Gwen’s review of In the Midnight Hour (Light Warriors, Book 1) by Patti O’Shea
Paranormal romance published 31 July 2007 by Tor

Yes yes.  I know I’m late with this.  What can I say – too many books, so little time.

Patti O’Shea is one of my favorite action romance writers.  Her book The Power of Two (2176 Series, Book 4) , is one of the best science fiction/action romance titles I’ve ever read.  So I was seriously stoked when this title came out.  I was not disappointed.

Doesn’t this cover go beautifully with Sybil’s blog? 

Patti O’Shea is able to create a full, complex world with incredible ease.  Her books never come across as overloaded with “brain dump” prose – where an author has to take the reader to school on the world they’ve built.  Details just flow naturally as part of the story, and the reader is never left behind.  Another of O’Shea’s talents is characters who stay true to themselves throughout a book’s trials and tribulations – no “cop outs.”  This book is another of those – a complex, rich world populated by interesting characters.

The book opens with some fun scenes where the hero and heroine are getting to know each other and the situation they’re in.  The immediate tension and attraction is tempered by their reality – they’re in a fix that might kill them both.  Ryne, the heroine, is the more powerful character for most of the book – I loved that.  The hero, Deke, is a funny, sexy man who knows how to love a strong woman – I loved that.

This was a tremendously fun book to read.  The premise was interesting and peppered with unique, believable details that really made for page-turning fun.  The romance between the characters was sweet and steamy by equal turns.  The story slowed a bit in the middle but picked right back up again.  It was an all around good read.  I’m looking forward to the next entry in this series.

Grade: B

Here’s the book blurb:

Anise is trouble
Ryne is a magical troubleshooter, sworn to protect the innocent from being harmed by magic–and she’s been chasing Anise, her former mentor, for six years.

Deke is a private investigator who knows something key to defeating Anise. But Anise cast a dark spell over him, and even though Ryne has managed to temporarily lift the curse, Deke can’t remember what it is that he knows.

Ryne has sworn to never get involved with a human, but Deke is sexy, charming, brave, and irresistible–and as Ryne and Deke are pulled further into Anise’s evil schemes, it’s harder and harder for Ryne to resist the attraction.

But dark magic has its own attraction, and in order to defeat Anise and lift Deke’s curse permanently, Ryne will have to risk following in Anise’s footsteps and succumbing to the lure of the darkness…

Read an excerpt.

What’s next for Patti O’Shea:

In Twilight’s Shadow (Light Warriors, Book 2), June 2008

P.S. I kept singing Billy Idol’s “Rebel Yell” while reading this book.   🙂