Lara Adrian

Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian
1st in the Midnight Breed series. Dark and gritty vampire paranormal romance.
Gabrielle Maxwell was found in a trash can when she was just a baby. Her mother had been attacked by vampires and while she initially survived, too much blood had been taken and authorities didn’t believe her rambling story about an attack. Gabrielle grew up in the foster system. She has a few good friends but her trust is hard won.
Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside a night club and is plunged into the dark world of vampires where a blood war is about to erupt. Lucan Thorne is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind while also eliminating the Rogues. Rescuing Gabrielle is his job. Falling in love with her is unexpectedly complicated because she is destined for leadership.

Violent and bloody, sexy and passionate, this initial book sets the tone of the series. Originally published in 2007, the series newest book is number 18 from 2022. Clearly, the stories will draw you in and compel (kidding!) you to read more. Vampire romance on the dark end of the spectrum. I can’t wait to read more.… (mere)

Veil of Midnight is the fifth book in Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed series. With Dragos having put an assassination plot in motion against all Gen Ones, the Order has been seeking these Breed males out to warn them of the danger. They’ve been having difficulty locating one of them, Sergei Yakut, so they’ve sent Nikolai to Montreal to see if he can get a bead on the Gen One. Niko gets a little more than he bargained for when he comes face to face with Renata, a powerful Breedmate acting as Yakut’s bodyguard, who is able to lay him flat with a single, potent, psychic blast. Still it has the desired effect, drawing out the Gen One himself, who after hearing why Niko is there, begrudgingly admits the Order warrior into his domain. However, while exploring the compound, Niko discovers a house of horrors that makes him want to kill Yakut himself, and that gets him thrown off the property. Despite his personal feelings, after consulting with the Order, Niko is about to catch a plane back to Boston, but while trolling the back alleys of Montreal for his next meal, he happens across Yakut’s son, consorting with a Rogue. Intrigued, he follows them back to the compound, only to find Yakut dead, something for which Niko is blamed and sent off to an Enforcement facility. Throughout all of this, Renata sensed that Niko was nothing like the man who’d basically held her prisoner, but when her captor is found dead, she isn’t sure who to believe. However, when Mira, a little girl with an equally powerful talent, who was also Yakut’s prisoner and whom Renata had vowed to protect with her life, is taken, she knows she only has one chance to get the girl back alive. She must break Niko out and hope that he’ll help her find and rescue Mira. Along the way, Niko and Renanta begin to fall for one another, but if Dragos has his way, none of them will live to see another day.

Renata was left at an orphanage when she was a baby and never knew her parents. She lived there until she was thrown out at fourteen, after which she had to learn how to survive on the streets. Some time ago, she was scooped up from the back alleys by Yakut’s people to be used in his sick games, but when he discovered that she was a Breedmate with a powerful talent, he kept her around as a bodyguard. Renata had little choice in the matter, but even if she did, she wouldn’t leave, because Yakut also has a young girl in his possession. Mira has a power equally as potent as Renata’s, and Renata has vowed to always keep her safe. When Niko shows up, she does what she’s been trained to do, which is to fell any Breeds who appears uninvited. However, when Yakut allows Niko to stay for a short time, Renata gets to know him and senses that he’s honorable and not like the other Breeds she’s known. She wishes she could leave with him but knows she can’t. Then when he comes back, her boss turns up dead. Niko swears he’s innocent, but she isn’t sure what to think. Not long after he’s hauled off by Enforcement, though, Yakut’s son gives Mira to the head of the local Darkhaven, and Renata is determined to get her back by any means necessary. Knowing she won’t be able to find the girl on her own, she makes a plan to rescue Niko first, hoping he’ll agree to help. As they work together, Renata can’t seem to help falling for him, but when Niko keeps vital information from her to prevent her from going after Mira alone, she might not be able to forgive him. I really liked Renata. She’s very independent and one of the most kick-ass Breedmates we’ve seen in the series so far, but at the same time, she’s open to receiving help from Niko when she needs it and has a softer side that longs for a family to call her own.

After losing his brother in a senseless murder for which he blames himself, Nikolai joined the Order to hunt down his brother’s killer, but it didn’t bring any peace to his parents, who basically disowned him for it. He was sent by the Order to track down Yakut to warn him about the Gen One assassinations, but instead he gets knocked out by a psychic blast from a young woman. Later, at the compound, he has a moment with Renata, giving in to his attraction long enough to kiss her, but when he mistakenly believes that she’s Yakut’s Breedmate, he tries to put his desire aside. After making a grisly discovery, he confronts Yakut, only to be thrown out, but after finding Yakut’s son with a Rogue, he follows them back, resulting in him being arrested by Enforcement for Yakut’s murder. He’s shocked when Renata comes to his rescue, and once he’s recovered from the torture they subjected him to, she asks for his help in rescuing the remarkable little girl he’d met. At first, he isn’t sure if he can, because his mission from the Order doesn’t involve Mira, but soon he’s so enamored of Renata that he can’t say no. Together, they set out on a dangerous operation to get Mira back that turns into a confrontation with Dragos and his deadly assassin. Niko is an honorable guy who represents the best of the Breed. I like how he takes care of Renata and genuinely wants to help find Mira, too. His life undergoes some pretty significant changes by the end, but he takes it all in stride.

Overall, Veil of Midnight was a great read. I enjoyed getting to know Niko and Renata and felt they were very well-suited to one another. Their relationship developed nicely, leaving me with no real question that they’d be together for the long haul. Renata’s love for and commitment to Mira was heartwarming and definitely reciprocated. I look forward to seeing Mira grow up to become the heroine of Edge of Dawn, the first book in the Midnight Breed: The Next Generation spin-off series. It’ll be interesting to find out more about her powers. Ally to the Order and head of the Berlin Darkhaven Andreas Reichen goes through a heartbreaking tragedy that I suspect will dovetail into his story, Ashes of Midnight, which is the next of the series. After all this poor guy has been through he deserves an HEA. We’re also introduced to an intriguing new character, Hunter, who will become the hero of Book #9, Deeper Than Midnight. Since Niko is on a solo mission and the majority of Veil of Midnight takes place in Montreal, far from the Order’s Boston headquarters, the other members of the Order aren’t as prominent, but all of them play supporting roles in some capacity. Readers also get brief sightings of the Breedmates of those members who are mated. I think what impressed me most about Veil of Midnight is how well-plotted it is. I was sucked right into the story from page one and my interest never faltered. It’s an extremely well-constructed story that is not only self-contained but also very much advances the series story arc. More of Dragos’s evil plan is revealed and we definitely haven’t heard the last of him yet, so I look forward to finding out how the Order will defeat him, although it could be a while. I simply had a really good time reading this story and can’t wait to continue with the series soon.… (mere)