I wasn't really interested in the demon brothers before, but with Kresley Cole's superb writing, a fresh plot, and excellent storyline, I was hooked. The good thing about these IAD novels is her prologue, which explains where things would be headed. I didn't feel like I've stumbled somewhere in the middle of the story because of the info given, especially in the Book of Lore's Glossary of terms.

Early on we were presented with a conflict and with that, the adventure began. Would Cade choose the kingdom or his female? The road trip was fun, like watching a movie, the characters really developed and there's a good ol' dose of sarcasm and hot, passionate, and erotic lovemaking. Her writing is always creative, always fresh, and never boring.

I liked how hot she described Cade, made me appreciate the demon-kind more. He's really funny and was well-matched with the obsessive-compulsive newborn Valkyrie, Holly. I liked her as well, especially her strength, the way she adapted to changes and betrayals.

The story was charged with action, suspense, and emotion. Some of the lines and scenes moved me and I'll never get enough of the humor. I'll definitely read this again. ( )

This one is my favorite Kresley Coles so far. She has a way of making every character unique and their own person. Most writers have one way of portraying their heroes and leading ladies. Not Cole! She even varies sex preferences among the characters so that they are unique all the way to the bone! Truly refreshing and exciting. A must read and can't wait to get my hands on the next. ( )

Cadeon is the prince of the rage demons, and his brother is the King, well he would be if Cade hadn't lost his crown. Holly is a OCD math wiz, professor, and severely repressed human/Valkyrie. She doesn't know she is a Valkyrie until she is attacked by another group of demons because she just happens to be one of the keys to the lore ascension. When she gets attacked, she turns, and then well...you can read it for yourself.

Anyway, I like Cade's character a lot, he has been one of my favorites for awhile, since we first met him. He is a sarcastic chauvinistic ass and he is just hilarious. I like how Holly starts to open up and accept everything and she learns who is is in the process. I still really dislike Rydstrom (Cade's brother) but maybe there will be some explanations in his book, which is next. There is some awesome plot in this book...and I am excited to see more of these characters later...but what I really want is Nix to have a book. Just sayin.

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I consider Cadeon Woede, the hero of the fifth installment of Kresley Cole's widely popular Immortals After Dark paranormal romance series, to be the less intense of the males in the series thus far- although he's experienced some big-time regrets in his past.

After losing his father and eldest brother to war, Rydstrom Woede, Cade's next oldest brother who is now first in line to the throne of their demon Kingdom, sends Cade away to be fostered out to ensure the succession to the throne. One fateful day the kingdome falls to an invading army lead by his families' darkest enemy... and it's all Cade's fault.

Instead of leaving to help Rydstrom fend off the invader, he had made the decision to stay back and fight for his foster family- who ended up murdered anyway. Feeling guilty ever since for not helping his brother, when the chance comes along all these years later to finally wrest the throne back for Rydstrom, Cade's determined to make good on his vow for revenge.

And the chance for redemption just happens to center around the one woman he knows he destined for, one Holly Ashwin a bright young lady he met not long ago and has never forgotten.

Now he must make a decision- protect the one woman he knows he's destined for or use her to get a magic weapon that will kill his enemy once and for all.

However Holly is more than she seems- far more than even she realizes- and things become less cut and dry when the fate of the world are in the balance...

As I said before, Cade is less wounded then some of the other characters we've seen in this series and it was a welcome respite, if you ask me. Sexy and charming, but no less determined, Cade's love for Holly is never in question, even when he's sure he will have to give her up to ensure his brother's throne.

Holly is fascinating as well, as she keeps all her emotions under ruthless control for fear of harming an innocent. Being both Valkyrie AND Fury (even though she has no idea who she really is), she has a lot of power to keep in check but when she finally comes into her own, it's something to behold! I loved the ending when she thinks Cade has betrayed her and she manages to fight her way out of a sticky situation all on her own. She's smart and strong and just as determined as Cade and they make a wonderful pairing. ( )

I have liked reading this series and I recommend it to those who are familiar with their mythology. In this book a demon (who is good) mates with a math nerd female immortal warrior. They go on this long trek to retrieve a sword to kill a someone who can't die by normal methods and get back his kingdom. I wonder what happened to the brother, the sword and how the big battle between the demons as well as the battle within the lore is coming will fare. With all of Nix's involvement in this battle of the lore, I want to read her romance story. ( )

I'm reading this series out of order, but it doesn't really seem to matter. I have some issues with how this volume doesn't really have an ending though; hopefully that will be addressed in the next (last?) book.

For a year the infamous demon mercenary Cadeon Woede has watched his other from afar, believing the human to be forever out of his reach. Holly Ashwin enjoyed her ordered life between teaching classes and working on a new, ground breaking computer code she never realized that there is more to her existence. When fate conspires to bring Cade and Holly together it could bring about the birth of the ultimate good or the ultimate evil that every faction of the Lore is determined to use to tip the scale in their own favor.

Of all the Immortals After Dark books I have to say this has been the most disappointing one to me. I think it may have to do with the fact that Cade has stuck out to me as a character and I expected a little more from his story. I didn't like him as much as I thought I would. I enjoyed Holly's OCD quirks although I found her to be a bit on the self-centered side which kind of annoyed me. Despite my disappointment I did find it to be an engrossing story that was fast paced and read very smoothly. Although I'm looking forward to Rydstrom's story next, it is with a little trepidation based on what we found at the end of this one. In any event I am sure it will be interesting to see how it all works out. ( )

http://totally2aymless.blogspot.com/2... ( )

One of the less "sex-filled" books in this series, but it was full of action. I love her characters and the conflicts that she sets up. I just wonder when she will write her next one. :) ( )

Cadeon Woede, second in line to the throne of the rage demons, will do anything to right the terrible wrong that he's done to his family. Because of Cade's stubborn refusal to return to their homeland when his brother Rydstrom asked him to, their kingdom was stolen by a sorcerer called Omort the Deathless. Since then, Cade has worked as a mercenary and is known as Cade the Kingmaker among the Lore. He has a reputation for being able to put anyone on a throne--except the one person he wants to most. Finally, Cade is given the opportunity to right this wrong by getting an ensorcelled sword that will be able to kill Omort. The only thing he has to do is deliver a woman known as the Vessel to Omort's brother. The vessel is a member of the Lore who will give birth to a child born of ultimate evil or ultimate good--depending on the child's father. The problem is, she's also Cade's fated female.

Holly Ashwin is an obsessive-compulsive PhD candidate at Tulane who teaches mathematics to jocks. Holly has a thing for threes, compulsive cleaning, and computer codes and mathematics. She has been raised as a mortal and has no idea that she's the Vessel until she's kidnapped from campus and held hostage for a demon ritual. While Holly is fighting them off, she's struck by lightning and suddenly overcome with the preternatural strength of a rage-filled Valkyrie. After killing those who would do her harm, Holly meets up with Cade who informs her that all of the myths she's ever heard are real and that all the creatures of the Lore are after her--some want her dead and some want to father her unborn child. With him as her guide, Cade promises to help Holly regain her mortality, which is all that she really wants. Until she realizes that having a rage demon for a mate might be better than her boring old life... ( )

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...
Cade 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? ( )

This was another enjoyable read from Kresley Cole's IAD series. Going into this book I was a little wary. I knew that the heroine had OCD. I struggled heavily with the condition for six years, roughly (and still have my quirks). So reading a book about an OCD heroine worried me for two reasons:

1) I worried if Cole would do a good job portraying an OCD character.
2) I worried if Cole would do too good a job of portraying an OCD character. As I'm always concerned about something triggering my compulsions.

Suffice it to say, Holly came off very realistic to me. After I got past her fixation on multiples of three, which bothered me at first because I like symmetry and even numbers/multiples of two, it was smooth reading and a fun ride with no nasty side effects on my side.

Holly is a halfling: Half human half Valkyrie. She was raised by humans totally unaware of her Valkyrie lineage until she is kidnapped by demons with the intent to impregnate her with their demon seed. See, Holly is the Vessel. She is coveted because impregnating her will guarantee a child of either pure evil or pure good, depending on the father. Of course, the bad guys want her because they want that evil child, and the same could be said for the good guys wanting a purely good child. And Cade wants her, not only because he's positive that she's his mate, Holly is also the key to him righting his long ago wrong.

Holly is thrust into this new world where her Valkyrie side, powers and strength are new to her. She is without her medication and traveling with a Demon that throws all of her careful planning and meticulous living out of whack. She is attracted to him and scared of that attraction. Plus she has claws and fangs that sprang overnight. In short, she is on a thin string ready to snap at any moment. She handles it well.

It was really great having a Demon hero. Cole has given us Vampires and Lykae's before so it was nice to have a deviation from that with a sexy Demon. Cade was responsible for his brother Rhydstrom losing his place at the throne of the Woede Demons. His goal since then has been to get Rhyd his rightful place back. But he never thought that the only way to do that would be to give up the mate he has waited 900 years for.

Once Cade turns Holly over to The Groot, this nasty dude who wants the "Vessel" and holds the key to killing Omort the Deathless--the demon who stole Rhyd's kingdom--the power of the kingdom will be relinquished back to Rhyd. Only one problem: Cade is not so sure that he will be able to turn his mate over after finally finding her.

Dark Desires After Dusk was a good read for me. The characterization was great on Holly's part. There was no miraculous freedom from her OCD. She just learned how to deal with it better. Cade was a great hero with horns. He is totally action where Holly is think first, act second. They were very yin and yang so to speak, and made quite the duo. Cole did a great job with this book, it's one of my favorite's of the bunch now. ( )

Review located at http://lupabitch.wordpress.com/2008/0... ( )

cole is back with another installment; much improved since her last novel; the hero was wicked/tortured and the tension between them pulled you in; definitely a keeper ( )

NOOOOO, now I have to wait for the next one!!
I don't know how Kresley Cole's 'Immortals After Dark' series keeps getting better, but it does. Each book in this series has ramped up the plotline and put us further on the road towards the Accession. We've learned about Valkyries, Demons, Vamps, Lykae (weres), Ghosts, Phantoms, Wraiths, and Fae. (If I left any entities out, please don't hurt me.) Each with different strengths and weaknesses.

I thought this story was very enjoyable mostly due to the hot sexual tension and exquisite wordplay between Cadeon and Holly. OCD genius meets messy Demon...how can that pairing not be loads of fun?

If you've been reading this series, GO NOW, today, right this second...and pick this one up. Of course, as soon as you read it, you'll be stuck like me...panting for Rydstrom's story which I'm hoping is next and SOON!

If you haven't been reading this series, WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH YOU? Get off your duff and get reading. You should be just as hooked as the rest of us. ( )