A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her...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?
Immortals After Dark Series:
The Warlord Wants Forever (Novella in the Playing Easy to Get anthology)
A Hunger Like No Other
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Dark Needs at Night's Edge
Dark Desires After Dusk
Kiss of a Demon King
Deep Kiss of Winter
Pleasure of a Dark Prince
Demon from the Dark (August 2010)
For more information visit Kresley Cole's website
Review:
Lachlain suffered unbearable torture at the hands of the vampire horde for 150 years before finally escaping when he senses his true mate is near by. After everything he has been through and the pain he suffers trying to escape he is horrified to discover that his mate is a vampire. But he has been waiting for 1000 years to find his true mate and isn't prepared to let her slip away from him even if she is part of a race that he despises. Emmaline isn't just your average vampire, she is actually half Valkyrie and has been raised by her Valkyrie aunts since her mother's death when she was just a baby. She has lived a sheltered life, always feeling different because of her vampire heritage and has set out to find out more about her parents and try to discover who her father is. When she is taken hostage by Lachlain she is terrified of him but agrees to help him get to his home in Scotland because he promises that he will let her go home if she does. Little does she know that she is his mate and he has no plans to ever let her escape from him.
I'd heard a lot of great things about this series and was really looking forward to reading A Hunger Like No Other but at the beginning I really wasn't too sure if I'd be able to finish reading it. I understand that Lachlain has survived horrific torture but when he practically forces himself on Emmaline within minutes of meeting her it made me feel quite uncomfortable & I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to like him as the hero of the story. Emmaline (known as Emma the timid by her family) starts off as a very weak and mild character and again I wasn't sure that she was going to make very good heroine material.
However, I'm very pleased that I persevered with the story - both Lachlain and Emma grow a great deal throughout the story and I enjoyed watching their relationship progress as Lachlain grew to care for Emma and she finally found her backbone. We were teased quite a bit before they finally consummated their relationship but when they finally did it was worth the wait and the action between them was very steamy.
I did find myself getting a bit confused about the world Kresley Cole has created and the number of characters made it difficult to keep up with who was who to start with but I felt that I'd got to grips with it by the end of the book. There is a novella in the anthology Playing Easy To Get that comes before this book in the series so perhaps if I'd read that first I would have found it a little less confusing. I'm definitely planning on reading the anthology along with the rest of the series though. Although there were a few things that irritated me I did find myself really enjoying A Hunger Like No Other by the end and am looking forward to re-visiting this world again in future books. Overall this was a great start to the series and I'm curious to see where it will take me. I've not read anything with Valkyrie's in before and I found them an interesting addition to the genre. I'd definitely recommend paranormal romance fans give this book a try but if like me you aren't too sure at the beginning please keep reading - it is worth it in the end.
Source: Library
Other Reviews:
Chrissie's Corner
Tynga's Reviews
If you have reviewed this book on your blog please leave a link to your review in the comments & I'll add the link here.
This is my favorite PNR series but I agree, A Hunger Like No Other isn't the best one- it does only get better from here though!
ReplyDeleteAlso, The Warlord Wants Forever, the story that kicks off the series and is part of the Playing Easy to Get anthology is available free online- it became free right after the dual book with Gena Showalter came out last year. Here's the link: http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/books/SS.EMS/KresleyColeNovellaGiveaway.pdf
Enjoy!
Great review.I havent read anything from her.Maybe someday soon =)
ReplyDeleteGreat review, I've come to really like this series and I agree there were a few bumpy parts that were tough to get through but overall the series is worth reading!
ReplyDelete@ Emily - by the end of the book I was really enjoying it & definitely looking forward to reading more of the series so it's good to know the other books don't have the rocky start :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the link to download The Warlord Wants Forever! I'd ordered Playing Easy from the library but now I don't have to wait for it to come in stock!
@ Darlyn - I wasn't too sure about this at the beginning but had definitely changed my mind by the end of the book. I've got the next 4 books from the library already so will try to get some more read & reviewed soon :o) Why don't you download the first novella using the link Emily gave in the post above - it's the first story in the series so would be a good way to give it a try
@ Katelyn - I'm glad to hear you think it's worth continuing the series. I think a lot of series tend to have some not so great books (even wit the Black Dagger Brotherhood series which I LOVE I wasn't impressed with Phury's book). I usually try to read at least a couple of books before I give up on a series :o)