Reviewed by Kati Dancy
Publisher: Dell
4.5 stars out of 5

The Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian is my favorite vampire series out there. The books feature a complex, well imagined, well articulated mythology that I find more fascinating with every entry. Vampires are actually descended from aliens, and they can only survive with the help of human Breedmates, who are all human females who have psychic ability. Breedmates universally have a small birthmark which identifies them. Vampire society walks among humans, generally undetected, although vampires do require human blood to exist. There are two different entities that regulate vampire society, The Enforcement Agency, which is the known police force among vampires, and The Order, a group of vampire warriors who regulate injustice and are currently working to deal with a heck of an issue. Someone is systematically assassinating Gen Ones, the first and most powerful vampires.

Nikolai is a member of the Order and is sent to Montreal to make contact with Sergai Yakut, a Gen One vampire who has rebuffed the Order’s attempts to safeguard his life. While in a bar, Nico questions several young vampires as to whether they might be acquainted with Yakut. A young woman, Renata, overhears the conversation and with a frightened look, takes off. Nico pursues her, thinking she knows something about Yakut. They get a short distance from the bar, and the woman turns on Nico and debilitates him with a psychic blast that literally brings him to his knees. What Nico doesn’t realize is that Renata is being held captive by Yakut herself. Yakut has in his custody a young girl named Mira who possesses an extraordinary psychic gift, which Nico witnesses himself. Renata considers herself to be responsible for Mira, and is very protective of the girl and her gift.

Events unfold that result in Mira being sold to another vampire, who is a pedophile, without Renata’s knowledge and Nico being framed for murder. Realizing that Nico is the only one who can help her save Mira, Renata breaks him out of Agency custody and sustains an injury in the process. As they go into hiding, Renata’s injury festers. One of the rules of Breed mythology is that the sharing of blood between vampire and Breedmate will extend the Breedmate’s life and help them take on the accelerated healing power of the vampires. Nico offers to share blood with Renata in order to heal her. The sharing of blood is generally a very erotic experience and it strengthens the connection between the couple. Nico already is very protective of Renata, but now his feelings are growing for her. For her part, Renata prefers to rely on no one, but finds herself drawn to Nico and soon finds herself putting her trust in him.

The story is a complex one that catapults the mythology forward. More evil is done, and major players from other books lives are impacted. But as usual, Adrian never loses sight of the fact that this is a romance. She manages to build the connection between an untrusting woman and a vampire who only wants to help her in a way that is credible. One of my favorite aspects of Adrian’s writing is the heat index. Her love scenes are incendiary and the chemistry between Renata and Nico is no exception. Renata is a woman who is every bit Nico’s equal and both have dominant personalities which are balanced beautifully throughout the story.

The author also sets up events for the next book without it being jarring. I am on tenterhooks to see what happens next. While this book is an excellent entry into the Midnight Breed series, I do not believe it stands alone well. Readers who are intrigued by the series would be best served to start at the beginning, with Kiss of Midnight, book one. But for my part, I don’t believe I could have been more satisfied with this entry and only wish the author wrote even faster.