Liviania‘s review of No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole
Paranormal Romance released by Pocket Star Books 31 Oct 06

The second Immortals After Dark novel focuses on the second-youngest Wroth brother, Sebastian. His village hires Kaderin the Cold Hearted to kill him, but the two quickly realize she is his Bride. After a brief amorous encounter, Kaderin leaves, unwilling to undergo the humiliation of being involved with a vampire. (She’s seen how her family treats Myst, whose husband is a vampire – and Sebastian’s older brother.) Currently she’s focused on winning the Talisman’s Hie, a contest run by the goddess Riora. After all, she’s won the past five times and must defend her title.

Since Sebastian’s older brothers turned him against his will, he chose to become recluse. Thus, he does not realize how dangerous Kaderin is. (Much like Emma in the previous novel, he knows little about other creatures in the Lore.) He follows and tries to protect her like the knight he was in life. Kaderin is not amused. However, Kaderin only feels this displeasure because her emotions returned after she met Sebastian. Someone answered her prayer not to feel after a vampire killed her two sisters – a vampire whose life she saved. The winner of the Talisman’s Hie will receive a key that will take the user into the past. Kaderin wishes to save her sisters and wishes the vampire would stop interfering.

Sebastian and Kaderin’s strongest competitor is Bowen MacRieve, who first appeared in A Hunger Like No Other. His mate died in the eighteen hundreds and he has been slowly dying ever since. He’s a sympathetic character and Cole shoots herself in the foot by making him a main antagonist. The reader wants Sebastian and Kaderin to succeed, but the reader wants the same for Bowen. Terrible things are done to him throughout the novel. I think I managed to move past him and focus on the romance only because I knew his future due to reading the fourth book first.

This is a large flaw simply because Sebastian and Kaderin’s romance is strong. It sticks out because the rest of the book is solid. Sebastian earnestly pursues her and two fall in love as they learn to trust the other (even as each of them still wants to be the protector). They’re both strong, fierce, and capable. They clash because of Kaderin’s independence and Sebastian’s determination to be her knight-in-shining-armor. They work when he allows her to stand on her own.

Plus, Kaderin deserves HEA after listening to Regin’s choice of music in Antarctica. She spent years without emotions and then immediately has to deal with one of the party valkyrie. I do like how Cole sets future romances in place. I look forward to there being a novel about Regin and her reincarnated but doomed lover.

Perhaps the most action-oriented of the series, No Rest for the Wicked moves at a quick pace with no dull spots. If only the villain were dastardly . . .

Grade: B+

Summary:

A vampire soldier weary of life… Centuries ago, Sebastian Wroth was turned into a vampire-a nightmare in his mind-against his will. Burdened with hatred and alone for ages, he sees little reason to live. Until an exquisite, fey creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.

A valkyrie assassin dispatched to destroy him… When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters to a vampire attack long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow-accidentally extinguishing al of her emotions. Yet whenever she encounters Sebastian, her feelings-particularly lust-emerge multiplied. For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.

Competitors in a legendary hunt… The course will take them through ancient tombs and catacombs, seeking relics around the world, and the prize for victory is powerful enough for Kaderin to change history and prevent her sisters’ deaths. Sebastian competes as well, and begins winning-her. But when forced to choose between Sebastian and reuniting her family, how can Kaderin live without either?

Read an excerpt here.

Click on the Immortals After Dark series tag for more excerpts, more reviews, and more everything on this series.

Limecello’s review of No Rest for the Wicked (Immortals After Dark, Book 2) by Kresley Cole
Paranormal Romance released by Pocket Star Books 31 Oct 06

This is the second book of the Immortals After Dark series, and I enjoyed it. After reading the first, I was wondering how Ms. Cole would go from vampires being the ultimate enemy, to making one her hero. It works.

Kaderin the Cold Hearted was cursed, or blessed – it all depends on one’s perspective -to feel no emotions after she watched her sisters die. She’s sent to kill a vampire, something she’d do for free, but finds that she can’t end him. Sebastian Wroth is the vampire, and it turns out that Kaderin is his Bride – his fated mate, that will bring Sebastian back to life. His heart starts beating again, and he’s got purpose.

It just so happens that the Talisman’s Hie is just about to begin – an immortal’s “Amazing Race,” with a fabulous prize. Kaderin has also won it for the past millennium, which is still impressive even though it takes place only every 250 years.

Kaderin has more reason than most to hate vampires, and Sebastian has never had much luck wooing the ladies. As a human giant, well over 6 feet tall in the 1600s, and a warlord with three brothers, he had little time for dalliance between fighting the Russians. Now, however, he’s determined to win his Bride. Sebastian in fact, joins the Talisman’s Hie, the first vampire to do so, as a way of courting Kaderin. No, he doesn’t think one shouldn’t directly compete and take away what your girl wants as a way to win her. Of course, all these supernatural creatures are different from humans. He has a really cute pet name for her too – Katja.

This is basically how the book goes – Kaderin hasn’t felt emotions in 2,000 years, and Sebastian has finally found his Bride. To say they’re both emotionally stunted would be an understatement. They work on their feelings while completing the tasks Riora, the goddess of impossibilities, sets them on. Very clever, using one thing to set off the other.

I liked this book, but my favorite character actually wasn’t the hero or the heroine – it was Bowen MacRieve, and I felt so bad for him. There were some uncertainties in the end, but it ended happily.

Grade: B-

Summary:

A vampire soldier weary of life… Centuries ago, Sebastian Wroth was turned into a vampire-a nightmare in his mind-against his will. Burdened with hatred and alone for ages, he sees little reason to live. Until an exquisite, fey creature comes to kill him, inadvertently saving him instead.

A valkyrie assassin dispatched to destroy him… When Kaderin the Cold Hearted lost her two beloved sisters to a vampire attack long ago, a benevolent force deadened her sorrow-accidentally extinguishing al of her emotions. Yet whenever she encounters Sebastian, her feelings-particularly lust-emerge multiplied. For the first time, she’s unable to complete a kill.

Competitors in a legendary hunt… The course will take them through ancient tombs and catacombs, seeking relics around the world, and the prize for victory is powerful enough for Kaderin to change history and prevent her sisters’ deaths. Sebastian competes as well, and begins winning-her. But when forced to choose between Sebastian and reuniting her family, how can Kaderin live without either?

Read an excerpt here.

Other books in this series:

Read Sandy‘s review.

Read Limecello’s and Gwen’s review.

Coming next:

Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark, Book 5) , coming 20 May 08!