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He vowed he'd come for Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives. She awaits his When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals - unaware that he belongs to their world. To sate a desire more powerful than Yet show more every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan's torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared - even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love? show lessTags
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Regin has, forever, been my least favorite character and I’ve been super curious what her mate story was going to be — this is a tale I never saw coming.
And this is the tale that had me absolutely sobbing on the couch.
I feel like most of the time you just KNEW, because they’re mate tales, that it’s going to have a happy ending — the mates always connect like magnets! I did not experience that with this book and my heart was positively torn from my body.
It was heart wrenching and fantastic!
And this is the tale that had me absolutely sobbing on the couch.
I feel like most of the time you just KNEW, because they’re mate tales, that it’s going to have a happy ending — the mates always connect like magnets! I did not experience that with this book and my heart was positively torn from my body.
It was heart wrenching and fantastic!
There is a tension in the Immortals After Dark series that is starting to wear on me. And it think it has something to do with the whole paranormal sub-genre.
On one hand, Cole is a great romance writer. She’s got an ability to balance plot and relationship-building where more mediocre books fail. Often, you trade one for the other. With paranormals, you can get a lot of plot and worldbuilding, and thin romance— fated lovers are fated, the end!
Cole manages to ride the fated lovers line without sacrificing the swoony romance or the interesting story. The problem is, every book for 11 books now has promised End Times. And every book, for 11 damn books, has gotten nowhere closer to this damn Ascension. In fact, Dreams of a Dark Warrior show more goes back and re-tells events from the previous novel, just from a switched POV!
She obviously wants to keep going with a great series… but part of the reason it is a great series is because there is a real plot behind it. At some point, Cole has got to reconcile this issue and decide -- endless standalone romances will ruin the impact of her worldbuilding. Ruining the impact of her worldbuilding makes the romances less interesting. Paranormals run that fine line between personal and political and I think Cole, for all that I enjoy her books, is starting to slip.
ARGH KRESLEY COLE ARGH! If Cole was a lesser writer, I wouldn’t really give a damn. I would focus on the romance and feel fulfilled with each happy ending. However, since I have found myself interested in the outcome of the whole series, I CARE.
Wouldn’t it be even more interesting to have a couple come together during the end of the world? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to see some of the alliances and factions created by ELEVEN HAPPY ENDINGS actually do shit during the end times?
So here is my not-quite-review of Dreams of a Dark Warrior:
It was good. Not my favorite pairing in the whole series. I don’t think Cole did the best job of turning the villain into the hero with this one, and I found Regin a little flat & boring, actually. One thing that really drove me up a wall— Declan is supposed to be somewhere in his 30s, right? Grew up in Belfast? So WTF is he doing saying “ken” and “lass” and “no’ goina hurt her” like some Scottish MacLaird in plaid on the highlands? I’ve never been to Ireland but even I know that’s some serious bullshite.
BUT I’M READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL. I need some serious EVENTS to happen! BRING IT COLE I CAN HANDLE IT. show less
On one hand, Cole is a great romance writer. She’s got an ability to balance plot and relationship-building where more mediocre books fail. Often, you trade one for the other. With paranormals, you can get a lot of plot and worldbuilding, and thin romance— fated lovers are fated, the end!
Cole manages to ride the fated lovers line without sacrificing the swoony romance or the interesting story. The problem is, every book for 11 books now has promised End Times. And every book, for 11 damn books, has gotten nowhere closer to this damn Ascension. In fact, Dreams of a Dark Warrior show more goes back and re-tells events from the previous novel, just from a switched POV!
She obviously wants to keep going with a great series… but part of the reason it is a great series is because there is a real plot behind it. At some point, Cole has got to reconcile this issue and decide -- endless standalone romances will ruin the impact of her worldbuilding. Ruining the impact of her worldbuilding makes the romances less interesting. Paranormals run that fine line between personal and political and I think Cole, for all that I enjoy her books, is starting to slip.
ARGH KRESLEY COLE ARGH! If Cole was a lesser writer, I wouldn’t really give a damn. I would focus on the romance and feel fulfilled with each happy ending. However, since I have found myself interested in the outcome of the whole series, I CARE.
Wouldn’t it be even more interesting to have a couple come together during the end of the world? Wouldn’t it be fascinating to see some of the alliances and factions created by ELEVEN HAPPY ENDINGS actually do shit during the end times?
So here is my not-quite-review of Dreams of a Dark Warrior:
It was good. Not my favorite pairing in the whole series. I don’t think Cole did the best job of turning the villain into the hero with this one, and I found Regin a little flat & boring, actually. One thing that really drove me up a wall— Declan is supposed to be somewhere in his 30s, right? Grew up in Belfast? So WTF is he doing saying “ken” and “lass” and “no’ goina hurt her” like some Scottish MacLaird in plaid on the highlands? I’ve never been to Ireland but even I know that’s some serious bullshite.
BUT I’M READY FOR THE NEXT LEVEL. I need some serious EVENTS to happen! BRING IT COLE I CAN HANDLE IT. show less
You know, I've been making my way through this series, and in general, I like it. Kresley Cole's books are usually fun without being fluffy, and the characters are generally well-developed enough that they don't feel like cardboard.
But I HATED this book. Hate, hate, hated it. Declan, the male love interest of the story, made my skin crawl every time he showed up. He's supposedly the reincarnation of Regin's doomed lover, Adrian, but the book is never totally clear on how or even why he keeps coming back.
Declan, despite being hit with a massive surge of lust (not love, people, LUST) for Regin, kidnaps her and her friends, imprisons them, and proceeds to torture and experiment on them. Consequently, Regin decides she has to seduce and show more kill him in order to save her own life, as well as the other people he has kidnapped. This leads to some massively squicky situations that I won't go into because I no longer want to think about this book.
Cole attempts to redeem him at the end but honestly, it was a serious case of too little way, way too late for me. Regin's relationship with Declan was HUGELY problematic for me, and left me feeling like I needed a long, long shower. show less
But I HATED this book. Hate, hate, hated it. Declan, the male love interest of the story, made my skin crawl every time he showed up. He's supposedly the reincarnation of Regin's doomed lover, Adrian, but the book is never totally clear on how or even why he keeps coming back.
Declan, despite being hit with a massive surge of lust (not love, people, LUST) for Regin, kidnaps her and her friends, imprisons them, and proceeds to torture and experiment on them. Consequently, Regin decides she has to seduce and show more kill him in order to save her own life, as well as the other people he has kidnapped. This leads to some massively squicky situations that I won't go into because I no longer want to think about this book.
Cole attempts to redeem him at the end but honestly, it was a serious case of too little way, way too late for me. Regin's relationship with Declan was HUGELY problematic for me, and left me feeling like I needed a long, long shower. show less
I put off reading Dreams of a Dark Warrior for a long time because I was very wary of what would happen given the events of Demon from the Dark. I should have trusted Cole to keep me at the edge of my seat without shoving me off the edge! I wrestled with Declan's attitude (even though I understood it) and even more so with Regin's responses but Cole managed to walk the balance beam well enough so that I didn't feel like either of them were suddenly doing 180s or having personality transplants. As usual, the storyline is fantastic with enough humour and sensuality to balance the violence - it is the Ascension and they are part of the Lore! And of course, Regin is an awesome kick-ass Valkyrie.
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
3 Stars
Warning: This review contains mild spoilers.
The Immortals After Dark is an entertaining series with a host of quirky and lovable, if somewhat disturbed, characters. Unfortunately, the hero of this particular installment is neither quirky nor lovable although he is seriously disturbed, and it is virtually impossible to find anything appealing about him. As such, it is with a sad heart that Dreams of a Dark Warrior becomes my least favorite book in the series.
Declan Chase is the reincarnated lover of the Valkyrie, Regin, but is doomed to die once he remembers his past with her. In his current incarnation, Declan is a member of the Order, an organization aimed at destroying Loreans by capturing, imprisoning show more and torturing them in particularly gruesome ways - something that Declan actively and gleefully participates in. The fact that he suddenly regrets his actions after recognizing Regin as his mate in no way mitigates his behavior and neither does his painful personal history.
Despite being an exceptional writer, Kresley Cole has met an obstacle that she cannot overcome with Declan and her attempts to redeem his character are a dismal failure. Consequently, Declan's romance with Regin, as engaging as she is, is completely incomprehensible - what woman falls in love with the man responsible for stabbing, poisoning and eviscerating her?
In contrast, the secondary characters, especially Lothaire, somehow manage to salvage the book from being a complete waste of time. Natalya, Brandr and Thad are all intriguing and I hope we will be seeing more of them. show less
3 Stars
Warning: This review contains mild spoilers.
The Immortals After Dark is an entertaining series with a host of quirky and lovable, if somewhat disturbed, characters. Unfortunately, the hero of this particular installment is neither quirky nor lovable although he is seriously disturbed, and it is virtually impossible to find anything appealing about him. As such, it is with a sad heart that Dreams of a Dark Warrior becomes my least favorite book in the series.
Declan Chase is the reincarnated lover of the Valkyrie, Regin, but is doomed to die once he remembers his past with her. In his current incarnation, Declan is a member of the Order, an organization aimed at destroying Loreans by capturing, imprisoning show more and torturing them in particularly gruesome ways - something that Declan actively and gleefully participates in. The fact that he suddenly regrets his actions after recognizing Regin as his mate in no way mitigates his behavior and neither does his painful personal history.
Despite being an exceptional writer, Kresley Cole has met an obstacle that she cannot overcome with Declan and her attempts to redeem his character are a dismal failure. Consequently, Declan's romance with Regin, as engaging as she is, is completely incomprehensible - what woman falls in love with the man responsible for stabbing, poisoning and eviscerating her?
In contrast, the secondary characters, especially Lothaire, somehow manage to salvage the book from being a complete waste of time. Natalya, Brandr and Thad are all intriguing and I hope we will be seeing more of them. show less
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
3 Stars
Warning: This review contains mild spoilers.
The Immortals After Dark is an entertaining series with a host of quirky and lovable, if somewhat disturbed, characters. Unfortunately, the hero of this particular installment is neither quirky nor lovable although he is seriously disturbed, and it is virtually impossible to find anything appealing about him. As such, it is with a sad heart that Dreams of a Dark Warrior becomes my least favorite book in the series.
Declan Chase is the reincarnated lover of the Valkyrie, Regin, but is doomed to die once he remembers his past with her. In his current incarnation, Declan is a member of the Order, an organization aimed at destroying Loreans by capturing, imprisoning show more and torturing them in particularly gruesome ways - something that Declan actively and gleefully participates in. The fact that he suddenly regrets his actions after recognizing Regin as his mate in no way mitigates his behavior and neither does his painful personal history.
Despite being an exceptional writer, Kresley Cole has met an obstacle that she cannot overcome with Declan and her attempts to redeem his character are a dismal failure. Consequently, Declan's romance with Regin, as engaging as she is, is completely incomprehensible - what woman falls in love with the man responsible for stabbing, poisoning and eviscerating her?
In contrast, the secondary characters, especially Lothaire, somehow manage to salvage the book from being a complete waste of time. Natalya, Brandr and Thad are all intriguing and I hope we will be seeing more of them. show less
3 Stars
Warning: This review contains mild spoilers.
The Immortals After Dark is an entertaining series with a host of quirky and lovable, if somewhat disturbed, characters. Unfortunately, the hero of this particular installment is neither quirky nor lovable although he is seriously disturbed, and it is virtually impossible to find anything appealing about him. As such, it is with a sad heart that Dreams of a Dark Warrior becomes my least favorite book in the series.
Declan Chase is the reincarnated lover of the Valkyrie, Regin, but is doomed to die once he remembers his past with her. In his current incarnation, Declan is a member of the Order, an organization aimed at destroying Loreans by capturing, imprisoning show more and torturing them in particularly gruesome ways - something that Declan actively and gleefully participates in. The fact that he suddenly regrets his actions after recognizing Regin as his mate in no way mitigates his behavior and neither does his painful personal history.
Despite being an exceptional writer, Kresley Cole has met an obstacle that she cannot overcome with Declan and her attempts to redeem his character are a dismal failure. Consequently, Declan's romance with Regin, as engaging as she is, is completely incomprehensible - what woman falls in love with the man responsible for stabbing, poisoning and eviscerating her?
In contrast, the secondary characters, especially Lothaire, somehow manage to salvage the book from being a complete waste of time. Natalya, Brandr and Thad are all intriguing and I hope we will be seeing more of them. show less
What a scrumptious read! My favorite so far. Do I say that about each one of these books in this series? I guess they just keep getting better as the story gets deeper and more complex. What is crazy is that I have already read this series once before and although I remember the basic story, I have forgotten details and even the endings of some of the books but because I recall enough of the plot, it makes it all the more exciting to me.
A lot of these books run concurrently alongside the other books so we sometimes know a lot more than what the characters know. For example, in this book Regin, the female protagonist, worries about her half-sister Lucia but Lucia’s book was #9 in the series so we know what happened to her already but show more since this book is happening along the same time period as Lucia’s story, Regin has no idea what is happening.
Regin the Radiant is a Valkyrie whose skin glows. We have gotten to know Regin through previous books. She is the prankster of the group and loves to kill vampires and bad demons. She’s been known to make demons eat strange things like hubcaps just for kicks. Her best friend and half-sister is Lucia. They spend a lot of time looking for ways to kill an evil god who wakes every Accession. He is intent on abducting Lucia for his own and triggering the end of the world. The Accession is a war that happens every 500 to 600 years in the Lore where factions take sides, alliances are made and a lot creatures from the Lore find their mates. It is meant as a sort of population control since many will die.
Over a thousand years ago, Regin met a Beserker named Aidan the Fierce who fell in love with Regin. He vowed to earn Ohalla and marry her. The god Woden bestows Ohalla on a warrior who fights for him after he has won 200 battles but Aidan couldn’t wait so he had sex with Regin before he became immortal. A vampire killed him just afterwards but he promised to return and find Regin. He has returned over and over again but gets killed directly after they make love. Regin is expecting him again soon.
Declan Chase hates immortals, all of them. He and his parents were tortured by a nest of Neoptera, some of the most dangerous and evil immortals of them all, when he was just 17 years old. He found his brother in the kitchen with his throat slit and after days of torture, his parents didn’t make it but Declan was saved by a man named Webb who told him about the Lore which he called miscreations or miscreats who needed exterminated out of this world. Webb ran something called The Order which captures, studies, tortures and kills immortals and inducted Declan into it. Now, Declan runs a facility on an island where he captures and imprisons immortals of all kinds and studies them.
What Declan doesn’t know is that he is a reincarnation of Aidan the Fierce. He has always been stronger and faster than a mere mortal and started using heroin to calm himself when he was about 14 years old. He still has the doctor at the facility make up a blend with an opiate to control his symptoms. The medicine keeps him numb and emotionless.
But when he captures Regin, he starts to feel something for her and he hates it. He doubles up on his meds and starts running twice as far on the island but nothing stops him from thinking about her. He even tortures her with an IV full of poisonous liquid but feels sick as he is doing it. He has never felt anything for an immortal before.
Regin, of course, knows he is Aidan and tries to convince him of this but he thinks she is just messing with him. Regin knows that if she kisses him, he will remember his past lives and then he will die shortly afterwards but can she do it? He did torture her after all.
The tension between these two was palpable. Kresley Cole writes the story so well that I felt it while I was reading and my emotions ran from hating Declan to feeling sorry for him to cheering him on and hoping he could change and maybe get the girl…if he lived.
There was a lot more happening in this book than the romance/hatefest going on between Regin and Declan. There were other prisoners, some who we have met before in previous books like Carrow and Malkum Slaine who were the stars of the last book and some who were just being introduced in this book like Regin’s cellmates, Natalya the dark fey and Thad, a 17-year-old who-knows-what who just looked like a normal kid. Then there is Brandr, a Beserker who earned Ohalla because he promised Aidan while he was dying that he would always watch over Regin. Lothaire, The Enemy of Old and a powerful vampire, is also a prisoner in the facility. We get to know a lot more about him who I am loving more and more even though he is evil.
Speaking of Lothaire, that is the title of the next book so gotta go read. Bye!
www.paranormalromanceslut.com show less
A lot of these books run concurrently alongside the other books so we sometimes know a lot more than what the characters know. For example, in this book Regin, the female protagonist, worries about her half-sister Lucia but Lucia’s book was #9 in the series so we know what happened to her already but show more since this book is happening along the same time period as Lucia’s story, Regin has no idea what is happening.
Regin the Radiant is a Valkyrie whose skin glows. We have gotten to know Regin through previous books. She is the prankster of the group and loves to kill vampires and bad demons. She’s been known to make demons eat strange things like hubcaps just for kicks. Her best friend and half-sister is Lucia. They spend a lot of time looking for ways to kill an evil god who wakes every Accession. He is intent on abducting Lucia for his own and triggering the end of the world. The Accession is a war that happens every 500 to 600 years in the Lore where factions take sides, alliances are made and a lot creatures from the Lore find their mates. It is meant as a sort of population control since many will die.
Over a thousand years ago, Regin met a Beserker named Aidan the Fierce who fell in love with Regin. He vowed to earn Ohalla and marry her. The god Woden bestows Ohalla on a warrior who fights for him after he has won 200 battles but Aidan couldn’t wait so he had sex with Regin before he became immortal. A vampire killed him just afterwards but he promised to return and find Regin. He has returned over and over again but gets killed directly after they make love. Regin is expecting him again soon.
Declan Chase hates immortals, all of them. He and his parents were tortured by a nest of Neoptera, some of the most dangerous and evil immortals of them all, when he was just 17 years old. He found his brother in the kitchen with his throat slit and after days of torture, his parents didn’t make it but Declan was saved by a man named Webb who told him about the Lore which he called miscreations or miscreats who needed exterminated out of this world. Webb ran something called The Order which captures, studies, tortures and kills immortals and inducted Declan into it. Now, Declan runs a facility on an island where he captures and imprisons immortals of all kinds and studies them.
What Declan doesn’t know is that he is a reincarnation of Aidan the Fierce. He has always been stronger and faster than a mere mortal and started using heroin to calm himself when he was about 14 years old. He still has the doctor at the facility make up a blend with an opiate to control his symptoms. The medicine keeps him numb and emotionless.
But when he captures Regin, he starts to feel something for her and he hates it. He doubles up on his meds and starts running twice as far on the island but nothing stops him from thinking about her. He even tortures her with an IV full of poisonous liquid but feels sick as he is doing it. He has never felt anything for an immortal before.
Regin, of course, knows he is Aidan and tries to convince him of this but he thinks she is just messing with him. Regin knows that if she kisses him, he will remember his past lives and then he will die shortly afterwards but can she do it? He did torture her after all.
The tension between these two was palpable. Kresley Cole writes the story so well that I felt it while I was reading and my emotions ran from hating Declan to feeling sorry for him to cheering him on and hoping he could change and maybe get the girl…if he lived.
There was a lot more happening in this book than the romance/hatefest going on between Regin and Declan. There were other prisoners, some who we have met before in previous books like Carrow and Malkum Slaine who were the stars of the last book and some who were just being introduced in this book like Regin’s cellmates, Natalya the dark fey and Thad, a 17-year-old who-knows-what who just looked like a normal kid. Then there is Brandr, a Beserker who earned Ohalla because he promised Aidan while he was dying that he would always watch over Regin. Lothaire, The Enemy of Old and a powerful vampire, is also a prisoner in the facility. We get to know a lot more about him who I am loving more and more even though he is evil.
Speaking of Lothaire, that is the title of the next book so gotta go read. Bye!
www.paranormalromanceslut.com show less
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Author Information
Before becoming a writer, Kresley Cole was a world-ranked athlete and coach. Her first novel, The Captain of All Pleasures, was published in 2003. She writes paranormal and historical romance novels including the MacCarrick Brothers trilogy and the Immortals after Dark series. She has won several awards including the 2007 RITA Award for Best show more Paranormal Romance for A Hunger Like No Other and the 2010 RITA Award for Best Paranormal Romance for Kiss of a Demon King. She also made The New York Times Best Seller List in 2013 with her title's Mac Rieve and Endless Knight: The Arcana Chronicles Book 2. Kresley again made the New York Times bestseller list with The Pllayer in 2016. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Dreams of a Dark Warrior
- Original title
- Dreams of a dark warrior
- Original publication date
- 2011-02-15
- People/Characters
- Declan Chase; Regin the Radiant; Lothaire, the Enemy of Old; Nïx; Lucia the Huntress; Natalya (show all 10); Thaddeus Brayden; Commander Webb; Brandr; Aidan the Fierce
- Important places
- New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Mourne Mountains, County Down, Northern Ireland, UK; The Northlands
- Epigraph
- Hark! Hear this tale, the legend of Aidan the Fierce and Reginleit the Radiant One, a pair of lovers both bound and cursed by fate.
It begins, as many legends do, with a destined meeting - this one between an immortal girl... (show all) who would never know death and a jaded mortal man who lived only to kill.
Theirs is a story of woe and warning. Take heed and listen well ... - Dedication
- Dedicated with much love
to the amazing Roxanne St. Claire,
a bright shing star of a writer and dear friend. - First words
- "So this is debauchery," Reginleit murmured as two guards led her into the mead hall of the notorious warlord Aidan the Fierce.
- Quotations
- I need some assistance. Can one of you help me find my orgasm?
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)To this day, Declan clasps her close to his chest, gazing up to the sky. In thanks...
- Original language
- English
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 1,084
- Popularity
- 23,509
- Reviews
- 50
- Rating
- (4.07)
- Languages
- 5 — English, French, German, Italian, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 18
- ASINs
- 11