Limecello’s review of Dark Needs at Night’s Edge (Immortals After Dark, Book 4) by Kresley Cole
Contemporary paranormal romance released by Pocket 29 Apr 08
The fourth book of the Immortals After Dark series did not disappoint. I’m also beginning to think Ms Cole unearths something twisty in me, because my favorite heroes that she writes are the crezzies. Conrad Wroth is teetering on the brink of insanity. Actually, he’s mad as a hatter. He’s killed more that one can count, and he has all of their memories. That’s a lot of memory for one head. Too much.
He’s imprisoned in a haunted house, and unfortunately, only he can see Néomi Laress, the ghost that resides there. She’s excited because he’s the first person who has seen her in 80 years. He doesn’t want to interact with her because he thinks she’s the last and final step into madness.
Néomi is something of a bad girl, as she’s a burlesque dancer turned ballerina who thrived in the 1920s. Prohibition didn’t affect our girl’s partying at all, not just because she lived in New Orleans. She’s a happy person, and a great foil for Conrad, who didn’t have the cheeriest of experiences even before he became a vampire. Still, Néomi has substance and depth. She knows that life isn’t always sunshine and butterflies, and it often takes real effort to be happy. Her past also helps her reach out to Conrad, and for him to open up to her.
I liked Néomi well enough, but I really liked Conrad. He’s a character you definitely empathize with, and feel for. He’s been betrayed on all sides, but underneath what he’s become, he’s still a good man. Conrad is extremely tortured, so all his bad deeds are rather easily forgiven.
This book embodies what I enjoy about series, because characters you met in the previous books make cameo appearances and help the plot along, but they don’t overtake it and outshine the hero and heroine. There’s the perfect blend of catching up with “old friends” but the distinct sense that the story entirely belongs to Néomi and Conrad.
Poor Néomi and Conrad seem to have more obstacles than most, yet it all ends well. Their interaction has the perfect amount of give and take. They’re both strong characters, who slowly bend to meet in the middle. A very enjoyable read.
Grade: B
Read Gwen’s review here.
Summary:
A RAVEN-HAIRED TEMPTRESS OF THE DARK… Néomi Laress, a famous ballerina from a pas century, became a phantom the night she was murdered. Imbued with otherworldly powers but invisible to the living, she haunts her beloved home, scaring away trespassers-until she encounters a ruthless immortal even more terrifying than Néomi herself.
A VAMPIRE WARRIOR CONSUMED BY MADNESS… To prevent him from harming others, Conrad Wroth’s brothers imprison him in an abandoned manor. But there, a female only he can see seems determined to drive him further into madness. The exquisite creature torments him with desire, leaving his body racked with lust and his soul torn as he finds himself coveting her for his own.
HOW FAR WILL HE GO TO CLAIM HER? Yet even if Conrad can win Néomi, evil still surrounds her. Once he returns to the brutality of his past to protect her, will he succumb to the dark needs seething inside him?
Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
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 Read Sandy’s review of Book 3. |
Coming next:
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Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark, Book 5) , coming 20 May 08! |
