LOOOOOOVED IT!!!! My first Kresley Cole and I really enjoyed it . I could not put it down. Scorching! ( )

I know what I'm about to write seems crazy but who can blame someone reading too much paranormal stuff? I decided to read this book because it "spoke to me", it had this compelling aura that drew me to read it. There are really some books that silently scream for me to read them and usually I'm not disappointed, and since I'm writing a book review and not about objects silently communicating, I'll go on with the review.

This is the first book I've read from this author and I didn't expect much, but after browsing the reviews (not thoroughly reading them), it seemed like a good read, and it was. I enjoyed it from beginning until the end. It has just the right mixture of mystery, humor, blood, hot sex, mythology, and fantasy. This is original.

Technically this isn't the first story in the Immortals After Dark Series, so after learning that I stopped after a few chapters and read the story about Myst and Nikolai so I'd have an idea about the characters in this world. I immediately loved the characters, the concept, the story, plot, and the writing style. I loved the fusion of the classic vampires-and-werewolves-are-mortal-enemies theme with the presence of Valkyries, and a branch of vampires (forebearers), and that demons could be vampires too; and of course, nothing beats pop culture to add to that medieval thinking.

Emma and Lachlain were really wrong for each other...at first. Everything's confusing especially for Emma, who was very sheltered and one could only guess that she's insecure and always afraid, of pain mainly. On the other hand, Lachlain being the Lykae king, tortured by the vampires, inflicted a lot of physical and emotional pain on Emma. The characters developed at a really gradual phase and the writing was commendable. I loved the humor of their conversation, and of course I found the aunts at Val Hall great secondary characters.

For those of you who're looking for something fresh to add to your vampire literature, I highly recommend this book. I'm looking forward to reading her other works. ( )

A lycae (werewolf) tortured for for a very long time breaks free only to find the mate he smells near. Now with a mate that is all wrong for him, one of his enemy no less, he must convince her to stay with him. Emma starts out a timid half vampire/half Valkyrie, and soon grows into her own skin as her love grows for her mate.

I started this book like most others, expecting it to be just alright, I would read it and then put it on the shelf and forget about it. Nope, didn't happen. After the first chapter I was so hooked I skipped dinner and continued reading in one straight shot all the way through. There is so much going on in this book, but it is amazing. It has a sweet new twist on the whole mythological creature genre. It also has a bit of the Carpathian feel with the bonding and mating, but that's ok...it wasn't the same at all. It was a wonderful book...oh, and so freaking hot there is practically steam coming off the pages.

Also posted: http://www.bibliophilicbookblog.com/2... ( )

My main problem with this book was that the pacing was uneven and there were just too many characters and species to keep straight. Vampires, Valkyrie, Lykae, Wraiths, and a bunch of other creatures and it seemed like they all hated each other and were mortal enemies. There was gobs of blood and chopping off of body parts, torture and other grossness mixed with some quirky humor and pop culture that made my head swim sometimes.

The good part was that I loved the hero, Lachlain, leader of the Lykae clan (werewolves). He scents his 'mate', Emma, at the beginning of the book and is totally commited to her immediately although he is pretty pissed to find out she is a vampire. But he slowly learns about her and her species and grows to love her and spends most of the book trying to convince her to stay with him. Emma was a lot harder to like, in fact, she got on my nerves. She's actually half vampire/half Valkyrie, was pale and small with pointed ears! I pictured her as looking like a fairy or an elf. She was rather meek but had a stubborn streak a mile wide. She wanted nothing to do with Lachlain for the longest time. And her family of Valkyrie women were also irritating and funny at the same time. All that screaming!

But I loved the ending when Emma finally grows a spine and kicks butt and how the H/H's inter-species problems were resolved. I think a good 10% of the book could have been cut and the rest tightened up and this would have been a very good book. There were a couple characters that intrigued me so I may pick another one by Cole. (Grade: C+) ( )

Acclaimed author Kresley Cole introduces a sizzling new series with this tale of a fierce werewolf and a bewitching vampire -- unlikely soul mates whose passion will test the boundaries of life and death. 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?

I LOVED this book. It's an awesome series. Plain and simple. I've always had a thing for forbidden romance and accents, and Kresley Cole delivered both beautifully. Lachlain MacReive was EXTREMELY well written as the tortured (for a hundred and fifty years, less) Lykae king who was only able to break free of his holds due to smelling his mate above ground.

A mate who happened to be half Valkyrie and half vampire... a species (the vampire) who were his captives.

Emma was totally believable in her walking in both worlds but belonging in none station in life. She started out as timid, curious, trying to fit in for awhile. In Paris to find out about her father, she actually gets tracked down by a crazed Lachlain and then the fun really begins.

I love the journey the two take together in order to better understand each other. And on a completely different note, Nix was just sheer genius in this one. I loved her. ( )