Customer Reviews

Deeper Than Midnight (The Midnight Breed, Book 9)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

3.5 Stars


Corinne Bishop is finally free after being kidnapped and forced to endure decades of torture at the hands of the depraved vampire Dragos. She wishes to return home to her wealthy family so they can help her get back the one thing that matters most to her. Hunter has been given the task to escort Corinne home. Once a lethal assassin, Hunter escaped from Dragos and joined the Order, an elite group of vampires who fight to keep their kind safe. He knows first hand the brutality Dragos is capable of and Hunter will do anything to stop him, even break the heart of the only person he's ever loved.

Hunter is different from his fellow Breed warriors, all male vampires. He was born from Dragos' heinous experiments of using breedmates, human women who are able to mate with vampires, and an imprisoned Ancient, aliens who mated with human women to create the Breed race. He was created to be a perfect assassin, void of all emotions. You get glimpses of him caring when Hunter is around the little girl who lives in the Order compound but other than that, he's like a machine. That is until Corinne. I think part of the attraction is that he finally had someone who understood what he went through. As they spend more time together, he starts to gradually allow himself to feel and care of Corinne. I liked that Corinne didn't drastically change Hunter but instead showed him that it's ok to care. The changes in Hunter are subtle and I think if it would have been any more than that it would have felt forced and I wouldn't have found it right for his character.

Corinne was taken by Dragos because she wears the mark of a breedmate and was used in his plan to make assassins. Even though she has faced unimaginable abuse, when she is rescued she walks out of her prison with her head held high. She looks to reunite with her family and will let nothing stop her from finding what was taken from her. The very reason she was able to survive all the torture she faced. I couldn't help but admire Corinne just from the fact that she not only survived but still has fight in her. In the beginning she seeks out her family for the comfort and protection but after learning alarming news, Corinne sets out with Hunter to find information on Dragos' location and ultimately find what she's looking for.

The relationship between these two is sweet. Hunter is able to see past Corinne's scars and in turn she gifts him with his first taste of real emotions. There's an innocence between this inexperienced pair that I found endearing. I wouldn't go as far to say they are my favorite couple from this series but rather they were pleasantly different compared to the other mates.

Dragos is at it again in Deeper Than Midnight. Whenever the Order foils one of his plans, another more vicious one emerges and the latest one involves human politicians. Dragos wants to make Lucan and the Order pay for continually stopping him from ruling their kind and he might finally have a scheme that will accomplish that. The thing that really bothered me most about this book was that it felt like yet another stepping stone to something bigger. The last few books in the series have felt the same way and even though I enjoyed them, I want something more than just a book that's a lead in for the next. I can feel that something big is about to happen and I want it to occur before I lose interest in finding out what's up Dragos' sleeve.

Even though Deeper Than Midnight felt like one big lead into the next book, I still managed to find things I liked about it. One being Hunter and Corrine's relationship and the other being Chase. He's been in a downward spiral for the last couple books and in this one he hits rock bottom. Every scene he's in did a number on my emotions and the ending will was truly unexpected. As far as I'm concerned his book cannot be released soon enough.

I was really looking forward to Hunter's book since he is one of my favorite Breed characters. I wasn't looking forward to him being paired with Corinne but I got over that as I read the story. But, it wasn't that much of a story. The book kept going back to Chase. If Lara Adrian wanted to write about Chase soooo bad, then he should have been book #9!! He took up way too much time in this book.

It was a total letdown even though I was glad to read about Dante, Tess, Mira and the other characters from the series. Hunter was an assassin for Dragos who managed to get free. He then joined the Order to destroy Dragos. In book #8, Brock and Jenna's book, the Order's breedmates managed to rescue some breedmates that Dragos has captured over decades.

Dragos experimented, tortured and bred the females with the Ancient. Corinne Bishop was one of the rescued and wants to go home to her Detroit Darkhaven. Hunter is in charge of seeing her safely home. I don't want to give away the book. but needless to say, they go on a quest to find people working with Dragos. Everytime you finally get into the story, it would jump back to stupid Chase, who is getting closer and closer to Bloodlust.

I think in this story that Lara Adrian spends so much time setting up the next book for Chase's story that Hunter and Corinne's story got the shaft.

Let me start with what I love about this book. I loved the 1st half. The writing, the premise, and the plot twists alone, were written superbly. This one has alot of suspense, a trade mark to the Breed novels. I love that I got to touch base with all of the Warriors & their mates. U can't help but to care about them all and just because their books ended doesn't mean they are no longer important to us readers.

Hunter, of course! What is not to love about this strong, silent "Hero" Even though we only met him 4 books prior, he was immediately intriguing to me. I wanted to know this guy's story. I felt very protective of him. Even though he had yet to show us if he would be an ally or enemy to the Order. All I knew was that I wanted Hunter to know some of the beauty this world has to offer. Knowing where he came from, his very existence in the only world he knew & what he endured was just heartbreaking.

I do like that we get a more than brief preview of our Beloved Chase as well. I do think that he was just as front and center as Hunter was & was sort of approaching that thin line of taking the spot light, but not quite crossing it. Thank Goodness! Cuz this is Hunter's story and we'll have Chase soon enough. But it is a good set up for his book next year..

Now with all this, the reason why I give this one a 3 and half star rating is due to Corinne & Hunter's chemistry or lack there of. I did not care for her even when we got her back story from Brock in his book. I was a little worried when it was revealed that she would be Hunter's love interest. But I took it in stride hoping to be pleasantly surprised. NO such luck. I'm sorry 2 say. This pairing left much to be desired.

The intensity that you felt with the other mates was not even present with these two. And I was hoping because of the type of Breed Hunter is, that once these foreign feelings of love, caring, possessiveness, & sexual awakening took hold of him, it would prove to be even more intense. Just because these are feelings he has never known, it would seem 2 be the natural progression that would occur. But it didn't. The romance with he and Corinne fell flat to me. And there is nothing present in her personality or otherwise that complimented him. They were just not "yin" to the other's "yang"...

Lastly, the ending.. There was just something missing and I can't quite put my finger on it. There were things that were pleasantly surprising & obvious cliff hangers. But the writing became choppy, and the emotions displayed came off as rushed with a half hearted attempt at sincerity or depth of the emotional conflicts displayed in certain scenes during the last 4 chapters. Overall this book was still a pretty good read & a good addition to this series. I just feel that for my beloved Hunter, Ms. Adrian could have done a much better job. Although these books can be read as stand alones I would highly recommend you follow this series in sequence. Overall I think this series is excellent. And I recommend this read.

Since, most of the people here have already given a summary of the book then I will just skip that and get right to what I thought about it.

I have read all of the Midnight Breed books, and have loved each and everyone. However, I did not love and barely liked this one at all. When Humter was first introduced into the series he was fascinating, exciting, and different. My expectations for his book I don't believe were too high but I expected much better than this. THe story was rushed and boring at many times. There were too many storylines going on in addition to Hunter and Corrine's. I understand the reasoning and need for the continuation of Dragos, but between that, Hunter and COrinne, and Sterling Chase, it was way too much at once. More attention should've been given to the main characters, Hunter and Corinne, since it was their book. Some of Chase's story could've waited until his book. Hunter really seemed like the subplot in this or even just background. I like fantasy and romance but none was really here. It's a paranormal romance book, I want hot steamy sex in it just like the last ones, I mean come one what happened here? Hunter deserved better, really.

I have been waiting for Hunter's story ever since we were first introduced to him. I couldn't wait to learn more about this quiet, mysterious and lethal warrior. But I must say I am really disappointed in Deeper than Midnight. Hunter and Corrine barely have a story in this book. It is mostly about Chase. I don't understand why Lara Adrian spent so much time on Chase in this book. I understand that she is trying to set up Chase's story for the next book, but there was no need for it to take up half of this book. I am upset that Lara did not give Hunter and Corrine their own book..instead it is shared with Chase. So disappointed.

I typically love Adrian and looked forward to this latest installment, but what a major let down! To those who loved it--great. It simply wasn't for me. I like action AND romance--sadly, the latter was missing. We have Corinne and Hunter, both hardened, or more appropriately, deadened by their tragic pasts, and although I mustered up feelings of sympathy in the scenes between Corinne and her family, Adrian's writing was horribly unemotional between Corinne and Hunter. I anticipated a heart-wrenching love story, but how can that happen without passion? And when passion suddenly stirred between the two (heated gazes, sense on longing), it felt contrived. Ugh... I'm just so disappointed... I wont even go into the side plots, but then again, I've never been a fan of Chase's. But hey, at least he exhibited emotion when railing at Elise in the chapel.

I'm not going to do another synopsis of the story since others have already done it, I'm just going to give my opinion. I didn't really feel the connection between Hunter & Corinne, their relationship seemed to be based only on the blood bond, they didn't fall in love first like the other others. This basically took the romance out of the romance novel. The entire Corinne story line bothered me too, Dragos kidnaps breedmates to create his warriors, but the women are tortured & starved. Why? Healthy women produce healthy & more babies than sickly women, so not taking care of them makes no sense. Then there's the whole baaaaaaaaby aspect about her story. Twilight has the same problem, women must have babies to be complete. Corinne's whole story is finding her baby, & she doesn't even care that she has to tie herself to a man she barely knows for the rest of her life to do it. I guess that makes her a real woman, but a really boring one to read about.

I'm tired of hearing about Dragos, & I can't understand how the Order & the Agency together can't seem to stop this one man, even though he's out there living a life like a human. If he's hanging around senators & vice presidents, he can't be invisible. Doesn't say much for either agency's abilities when the only person to track him down is a rogue ex agency/order member of the breed who is now in human custody. How are they going to get Chase out of this? Even if he escapes or is let go, he's 100% recognizable now, what are they going to do about that, give him a new face?

This book obviously was meant to lead into the next, & I think that's part of the problem. Reading this felt like it was just something to do to get to the next book, it didn't feel like something that should be read for it's own story.

I have been looking forward to the release of this book-- but what a waste of time. I love the series - especially the first 6 books. This was more like a Tom Clancy novel. I thought the characters were shallow. Others have commented on how quickly both main characters got past their horrendously brutal past to love and trust each other. Where was the romance. And I for one don't care about Chase. He has never garnered my attention. I am sure the next book will be about how the beautiful women at the political ball is his soul mate and will find a way to rescue him as she is soooo clever. After a while I began to skim through the book---looking for something interesting. Maybe the next book will be better.

WOW! I was really looking forward to a good story about Hunter. I LOVE HUNTER! He was totally robbed of a story. Chase's story totally dominated this book. Hunter was not given much thought or time to HIS story. All the other books did a great job of focusing on the main characters' story. Not this one!

The book was "good" as far as a General story goes. However, I gave it one star because I feel the author failed to deliver a story about Hunter. This felt more like a soap opera type story with more focus on Chase. It was like Hunter's story was always being fast forwarded to Chase's story.

I am very disappointed. I feel Corrine was all wrong for Hunter, and I feel I barely got to know Hunter. The author gave us little info on Hunter, and only glimpses of his and Corrine's relationship/developing story.

What a waste of a good Character!

Deeper Than Midnight (Book 9) by Lara Adrian
Paranormal Romance- June 28th, 2011
4 1/2 stars

Deeper than Midnight is the 9th book in this involving and evolving vampire (Breed) series by Lara Adrian. This book really excited me because the hero, Hunter is a mysterious killing machine that used to work for the enemy. I couldn't wait to read more about him and the woman who is able to capture his heart.

Hunter was trained from birth to kill. He is deadly and cold. He knows his only purpose was to serve his evil master Dragos. However, he was lucky to escape and now he has pledged his allegiance to the Order. The Breed or vampires who want to fight against the power hungry Dragos. But living in isolation, makes it difficult for Hunter to feel emotion and connect with the other members on his team. That is until he meets the tortured and valiant Breedmate Corinne.

Corinne was kidnapped from her sheltered home and taken by Dragos to breed more vampires to build his empire. Thankfully, she was rescued. Her haunting beauty calls to Hunter and he is surprised to discover himself desiring a woman.

Both have been victims of Dragos and understand that he must be stopped at any cost. When Corinne asks to be escorted to her old home, Hunter finds himself volunteering to be her bodyguard. But their simple trip entails far more danger and treachery than either realizes.

This was an enthralling installment in the Midnight Breed series. Dragos is diabolical and even as the Order tries to neutralize him they soon find themselves on the defensive. There are several subplots that later tie in together and kept me turning pages! Many characters from previous books reappear and it was heartwarming to read how their strong relationships have continued to make them happy. The author delves into Dragos schemes which made me feel that this series will still be running full steam for several books to come. I really enjoyed this story because I wanted Hunter to finally find someone who could understand and care for him. And he definitely found her in Corinne. I was particularly intrigued by the change in Sterling Chase, whose inner demons and unrequited love still pain him. I hope that the author will not forget him in a future book?!

This story was action packed and full of intrigue. Lara Adrian masterfully creates a world that is constantly keeping the reader guessing what's up her sleeve. Just when you think the Order may finally have the upper hand the evil Dragos is causing more havoc and mayhem. Those who love this series will not be disappointed.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club