Recommendsday Review - Kiss of Midnight

Today's Recommendsday Reading is the first in Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series, Kiss of Midnight.

Synopsis:

INSATIABLE DESIRE. ENDLESS SEDUCTION. ONE TOUCH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle's deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night--or this man--is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed--a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite.

Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren. A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind--and the unwitting humans existing alongside them--from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands.

Here, in the arms of the Breed's formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all...

I've heard Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series called "The Brotherhood Lite", and I can see that. There are definite similarities between Adrian's Midnight Breed and and Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood. But Adrian's books are not the Brotherhood, and despite (numerous) similarities they are set in their own unique world and with their own distinct set of rules.

Lucan is the leader of an outnumbered band of warriors intent on destroying the enemy of their race; members of their own bloodline who have gone Rouge and kill indiscriminately. His own brothers long gone rouge, the battle hits close to home for Lucan. When a beautiful young woman named Gabrielle unwittingly witnesses a battle between the Breed and the Rouges, she's drawn into their world.

Attraction flares instantly between Lucan and Gabrielle, but when he realizes she bears the mark of a breedmate and taking her blood will bind them together for life, their relationship gets complicated.

I found Kiss of Midnight a quick and satisfying read. I like the dark tone and ominous atmosphere of the story. The interactions between Lucan and Gabrielle at times feels a little too heavy handed, but it serves to move the plot forward and aids in explaining the rules of the universe. The secondary characters and side plots are engrossing, quickly hooking readers to the series.

Comparisons to Ward's Brotherhood are unavoidable, but the Midnight Breed is an interesting series all its own. Read it for its own merit and enjoy.

Rating: 4/5

~Lily