Customer Reviews

Kiss of Midnight (The Midnight Breed, Book 1)

5 star:		(104)
4 star:		(61)
3 star:		(41)
2 star:		(25)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

After witnessing a murder and barely escaping with her life, Gabrielle Maxwell does what any good and sane citizen would do; she calls the police. Upon their arrival, they find nothing that indicates anything violent happened outside the nightclub. While Gabrielle insists that she's not lying, she can't help but think she might be insane like her birth mother. The only thing that gives her hope that she is perfectly sane is the pictures she took on her cell phone as she was running away from the group of men who so savagely murdered a man right in front of her. When "Detective" Lucan Thorne appears on her doorstep, she has no reason to doubt his authenticity.

Lucan Thorne is instantly attracted to Gabrielle and almost makes an irreversible mistake when he attempts to take her blood. Seeing the mark that shows Gabrielle is a Breedmate, Lucan knows that he can't take her blood, nor can he leave her to continue living the life she has. Only a handful of human women are marked as such and to take her blood would mean mating with her for life. The the leader of an elite group of warriors, the Breed only works to protect humans from vampires that have let Bloodlust overcome them and become Rogue. When it seems that the Rogues are somehow organizing their ranks and starting a war in the human world, Lucan is determined that Gabrielle won't end up in the middle of it.

I was skeptical when I first picked this book up. There are so many new paranormal/vampire authors popping up, but Lara Adrian somehow kept it fresh with her new "Midnight" series. Throwing in a whole new twist on where vampires come from and what they represent, KISS OF MIDNIGHT is a promising start to a new vampire series.

Kenyon and Ward fans should enjoy this series.

There's absolutely no doubt as to the readership to whom this book is meant to appeal - the commendation from J R Ward, author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, gives a big clue. This book is very, very similar to the Black Dagger Brotherhood and will no doubt be enjoyed by those who like those books; the similarities are very marked - a small number of warrior vampires live together in a compound and fight against strong and numerous adversaries. This is the first in the series and it's very akin to Ward's "Dark Lover" (in fact at one point the heroine describes the hero as her dark lover), in that the hero is the leader of the band of warriors, that he isn't looking for a romantic involvement and yet he discovers that a woman is linked to the vampire nation although she herself is oblivious of that fact. There are even mentions of a Red Sox hat, there's a computer expert vampire, a monosyllabic and weird vampire, the death of one of the six warrior vampires... the comparisons with the BDB go on and on.

And yet this is a book in its own right and it has its differences. There are several good things about this book when comparing it to the BDB. The first is that the characters don't have silly names but just unusual ones - the hero is Lucan, we also meet Tegan, Nikolai, Dante, Rio, Gideon and Conlan. Secondly there aren't loads of odd words with extra letter h peppered throughout the text which I always found rather cheesy. Thirdly the sections dealing with the Rogues, those against whom the warriors are fighting, aren't as extensive (I always find myself skim-reading the Lesser sections in the BDB) and in this series the Rogues are vampires gone bad rather than a separate species.

There are some aspects about this book that didn't feel as accomplished as the BDB. The characterisation felt somehow less authentic although it was hard to put my finger on why. Gabrielle, the heroine, was a plucky woman who seemed able to cope with an awful lot of scary information in one go, perhaps too much. Lucan's conflicted nature about not wanting a mate and being afraid that he's about to lose the plot from Bloodlust was perhaps overplayed in the book but was necessary for the suspense in the plot. And in some ways perhaps that's my chief disappointment with the story, that the overall idea on which this book hung didn't seem quite developed enough. It was a good read with some spicy scenes between hero and heroine, some fighting, lots of blood and gore and awkward relationships amongst the vampire warriors but somehow it didn't quite grip me as much as the BDB. However J R Ward's novels definitely improved as she got into her writing stride with them (with the exception of Vishous' novel) and I have hopes that Lara Adrian's books will equally mature as she continues the series.

For those who like the Black Dagger Brotherhood this is a worthy read alongside that series. For those who haven't read that series, read this one first, and enjoy it, and then read the BDB and enjoy it too. For those who don't like the BDB this book probably isn't for you. Some people may moan about the similarities between the two series but I think there is room in this genre for other books of a similar type as long as they have their own individual differences as well and as long as plot and characterisation are well-written. This is a good start to the series and I have already purchased the sequel.

Gabrielle Maxwell is a successful photographer out for a night with her friends when her whole world changes. Gabby witnesses a murder outside a club--and it's not just any murder. Though she scarcely believes it, the attackers actually mauled their victim and appeared to be eating him. Snapping some photos with her camera phone for evidence, Gabby heads to the nearest police station. When the police don't believe her story, and instead encourage her to go home and rest. With the promise that a patrolman will visit later in the week, Gabby follows their orders.

Lucan Thorne is the leader of a group of vampire warriors determined to protect their race from Rogues, vampires gone crazy with bloodlust who kill indiscriminately and without remorse. Lucan is about to attack the Rogues outside the nightclub when he sees the pretty girl in the alley snapping photos and running for her life. After dealing with the errant Rogues, Lucan goes to Gabby's house pretending to be a police officer so that he can erase her memories of that night. Little does he know that the innocent photographer has a bigger secret than witnessing a vampire murder...

Kiss of Midnight was edgy and dark, which I liked, but again I'm going to have to go there. It's been said over and over again that Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series bears a striking resemblance to the vampire world created in JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood. And I like the BDB books better. Still, if you haven't read Ward's work and like vampire romances, then you should give this book a try. If you have already read the BDB books, I think it's next to impossible not to make the comparison between the two series. There are some differences, but the similarities are too close together for me to read what is essentially the same series all over again. Kiss of Midnight was good, but Dark Lover: A Novel of the Black Dagger Brotherhood (The Black Dagger Brotherhood) was better. I'll probably read the next book in this series, but only because I'm strung out for a fix waiting for the next BDB book to be published in June.

Gabrielle Maxwell doesn't feel as if she fits in. Her art is rather dark and lonely and this fits the way she has lived her life since childhood. One night she joins her friends at a new club where she is extremely uncomfortable. She leaves early only to witness a horrific murder outside the club. When she goes to the police to report the incident, with trusty photos from her cell phone to back up her claim, she is laughed at and told to go home. There is no sign of any murder outside the club. Confused and scared she returns home and is pleased when a police detective named Lucan Thorne arrives. The attraction between these two is instant but Lucan is more than what he seems and when Gabrielle learns the truth, she has to decided if she's going to let the handsome man protect her. After all the truth is more fantastic than fiction.

Lucan is a vampire warrior, he was sworn to hunt down his brethren that have turned rogue due to the addiction of blood lust. His job has always been cut and dry and then something goes wrong. A human civilian sees something she shouldn't. He goes to insure that she forgets it all but Gabby is special. She's a breedmate and her memory can't be erased. She also calls to his warrior heart. She is his and he will do what he must to claim her while keeping her safe. Trouble is the new brewing amongst the rogues is getting dangerous and Gabby is caught in the middle. Can these two find their happy ending and stay alive?

There has been a flood of new vampire legend books hitting the market within the last few months. Ms. Adrian has joined this wave with creative determination if her first breed book is any indication. Fans of J.R. Ward will find this title entertaining. Ms. Adrian has tweaked the legend added some extras and made it her own. Lucan and Gabby have a red hot chemistry between them and this fuels the romance making it believable for the reader while entertaining. Secondary characters are an added bonus and readers will find themselves looking forward to the next warrior's romance. If you're a fan of the paranormal and looking for something a little different this books for you.

I wanted to like this book partly because I'm on the hunt for good Vampire Romance/Erotica authors. I wanted Lara Adrian to be one. For me, this book was mediocre at best. The characters were one dimensional and lifeless. Lucan Thorne was supposed to be a Breed Warrior but I never got the sense he had dominion over anything. The history of Lucan's race and their struggle against humankind was vague and offered no reason for me to be interested in their journey. The "compound", which one would think to be the pulse of the clan, held only a small handful of comrades with seemingly no allegiance to their leader. The so-called action, lacked tension and excitement and left me not caring who won the fight. Lastly, the sex was average; no heated anticipation or sensuality. Major disappointment.

I won't give a run down on what this book is about as there are already several reviews on this book. I will just say I enjoyed it. It was reminiscent of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, but so what? It's not like these authors have a patent on the vampire plot. It was good, entertaining, wonderful characters, I liked the female lead. Yes, it wasn't as strong as J.R. Ward's, but overall definitely worth reading.

Photographer Gabrielle Maxwell feels eyes watching her in the crowded dance club. Searching for the source of the visual touch, she meets the gaze of a dark haired, extremely virile looking man who ignites her senses. After one brief glimpse, he is gone. Feeling tired and almost letdown, Gabrielle calls it a night and heads for home. Instead of reaching the anticipated solitude of her residence, Gabrielle is witness to a brutal murder. Being a good citizen, she frantically reports it to the local police only to have them suspect her of making a false report because of lack of evidence. With patronizing words and tone, they promise to send an officer to her home to speak with her. Unfortunately, Gabrielle has no idea the can of worms she has just opened.

Lucan Thorne senses he is just a step away from the rogue vampires he has spent most of his immortal life fighting. A Breed warrior, he and a few trusted comrades spend their nights searching out and eliminating vampires who have succumbed to blood lust. It is on one such night that Lucan's eyes meet those of Gabrielle's in a crowded club. Instantly aroused and inhaling her rich scent, Lucan begins a hunt of his own - a hunt that leads him straight to a glossy-haired temptress. There is a part of Lucan yearning to claim her while another part wants to keep her as far away as possible. When danger begins to follow Gabrielle, Lucan's skills as a warrior are put to the test. But failure is not an option and Lucan will strive to keep her safe at all costs.

KISS OF MIDNIGHT caught my eye months ago when a fellow reviewer showed me the amazon.com link. Eagerly waiting for what I envisioned to be a fantastic read, I resigned myself to reading the excerpt over and over.

It pleases me to report that KISS OF MIDNIGHT is everything I wanted it to be, and then some! I was introduced to a conclave of Breed warriors whose loyalty to each other is only surpassed by their loyalty to their breedmates. Lucan, the hero of KISS OF MIDNIGHT, is the indisputable leader and I could sense his allegiance to his men as well as his achingly tender feelings for Gabrielle.

KISS OF MIDNIGHT grabbed me by the heart and hung on tight. Lara Adrian weaves an enchanting tale with KISS OF MIDNIGHT; a tale that I hope she continues. I can envision stories about each of the Breed warriors introduced in this novel. I am happy to report that KISS OF MIDNIGHT'S sequel, KISS OF CRIMSON, is to be released less than one month after KISS OF MIDNIGHT. Look out readers, because I plan to be the first in line to purchase this next installment!

As I turned the last page of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood in Lover Unleashed, I felt a huge sense of loss that I'd finished the fabulous BDB series. I searched and searched to find something that could come even close to it when Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series kept coming up. I read the excerpt for Kiss of Midnight and immediately bought the entire series.

Having just finished Kiss of Midnight, my void for a similar Brotherhood of warriors is more than filled. Lovers of JRW's series will love this, although the similarities between the two vampire series (and especially the first two, JRW's Dark Lover and LA's Kiss of Midnight) are truly remarkable. So much so that at times you could be forgiven for thinking that Lucan was actually Wrath. Just to name how truly interchangeable these two books are:-

* Both bands of warriors dress the same (black leather), have arsenals of daggers, blades and other hand to hand combat strapped to them, look the same, act the same, drive the same impressive fleet of expensive cars, hang out of nightclubs, live among unsuspecting humans whom they are protecting from bloodthirsty villains in Boston (which, given the locations the baddies are smoked in, i.e. alleyways, derelict dockside buildings etc) could be Caldwell all over again. A lot of action in JRW's books is also set in Boston.

* Both warrior brethren live in high security mansions/underground compounds that are so incredibly alike that you almost wonder if the Black Dagger Brotherhood moved out of theirs and the Breed moved in.

* Lucan moved Gabrielle into the compound under his protection because it was no longer safe for her to live a human life in her apartment - Wrath moved Beth into the compound under his protection because it was no longer safe ....... blah blah - ditto.

* Wrath was King of his vampires, the oldest of their kind - Lucan is the Leader of his vampires - the oldest of his kind. When Lucan started to get headaches, pinching his nose (Wrath ditto, again) all I thought was that if Lucan was to go blind as well it would be one coincidence too far. Luckily, that did not happen.

* Their enemies, Lesses in BDB and Rogues in MD, are also very similar and meet their makers in much the same way when slain by the brothers. They have overlords bent on organising them into armies to fight the warriors, kill the humans and strive for world domination. In both series, the warrior brethren must hunt them down every night and destroy as many as possible, preventing them forming their own army.

I could go on here, but, to be fair, whilst the similarities are incredibly obvious and striking, the two authors have quite different writing styles. JRW's style is well known for its liberal use of expletives and super cool, overly hip Urban slang that makes you wonder sometimes what on earth she's on about. LA is more descriptive, less profane. Both are brilliant authors that keep you turning the pages, well into the night sometimes (ok, mostly through the night!).

The fact that each warrior hails from a different country is a nice touch and shows, to me, perception on the part of LA of her international readership and following. As a German, I can't wait to read Andreas Reichen's story. A rare thing indeed to have a German depicted as a hero, and a strong vampire no less, rather than the stereotypical N*zi or villain for once.

The one thing missing for me here is that, for some strange reason, there are no servants in that mansion/compound. One of the things I found quite amusing in BDB was the interaction with the servants or doggen and, especially, Fritz. I even miss George the Golden Retriever and Beth's cat. This enormous fortress with all of its priceless antiques and cars etc either never gets dirty or has ghosts that do the housework (nice one if you can get the latter - where do I sign up?). And no-one ever seems to sit down to eat. I find myself missing the banter around the dining hall table at First Meal and Last Meal etc.

Still, after everything is said and done, the Midnight Breed book series is just exactly what you need to get over the end of the BDB series so far and neither disappoints if you enjoy this type of fiction.

I am now reading book 2, Kiss of Crimson, and I can see it going in a much less obvious BDB direction. I highly recommend the Midnight Breed and hope everyone enjoys it as much as I am.
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Loved this book. Its the best "first in a series" paranormal romance I've read in a long time. Is it reminescent of Ward, Kenyon, Alexis Morgan, and Jenna Black? Yes in the sense that most paranormal romance/thrillers that feature strong ALPHA males and their soulmate/bondmate/breedmate share some similar characteristics. But this is a great genre where each author brings her own unique settings, history and storylines. This book is no exception. Ms Adrian captures the flavor of historical Boston/New England vividly. Her vampires with roots in Alien invaders is a neat twist. The heroine was smart, savvy and strong. A must for me...I personally can't stand whiny/TSTS (to stupid to survive) heroines. Gabrielle was a winner. Lucan was sexy, brooding but not too quiet. He talked with Gabrielle which is nice. For me, a good plot includes good dialog.
The sex scenes were good, sensual and just the right amount. Another plus for me. Can't stand books where every page is sex without being character driven, but at the same time...I don't like waiting til the end of the book for the main characters to get together.
This book has interesting H/H, intriging secondary characters, (can't wait for Tegan's book.) and a nicely goulish villains. And we haven't found out all about the top bad guy yet, Ms Adrian left a nice cliffhanger to be resolved in future books. I recommend this book, and look forward to future installments.

After Gabrielle Maxwell witnesses a brutal attack by a pack of Rogue Vampires outside a nightclub, she is plunged into a war that most humans don't realize is happening. A war where Breed Warriors fight to keep the world safe from vampires who have succumbed to the lure of bloodlust and turned rogue. Little does she know, this is a world that has touched her before, and this time it's a world she won't be able to leave.

Lara Adrian's vampires are the progeny of aliens who crash landed on Earth centuries ago. The original aliens were voracious predators, eventually wiped out by their children. But something of the monster still lurks within, and the vampires fight against a bloodlust which if they give into, will see them marked for death by the Breed Warriors.

Kiss of Midnight introduces us to this world through the eyes of Gabrielle Maxwell and Lucan Thorne. Unbeknownst to Gabrielle she is a Breedmate - a human female genetically compatible with the Breed (all vampire children are male). Lucan Thorne is a Gen 1, (the first generation of alien children who rose up to kill their fathers) as such, he struggles harder against the bloodlust than his compatriots. But that doesn't stop him from being drawn to Gabrielle, even though he feels she would be better suited to a pairing with another vampire.

I really enjoyed this story. Maybe because I went into it with the expectation of being underwhelmed. Instead I was racing through it wanting to know what happened next. The plot moves along at a cracking pace, characters are well drawn and believable. And I ended this story happy I could move onto book 2 straight away.

Lara Adrian's world is well thought out. There are a couple of very nice touches, not necessarily part of the main storyline, but they serve to make the world more real. For instance, I like that Dante has to wait for Lucan to finish before he can feed - it illustrates the animalistic hierarchical nature of the vampires without beating us over the head with it.

Although most of her bad guys are rogues, consumed with the need for blood, sex and death. The head guy is a very well written anti-hero. I'm interested to see where Lara Adrian goes with him. She leaves you with the feeling that though he's committed heinous acts, there's a possibility he could go either way. He could be redeemed. It's the fact that there's thought and calculation behind his every action, and we don't yet know if there's only cold intellect there, or something more.

I believed the relationship between Gabrielle and Lucan and liked how it developed as Gabrielle was drawn into the world of the Breed. The love scenes between them are hot. :)

It does have some problems. It's almost bound to be compared to Dark Lover (J.R.Ward). There are a couple of scenes reminiscent of that book - when Lucan breaks into Gabrielle's apartment for example. And Lara Adrian does use what readers might have come to consider as the vampire group sterotypes. Lucan - the oldest and in charge, Gideon - the computer expert, Tegan - the loner, and later in the story one of the warriors is horrifically scarred. Hopefully LA will be able to take these characters and make them her own.

One inconsistency for me - at the end a character is told to jump off a roof but we never see her die, though later Gabrielle says she is dead. Did I miss it? I don't know if this is intentional or not. The vampire master and Gabrielle go up to the roof and whilst they're fighting we never see the other character take her leap. I don't know if we're meant to assume she jumped from a different part of the roof or that she got away?

Despite these minor niggles, this is a fantastic start to a new vampire urban fantasy series. I think if the stories remain this strong, any comparisons between Lara Adrian's series and others will pretty soon be inconsequential. I'm hooked.