Reviewed by Gannon Carr
Publisher: Penguin
4 stars (or 4 red stilettos)

Edmund Fitz Clare is an upyr-a shapeshifting vampire—who must keep his true identity a secret from those he loves: the three orphans he adopted when they were young children and the young woman he has desired for years.  But secrets have a way of catching up to you, and Edmund’s world is about to change.

Estelle Berenger has been close to the Fitz Clare family since she was fifteen years old, when she befriended young Sally Fitz Clare at school.  And she was curiously attracted to Sally’s father, Edmund, which at her age she knew was verboten.  Wrong or not, Estelle found him to be sexy, kind and mysterious – just the sort of qualities to fascinate a young girl on the cusp of womanhood.  Early one evening while watching an approaching storm and daydreaming about Edmund, Estelle hears a wolf a howl – there are no wolves in London, she thinks to herself – and suddenly a lightning bolt  strikes her right eye.  And she swears she saw the wolf leap between her and the bolt of lightning.  From then on, Estelle could see “more” with her right eye and hear the slightest noise with her right ear, referring to them as her “funny” eye and ear.

As the years pass, Estelle’s feelings for Edmund never waver, and now she is an independent, working woman living on her own, her parents having since died.  Edmund stuns her one night  by admitting that he has wanted her for years, too.  Their first night together is passionate, intense and hot, hot, hot!  Their passion for one another continues to grow as does their love, but a vampire war is imminent, and someone who is near and dear to Edmund has discovered his secret and betrays him.  Now, Edmund and Estelle will need their love, as well as the love of his children, more than ever to defeat his enemies.

This was my first Emma Holly book – what a way to start!  This is the first book of the Fitz Clare Chronicles.  The next book, Breaking Midnight will be released in July and the third, Saving Midnight will be released in August.  I’m all for less wait time between books – patience is not my strong suit when it comes to continuing sagas!  Kissing Midnight is extremely erotic; in fact, I don’t think a chapter goes by without at least one very steamy sex scene, and they do not just involve Edmund and Estelle.  So, if you like your romance to sizzle like the summer heat, pick up a copy of Kissing Midnight….and a fan to cool you off!