** 4.75 Stars **  Accidental Spoilers.

Wow.  I loved this book. LOVE loved.  <-- That's a serious love.  Kresley Cole just keeps getting better.  Lothaire is a wonderful book continuing her Immortals After Dark series. 

The start of this book gives a lot of background into Lothaire.  What made him the way he is?  What goals does he have?  Lothaire has been a thorn in the side of everyone and completely unpredictable in this series.  We finally find out what makes Lothaire tick.

Ellie is a young woman born and raised in Appalachia mountains.  Backwoods might be a good word to use.  Hick is probably better.  She's the exact opposite of Lothaire.  Only one BIG problem with Ellie, she's possessed by a Goddess named Saroya.  Yep.. like "I have exorciiiiiiiised the demon" type of possession.  Unfortunately for Ellie, you can't exorcise Saroya.  Ellie spends a large chunk of her young life in jail when Saroya goes on killing sprees with her body. 

Enter Lothaire.  Lothaire lays eyes on an 18 year old Ellie's body and comes to life.  She's his Bride.  Only backwoods MORTAL Ellie isn't good enough for The Enemy Of Old.  So obviously Saroya must be his Bride.  Lothaire spends years searching for the ring he stole from La Dorada in a previous book.  He believes the ring has the power to grant him a wish.  He wants Ellie's body minus Ellie herself.  He wants to Bride Saroya to rise. 

Ellie is determined to not let Saroya plague the world and kill innocent people.  So Lothaire is forced to keep her close to keep her from harming her body.  Will being with Ellie tempt him?  You're darn right it does!  Lothaire is a bit OCD and has a checklist of things to accomplish: keeping Ellie.. not one of them.

So we get to follow these two on a journey of will against will.  Lothaire is so prejudice against Ellie for being mortal and poor that he can't see what is in front of his eyes.  Ellie is a young woman who has managed to find and be grateful for any happiness that has ever come her way.  So who is the inferior being now?

The absolulte best part of this book is that Cole NEVER strays from who Lothaire is.  In the process of him falling for his Bride, he does it in Lothaire style.  He doesn't coddle.  He isn't nice.  He threatens.  He manipulates.  He pulls one stunt so bad I'm not sure even I could forgive him, if I was his Bride. He's Lothaire!!!   For Lothaire to find happiness he has to see past his hate.  He has to move on from his past(which was heartbreaking).  He needs to make friends: Thaddeus and Hag.  He needs to make up with friends from the past, Nix.  Lothaire has a lot of internal work to do in this book. 

He's sexy.  He's an a**hole.  I love him!  HAHA!  This book just didn't follow normal romance patterns.  Love didn't make him turn into a blubbering mess.  I loved that about this book.  Great great great read.  CANNOT wait for the next one!!! 

Dreams Of A Dark Warrior

***** 3.5 Stars Out Of 5 *****

"Dreams of a Dark Warrior" by Kresley Cole

Kresley Cole has undoubtedly penned one of my favorite paranormal romance series. The Immortal After Dark Series often makes me laugh, smile, frown, and curse in the duration of one book.

If you are new to this series, let me introduce you. Our world exists and secretly within it are Fae, Demons, Valkyrie, Vampires, Lykae, etc. The coexist not always in harmony. Each species tends to distrust and discriminate about the others. This series, being a paranormal romance, shows each character find her hero/mate/bride/wife.. etc etc. Hahahaha Often hilarity ensues, and fights are won. Through falling in love with those from other species, alliances are formed. Eventually sides must be taken when a war that will pit them against each other has to be fought... even though we aren't that far in the series.

On to the review:

After reading the first chapter on Kresley's website, I was really excited to read this. It seemed to have so much emotional potential. I couldn't wait for when it was released. Pre-order material.

The book started with a glimpse into the past of how Regin the Radiant and Aiden met. Regin was searching for her sister, Lucia. As a child and needing assistance she saught aid from Aiden the Fierce, a Berserker. Even with Regin being so young, Aiden claimed her for himself. He knew they were meant to be. To earn immortality, Aiden must win so many battles in Woden's name.. Regin's father. He refuses to bed Regin, wanting to earn her and eternity with her. Before eternity is won, Aiden is slain. Here comes the twist. He reincarnates and with every life he searches for Regin. Romantic, no? The problem is every time he finds her and remembers "them", he dies again.

This life he is reincarnated as Declan Chase. He hunts and gathers creatures of the Lore, inprisoning them on a secret undetectable island. On this island, everyone has a mystical collar preventing them from accessing their strength or power. Regin eventually recognizes Declan as Aiden and to tries to make him remember who he was, even though he will die. He hates creatures of the Lore. Will Regin find her happily ever after with a Berserker so damaged that he injects himself with drugs not to feel?

I wanted to love this story more, the only reason I didn't was because it spent the majority of the book with Regin trapped in the Immortal Prison on the Island. If you've read the IAD book before this one ("Demon From The Dark"), this book feels repetitive. Demon From The Dark takes place in this prison/island a large part of the book too. I felt like after 200 pages into it, I was still waiting for something to start happening. I really wanted soooooooo much more from this story. The back story of this couple created so much emotion. This encounter fell flat. As usual, I laughed out loud.. literally. Cole writes sarcarm so well. I love the world that Cole created. Each species is unique and special. Each character hilarious and powerful. There are no heriones waiting to be rescued. They are fully capable of rescuing themselves, thank you.

I was very pumped over learning more about Lothaire. This book added new characters that I hope to see again. It was a good book, but slow with the action. Oddly I felt like I figured out the end immediately into it. I literally KNEW that would happen to Declan at the end once Regin mentioned the 2 birds symbol. It literally instantly clicked into place, so I felt like it became a little predictable. I had no reason to continue. I had figured out the entire story. That was epically disappointing. I still LOVEEEEEEEE this series and characters. I love any and all appearences of Nix the Everknowing, and her pet bat.

Great series. Not that great of a book. I'm still a mega fan though. Kresley Cole writes amazing stories.

Pre-Orders That Excite Me!

I get excited over book series. I mean really honestly excited. When the opportunity to pre-order Nalini Singh's "Kiss of Snow" appears for Barnes & Noble Nooks, I literally squealed like a 12 year old at a Justin Bieber concert. Sadly, that is not an exaggeration. There have been a few book series that elicit such a response for me.

Let's talk books you would actually pre-order. Ones that the moment they have a publishing/sale date, you mark your calenders. My first review on this blog was a pre-order, Lora Leigh's "Navarro's Promise". I just read, finished, and started this blog all today... too much free time. I'm aware.

Here's my current Pre-Order list:

Nalini Singh "Kiss of Snow" (Psy-Changeling Series #10)
Shelly Laurenston "Big Bad Beast" (Pride Stories Series #6)
Chloe Neill "Hard Bitten" (Chicago Vampireland Series #4)


These are currently on pre-order on my Nook. I probably have more and I'm not even aware of it. I always pre-order Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark Series, Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter's Series, and Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series. Some series just demand the upkeep. What books are worth to be pre-ordered by you?