Review: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night by Kresley Cole

Title: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark, Book 4
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 24 September 2007
Source: Bought

This seductive paranormal series continues with a brutal Highland werewolf and an exquisite young witch, adversaries with a blood vendetta between them.

Her breathless kiss haunts him...

Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan was nearly destroyed when he lost the one woman meant for him. The ruthless warrior grew even colder, never taking another to his bed—until a smoldering encounter with his enemy, Mariketa the Awaited, reawakens his darkest desires. When sinister forces unite against her, the Highlander finds himself using all his strength and skill to keep her alive.

His slow, hot touch is irresistible...

Temporarily stripped of her powers, Mari is forced to take refuge with her sworn adversary. It's rumored that no one can tempt Bowen's hardened heart, but soon passion burns between them. Though a future together is impossible, she fears he has no intention of letting her go.

No deed is too wicked for her seduction...

If they defeat the evil that surrounds them, can Mari deny Bowen when he demands her body and soul—or will she risk everything for her fierce protector?

Book 1: The Warlord Wants Forever
Book 2: A Hunger Like No Other
Book 3: No Rest for the Wicked

I'm finding it incredibly hard to review these books, because I keep wanting to repeat the same praises that I've previously voiced. Kresley Cole just keeps upping her game in this series, each one better than the last!

The world and the characters are as enthralling and immersive as anything I've read. As I've talked extensively about the world in previous reviews, I think I'll just focus on the characters here - and they're worth focusing on. Though Wicked Deeds is just the fourth book in a series now fifteen books long, it's still my second favorite one. All because of Mariketa and Bowen.

Mari is a young witch, not even frozen into her immortality yet, when she decides to enter the Hie - an incredibly dangerous competition. And she holds her own, right up until she meets Bowen. And even though he traps her I'd say she definitely did the worse damage by cursing him with the inability to heal. Despite what that may make you think, Mari's powers are ... volatile. She doesn't have a good control over them, and is still figuring out how to make them work. Despite, or because, of all of this Mari's a complicated girl. She's at once utterly charming and smart, funny and brave, and also utterly sick of being second best. She has a bit of a (understandable) inferiority complex that pops up occasionally - when actions of others and events lead to it. But she's not afraid to fight for what she believes she deserves, and what she wants. Plus she kicks Bowen's ass, repeatedly.

Bowen's been living as a half-dead Lykae for almost two centuries; ever since his mate died - fleeing from him. Having entered the Hie to retrieve his mate, he's destroyed when he loses to Sebastian. And even he begins to question why he doesn't take those final steps to oblivion. When he's retrieved and finds out that Mari's been trapped for several weeks now, and that she's not even immortal yet, Bowen sets out to get her. Despite what he says it's not just the fact that there's an imminent threat if she doesn't call in by a certain time. Bowen feels compelled to get her out. So with grievous injuries, that won't heal, he rushes to her. Ever since I first met Bowen I knew that he was loyal, strong, brave and committed. But I loved seeing this other side of him; here he was funny and charming, joking with Mari at every turn, and loving when she teased him in return.

Though Bowen is obviously conflicted, having lost his mate nearly 200 years ago he's not sure how he can feel that Mari is his mate now, he consistently (minus a few screw ups) treats Mari fabulously. He's learning throughout this, and overcoming more than a few prejudices, but watching him fall in love with Mari - not just because of the Instinct, but because of who she is - is beautiful and sweet. Their interactions made me laugh and grin, and occasionally tear up.

I remember loving this book so much on my first read, and this re-read made me love it even more. It's definitely a favorite of mine.

Grade: A+


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Review: No Rest for the Wicked by Kresley Cole

Title: No Rest for the Wicked
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark, Book 3
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 31 October 2006
Source: Bought

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 all 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 prize of the month-long contest is powerful enough to change history, and Kaderin will do anything to win it for her sisters. Wanting only to win her, forever, Sebastian competes as well, taking every opportunity—as they travel to ancient tombs and through catacombs, seeking relics around the world—to use her new feelings to seduce her. But when forced to choose between the vampire she's falling for and reuniting her family, how can Kaderin live without either?

Book 1: The Warlord Wants Forever
Book 2: A Hunger Like No Other

Here's the book that hooked me on this series. It had depth that the novella, The Warlord Wants Forever necessarily lacked and the characters are FANTASTIC - without any of the 'coming into her own' of the heroine like in A Hunger Like No Other. It also included everything I love about the world, and as an added bonus: the Talisman's Hie - an Amazing Race type event, on supernatural steroids.

Kaderin hasn't felt a thing, not the sorrow that was tearing her apart, not joy, hate, love, regret...nothing, for nearly a thousand years. After she lost her sisters blood sisters (triplets they were) her emotions were shut off. She never felt the lack, she simply dedicated herself to eradicating vampires. I loved Kaderin. She wasn't sure about anything when her feelings started coming back, not sure exactly how to deal with the onslaught (and I loved how it was initially shown to return) of emotions racing through her. But her personality shines through. Kaderin kicks ass, first, second, and third. But she's also got this beautiful understanding and kindness and compassion that shows through. She sees the beauty in, what others would deem, ugly and dangerous things - showing that she knows there's reason and right for everything to exist and thrive. All of that doesn't mean that she is willing to sacrifice herself for someone not completely and utterly hers, but she will give everything in her for one she loves.

Bastian, and I just have to say how much I love that name, it's one of my favorites, is my favorite type of hero. He's intelligent - a scholar in his human life - and mostly beta. He wants to woo his Katya, winning her heart and having her want him for himself. He's not terribly experienced in relationships, and is a bit shy - at first. I love, love, love that even though Bastian desperately wants to push further with Kaderin he respects women too much to do so. He won't go where he's not wanted, and Kaderin keeps pushing him away. So he continues trying to bargain with her, and coax her to him. His leverage may not always be strictly gentlemanly, but I love that he knows when to push and when to back off. I also really, really love that - despite there being lust and 'fated mates' between them - Kaderin and Bastian admit several times throughout the novel that it isn't love...yet.

Watching them fall in love is an immensely satisfying, joyous thing.

I've already talked, probably at length, about the world in which this takes place. I'll only continue to reiterate that it's one of the most detailed, complex, in-depth worlds I've ever encountered. Kresley Cole continues to blow my mind with the way she weaves in multiple storylines and keep track of a labyrinthine time-line.

The secondary characters are all interesting - I want to know ALL their stories. I won't even list them all here because there's too many. Fortunately it seems like Cole is in no hurry to stop writing in this series, and as I continue to love them, and the stakes continue to raise, I can't be more grateful.

One of the new things in this novel is the Talisman's Hie. A race for immortals around the world to retrieve difficult objects of different power. All to gain points to be able to go for the final round. I loved this. I can't even explain how much. The competition, the characters competing against - and sometimes helping - each other, and the different locations it takes us to.

Fortunately it seems like Cole is in no hurry to stop writing in this series, and as I continue to love them, and the stakes continue to raise, I can't be more grateful. Next up: Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night. I'm so excited to read about Bowen again!

Grade: B+

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Review: A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole

Title: A Hunger Like No Other
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark, Book 2
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 1 April 2006

A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her...

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.

A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy...

Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents—until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae—and their notorious dark desires—ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.

An all-consuming desire...

Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Check out my review for the first (novella) in this series The Warlord Wants Forever

This is probably only my second or third read of this book, I'm buddy re-reading the series with Sarah of Feeling Fictional in preparation for the release of the fourteenth book in the series - someone's book that I've been looking forward to for a few years now. But I won't spoil that here.

Kresley Cole is a master of weaving together and intricate tale that involves overlapping storylines, and many, many characters. The Immortals After Dark world is populated by the Lore - immortal beings that have managed to hide themselves from humans, for the most part. There are Lykae - not the standard werewolves you may be thinking of; Witches, Vampires, Demons, Ghouls, Phantoms...and my personal favorite: Valkyries. All these factions fight for themselves, looking for their other half - whatever they call it, Mate, Bride, etc - and living their lives. Every five-hundred years comes the Accession to mess that up. As told in the book, the Accession...

...Bringing prosperity and power to the victors, the Accession wasn't an Armageddon type of war--it wasn't as if the strongest factions of the Lore met on neutral turf after an invitation to "rumble." About a decade into it, events began to come into play, as if fate was seeding future, deadly conflicts, involving all the players at a startling rate. Like windmill vanes on a rusted spoke, it began creaking, creeping to life, only to gain momentum and soar with speed every five hundred years.

Some said it was a kind of cosmic checks-and-balances system for an ever-growing population of immortals, forcing them to kill each other off.

In the end, the faction that lost the fewest of their kind won.

So here we are; at the beginning of what many in the Lore are starting to believe is the start of the Accession. A time when immortals find their mates - sometimes in very unexpected places, alliances are made or discord is sown between the different factions of the Lore.

I'm speaking a lot about the world, because after thirteen books it's still my favorite thing about this series. The world and overall plotting is masterful. Kresley Cole blows my mind time and time again with the way she casually ties things together, references events we won't hear about for books to come, and never once have I caught a slip or mistake in these books. I'm awed by the ability she has to keep it all straight. There's a side reference in this book, Book 2, that doesn't get fully explained until Book 9! All of these events are taking place so close together as to be on top of one another. You're always right in the middle of it, hoping that these characters you come to love will make it through.

The other thing I can guarantee you, in every book, is that Kresley Cole loves to put her heroes and heroines through the wringer before giving them their HEA. Not just at the hands of others either - she pushes these characters to the very limits of what they might be able to forgive their fated other-half...and for some it might step over the line. I struggle with this from time to time. I read these books, I love these books, and even still I wonder if I shouldn't be objecting more to some of the treatment the characters do to one another.

I suppose I should talk about the main characters of this book: Emma and Lachlain. Emma is the half-breed daughter of a vampire and a valkyrie. She's been raised by the valkyrie, hidden from the vampires, her entire life. Lachlain is the lykae king - imprisoned for 150 years (by vampires), he finally breaks free to find his mate.

As you can imagine the fact that Emma is (part) vampire is a source of tremendous torture to Lachlain's fragile sanity. He can't imagine why he's been mated to one of his hated enemies, but still he fights to protect her, even from his own rages. I definitely understood what Lachlain was struggling with, and honestly his recovery is really, really quick - just the hell that he puts Emma through in the meantime can sometimes be cringe-worthy. I like him a lot. He's like the prototype of 'bash-em-over-the-head-and-drag-her-back-to-the-cave' type. But he's also all - and I do mean ALL - about making sure his mate is happy. He makes mistakes, so it's a good thing he's got Emma to call him on it, and bring him into line.

Almost as much as I hate to say this, everything that happens to Emma just makes her stronger, more sure of herself, and more able to handle everything thrown at her. She starts the book as Emma the Timid. The most exciting thing she's ever done is go to Paris by herself to search for the father - whose name she doesn't even know. And even then she was protected by the money she had from the coven to protect her. She continues to think of herself as this in some small moments for about half the book. The truth is something far more complicated. Emma's been conditioned to think she's not good enough, not strong enough, not brave enough. It wasn't intentional, it wasn't anyone's fault, but the consequences of growing up with those that she did - the strong, brave, and fighting valkyries. She shows from very early on that she's not afraid to defend herself, think for herself, and stands up against Lachlain over and over again.

I admit the first time I read this I didn't love Lachlain or Emma. I liked them both, but I was irritated with how Lachlain treated Emma (especially in the beginning), and Emma's timidity. I'd bought too much into her own image of herself instead of seeing what was shown to me. I loved Emma on this re-read. She's fantastic. She continues to grow and evolve as a character throughout the book, and kicks ass along the way. Lachlain I still have some problems with. He does some pretty neanderthal things, especially in the beginning, but I understand too. He's coming out of fifteen decades of torture, and has finally found his mate and is terrified that she might leave him. By the time Emma reached the end of the story I felt that Lachlain was a good match for her, and that they'd be great together.

In the end, I ended up loving this book so much more than the first time I'd read it. the main characters are great, the world is phenomenal, the plot is amazing, and the secondary characters continue to make me wish for many, many more stories in this series!


Grade: B-

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Review: The Warlord Wants Forever by Kresley Cole

Title: The Warlord Wants Forever
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark, Book 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date:

The Warlord

Nikolai Wroth, a ruthless vampire general, will stop at nothing to find his Bride, the one woman who can “blood” him, making his heart beat and filling him with strength. Coldly interested only in the power his Bride will bring, he can hardly believe when Myst the Coveted awakens him body—and soul.

The Seductress

Famed throughout the world as the most beautiful Valkyrie, Myst has devoted her life to protecting a magical jewel and to fighting the vampires.Wroth provides her with the perfect opportunity to torment her sworn enemy—for with his new heartbeat comes a consuming sexual desire that can only be slaked by her. Denying him, she flees, struggling to forget his searing, possessive kiss.

The Hunt is on…

She eludes him for five years, but he has finally chased her to ground and stolen her enchanted jewel, giving him absolute power over her. Now that she’s his for the taking, he intends to make her experience first-hand the agonizing, unending lust she subjected him to for half a decade.Yet when Nikolai realizes he wants far more than vengeance from Myst and frees her, will she come back to him?

Okay, I admit it - I should hate this book. Forced seduction? Check. Physical blows between heroine and hero? Check. Almost, could-be-described-as, rape? Double-Check. Strong woman waiting for a man to tame her? Check. Man jealous of woman's previous 'experience'? Check. In fact, you could put a check mark next to a lot of my pet-peeves in romance novels.

I should have read this and immediately ran in the other direction, screaming out warnings. I guess the most amazing thing I can say about it is, then, that I love it. Every single torturing minute between Myst the Coveted and Nikolai Wroth had me entranced and in love with them.

What the hell happened to me?

Though this isn't my favorite story in this series, this novella will give you a good idea if you're going to enjoy the rest of the series. Kresley Cole puts her protagonists through the wringer! Not only do they suffer injustices from outside their HEA, but from the very person that's supposed to give them their HEA!

Yet every time I pick up this novella (or most any story in the series), I can't put it down. Not to come update, not to sleep, or eat, or anything. Myst is a strong as hell heroine, a Valkyrie, and one of the strongest in the Lore (the supernatural beings that have hidden their existence from humans in this world). She's got a smart mouth, and isn't afraid of her sexuality - which I found so incredibly refreshing. Nikolai is a 'gentleman warlord', in Myst's own words - something that she, and I, find hard to resist apparently!

Though I hated some of the things that both of them do to each other, I couldn't ever hate them. I wanted them to find a way through every obstacle and be happy, give each other the happiness they deserved.

Oh, and if I forgot to mention? The sex - OFF.THE.CHARTS.HOTTTTT!!! *phew*

*fans self*

I do admit that in this series I tend to forgive things that would be unpardonable in, say, a contemporary novel - the world of the Lore simple seems to beg for exceptions. It's not an easy world they live in, and alliances - even for love - are not easily made.

Obviously Myst and Wroth do find a way to their happiness, though there's much hurt before then. More hurt than I would have thought possible to shove into a novella, in fact. And though the HEA doesn't promise to be easy, I know that they're always fight to be in each other's arms and I can't help but sigh in happiness at the thought.

Grade: A-

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Review: Lothaire by Kresley Cole

Title: Lothaire
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark, Book 12
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 10 January 2012

From the humblest of beginnings a millennia ago, Lothaire the Enemy of Old rose to power, becoming the most feared and evil vampire in the immortal world. Driven by his past, he will not rest until he captures the vampire Horde’s crown for himself. The discovery of his Bride, the female meant only for him, threatens to derail his plot.

Elizabeth Peirce is a mere mortal, a glaring vulnerability for a male with so many blood foes bent on annihilating anything he desires. Yet soon he discovers his Bride’s secret. A magnificent power dwells inside the fragile human, one that will aid his quest. But to possess that power, he will have to destroy her. Will Lothaire succumb to the torments of his past, or seize a future with her?

I started Lothaire with a huge sense of expectation, and finished it out of breath after being unable to put it down.

Lothaire is great - don't expect too much reformation from him. He's still the same great character that, if you're like me, we've always loved. He's a smart-ass, brilliant, a consummate strategist, and a collector of debts.

His heroine's fantastic. She's totally underestimated, and extremely intelligent and able to see clearly through people and situations. She has a great instinct and she isn't afraid to follow it. I really like her. While the 'hill-billy' drawl (she's from the Appalachian Mountains) was sparingly used, it did get on my nerves having it typed. Of course I prefer to imagine Scottish brogues instead of reading them phonetically.

The sexy times in this book are off the wall hot. I've seen some compare it to dubious consent, and I guess I can see that, but I'd consider it more of a mutual using for personal gains. I think it works, and can appreciate what each hopes to gain, as well as how it moves them closer to their HEA.

But my favorite part was watching Lothaire be totally caught off guard by Ellie. Their verbal sparing and discussions were a true delight. They fit each other.

Some other perpetually favorite characters make appearances, as well as a whole host of new characters. The Dacian that we meet will apparently feature in Ms. Cole's new series - Realm of Blood and Mist - which starts with Shadow's Claim due August 21, 2012.

I enjoyed every moment of reading, though thinking back it doesn't seem like much happens, the story moved along at a good pace. However, I did finish it feeling like there was that indefinable something missing from this book. I still can't lay a finger on what exactly, but there was that little bit that takes a great book to truly amazing - and it wasn't here.

I'm positively on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happens with Nix, and Furie, Kristoff and a whole host of other characters that are soon to be hugely affected by events that occur in Lothaire.

Lothaire's another wonderful entry meaning this continues to be one of the strongest series I read. The world building and time lines continue to be true to themselves, and the characters remain interesting and layered.


Grade: A-

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Waiting on Wednesday: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine which spotlights eagerly anticipated upcoming releases!

Dreams of a Dark Warrior is the 11th story in the Immortals After Dark series, and while I think that Ms. Cole has done a really good job of making each one be able to be read as a stand alone, there is an overarching storyline that is probably best read in order. I've enjoyed each book in the series and have been waiting a while now for Regin's Berserker to catch up with her again.

Title: Dreams of a Dark Warrior
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark 11
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Pocket
Release Date: February 15, 2011

Book Description (from Goodreads.com):

HE VOWED HE’D COME FOR HER . . .
Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives.

SHE AWAITS HIS RETURN . . .

When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals—unaware that he belongs to their world.

TO SATE A DESIRE MORE POWERFUL THAN DEATH . . .

Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan’s torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?

Review: Demon From the Dark by Kresley Cole

Title: Demon From the Dark
Author: Kresley Cole
Series: Immortals After Dark 10
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: 31 August 2010


**Warning – Minor Spoilers for Pleasure of a Dark Prince**


Carrow Graie has been kidnapped. She doesn’t know by who, or why, until they come to her and demand she retrieve someone for them. They are the Order, a group of mortals who rise up to clash with immortals every Ascension. Some want the Lore all destroyed, others want to study them.

The Order tells Carrow that she must go into Oblivion, the Trothan Demon-world, and bring back Malkom Slaine, a vampiric demon they’ve been unable to capture. When she tells them where they can shove their demands, the Order reveals it’s ace. Something that makes Carrow not only cooperative, but eager to be done with her mission.

Carrow is thrust through the portal, finally able to use her spells once more – if only she can find a source of power here. Setting off to search for the notoriously savage venom, Carrow wonders why she was chosen, and starts to realize that she may have vastly underestimated the hazards associated with the unforgiving world she finds herself in.

Malkom Slaine has spent his entire life going from one betrayal to the next and has a strong hatred for vampires, killing them whenever he meets one. Having been a slave, been made to scavenge for food, betrayed by the people he had served so faithfully and finally forced to do the one thing he regrets most, Malkom now lives only for revenge on those that have deceived him. For someone only betrays him once. They won’t live to do so again.

But when he scents something different in his guarded mountain area he instinctively takes off after it, saving a female from a band of ruthless demons. Their first meeting goes badly, Malkom realizes that she is his fated mate and wants to claim her – both parts of him, vampire and demon. Fighting impulses he’s never felt before, Malkom tries not to hurt her, but things go badly. He doesn’t understand why she won’t recognize what she is to him, and with a language barrier between them understanding is not easy in coming.

Carrow is furious at Malkom after their first meeting, running off and hiding herself. But he eventually finds her and presents her with the head from a disgusting ghoul (his idea of a courting gesture). Thinking that the profile the Order had given her on him was right and he was a big, bloodthirsty brute, Carrow continues to fight and flee from him, having no idea how to get him back to the portal for their retrieval. But as he continues to save her life, she begins to trust him, eventually following him to his lair.

There they learn more and more about each other. With ground rules laid, no sex, no biting/drinking, Carrow and Malkom begin to form a fragile trust. Malkom begins to believe that fate has finally dealt him something beautiful – love and family, and begins ever so slowly to dream of the future. Carrow feels increasing guilt as she starts to care for Malkom, realizing that when she betrays him to the Order she will have sealed her fate in his eyes.

Malkom is a tortured hero unlike many I have ever seen. His past and history, told in the prologue, literally made me tear up. Every time I saw through his eyes, I fell a little more in love with him. Loyal, noble, strong, smart, and hotter-than-hell – once he got a bath anyways, which in itself was incredibly hot – he dreams of the simple things in life after meeting Carrow. A home, family to raise, and a woman to love and trust. His attention to Carrow as he learns her is sigh-worthy.

Carrow was never a character who’s story I was clamouring for, but I greatly enjoyed seeing why she acts the way she does, taking a peek into her own lonely childhood. And while I could easily understand all her choices and the reasons behind them, something was missing with her for me. I also thought that she depended on the hero a bit much, kind of a side-effect of one of the restraints that were placed on her by the order, so I understand it, but I still would have liked to see more of them as equals. Finally, I didn’t really feel a connection to her until the very end, when she does something that almost literally made me cheer.

The romance between them was a dance of circling each other, stepping just slightly closer, each giving a little bit more. The betrayal that Carrow deals Malkom is very real, and how they came back from that was really well done. There wasn’t some magical forgiveness, and they didn’t try to brush it under the rug to suddenly disappear later.

The action in Demon From the Dark is non-stop! From the first moment when we find out who has taken Carrow, and a lot of her friends, to the very end I had a hard time putting this book down. There are a fair share of surprising moments, and glimpses of characters that I’m dying to read more of, including Lanthe, Thronos, Lothaire and a few new ones that have piqued my interest. Regin’s cameos in the story made me ache for her, and I’m anxious to see how Kresley Cole resolves that storyline in the next book, Dreams of a Dark Warrior.

While I think that Demon From the Dark can be read as a stand-alone – all the information you need is there for the main story – I really feel that it’ll be better appreciated if you’ve read the previous books in the series. You’ll get a more thorough picture of the world, and the beings that show up in it. Also, there are a lot of great gems waiting to be found in those earlier books too.

Demon From the Dark is an intense, hot addition to the Immortals After Dark series that kept me turning pages late into the night. Get ready to dive into the strong world that Ms. Cole has built and filled with characters that you’ll be begging to know more about. While I had a couple of issues with Carrow in this one, I still feel this is a good addition to the series. It’s not one of my favorites, but Ms. Cole has set the bar high, and I’m eagerly anticipating some of the foreshadowed stories coming up!

Grade: B

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Kresley Cole Book Order

Immortals After Dark

1. "Warlord Wants Forever" in Playing Easy to Get anthology
Nikolai Wroth and Myst the Coveted

2. A Hunger Like No Other
Lachlain MacRieve and Emmaline Troy

3. No Rest for the Wicked
Sebastian Wroth and Kaderin the Cold-Hearted

4. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Bowen MacRieve and Mariketa the Awaited

5. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
Conrad Wroth and Néomi Laress

6. Dark Desires After Dusk
Cade Woede and Holly Ashwin

7. Kiss of a Demon King
Rydstrom Woede and Sabine Queen of Illusions

8. "Untouchable" in Deep Kiss of Winter anthology
Murdoch Wroth and Daniela the Ice Maiden

9. Pleasure of a Dark Prince
Garreth MacRieve and Lucia the Archer

10. Demon from the Dark
Malkom Slaine and Carrow Graie

11. Dreams of a Dark Warrior
Declan Chase (Aidan the Fierce) and Regin the Radiant

12. Lothaire
Lothaire and Ellie Peirce

13. MacRieve
Uilleam MacRieve and Chloe Todd

14. Dark Skye (5 August 2014)
Thronos and Lanthe


Realm of Mist and Blood

1. Shadow's Claim
Trehan Daciano

2. [Untitled] (May 2014)



MacCarrick Brothers

1. If You Dare
2. If You Desire
3. If You Deceive


The Sutherland Brothers

1. The Captain of All Pleasures
2. The Price of Pleasure


Please note: This page was written by me, so as always, please visit the author’s website for up-to-date, author-verified information as well as for information on books that have not yet been included to this list.

http://kresleycole.com/