will tell you that there are a couple "hit and miss" love moments, and only one very short love scene at the end. So if your type of Vampire/Were book includes sizzling and steaming up the pages bedroom moments you won't find any of that here. This one's rated (in my opinion) a PG read.

In the vast sea of paranormal romance the thing that stands out the most about this series is the time period-vampires and werewolves in 1920s New York. To my knowledge this hasn't been attempted before and for that alone, the author is to be commended.

The Plot:

Allegra Chase is a fiercely independent vampire woman who is searching for a friend who has recently disappeared after having been turned vampire himself.Griffin is a werewolf who spends his life hiding from his wolf-side in favor of a society that is unaware of the existence of non-humans. He joins forces with Allegra when his own good friend goes missing and he suspects a connection to the vampire clan. As they fight to save their friends, they are drawn to one another and ultimately fall in love.

The Best Things About this Book:

The setting and time period are quite interesting, and surprisingly perfect for characters like vampires and werewolves. The night clubs, the fashion, the gang wars,the societal restrictions all blend seamlessly with the paranormal world in which vampires and werewolves fight to keep the peace between their races, and to keep their existence hidden from humans.

The plot, while difficult to follow at time, is fairly engaging. There is a lot of action and mystery to be had along with the romance.

Allegra is a very interesting character. She embodies the defiant 20s flapper type, full of her own independence and sexuality, not afraid to break rules. Griffin is a fitting balance for her in an almost opposites-attract sensibility.

Why it lost a star:

If there is an issue with this book at all, it is length. Some of the content, while engaging, was unnecessary and could have easily been cut to the chase. Krinard seemed to be concerned with fitting in as much detail as possible, and it simply was not needed-it can become tedious and hard to follow.

I would recommend this book to both paranormal and historical fans, with the caution that much of the content is more this than romance.

I picked this book up because I thought the concept was new and innovative. I could hardly finish this book!! The author failed to explain important plot details and the few explanations the author chose to give were too convenient, and trite. It seems as if Ms Krinard wrote/solved her plot dilemmas on the fly with very little forethought. I am a big fan of Paranormal romance, this was definitely the worst I have ever read and the romance was practically non-existent.

I finished it, but was sorry I'd spent the time. Ms. Krinard is a competent writer as far as putting words on the page, and has a real talent for setting. This took place in Roaring 20's New York and sounded so promising. It started out well, with a nice evocation of the tensions in society between the Jazz Age Babies and the stuffy society types. She didn't maintain that feel for time and place as much after the first third of the book. She did do some interesting things with tensions between human mobsters, vampire bootleggers and werewolves, and there was a somewhat intricate mystery plot going as well. So I did keep reading.

Unfortunately, her characters were mostly pasteboard and I never did take to the main characters (or the secondary characters, for that matter), or care as I was supposed to for what happened to them. After much buildup and sexual tension, I actually fell asleep during the Big Sex Scene. True, it was a Friday night and I was tired, but I never remember that happening before! It was completely uninspiring.

Then the intricate plot that largely kept me reading fell apart, becoming a fuddled welter at the end. Like I said, I was sorry I'd spent the time.

I think I have every one of this author's works. I almost didn't buy this one because the description said it took place in the 20's, the jazz era. I have never really felt much interest in this particular time period.
I'm glad I was confident enough in the author's ability to go ahead and buy it anyway. The hero and heroine were perfect for each other, although I thought there was too much emphasis on how much booze she drank.
I read this in one sitting, and when I was finished, I was surprised that the only time I thought about WHEN the story was taking place was when mention was made in the story. It is sort of timeless, in that technology is not very important to the story; the emphasis is on the characters.
It was sometimes difficult to keep track of who was werewolf and who was vampire and who was a good werewolf and who was a good vampire- but it was an enjoyable read.
I only have one kibbutz- (SPOILER) The ending left me with a picture in my mind that did not sit well with the images I had during the story. Hopefully there will be a sequel, maybe with Gemma and Wyatt, that will
deal with the future problems Allie and Griffin will have( can a werewolf be CONVERTED)?????

In 1924 in Greenwich Village, Allegra Chase is a rare species who can walk in daylight living a normal life outside of the protection of the clan. However, New York Master Vampire Cato believes Allegra is the future of vampires, but fears for the life of this independent undead.

Griffin Durant is a unique werewolf as he refuses to join any pack. Instead he feels his duty is to keep his sister safe from the supernatural and natural terrors that haunt and hunt New York City. That is until he meets Allie while seeking to learn what happened to a friend who vanished; she is also on a quest to learn likewise the fate of her pal. As gang war seems imminent between a human criminal, Cato and a werewolf Alpha pack leader, Griffin and Allegra fal in love.

CHASING MIDNIGHT is a fun Roaring Twenties paranormal romantic suspense. Fans will believe that werewolves and vampires enjoy speakeasies and dens of iniquity as Prohibition New York City comes alive. The cross star romance is well written due to conflict between species, but it is the historical Big Apple that turns Susan Krinard's tale into a juicy bite.

Harriet Klausner

Usually I don't want a book to end...but this one couldn't end soon enough; it was relentless! It just kept going on and on and on...from one perilous situation to another - enough already! It was worse than the old Saturday afternoon movie theatre serials. And, while the author did attempt to get the details of the era correct, she stumbled big time w/ the "forensic evidence" comment. Forensic evidence (the term) didn't come into common usage until recently (when forenisc science became popular). I was much more interested in the cute dog w/ the author in her picture than I was in what happened to these characters. The book was an unfortunate waste of valuable time (that could have been spent reading something worthwhile).

The first chapter seemed promising...but after that I had a hard time finishing the book. I read the first half of the book and then I skimmed through the rest and read the last few chapters to find out how the story ended. For me, the book was boring, took forever to get to the point and like the other reviewer wrote, not much of a romance novel.