Sandy M’s review of Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden
Contemporary paranormal romantic suspense released by Kensington Brava 29 Apr 08

I was a little skeptical of this book while reading the first few pages. I didn’t know what it was about, choosing not to look it up on the web and just digging right in. So when I started reading about a newly-turned vampire who couldn’t stand the sight of blood, I was thinking, “Oh, no, this is going to be one of those tongue-in-cheek books, going for lame laughs page after page.” I couldn’t have been more wrong.

What I got was a hot, sexy, lusty, and dangerous story — and hero. Colin is a shifter, an Other, who has had a time of it since childhood because of his otherworldliness and has chosen to keep his ability to himself. So when he meets Dr. Emily Drake, a woman who agitates his beast nearly to the point of losing control, his life takes off in direction he could never have imagined. With a serial killer, one who is Other, on the loose he can’t afford such distractions. Needless to say, I love Colin. Where Emily didn’t like his he-man attitude, I fell for it every time. Emily eventually does too, it just took her a little longer.

Emily is a strong woman with a horrible childhood. No one, including her mother, ever believed her when she told them she could see monsters.  As a result, she has grown into an independent, feisty lady who doesn’t scare easily.  When she meets Colin she finds herself feeling more like a woman than a clinical psychologist. These two characters are dynamite together.  And the man can make love. Those scenes are definitely hot. Lusty. Sensual. Sexy. Powerful. Just like the man himself.

Both Colin and Emily have secrets and they have to learn to trust one another. That issue is done very well and we see a gradual strengthening in that trust as we go along. They have no problem in the lovemaking department, each are very sexual beings. The serial killer and Other storyline is intriguing and suspenseful. The secondary characters are full of depth, as are their relationships with the hero and heroine and each other. The villain is one of the nastiest to be written, and I loved the circumstances around his final curtain.

There’s not one thing wrong with this book. The writing is simply wonderful and it’s put together to give you a paranormal story that’s different and all-encompassing. I checked the author’s website and she has a book with Colin’s partner, Todd Brooks, coming out in December. Oh, that’s just too long to wait!

Grade: A+

From the back cover:

     Emily Drake’s patients tend to be a little unusual. Instead of the typical therapist’s caseload of midlife crises and mother fixations, Emily treats vampires with blood phobias and sex demons looking for meaningful relationships. But her gift for recognizing and healing the Other–those creatures of the night that most humans don’t even know exist–requires a few house rules. First: Never trust a shifter. Especially not one like Detective Colin Gyth, whose gold-flecked eyes and predatory air make Emily realize how much she’s been longing to lose control…

     Colin can’t believe the doctor he’s been assigned to work with on the Night Butcher murder investigation is the one person who could expose his true identity as a shifter. Smart, sexy, and stubborn as hell, Emily brings out the alpha male in Colin, unleashing a wild, heady desire that takes them both over the edge.

     But in the shadows, the Night Butcher waits…eager to spill Emily’s blood and taste her terror. And he’ll use any means to destroy her, including the one person she has grown to trust…

     Read an excerpt (the formatting on her site is a little wonky where the excerpt is posted, so you have to scroll down).