ASHES OF MIDNIGHT

Author: Lara Adrian ISBN: 9780440244509 6/2009 PARANORMAL Publisher: DELL

A woman driven by blood. A man thirsting for vengeance. A place where darkness and desire meet... As night falls, Claire Roth flees, driven from her home by a fiery threat that seems to come from hell itself. Then, from out of the flames and ash, a vampire warrior emerges. He is Andreas Reichen, her onetime lover, now a stranger consumed by vengeance. Caught in the cross fire, Claire cannot escape his savage fury—or the hunger that plunges her into his world of eternal darkness and unending pleasure. Nothing will stop Andreas from destroying the vampire responsible for slaughtering his Breed brethren . . . even if he must use his former lover as a pawn in his deadly mission. Blood-bonded to his treacherous adversary, Claire can lead Andreas to the enemy he seeks, but it is a journey fraught with danger—and deep, unbidden desires. For Claire is the one woman Andreas should not crave, and the only one he’s ever loved. A dangerous seduction begins—one that blurs the lines between predator and prey, and stokes the flames of a white-hot passion that may consume all in its path. . . .

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

OMG! This series is so seriously addicting.  It is like vanilla ice cream in my root beer, that's how yummy it is!

We start off ASHES AT MIDNIGHT plunged right into Andreas's world of revenge and fury.  Three months ago, his entire family was killed at the hands of the Enforcement Agency—namely, Wilhelm Roth.  All Andreas wants is revenge; he quite literally burns with the need to see Wilhelm pay for what he did to his family.  Andreas is awesome in his fury, which manifests itself through pyrokinetics.  He is an amazingly broken man with his mind set on one thing—the utter destruction of the man who is responsible for his family's deaths.  When he sees Claire again years after their love affair ended in anger and betrayal, he has no idea what to do with the woman who is blood bonded to his enemy...  the woman he loved and lost so long ago.

Claire is a beautiful character. She is alone in her mansion, alone with her feelings of "what if" that she has had for years.  When she has heard that her one true love, Andreas Reichen, has died in an attack on his Darkhaven compound, she is devastated and mourns for the man she has secretly loved all these years.  Claire has a quiet strength that speaks to the fury in Andreas.  She's a calming factor in the storm.  But the more Andreas uses his power, the more out of control it becomes.  Add to that the fact that Dragos is manufacturing Gen Ones like they are legos, and this book is chalk full of adventure and action! 

I love, love, love, the Midnight Breed series!  Lara Adrian is an amazing author that gives us a wonderful vampire world to delve into and a new perspective to appreciate!  I am hooked, and I know that any paranormal lover who happens to come across one or all of these books is gonna love them as much as I do!

Kristal Gorman