Sandy M’s review of Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night (Immortals After Dark, Book 3) by Kresley Cole
Paranormal romance released by Pocket Star Oct 2007

The author’s website is very slick. And very up-to-date.

Bowen MacRieve is determined to win the Talisman’s Hie, a worldwide scavenger hunt for immortals.  After losing his mate nearly two hundred years ago, he’s desperate to get her back.  Winning the Hie would give him Thrane’s Key, giving him the ability to travel back in time twice.  After so many years alone without a female, Bowe will not let this opportunity to save his mate slip away. 

However, enter one little witch, Mariketa the Awaited, and all his plans go awry.  And to his consternation, his body and libido have minds of their own whenever she’s near.  How he despises witches.

Mariketa is in this race because she is the most powerful witch in centuries, even though her magic asserts itself when she’s angry and she tends to blow things up.  She would be the first of her kind to win the Hie.  Being alone with a sexy Lykae male in a Mayan tomb isn’t helping matters. 

After considerable trials and tribulations, Bowen’s instinct is telling him Mari is his mate, and he wants nothing more than to mark her as his.  But how can that be?  With the full moon only days away, he knows he must be as far away from Mariketa as possible.  Having her see him at his worst, having her vulnerable to him so he can slake his beastly lust is not something he wants to put her through and it is not something he thinks he will survive.

Wow.  What a book this is.  I haven’t even come close to doing it justice.  So much happens between these characters and to these characters that I didn’t know if a HEA would be possible.  However, Kresley Cole is a tremendous writer, that even after Bowen and Mari are put through the wringer so many times, she gives them perseverance like you wouldn’t believe, and she will then make you cheer when it’s all said and done. 

Every book in this series just gets better and better.  Wow.

Grade:  A+

Here’s the book blurb:

     Her breathless kiss haunts him…  Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed — until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

     His slow, hot touch is irresistible…  Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It’s rumored that no one can tempt Bowen’s hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

     No deed is too wicked for her seduction…  If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul — or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

     Read an excerpt.

Next in the series:

Coming 29 Apr 08