Hotter After Midnight

This wonderful first novel in the Midnight series is as much crime mystery as it is paranormal romance. With great pacing and phenomenal world building, this is an original and imaginative series. Cynthia Eden has written a story virtually information dump-free, and created a gripping mystery with just the right amount of romance.

Colin is a powerful shifter and a police detective, and Emily a human psychologist with the ability to identify different supernatural beings. She is brought on board to hunt for a serial killer who appears to be a supernatural creature of some sort.

This is a complex world the author has created, and yet I found it was explained well, with just the right amount of information being scattered throughout the show more story so that we understood without being bored. I was a bit hesitant to begin this, as I thought it was going to be one of those hokey paranormals where the author attempted to make the situation humorous - one of those series where it’s ‘hilarious’ that the different creatures visit a psychologist. It wasn’t. It was a very well-written story that, while setting up future novels, still managed to tie up all loose ends, instead of leaving things unresolved to force us to buy the next book (take note, Kresley Cole!!).

The sexual content in this book is no different to the Black Dagger Brotherhood, for example, and the sex does not occur until quite far into the book. It is certainly less erotic than hugely popular paranormal authors such as Kresley Cole, and on par with many of Christine Feehan’s books. I’ve never seen complaints about the sex in Cole’s books, and I'm confused why readers of those and the BDB series have complained about this book... Perhaps there were a few words I would preferred not to have seen used - and used so often - but it practically seems required to include certain things in paranormal romances these days.

I loved that this book was about far more than just ‘shifter claims his mate’. I loved the world the author has created. I loved that this is a world populated by many different characters, and yet we were never made to feel as confused or as though we had to buy more of the author’s books to get the full story. I will be reading more of this writer’s work. show less

As far as I'm concerned, this book is hot before, during and after midnight. I really liked this story, the first of the Midnight Trilogy. Emily Drake has been able to see the Other (as in all mythical creatures) ever since she was a child. Now she's a shrink to the things that are the cause of what goes bump in the night. That's actually a rather cute idea. When savagely mutilated body of a demon turns up, an old friend and Captain of the Atlanta PD calls her in for her help.

Detective Colin Gyth is instantly weary of the gorgeous psychic doctor who seems to know what he is. She tempts him like no other woman ever has and he knows he's in trouble when his protective instincts flare up where she's concerned. Because, shifters are very show more protective of only their mates, aren't they?

The schmexy times outweighed the suspense in this book. Personally, I don't find that a bad thing because I loved the chemistry between Emily and Colin and watching them try to figure out where they were headed was very cute. It was one of those light, feel-good reads with a touch of danger. Just what I needed to unwind after a horrible day. Thank you Ms Eden for making my blood hammer, lol. Now, may I please have a Colin too? show less

Just... No. This book was ridiculous and the characters more so. When someone is stalking you, barging their way into your house in the middle of the night, getting physically threatening with you, as well as verbally threatening, and all within the time frame of having known each other for... Maybe two hours? And you're ATTRACTED to this dick bag?

No, hun. Bye.

The thriller aspect wasn't my jam (I just don't have the nerves for thrillers) but the paranormal romance aspects worked and I did enjoy the concept - a human psychologist with paranormal clients (vampires, shifters, demons, etc). I was digging the world-building too. However, I don't think I'll read more in the series, again I am just not into thrillers. BUT if you like thrillers and urban fantasy, you may really enjoy this!

A detective who's a secret werewolf needs a criminal psychologist who can see Others to help catch a killer before he exposes paranormal creatures to humans. It was a very basic story line, so much so that it isn't difficult to predict what's going to happen next. But that didn't stop me from loving the hero to bits. He's gruff, insecure and instantly knows that the heroine is to be his mate. The problem is, he goes about showing her in all the wrong ways. He's abrasive and overly protective but he's also charming and super sexy. The heroine I could have done with a personality upgrade. She's the typical smart, standoffish and stubborn women that just makes you want to smack her. I liked bits and pieces but the story dragged and I found show more myself losing interest after the 3rd or 4th time the hero had to convince the heroine that she needed to be protected...God, what is wrong with allowing a sexy detective with wolfish tendencies to protect you with his one body? Nothing is the answer. show less

3-1/2 stars. This was a pretty good shifter romance. The paranormal world was unique but not totally different and out there. The heroine was a human who could see Others and tell which sort they were. In this set up the different types of Other could only recognize their own specific type of Other. The element of mating was of the "she's mine" sort which I personally like. It's not really something I get tired of since it's one of the reasons I read shifter stories in the first place.

I did feel like the book ended a bit abruptly. There were some loose ends that weren't wrapped up and some ideas that weren't developed quite as much as they should have been. I wanted to see Brooks find out Colin was a shifter. I wanted to see a bit more show more of the fallout of Colin claiming Emily without her knowledge. A bit more explanation of shifter dynamics would have been nice.

All in all, I liked it very well, enough to try the next in the series. show less

I mainly picked this up because the hero's name was Colin (and not because of the Christian Slater-ish cover) and then after a slightly dodgy start (psychologist treats a vampire scared of blood, hur hur) the book turned out to be an enjoyable paranormal romance which took itself fairly seriously. As a whodunit it was very clumsy, but as a romance it worked well for me. Colin's an alpha male with a territorial streak and a touch of the woobie about him, and Emily's a likeable mix of kickass and vulnerable: together they fight crime! The wider worldbuilding was too light on for my satisfaction and the information delivery a bit confusing, but the novel spun along very nicely and kept me entertained.