Sandy M’s review of Dark Needs at Night’s Edge (Immortals After Dark, Book 4) by Kresley Cole
Paranormal Romance released by Pocket 1 Apr 08

This is another series that I’m behind on reading, and I hate being behind on this one because I have loved every single word of it so far. Ms. Cole has a knack for writing the type of heroes that I adore. Alpha. To the core. But with enough sensitivity to savor love when it comes their way. If I had nothing but Kresley Cole books to read, I’d be pretty damn happy all the time.

The only thing I’m unhappy about is I read the first three books so long ago, I don’t remember things as clearly as I’d like when I came across them in this book. But that doesn’t take away much from a book when the writing is this good. It goes without saying that I absolutely loved Conrad. Talk about a tortured hero. His childhood is terrible, at the brink of death turned into a vampire by his oldest brother, he is now the very creature that he’d learned to hate and hunt. Centuries later he’s nearly insane, memories from those he’s killed by drinking from their veins dogging his every waking moment.

His brothers have been searching for him for hundreds of years, wanting nothing more than to help him regain his life and his sanity. Capturing him at last they have him holed up in the abandoned home of a twentieth century Hollywood legend who died there. And now she haunts the place, has for the last eighty years. Eventually Néomi runs off any who live in her home. However, she’s now been alone for quite a while so she is ecstatic when Conrad and his brothers take up residence. She’s also stunned when she realizes Conrad is able to see and hear her.

Of course, Conrad believes his insanity is only getting worse when he sees the lovely apparition while he waits for his mind and body to calm and return to as normal as possible.  His brothers have assured him he can live without the need to kill when he feeds. The more he interacts with his beautiful ghost, he hopes that is true. But he has other troubles in the guise of a couple of demons who would do him harm, so he must take care of them before moving on with his life. It seems Néomi is not his bride, though he wants nothing more than to be with her. He will do what it takes to keep her safe and just maybe she’ll want him to stay.

These two enjoy a fun and loving relationship even before Néomi gets her second chance at life. Once that happens things change, of course; Conrad is blooded, their relationship goes to the next level, and the action takes off.  Not all turns out the way either Conrad or Néomi hope for, but what a great reason to bring in characters we know and love from the previous books. Ms. Cole kept me enthralled for all 384 pages of this book, never letting up once.

No wonder I keep going back for more.

Grade: A+

Read more info and reviews for this series by following its tag.

Summary:
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A vampire warrior consumed by madness, trapped in the lair of an otherworldly temptress only he can see. The beauty wants him gone–the warrior can’t leave. Let the games begin…
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Néomi Laress, a famous ballerina in the early 1900s, became a phantom the night she was murdered. Imbued with powers, but invisible to the living, she haunts her beloved home, scaring away any trespassers–until she encounters a ruthless immortal even more terrifying than Néomi herself.
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To prevent him from harming others, Conrad Wroth’s brothers imprison him in an abandoned manor. There only Conrad can see the dancer with wild raven hair–who seems determined to drive him further into madness. The exquisite creature inflames him with desire, leaving his body racked with lust and his soul torn as he finds himself coveting her for his own.
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Yet even if Conrad can win Néomi and claim her completely, 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?
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Read an excerpt.

Other books in this series:

		Not That Innocent,anthology with Cole,Kenyon, Showalter,and Kohler, coming31 Jul 09