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Dark Desires After Dusk

by Kresley Cole

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: Immortals After Dark (5)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,4395612,677 (4.15)62
Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. HTML:From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole, an electrifying standalone tale of a ruthless demon mercenary and the lovely young halfling who enchants him, set in the Immortals After Dark universe.
A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist...

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny...

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires...

Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs—and claim his heart?
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Showing 1-5 of 56 (next | show all)
Dark Desires After Dusk
4 Stars

Synopsis
After waiting 900 years for his destined mate, Cadeon Woede is devastated to learn that she is human, and therefore, off limits. Tasked by his brother to locate the "Vessel" and exchange her for a magickal sword that will restore Rydstrom to his throne, Cadeon is surprised to discover that his job and his mate are one and the same, and he may have to make the ultimate sacrifice to atone for his past mistakes.

Review
This is a lighthearted and fun series, and this installment mostly met my expectations.

Holly is a likeable heroine with her quirky nerdiness and endearing OCD tendencies. Nevertheless, Cole's treatment of OCD, a serious and debilitating disorder, is somewhat superficial and comes across as trivial and mundane at times.

Cade's characterization is ambiguous. One the one hand, he is sexy (love the horns) and handles Holly's quirks with sweet sensitivity but on the other, he is an unapologetic sexist and slob, and has an ulterior motive that he keeps hidden.

Cade and Holly's romance is very steamy. They have great chemistry and their scenes together are HOT, HOT, HOT! The training sessions provide some of the best scenes in the book.

The Vessel premise is intriguing and well-developed, and the pacing is good. Unfortunately, the climax and ending are a bit rushed and Cade's questionable actions are glossed over too quickly. The book is also too disconnected from the previous installments and Nix is one of the few recurring characters. Of course, she is hilarious as always and steals every scene she is in.

All in all, an enjoyable addition to the series and it looks like Rydstrom's book is going to be a doozy. ( )
  Lauren2013 | May 5, 2023 |
[b:Dark Desires After Dusk|2003625|Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark, #5)|Kresley Cole|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327887013l/2003625._SY75_.jpg|2007518] by [a:Kresley Cole|4428|Kresley Cole|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1328377628p2/4428.jpg]
Genres: Adult, Paranormal, Romance, Suspense
4.75 Stars

Funny from the start.
Skillfully written.
Wonderful twist & turns that keep you engaged in the interactions of Cadeon and Holly.

I'm not going to give any spoilers, so I will give a check list instead.

1. Hot, steamy, sex? Yep!
2. Strong Female with quirks that make you laugh? Yep!!
3. Hot & delicious Male that can make you melt? Yep!!!
4. So well written you don't want to stop reading? Yep!!!!

I would give this book a 5 star.
And it has only made me HUNGER FOR MORE IAD!!!!!! ( )
  bodebeabay | Sep 25, 2022 |
Cadeon Woede has been keeping tabs on a woman who he knows in his soul to be his fated female but she is forbidden to him because he is a Rage Demon and she is a human. He can’t seem to keep away so he watches her from afar…the rooftops of nearby buildings and such.

Holly Ashwyn teaches at Tulane University in New Orleans. She has her life planned out and everything is on a schedule. She has severe OCD and does not like change at all.

Cadeon has carried the guilt of losing his brother’s crown for nine hundred years. His brother, Rydstrom, never lets him forget it either. Cadeon had been raised away from brother, as royals often are, so when Rydstrom called on him to come to the castle to be there while he went to fight a vampire threat, Cadeon ignored him. Unfortunately, an evil sorcerer, Omort the Deathless, took over the castle while Rydstrom was away. He blamed Cadeon for not being there to protect the castle. Cadeon has been trying to make up for it ever since and has vowed to get Rydstrom’s kingdom back for him no matter what it takes.

When Holly is kidnapped by a demon cult, Cadeon goes after them. Rydstrom calls him while he is driving like hell through town to find Holly and tells him that he has found a way to defeat Omort. Omort’s brother has forged a sword that will kill Omort but he asking for the Vessel, a female from the Lore who will have a child who will either be good or evil but will be powerful beyond belief. Omort was a child from a Vessel. Rydstrom orders Cadeon to find the Vessel and take her to Groot in exchange for the sword. Cadeon gets a bad feeling.

Holly had woken up on a stone slab in some sort of cathedral with what looked like men in robes and costume horns. Her glasses were missing so she couldn’t be sure but one thing she was sure of was that they were chanting and one of them was about to rape her. Lightning started flashing outside above the glass dome above her she shrieked so loud the glass cracked. Lightning hit her in the chest but it didn’t kill her. It invigorated her. She grew claws and fangs and went into a fury.

Cadeon finds Holly crouched naked in a corner with twelve dead demons around her. She had killed them all. Holly had transformed into a Valkyrie. He knows that she must have a human father and a Valkyrie mother since Valkyrie are always female. She’s confused but they don’t have time for explanations because more demons are after them and vampires start shooting at them. He runs with Holly and they barely escape.

Holly is the Vessel.

All factions of the Lore will be after her either to use her for breeding or to kill her. Cadeon explains to her what she is and what is happening to her. When she asks why he is helping her, he tells her he is a mercenary hired to do hard jobs, which is true but he doesn’t tell her why or that he may end up having to betray her. How will he ever give up his fated female to an evil sorcerer?

I had a hard time liking Holly at first because she was so prudish and judgmental. It drove me insane but I also had a hard time with Cadeon who seemed more like a horny teenager than an ancient demon. It bothered me that he kept trying to get in Holly’s pants when he knew he was going to betray her in the end. But as Holly began to open up a little more, I started to like her more. I still called Cadeon, “Cad” though.

As always, Nix the Ever Knowing was manipulating events to help her in the Accession. The Accession is a war between factions of the Lore that happens every 500 years or so. Nix is trying to get allies and she seems to be a romantic at heart.

The only background story that I saw going on was about Rydstrom being kidnapped by Sabine, the Queen of Illusions and Omort and Groot’s sister. She kidnapped him to try to have his offspring who would be the heir to his kingdom but the only way for that to happen would be if she was his fated female. That would such for Rydstrom since she is Omort’s puppet and evil.

I am eager to start the next book which I already have in my e-reader since I have read this series before but I have not been able to sit down and read it yet. I still keep being amazed about how much I have forgotten and it’s like reading it for the first time again.

www.paranormalromanceslut.com ( )
  dragonlion | Jul 30, 2022 |
I had liked the hero more as a side character I think, or maybe I just hoped to like him more in his own book but stayed about the same. The heroine was the problem for me though. She had some unique aspects that made me hopeful, but was overall just tragically sheltered and naive. Like an exaggerated caricature of a proper/sheltered/naive/repressed woman past the point of believability. *Spoiler but from early on in the book-> At one point the hero, who is basically a stranger to her, has literally just thrown himself in front of bullets to protect her and they're running for their very lives- and she keeps scolding him for swearing. ... like wtf is even wrong with you at that point?! It would be ridiculous enough just to scold another grown adult for cursing *at all* but especially not when they've just taken bullets for you and you're still in the process of fleeing for your lives! Maybe it was going for an opposites attract rom/com sort of thing or something, but it missed the mark with me and just felt cringy. She does improve by the end, but for too much of the story she behaves like a 15 year old girl raised by Amish or something. Otherwise it had some entertaining dialogue and steam and such, so I'm still going to give it 3 stars, but the heroine definitely killed some of my enjoyment. ( )
  JorgeousJotts | Dec 3, 2021 |
although holly got on my nerves quite a bit, I loved this book ( )
  hixxup79 | Feb 23, 2020 |
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Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Cole, KresleyAuthorprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Oder, Bettinasecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Petkoff, RobertNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For Richard

Because you're like Rain Man with numbers,

and you don't laugh at me 'cause I'm not.



Jag älskar dig för alltid.
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Cadeon Woede came upon the headless bodies of his foster father and brothers first, the three slain in a desperate defense of their home.
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Fantasy. Fiction. Romance. HTML:From #1 New York Times bestselling author Kresley Cole, an electrifying standalone tale of a ruthless demon mercenary and the lovely young halfling who enchants him, set in the Immortals After Dark universe.
A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist...

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny...

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires...

Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs—and claim his heart?

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Book description
A ruthless demon mercenary. A lovely young halfling.
In the dark, he'll find her........
A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist.......
Caden of the rage demons will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny........
Raised as a human, Holly Ashwin never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon’s wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires.......
Yet just when he earns Holly’s trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs—and claim his heart?
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