Review: Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

aka Amy’s and Kristie’s Surprise Review – muahahaha!

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...

Here's the dealio - I've been feeling bad about not pulling my share around here lately (work has been kicking my ass since I got back from my trip) and I decided to do a super sneaky review (i.e. I didn't tell Nath - LOL) with Kristie, blogger and Crusader extraordinaire. Woot! So we chose Lara Adrian's Kiss of Midnight as we both had it in our TBR Pile. As we were reading, Kristie and I noticed something...so here it is - our review!

Spoilers ahead matey, ye've been warned!

Ames: I see so many similarities between JR Ward and Lara Adrian but I think Lara Adrian comes out on top. Her vampires aren't gangsta wannabes. *g*

Kristie: I see a lot of similarities to JR Ward too. But I also think Lara Adrian comes out on top too. We don't have that silly gangsta thing going, the names are much better and I think the world building is better done. The relationship between the vampires doesn't have the same kind of hokey dialogue as JR Wards books. As well, I don't think the heroine is as wimpy as JR Wards. There seems to be a more equal distribution of power between the hero and the heroine for the most part.

I also thought the fact that they were descended from aliens rather interesting.

Ames: I thought the fact that they were descended from aliens was interesting too, except I got the creepiest visual to go with that thought. LOL You ever see that Stargate movie with James Spade? That's the alien image I'm channeling right now. *shudder*

And I agree 100% about the heroine - she was strong. You know what else I liked? The fact that both Lucan and Gabby were afraid of turning out like their parents. Lucan was afraid of turning Rogue and Gabrielle was afraid of going crazy like her mom.

AND the fact that there were some couples already in the picture. Like Gabby wasn't the first woman in the compound like Beth is for Ward's vhampires. hehe

What I didn't like - was how long Lucan fought his feelings for Gabby. It's understandable up to a point - I would have liked to see them together as a bonded couple for a few more pages. :P

Kristie: I agree. It was fairly obvious to me that he was so on the edge because that's what he needed - to find his mate. He never really seemed to clue into that.

Another thing that annoyed me slightly was how long he waited before telling her who she was and the way the Breedmates (and she could have come with a different term there I think - too similar to brood mares for me *g*) fit into their world.

"AND the fact that there were some couples already in the picture. "

I liked that too. It's a good way to explain the bond between vampires and their mates. I hope she doesn't plan on getting rid of any of the 'wives' in this series the way Ward got rid of Wellsie - that's one of the big reasons I haven't read further in the Brotherhood series. There's nothing wrong with keeping some happy couples around.
Yet at the same time we got to see what happened when a wife did go against the Breeds. Hopefully that will be the only incident.

I wasn't sure when I first started reading it though if I'd end up liking this one. The jury was out for a while. I didn't like the way Lucan used his mind control over Gabrielle. And he was pretty cold. Until I got used to that, it was touch and go. But once Gabrielle realized what he was doing and started fighting his control, the book started getting better for me. I ended up liking it quite a bit and I'm glad I already have the next one in the series - Kiss of Crimson. I've seen these compared more favourably and less favourably to the Brotherhood series. I like them better (sorry to all those JR Ward fans)

I'm still squicked out though by the fact that they need to drink blood in order to survive, but the fact that they aren't really dead and can be killed helps somewhat.

Ames: Yeah, Breedmates does sound like broodmare. LOL

Ok, I liked this book right from the get go. Yeah Lucan annoyed me a little, but he was yummy enough that I didn't stay annoyed for long. And his mind control didn't really bother me because I felt like it wasn't overt. Like I said before, Gabby is strong, and that includes mentally (i.e. her mental shields).

I have the next book in the series too. And I know the third book got favourable reviews in blogland. So woot for me for having it in my pile already. :P I might even "allow" myself to get the 4th book. Haha (side note: I had pre-ordered Midnight Rising before the list, so I got it as a surprise in the mail the other day. end side note)

Oooh, what did you think of the twist at the end, who the Master Rogue guy was? I see major angst in the future. LOL

Kristie: Well *gulp* I, ah, kind of looked at the end before I got there so it wasn't a surprise at the end. But it was a surprise when I did read it. I can see much angst happening over the next few books. But having brought up the bad guys - I think Lara Adrian's bad guys are way better written than Wards. I've read that quite a few readers just skip over the Lesser parts, but the Rogues and Minions in this series are pretty well written.
How did you think they compared to the Lessers?

What did you think of Lucan being afraid of being so close to the edge - so close to turning rogue himself. I liked the scene where he locked himself away in the dark and Gabrielle came looking for him and took care of him.

Ames: *gasp* How could you?! LOL Just kidding.

But yes, the Rogues were a whole lot better than the Lessers. I mean, I was one of those readers that skipped the Lesser parts. But I read about the Rogues. And it's interesting, with Marek - what Lucan believed about him, but he came back. And I think that's interesting. Like they could create a Rogue Rehabilitation. haha!

When Lucan savaged the Minion that tried to shoot Gabby - I knew he was 2/3 of the way over the edge into becoming a Rogue. I was like "Ok woah, dude has had waaay too much blood." But Gabby was so brave for sticking with him while he was going through a really terrible hunger pang. I also felt that was kind of dumb of her, following him in the dark. But I guess that just shows her trust in Lucan, she knew no matter how bad he got, he wouldn't hurt her. And I think he needed to see that belief she had in him, because of what happened to his parents. He loved her that much, although he didn't realize it at the time.

And a big bonus, it was nice and steamy. :P You know me. hehe

Kristie: That part was pretty gruesome wasn’t it? I thought she was pretty brave too – and she did see the difference between him and the Rogues.

One other thing I liked was that the women could leave the compound – they chose not to very often – but they seemed to do so if they wanted to.

And to answer your earlier question – no I never did see the movie Stargate – only a few episodes of the series with Richard Dean Anderson. He’s aged well *g*

Ames: So final grade? It would be a good solid B for me. I’m definitely going to keep reading this series. You?

Kristie: As for how I rated it – I grade my books on a 1 to 5 scale. I gave it a 4. I thought it was going to be lower – a lot lower – but once I got past the parts that were giving me issues, it really took off for me. And steamy is always good isn’t it? I like steamy. OK – I don’t watch Grey’s so I don’t care about Dr. McSteamy – but in books I like steamy.
And since like you, I already have Kiss of Crimson TBR – yep *g* I’ll be reading at least one more. And I’ve read a few places that the later ones get even better!

Review: Strike Zone by Kate Angell

This book is one that I’ve anticipated a lot, because I like the author’s style. Her books are usually quick, funny and entertaining reads and this one is no exception. My buddy reviewer is Kris from The Reading Spot.


Strike Zone by Kate Angell
published by Dorchester (Love Spell) in April 2008

Faced with the love of her life waiting at the altar, thrill-seeking adventure guide Taylor Hannah lost her nerve and ran. Three years later, the gutsy blonde is back in Richmond to reclaim handsome Rogues pitcher Brek Stryker before he makes another trip down the aisle. From dressing as a giant baseball to pummeling the other team’s mouthy mascot, this former fiancée is pulling out all the stops. Trouble is, her ball player refuses to believe she’s finally ready to play by his rules. Stryke hasn’t forgiven the woman who left him on their wedding day, but he can’t ignore the chemistry that sizzles every time he and Taylor meet. The fireworks between them could light up the ball park, but Stryke won’t lose his heart again unless he knows the score. If Taylor steps into his strike zone, she’d better be ready to go past third base and all the way home.

Genre: sport romance, contemporary romance
Series: The Richmond Rogues, Book #3

The Story: Three years ago, Taylor Hannah’s parents died in a plane crash. Then, a few months later, she was supposed to get married to Rogues’ start pitcher Brek Stryker... however, she left him at the altar. Now, three years later, after reading his engagement announcement, Taylor wants closure and to apologize, therefore she returns to Richmond… and sparks still erupt between them. The last thing Brek wants is to see Taylor again, to feel the sparks and to remember… but you rarely get want you want.

The secondary storyline involves Taylor’s little sister and Sloan McCaffrey, the Rogues’ reliever. Sloan is attracted to Taylor and decides to sign on one of the trip she guides… Although his mind is attracted to Taylor, his body responds to Eve, the non-thrill seeking, cynic with a sharp tongue sister. Of course, Eve is not interested in a man who only dates the same women 3 times… but being around Sloan is fun and it makes her forget that she’s the passive sister.


Nath: This was definitively a light and fun read. It took me only one evening to finish it and I know it took even less time for Kris!

Kris: I picked it up to read while I was eating lunch and could not put it down. I think I finished it in about 2 hours. It was a lot of fun. I had a few LOL moments. My favorite was Psycho at the dog adoption event. I could picture that so well.

Nath: LOL, so true! I thought the mascot fights were quite funny, especially the second one where Taylor won :) The first one with Psycho yelling her what to do… I think one of the most hilarious part of the book was when Sloan came to crash Addie's b-day party and Eve wondered what gift he brought. LOL, definitively a LOL moment.

I really enjoyed the Taylor and Brek’s storyline. I like their chemistry and I wondered how Brek was going to dump his fiancée without looking like a jerk. I have to say though, I wish Taylor and Brek had their own book. This was also a complaint I had with Squeeze Play and Curve Ball as well. In my opinion, Ms Angell had enough material with one couple, she didn’t need to squeeze in another.

Kris: I was okay with the two stories in the book. Though with the large timeline like there was, she could have done a couple more scenes during rehab or somewhere else in the story to make you feel the time pass more.

I totally did not see the Hillary (the fiancée) thing coming. That was a nice surprise.

Nath: Definitively could have added a few scenes, though perhaps not about rehab. I think she meant to keep the book fun and light. I can't see rehab being fun, witty and light LOL :) So perhaps them on a date or something, although I can’t see how she could have fit those scenes in… Sigh.

As for the Hillary thing – I didn’t see it coming either. I mean, I knew she wasn’t as innocent and nice as she looked. The clue was when she came up to Taylor to ask her advices about loving Brek... That’s really just plain mean and “in your face, he’s mine now.”

Kris: I was giving her the benefit of the doubt and wondering if she was abused at some point. So I guess I fell for it.

Nath: That would totally have not fit the fun and light mood, LOL. Personally, where she’s concerned, I think that Brek was wearing blinders. True, Ms Angell explains his "blindness" very well and it fits, but I can’t see a professional baseball star pitcher getting engage with a woman without ever having sex with her. You just know something is wrong when she denies you sex… and her reasons were not even “I want to wait for our wedding night” or something like that. She just didn’t feel comfortable ^_^; In the end, I would have liked to see what happened to Hillary, Stu and whether or not her father won the election.

As for Sloan and Eve, I enjoyed their relationship till the third date. Afterwards, I think that their storyline was rushed and they got together too quickly. Their storyline definitively suffered from lack of pages.

Kris: Though I think Hillary and Stu’s fate was mentioned in passing, I would have liked to have seen or heard a little more about that as well.

Sloan cracked me up with his arrogance. He was a good balance for Eve. This book was very much about opposites attracting. I do not think that they got back together too quickly. They were apart for like 3-4 months before they got back together. If she was still pining for him at that point then she needed to talk to him or get over him.

Nath: True, there were 3 or 4 months between their fight and reconciliation. However, you don’t feel those 3 or 4 months go by and that’s why I felt it was rushed. Adding more scenes to their storyline would have made it more believable in my opinion. I felt that they had the beginning of something together, but I don’t think they were involved enough for Sloan to change so completely in order to win her back. I mean Sloan doing small things and changing a bit would have been enough, but going the whole 9 yards – buying a house and adopting dogs? I think it was a little too much.

One thing I’m glad Ms Angell did not do is having all the previous heroines be pregnant LOL :) Also, she didn’t plug them too much in the storyline. The guys, they were unavoidable, being part of the same team… but it’s nice that wives are just mentioned in this book. Only Jacy has a bigger part and again, it was well justified.

Kris: I like she did not try to force the other wives and characters in so that you could see them again. Though I like to see characters from other books I do not like forced scenes. I need to track down the other book and read that one too. I read Psycho’s story but not the other one.

Nath: So story-wise, Ms. Angell did really good; however, baseball-wise, not so good. As Dear Author’s review of this book pointed out, there are a lot of baseball facts wrong in this book.

Kris: If you are a total baseball fan then you would probably catch those things and I think it would detract because it seems that Ms Angell did not do her research well enough. You would think that she would do a lot more research if she is doing a series around baseball, but I guess not.

Since I am not a baseball fan and any mistakes were totally over my head, this book was a lot of fun for me. So I would probably grade it a B+ to A- somewhere in there.

Nath: So total baseball fans, you’ve been warned. If you’re just a regular reader or have a high tolerance level, then go ahead, because this book was really fun. I’m giving this book a B+… and I’ll be reading the next, hoping that it’s Rhodes book!

Polls series no. 4: sport romances

Hello everyone :D

So I did come up with an idea for the new polls series :) The polls series no.4 will be about sport romances! Let us know what you think by voting and commenting :) Also, if you have any suggestions of sport romances, feel free to share :D

The polls are pretty straightforward, if you need any clarification, feel free to ask :D Oh, about the 5th poll, Would you be interested in amateur sport romance... by amateur sport, I mean any sport where the athlete is not making millions of dollars a year such as figure skating, speed skating, track and fields, etc.

Polls will be closing next week on April 15 at 11.59AM (Eastern time).

Follow-up: Polls series no.3

I know you've all been waiting for the follow-up post with impatience :P so here it is! I started this post at 8.07AM this morning, but am now only finishing it... (well yeah, I had to wait till the polls officially closed down + I was working + making the graphs). So here it is :D

First poll: Favorite book of the Women of the Otherworld series?

Are you surprised that Bitten came up on top? I'm not, although I thought it would be a closer fight, considering all the great books. From the start, Bitten took the lead and never looked back :P

I voted for Industrial Magic. I just love that book, mainly because it's one of the few where most characters appear... i.e. the werewolves, the witches and sorcerers, the vampires, Jaime, Eve and a bit of Kristof. My second choice would have been Stolen, again, same reasons - we are introduced to the other characters in the series.

I can understand though why Bitten would be most people's favorite. Elena is a great narrator and heroine and the storyline was great. I like how Elena is already a werewolf, part of a pack. There's no "oh, werewolf exists?!?" and she's not an outsider who's introduced to a great secret. Ms Armstrong was also gutsy to start the series as she did - i.e., focus on Elena and the werewolves instead of introducing all the other supernatural beings and too much of world building... Another factor that made Bitten the winner is probably because it's the first book in the series. First book usually has the greatest impact and is often the one people like the best, because that's where everything starts.

Oh, another factor might have been that most voters did not read the whole series yet. I wonder if they did, would the race have been closer?


Second poll: Favorite couple?



Well talk about a landslide :P 17 votes total and 16 went to the same couple. With no surprise, Elena and Clay came on top, but I didn't expect with such an overwhelming majority. I actually expected a fight between Elena&Clay and Paige&Lucas... guess not :P Personally, I voted for Elena&Clay... my second choice was Jaime&Jeremy. I almost voted for them, but their long-distance relationship is why I didn't. Although it made a lot of sense in the novel and storyline, I'd have preferred them to be together, together.

So why Elena & Clay? Personally, I think it has a lot to do with Clay. He's much more charismatic than Lucas in my opinion. It also comes down to his personality... he might be rude, possessive and grumpy, but all this make him charming. Next to Paige & Lucas, I think that people find Paige & Lucas' relationship more normal and common; they don't stand out that much. Also, Ms Armstrong focused less on their relationship. Paige and Lucas met in Dime Store Magic, were a couple in Industrial Magic and next thing you knew, they got married in a short story. I guess readers didn't get to connect as much with them as a couple compared to Elena & Clay with whom interaction and relationship is one of the main issues :P I also wonder if perhaps it's because readers prefer Elena over Paige... I know that many didn't enjoy Paige's books, so that's probably another reason.

As for the other couples, it's unfortunate, but I guess they never had a chance... mainly, I guess, because, again, readers didn't get to connect with them... However, if I removed Elena & Clay, I wonder if Paige & Lucas would come on top or not...


Third Poll: Favorite Supernatural Being


When I put this poll up, I meant supernatural being in the series... however, I wasn't very clear and I think people just voted for their favorite ones ^_^; Ah well, no biggy. See, one of the reasons why I enjoy the Women of the Otherworld series so much is Ms Armstrong's world building, but also her different take on certain supernatural beings such as vampires... That's why I was interested to see what others preferred.

Interestingly enough, Elena and Paige's races came on top, werewolf and witch respectively. Is it because that's what the readers had most exposure with? Werewolves appear in almost all the books in the series and we got to see a lot of witches too.

I voted for werewolf, because I think they got the best deal... Increased strength and speed, prolonged life and best of all, very high metabolism that allow them to eat tons. Being a witch or sorcerer can be cool too; however, it seems to demand a lot more work and studies :P Vampires aren't bad either since they have increased strength and speed too and they do live way longer, although their life span is finite; but yeah, the whole blood thing? Not very attractive. Half-demon is not bad either, but it's risky, since the power and degree is pre-determined by the demon that fathers you. I wouldn't like to be attraced to chaos like Hope, but I wouldn't mind being able to control fire like Adam... As for being a necromancer or a clairvoyant, well the powers are not bad... however, having ghosts asking your help or being exploited by the Cabals -both definitively have cons... and biggest con is that most necromancers and clairvoyants become mad at they grow older. Definitively not attractive. Finally, shaman is the race we know the least about and I wonder if Ms Armstrong will ever develop that one... So yep, werewolves definitively have the best deal :P


Fourth poll: Whose book are you anticipating most?



This was the poll with the least votes; however, the ones who voted seem to be anticipating Savannah's book the most... and it makes the most sense. We've seen Savannah grow up throughout the series and we know that she's a powerful witch who's a lot like her mother. It'll be interesting to see her story. On the other hand, I'm not looking forward to Cassandra's book as much. I mean, it's been hinted in many books that Cassandra's time is ending soon :( I can't see anyone really looking forward to reading the book of a character who's about to die... One person has voted for Elena. I wouldn't mind to have another book with Elena as a narrator; however, I have a requirement. I want the children to be still kids... I don't want to see Elena and Clay deal with teenagers... However, it'll be interesting to see what the future has in store for Elena as an alpha :P


Fifth Poll: Will you give a try to Darkest Powers, the YA trilogy?



More than half who voted said yes and the others, maybe. The good news is that nobody came out and said no :P I think it's going to be interesting, but I can understand why many are so wary. Although I'm sure that if there's good reviews, then people will pick it up :D


So that was it for the polls series no.3 :D However, while I was writing this follow-up post, I came up with a question... It seems to me that many have not read the series... Most seem stuck after the fourth or fifth book... and many have the first 2 books in their TBR pile. Why is it that so many are not up-to-date with this series? I mean, for most series such as Psy-Changelings by Nalini Singh, the Guardians by Meljean Brooks, the Midnight Breed by Lara Adrian, when a new installment is released, people rush to the bookstore to buy it. So why not with the Women of the Otherworld? Is it because this is more urban fantasy than romance? Or perhaps there was too much of a gap between the first two books and the rest of the series? Just curious...


Oh, I still haven't come up for the next poll series theme... any idea?

Reminder: Poll series no.3

Hi everyone!!

Just a reminder that the poll series no. 3 about the Women of the Otherworld series is ending tomorrow at 11.59am! If you haven't voted yet, please do so here! It doesn't matter if you haven't read the whole series yet...

As for those who have voted, if you have time, dropped by and let me know for whom you voted and why :P

Have a great day all :D

and oh, any idea for a new poll series?