Dark Desires After Dusk (The Immortals After Dark, Book 5) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Kresley Cole (Author)
Key Phrases: demon brew, next checkpoint, Dark Desires After Dusk, Val Hall, Red Bull (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
RITA Award-winning author Kresley Cole continues her bestselling Immortals After Dark series with this electrifying tale of a ruthless demon mercenary and the lovely young halfling who enchants him.

A seductive beauty he can
never have, yet can't resist...

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she
should fear, but can't deny...

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires...

Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs -- and claim his heart?

About the Author
Before becoming a writer, Kresley Cole was a competitive athlete and a Master's grad in English. She sold her first two novels in 2003, and since then, she has published eleven more books and has seen her releases translated into nine foreign languages.

Kresley followed her highly-acclaimed Sutherland Series historicals with the bestselling MacCarrick Brothers Series, a trilogy of Highlander historical romances, as well as the continuing Immortals After Dark Series, a Rita award-winning paranormal romance collection, all with Pocket Books.

In January 2009, she became a #1 New York Times and Publishers Weekly bestseller with her sixth IAD installment, Kiss of a Demon King.

Kresley lives in Florida with her husband and far too many dogs. She loves to hear from readers and invites you to visit her website: www.kresleycole.com.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket (May 20, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416576754
• ISBN-13: 978-1416576754
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,169 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 5 in The Immortals After Dark Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile addition to the Immortals After Dark series, May 17, 2008

By	K. Hinton "avid reader" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Cadeon Woede, second in line to the throne of the rage demons, will do anything to right the terrible wrong that he's done to his family. Because of Cade's stubborn refusal to return to their homeland when his brother Rydstrom asked him to, their kingdom was stolen by a sorcerer called Omort the Deathless. Since then, Cade has worked as a mercenary and is known as Cade the Kingmaker among the Lore. He has a reputation for being able to put anyone on a throne--except the one person he wants to most. Finally, Cade is given the opportunity to right this wrong by getting an ensorcelled sword that will be able to kill Omort. The only thing he has to do is deliver a woman known as the Vessel to Omort's brother. The vessel is a member of the Lore who will give birth to a child born of ultimate evil or ultimate good--depending on the child's father. The problem is, she's also Cade's fated female.

Holly Ashwin is an obsessive-compulsive PhD candidate at Tulane who teaches mathematics to jocks. Holly has a thing for threes, compulsive cleaning, and computer codes and mathematics. She has been raised as a mortal and has no idea that she's the Vessel until she's kidnapped from campus and held hostage for a demon ritual. While Holly is fighting them off, she's struck by lightning and suddenly overcome with the preternatural strength of a rage-filled Valkyrie. After killing those who would do her harm, Holly meets up with Cade who informs her that all of the myths she's ever heard are real and that all the creatures of the Lore are after her--some want her dead and some want to father her unborn child. With him as her guide, Cade promises to help Holly regain her mortality, which is all that she really wants. Until she realizes that having a rage demon for a mate might be better than her boring old life...

Dark Desires After Dusk is a worthwhile addition to the Immortals After Dark series. I've been waiting for Cade's story ever since Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (The Immortals After Dark, Book 3). And Cole didn't disappoint me. Cade has always been a darker character who seemed lonely and in need of affection. In Wicked Deeds, he makes a half-hearted attempt at finding love with a witch only to be shut down quickly by her Lykae mate. And in Dark Needs at Night's Edge (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 4), he once again tries to help his brother regain his crown, only to commit an unforgivable offense against the vampire who could have helped him. So it makes sense that to find love he would have to choose between his life's mission and his fated female. And watching it unfold was pure magic. Holly is a worthwhile opponent to Cade's mercenary self, despite the fact that she's half human. She knows what she wants and she gives as good as she gets. This girl makes him work for it every step of the way, and as she learns the ins and outs of the immortal lifestyle and what it means to be a Valkyrie she shows Cade that she's no shrinking violet.

Fans of the Immortals After Dark series will be happy to hear that Kresley Cole hasn't lost her edge. These books just keep getting racier, more intense, and more dazzlingly suspenseful and entertaining. I haven't read one yet that hasn't left me fulfilled and content, eagerly awaiting the next one in the pipeline. If you haven't started this series yet, I'm going to suggest you run, not walk, to buy A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1). And if you're a longtime fan like myself, we'll have to content ourselves with waiting for Not That Innocent, an anthology due out in May 2009.

29 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious Demon!, May 16, 2008

By	Misuzmama (New York, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Nine hundred years ago, due to a careless act on his part, Rage demon Cadeon Woede caused the fall of an entire kingdom into enemy hands. His royal brother lost his crown. His entire foster family was murdered. And Cadeon has been living with the guilt and itch for revenge ever since. Now, after so many centuries, he's been offered the opportunity to right that wrong. All the demon mercenary has to do is locate the 'Vessel' (a chosen female of Lore who will beget a child who will become a warrior of ultimate evil or good) and hand her over to a wicked sorcerer. In exchange for the female, Cadeon will receive the only weapon capable of defeating his enemy and thus the opportunity to restore the kingdom to its rightful hands. Everyone is counting on him to get this job done and there is nothing Cadeon won't do to complete his task. Only one teensy weensy problem -the female he has to give up happens to be his predestined mate.

Dark Desires is the fifth (or sixth if you include the anthology) book in the Immortals After Dark series -
Playing Easy to Get
A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1)
No Rest for the Wicked (The Immortals After Dark, Book 2)
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (The Immortals After Dark, Book 3)
Dark Needs at Night's Edge (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 4).

This book can be read as a stand alone. Although I do recommend that you read the entire series just because the other books are just too good to pass up. But a reader starting at this point won't be missing anything and can back track later it they want to.

As far as I'm concerned I absolutely loved this book! Cade is such a delicious demon, a gorgeous ladies man with a heart-stopping grin. And I just love the way he tried in vain to keep his hands off his little halfling brainiac Holly. And Holly is so cute with the way she dresses and her little quirks. She tries so hard to control her life and suppress her tempestuous Valkyrie tendencies. Its lots of fun to see Cade try and *unleash* them. They make such a great couple.

Besides the sexy and fun romance, the book is full of some gripping fast paced action, as well as an infusion of new and interesting characters. There is also some surprises including a cliff hanger ending for one of the secondary characters...that was......OH MY!

Another great addition to a great series. Read them all, you won't be disappointed. This one is going on my keeper shelf.

27 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Blue Ribbons from Romance Junkies!, April 12, 2008

By	Janine B. "Naples Reader" (Naples, FL) - See all my reviews

Holly Ashwin is the first to admit she likes her life neat and tidy. Her mannerisms are methodical, her movements disciplined. Her ordered life abruptly ends when she is pulled from the structured world of academia and thrust into the unruly world of the Lore. With her newly emerging Valkyrie powers somewhat out of her control, Holly is appalled at the riotous changes occurring in her life. She holds only one hope - a return to her former existence of calm and order. To her complete dismay, her hope rides on the shoulders - the quite brawny shoulders - of a roguish Rage Demon named Cadeon Woede.

Cade has been carrying a massive load of guilt for over nine hundred years. His past actions caused the loss of his brother's crown, and his brother has never let him forget it. His current profession as a mercenary lets him work toward his one objective in life - to kill the sorcerer who stole his family's kingdom. With absolute loyalty to his brother, Cade accepts his latest mission of obtaining a valuable weapon needed to regain control of the throne. His task, however, involves Holly, a newly empowered Valkyrie halfling who just so happens to be his fated female. In a wrenching twist of fate, Cade learns that to complete his mission he must deal Holly the ultimate betrayal.

When offered the chance to get my hands on DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK, I calmly wiped my sweaty palms... and then blushed as I greedily grabbed at the book. That is how enchanted I am with Kresley Cole's The Immortals After Dark Series. Book five, Cade and Holly's story, starts off with a bang and effortlessly holds that riveting pace through the entire novel. Holly, with her irrepressible OCD tendencies, is warmly captivating with her quirky habits and endless need for order. I found myself laughing at her tendencies to rearrange and compartmentalize anything that wasn't nailed down. Mixing her with Cade, a roguishly unpredictable demon, is an inspired pairing. His mischievous chaos clashing with her need for calm is both hilarious and heartwarming. Simultaneously, my heart was wrenched at the utterly hopeless position in which Cade finds himself. How does one choose between his family and those that depend on him, and the beautiful halfling that owns his heart?

I am having a hard time finding words to do justice to this remarkably romantic story. How do I express how witty, sexy and thrilling I found this tale to be? Every word, every deed, and every scene from beginning to end kept me a willing captive of Ms. Cole's imagination. With engaging characters and exciting plotlines, the world of the Lore continues to deliver an exhilarating mix of mischief and mayhem. DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK effortlessly seals Kresley Cole's place as one of the top writers of paranormal romance.

Reviewed by Jolie Dreyson/Romance Junkies