Hmmm. "Ashes of Midnight" is book six in Lara Adrian's 'Midnight Breed' series. I have to say that it wasn't my favorite. I also have to say that it follows very well on the heels of book five, "Veil of Midnight", since events here pick up where it left off. This series is about Adrian's version of vampires (there's good ones and bad ones) and the good guys' fight to save humanity.

Claire never knew she was special--until Wilhelm Roth saved her from an attack and through him, she met the love of her life, Andreas Reichen. But though she thought Andreas loved her too, he just up and disappeared one day...and she allowed Wilhelm to comfort her and ended up married and bonded to him. They've long since settled into a marriage of strangers and when Claire heard about the recent death of Andreas, she was just glad to be able to greive alone. But now something isn't right and Wilhelm's properties are coming under attack...and that includes Claire.

Andreas WILL have his revenge on Wilhelm Roth. He knows Roth was the dastard (G-rated review folks) who ordered the cold-blooded killing of Andreas' entire family...and soon Roth will know that Andreas is still alive. Because Andreas intends to take from Roth just what Roth took from him...everything.

The overall plot of the series doesn't advance too far in this book, but I enjoyed it all the same. Andreas has been an interesting character for me from his first appearance and I wondered about the reasons for his demeanor and distance. Claire was (eventually) strong in her own way, even though she did have a few TSTL (too stupid to live) moments and needed to shed the overly naive outlook she had on life. By the end of the book, she was a good match for Andreas and the passion and strength of their love made for a powerful ending.

I will warn that if you don't like Andreas, you probably won't like this book. Although there are scenes with other characters, the story still firmly revolves around Andreas and Claire. There is a bit of an interesting development (for the next book I'm guessing) towards the end and a possible expansion on the current series' storyline. That's all the hints I'm willing to drop...if you want more, read the series. It's a darn good one.

Her next book, "Shades of Midnight", is scheduled to release at the end of December 2009 and it's already on my list. ( )

Definitely got to know Andreas Reichen character better. This was a darker side to him that we didn't really know was there before...he always seemed so nice and helpful. The plot thickened a bit too which added to the book. ( )