Demon from the Dark (Immortals After Dark Series, Book 8) by Kresley Cole

 

Demon from the Dark didn't start out all that great for me, but once things got going it was pretty much impossible to put down.

The biggest problem with the Immortals After Dark series, for me, is the huge cast of characters combined with the time span between reading the books. I should probably read the series again at some point, because I'm losing track of who is who, what their powers are, what their histories are, etc.

We have story arcs being followed through from several previous storylines in Demon from the Dark, threads that are pretty important when it comes to the events in this book.So, not fully remembering events from previous books was a bit of a problem - I remembered the basics, but not the details.

Things started slowly for me, I think because right away the story starts with two people I've never heard of before. And then once the story moves beyond that and into the present day, the reader is still kind of lost as to what is going on. Nothing to anchor on to, for a while.

At some point we find out enough of what is going on that we can get into the story though, and from there it's an E Ride. However, there are some things that I was fine with while reading the story, but now I'm thinking... really? He'd have gone from wild hellion to mostly civilized that quickly, after hundreds of years? But, the story is so skillfully written that I had none of those thoughts while I was reading it.

Here's the blurb:

A dangerous demon she can't resist...

Malkom Slaine: tormented by his sordid past and racked by vampiric hungers, he's pushed to the brink by the green-eyed beauty under his guard.

A maddening witch he aches to claim...

Carrow Graie: hiding her own sorrows, she lives only for the next party or prank. Until she meets a tortured warrior worth saving.

Trapped together in a savage prison...

For them to survive, Malkom must unleash both the demon and vampire inside him. When he becomes the nightmare his own people feared, will he lose the woman he craves body and soul?

As for the writing elements, the plot is yet another plot of two people brought together under impossible circumstances who come together against impossible odds. It's a very creative plot though, and pretty good, fitting in nicely with the rest of the series. Several things about the story do require the reader to suspend belief where personalities and emotions are concerned, but for the most part it's a good plot. And it goes a long way towards furthering the overall series plot arcs.

The pacing had some serious issues in places, but once I got 20% of the way into it I didn't even consider putting it down. Prose and dialogue were good. Character development was most excellent, and world building continues to be very well thought out with a whole lot of intricate details thrown in to help the world come alive.

The sex in this one was rather hot, too.

• Book Rating:: 8 of 10
• Series Rating: 8 of 10

1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King
6.5 Deep Kiss of Winter
7. Pleasure of a Dark Prince
8. Demon from the Dark
9. Dreams of a Dark Warrior (Regin's story, I think) Feb 2011

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Pleasure of a Dark Prince (Immortals After Dark book 8) by Kresley Cole

I'm a bit late reading Pleasure of a Dark Prince, I normally read this series closer to the release date. I think I'd grown a bit lukewarm about the series. Each book is written to sort of be a stand alone, as well as being part of the series. There is an overall plot arc that we are heading towards, and I get the feeling that the pieces we are gathering along the way are pretty important, but I also think that reading the books so far apart, that I'm not retaining enough for the pieces to mean as much. This series might be better if I'd waited until it was complete and then read all of the books at once.

With that being said, I really enjoyed Pleasure of a Dark Prince, and I'm looking forward to the next book, Demon from the Dark, with a bit more enthusiasm. It's due out August 24, so we've only got five months left to wait.

One of the interesting things that happens with this series is that occasionally we go back in time, so that we see what was happening to someone else at the same time the events from a previous book happened. Pleasure of a Dark Prince is one of those books, where we finally see Lucia and Garreth's story. We've been aware of them in previous books, and Pleasure of a Dark Prince lets us see exactly what happens between them.


I read Pleasure of a Dark Prince in two evenings, staying up later than planned on the second night in order to finish. There is humor, romance, suspense, intrigue, and travel to interesting places. The prose is (as always for this series) good, the plot is excellent, the pacing is well done, and it was an enjoyable read.

I'm giving Pleasure of a Dark Prince an 8 of 10, and I'm keeping the series at an 8 of 10 as well.


Book Rating: Pleasure of a Dark Prince: 8 of 10
Series Rating: Immortals After Dark: 8 of 10



1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King
7. Deep Kiss of Winter
8. Pleasure of a Dark Prince
9. Demon from the Dark

Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark, Book 6) by Kresley Cole

Last week I made a statement that I didn't think I needed to reread any of the Immortals After Dark series before I read Kiss of a Demon King. Let me go on record as saying I was wrong. I should have gone back and read the fifth book, Dark Desires After Dusk before reading number six. Kiss of a Demon King takes place during the same time period of the last book. In the last book we followed Cadeon, in this book we follow his brother Rydstrom. This means we have a general idea of a few things that happen, but we aren't sure exactly where in the timeline things are as they go along.

Over all it was a good book, but there were some slow parts here and there. I still liked it overall, but I put it down a few times to do something else, I didn't read it straight through.  Also, as with the series so far, there is some cheesy romance stuff. If you're the type who likes romances it's probably just fine. As I've said before, I don't mind some romance in the midst of an adventure but the sugary sweet romance stuff just makes me roll my eyes. In this series each book is technically a romance, but the series plot leading up to the Accession is a good plot and I'm enjoying it. I'm also enjoying the world building, the details of each species, and of The Lore in general.

The plot in Kiss of a Demon King was pretty predictable, we know that all of these books have a HEA, and we knew some pretty important plot points we picked up from the previous book. But the action was good, the conversations flowed, and I mostly liked the characters. Or at least understood them even if I didn't really always like them. We also have a few more characters brought in that I'm sure will pop up in future stories - Rok and Lothaire the vampire being two of many. Let's not forget there are several witches and Valkyrie still single, too. I can't want to see Nix's story, that might be as good as Acheron's once we finally get around to it. She's kind of the all-knowing bad-ass of the series, after all. There are also some kids of interest being brought in, not sure where the author is going with that - we've got Cade and Holly's babies, plus Puck, plus the eventual child of Rydstrom and Sabine who is supposed to somehow do something to the well of power. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

I'm giving the book an 8 of 10, and keeping the series at an 8 of 10.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10

There will apparently be a short story in the anthology Not That Innocent. Other than that, I don't see anything on the author's site that gives details about the next book in the series. I look forward to the next book and will keep an eye on things to see when we might expect it.






1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King

Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark, Bk 5) by Kresley Cole

After the last book I had concerns about this book. I had enjoyed the series up until then, and was worried that I wouldn't enjoy it anymore, and that I wouldn't find out how things turn out. I mean, I didn't like the fourth book. Not even a little bit. If I hadn't read the first three before it, I'd have put it down somewhere between pages 50 and 100, never to pick it up again. I disliked it so much that I put off reading this one for a bit. My fears were unwarranted though; this book brought things back to normal. I enjoyed it, and there were even another few LOL parts.

Here's the blurb:

A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist...

Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny...

Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires...

Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs -- and claim his heart?

We've met Cade before and know a bit of his history already. We saw him watching Holly at the end of the last book, and I had an idea of where things were going. Or, at least, I thought I did. Turns out, I didn't. But that's a good thing, books really aren't as much fun if you can guess where they are going.

This book doesn't really take us a great deal farther where the Accession comes, but I guess it does help line a few more factions up on either side. And I've a feeling that the events of this book will matter a great deal when the fighting actually starts breaking out in a big way.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read. A good plot, likable characters, funny parts, romantic parts, tender parts, rough parts, and I especially liked the part where the girl can take care of  herself and doesn't need a stinking man to save her. (Select the spoiler text to view it.)

The only sad thing here is that the next book doesn't come out until February.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10





1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)

Dark Needs at Night's Edge (Immortals After Dark, Bk 4) by Kresley Cole

I wasn't crazy about this book. In fact, I hated the first 200 or so pages of it. If the first 200 pages had been condensed to about 50 pages, it would have been a much better book.

Also, this book doesn't really take us any further into the Accession. The books so far have taken us on a journey. There is a long term plot, where you have to read all of the books to understand it and keep up with it. But this one didn't. We don't really know anything more about the various factions preparing for the Accession now than we did at the end of the last book. And there was no real plot in this book. Just the romance, nothing much else. And parts of the romance made me want to tear my hair out.

I loved the last book in the series and couldn't wait for the next one to arrive. But after reading this one I'm really disappointed.


Book Rating: 4 of 10
Series Rating: 8 of 10





1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)

Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (Immortals After Dark, Bk 3) by Kresley Cole

I loved this book. I read it straight through from beginning to end without stopping. Putting it down was not an option. Not even at one in the morning.

We've met Bowen in books one and two of this series. He is a werewolf and we are told that he lost his one mate and has pretty much just existed ever since, for almost two centuries.

This book starts somewhere in the middle of the previous book, during the playing of the Talisman's Hie. This means we get an idea of other things that were going on during that book. There are some paralells, a few things we saw from the perspective of someone else and we see the same scene from Bowen's perspective. But mostly we get new stuff. And we are a few chapters into the book before we reach the end of the previous book.

I liked both the hero and heroine of this book. And I loved the storyline. This may be a romance where a couple gets their HEA in the end, but it's also an adventure. You could take the romance parts away and it would still be a good book with a perfectly good plot.

What's more, this book had humor. Actual laugh out loud humor, where your husband looks at you like you've completely lost your mind. And the dichotomy of some of it, for instance, a character is talking about how she got good answers from a sort of magical mirror at first, but then the answers were kind of vague. She says something along the lines of "it's like the paperclip, at first it's helpful, but after a while you just want it to die." Not only was the statement funny, the whole idea of comparing a magical mirror to the Microsoft Office Paperclip is just... wrong. Though very funny when it hits you out of left field.

I can't wait to see what happens in the next book. I am now officially hooked on the series.

I'll give the book a rating of 10 of 10, and I'm ready to rate the series now as well. I'll give it a 9 of 10 at this point.

Book Rating: 8 of 10
Series Rating: 9 of 10





1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)

No Rest for the Wicked (The Immortals After Dark, Bk 2) by Kresley Cole

The second book in the series probably has me hooked on the series. The depth of the long term story line, and the interconnectedness of the various characters has set this up to be an interesting series.

We met Kaderin the Coldhearted in the first book, and we learned what happened to make her coldhearted.

And in this book we get to know her a whole lot better.

This is her story, where she gets her very own HEA. But the storyline getting there is so much more than a normal romance.

We learned of the Talisman's Hie in the last book. We are told it's kind of like a supernatural version of The Amazing Race. Having never watched The Amazing Race, I don't know about that, but the Hie is quite a competition, and we get a first row seat for much of it.

I was conflicted about the first book, but I'm not conflicted about this one at all. I enjoyed it, and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the next book.

I'll give the book a rating of 8 of 10. I'm not too sure about a series rating just yet, I think I'm going to wait until I've read the third book to get it a series rating.

Book Rating: 8 of 10




1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)

A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1) by Kresley Cole

I'm conflicted about this book. By the end of the book I enjoyed it, but it was hard to get into.

I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed the world building. The romance part of it was okay, and the other parts of the plot were fairly well done. But, the romance was.. well, personally, I'm a little uncomfortable with the whole idea of a mate being chosen for you by fate or, whoever or whatever it is that chooses such things. This isn't the only series that does it, and I enjoy some of the other series that do it, but it still makes me uncomfortable. Who knows, maybe it's better that way, for there to be a sign of your one true love so you don't screw it up... but I just really like the idea of free will so you get to choose that person yourself.

I read the first few chapters and then put it down to read something lighter before picking it up to read the rest of the story. I had a hard time dealing with the fact that (in the beginning) neither half of this mated pair liked each other. At all. I mean, sure, there was an attraction. But they didn't like each other.

Fortunately, things do get better, and as more and more of the backstory comes up the depth of the story grows. The author draws from a number of myth's and fairy tails and creates an interesting world of supernatural intrigue. The book has vampires and werewolves and Valkyrie and demons and wraiths and witches and gods and goddesses, and I've probably missed a few critters since that was just off the top of my head. Every 500 years or so they all fight and then one of the supernatural races gets to own the playground until the next time they all fight again. The book starts as the next big fight, or Accession, is on the horizon. I'm assuming that fight is going to be the long term plot of the books in the series.

This is the first book in the series and I enjoyed it enough (once I got into it) that I will be buying the next two books in the series so I can see how much I like them as well. It appears that each book is going to be a romance (ala the Dark Hunter series and the Psy-Changelings series) and the longer term plot of the Accession will stretch across each book and we'll eventually get there.

I can't give it a series rating yet after only one book, but I'll give it a book rating of 7 of 10. The last third of the book was an 8 of 10, but the first couple of chapters were maybe a 5 of 10, so an average of 7 of 10 seems pretty good to me.

Book Rating: 7 of 10




1. A Hunger Like No Other
2. No Rest for the Wicked
3. Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
4. Dark Needs at Night's Edge
5. Dark Desires After Dusk
6. Kiss of a Demon King (Release date Feb 2009)