Gwen’s review of Veil of Midnight (The Midnight Breed, Book 5) by Lara Adrian (warning! site has music)
Contemporary paranormal action romance released by Dell 30 Dec 08

This series consistently surprises me – in a good way.  Just when i think it’s going to go down a predictable path, it veers just a bit to the left or right.  Something I find to be very cool in what can be a very formulaic genre.  That’s not to say I didn’t have a bone or two to pick with the book – au contraire. I did. But I did like reading it… mostly.

This book had a very interesting heroine and an excellently distracting hero.  They both added a lot to the story and the suspense plot.  I loved how they met. I was glad to see that the heroine was more consistent in this entry than they have been in the previous books.

What I wasn’t happy about was the premature confessions of lurve.  The one thing I like about Adrian’s Midnight Breeds books is that the relationships have always seemed to grow organically – with very little help from pheromones or soulmating crapola, or the like.  I liked that sometimes they don’t like each other for large portions of the book and have to work thru issues.  That fell apart a bit in this book – both the hero and heroine did have to develop the feelings, but before you knew it, they were telling each other they loved each other and that just didn’t ring true to me.

Nevertheless, this was a cracking good story.  The action was top notch – as always – and the sensuality was burning up the pages.  There was a lot of whipsawing emotion all the way with several of the secondary characters as well.  Really sets the scene and helps to flesh out the story.

The pacing and multi-layered story arcs are all excellent. There’s a twist with one of the bad guys that I did NOT expect.  And another twist for a future hero (Andreas Reichen) that just breaks your heart.  I can’t wait to see where some of these twists are going to lead.

You’ll enjoy reading this if for no other reason than it’s a good vampire action romance.  With the exception of an ending that could have ruined the book for me – but didn’t –  I can recommend this book to anyone following the series. If you haven’t read any of the previous Midnight Breeds novels, I wouldn’t start here, but you should only have to read the first one to get into the swing.

Grade: B-

Read reviews of books in this series by following its tag.

Summary:

BOUND BY BLOOD, ADDICTED TO DANGER, THEY’LL ENTER THE DARKEST–AND MOST EROTIC–PLACE OF ALL . . .

A warrior trained in bullets and blades, Renata cannot be bested by any man–vampire or mortal. But her most powerful weapon is her extraordinary psychic ability–a gift both rare and deadly. Now a stranger threatens her hard-won independence, a golden-haired vampire who lures her into a realm of darkness . . . and pleasure beyond imagining.

A combat-loving adrenaline junkie, Nikolai dispenses his own justice to enemies of the Breed–and his latest quarry is a ruthless assassin. One woman stands in his way: the seductive, cool-as-ice bodyguard, Renata. But Renata’s powers are put to the test when a loved one, a child, is threatened and she’s forced to turn to Niko for help. As the two join forces, as desire fans the flames of a deeper hunger, Renata’s life is under siege by a man who offers the exquisite pleasure of a blood bond–and a passion that could save or doom them both forever. . . .

Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

Ashes of Midnight, coming May 2009 – Andreas Reichen’s story! cool… 8)