Customer Reviews

Midnight Sun

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Sebastian's afterlife has not been the same since Allison Parker walked into it. A Templar knight sentenced to death as a vampire by the Hand of God, Archangel Michael, himself, Sebastian has been charged with guarding humanity from those who seek to destroy and enslave them. Now that a legend from the Dark Ages threatens to surface, Sebastian is faced with what has become his deepest fear; the loss of Allison, his midnight sun.

Allison Parker is the girl to call when pesky poltergeists bump in the night, or when your uncle comes to visit and stays around, even after his death. `Crazy Allie' knows that these things truly exist. One night enforced that belief and brought her into the world of vampires and immortal Templar knights. She's never looked back since and has never wanted to. When a renegade intent on vengeance threatens her and those she loves, she knows that she cannot shy from pain, both emotional and physical, to save those in her heart.

Midnight Sun introduces us to a world where those who fought without faith were punished mightily. God saw into the hearts of the Templars and knew when they no longer believed in Him. He took their souls from them and sent them back to repent. Now, these dangerous men try desperately to feel warmth, purpose, and hope. Rene Lyons has penned darkly vulnerable heroes that have sinned, but are yearning for redemption. The emotions that were ripped from me while I read this book were hatred, sorrow, pity, joy. This author made the characters and events come to life as only a master storyteller can. When I saw where the title came from it truly brought a tear to my eye. Ms. Lyons has such skill when it comes to bringing the emotions forefront in this book. The ending of this book is sadism in its most pure form. I fervently hope that we will be able to read of the other Templars that were introduced in Midnight Sun. I, for one, will be frothing until I get the next installment in this saga.

Centuries ago the Templar Knights were an elite group of warriors who fought for God until they were captured, imprisoned, tortured, and finally burned to death in front of cheering crowds. These warriors were saved, but became damned to spend eternity as vampires trying to reclaim their souls. Sebastian, Constantine, Raphael, Lucian, and Tristan are a close knit group who only had each other until they saved Allison Parker. Allie became part of their family after Constantine and Raphael rescued her from a savage attack by renegade vampires, an attack that almost killed her. Allie is the town "crazy person" due to her research into the paranormal and her ghost hunting. While she loves all the Templar vampires, Allie feels an undeniable pull towards Sebastian even though he completely ignores her.

Sebastian of Rydon keeps to himself, and despite being drawn to Allie, he avoids her because he feels she is better than him. Sebastian is tortured by his past transgressions and he can not bear for Allie to be hurt. Sebastian and the Templar vampires are working on finding a group of renegade vampires who are kidnapping, torturing, and killing girls from town in the hope of finding information on the elusive Daystar. A relic that holds incredible power for a vampire as it would allow them to walk during the day.

Allie has been helping with research on the Daystar and doing what she can while the men sleep during the day. Their search is turning up nothing and their frustration is growing as the Templar cannot bear the loss of all this innocence. As Allie and Sebastian work closely together, their feelings escalate. Will Sebastian, Allie, and the Templar vampires find the killers before anyone else is harmed? And will Sebastian ever be able to put his past behind him and seize the happiness that is right in front of him?

Midnight Sun instantly grabs the reader and will not let go until the very end, leaving you begging for more! Rene Lyons' world is fraught with sexy, dangerous, and irresistible vampires and strong gorgeous heroines that the reader becomes invested in from the start. Allie is a beautiful and good woman who has endured much in her life and just wants happiness and a place to really belong. Sebastian is the strong, silent, and incredibly hot type who will sacrifice everything, even his own happiness, to keep the woman he is drawn to safe. Midnight Sun has it all; great characters, an intense story, sexy love scenes, and vampires to die for! This was an incredibly awesome read and I loved every minute of it!! Rene Lyons has been added to my auto buy list and I am not sure I can wait until October when the next Templar vampire makes his appearance!!

Gracie
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

Rene Lyons created a group of arrogant templar warriors that made me immediately addictive to them!

It takes a moment or two for the story to pick you up but from that moment it is relentless to let you go. A handful of templar's lure you with each page more into their journey, their past, their battle against the renegades and the everlasting bloodlust. This story is focused on Sebastian and Allie and introduces you to each of the templar's and their seductive nicknames. The hunger Sebastian a.k.a. The Sage feels in his soul for this stubborn but courages woman echoes throughout this novel, he can deny it all he wants, he can avoid Allie all he wants but still love will find a way. In the mean time he and his brother-in-arms are also desperately searching for the Daystar and the renegades are not far behind.

The plot enticed me to keep reading as I craved for the renegades to be punished and a quest that raised a curiosity in me, the past holds more secrets but when will they be revealed?? For me Rene Lyons wraps up the good stuff in a stunning story! As the templar's are damned in death and now as creatures of the night they walk a hard path to redemption. Still I felt the fire of their hope and believe various times burning in their minds.

This is definitely a story that echoes in your mind after you've finished it. Each templar brings their own vibe to it giving it a spicy bite. Rene Lyons has given the city of Damascus true vampire evil to destroy and she described it with such a vivid detail I could feel the desperation of the women who've been captured and the peace that came with the realization of the inevitable. This world Rene Lyons created sparkles and sizzles with emotions the characters go through, joy, laughter, sadness and pain and they all made me feel it. The templar's with their history, tragedy, courage and unique male bonding is something I always love to read about.

And then there was the final of this book that was an outburst of pure evil and danger that had me enthralled until the very last page with blurry eyes. Also there was a cliff hanger that made me question what would happen next.

Rene Lyons captures the reader with a well spun tale which reflects a promising sign for the rest of the series.

Courtesy of Realms on our Bookshelves

New authors and new publishing houses are always a risk and this one just didn't pay off quite as well as I had hoped. The typesetting in the book features double-spacing between each paragraph which is an annoying waste of space. Although the characters are written on the shallow side, there is always an eye towards future books. It's like the characters are written with signs of the future book titles tatooed on their chest! The female lead is OK, but spunky females really need a little more sense--she starts out snooping around in her friends house, going through their personal effects--all because she has a key! There IS a small difference between a key and permission to conduct a detailed search!. Just hold out for the used copy.

When I started reading this book I was a bit skeptical as I am when I begin any book. But once Rene Lyons unleashed a passion that I never thought could be expressed in words, I completely came un-hinged! I wanted to be in Sebastians arms for the rest of my life!!!

When things go bump in the night, Allison Parker bumps back. As the resident ghost hunter in a quiet, rural town, she's thrust into the nocturnal world of the Templars. Embracing the night, she finds a place where she belongs.

Damned by God, Sebastian of Rydon knows only blood and death. After eight hundred years of merely existing, he learns what is to live when Allie comes bursting into his life. Her spirit guides him out of the dark.

Although l really liked the central storyline of this book l agree with other reviews that there seemed to be a lot of scene setting for future works and the book itself switched a lot between different points of view. Although I'm not adverse to this it does tend to slightly hinder the flow of the book when you're switching between the POV's of practically every character in the book!

Overall not one of my favs but a good effort with plenty of room for development of some intriguing secondary characters.

I enjoyed this book. I liked the characters, yes you can tell it is setting up for sequels, but I liked that also. If you like a little drama, some sexuality, and good fight scenes you'll enjoy this book.

I can't say anything without spoling it, but this book was really good lots of action, emotion, and sensuality. You must check it out.

I couldn't put this book down; it was truly an emotional roller coaster! Unlike many of the paranormal romance novels out there (and believe me, I've read most of them) this book doesn't hold back on the scare factor. I was first shocked by the level of violence, but I have to say, all it did was make every aspect of the story even more enthralling. Rene Lyon, if you're reading this, thank you so much for this fantastic series and PLEASE keep it going. For years to come I'll be searching Amazon for your name to find out when your next book is coming out!

THIS IS FIRST BOOK I'VE READ IN YEARS, IT WAS SUGGESTED TO ME ON A WHIM. I THOUGHT IT TO BE VERY INTERESTING AND HELD MY ATTENTION SO MUCH THAT I GOT THE OTHER TWO IN THE SERIES. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT COMES NEXT. DEANA