Midnight Rising by Lara Adrian

Title: Midnight Rising
Author: Lara Adrian
Series: The Midnight Breed (book #4)
Previous in series: Midnight Awakening
Next in series: Veil of Midnight

My rating: 4 Stars


Synopsis: Fueled by rage following a devastating betrayal, Rio, the most tortured of the Breed warriors, is about to succumb to his darkest thoughts when Dylan Alexander crosses his path. With the power to expose the vampire race to humanity, Dylan must ultimately choose between the life she has always known and her destiny...

Review: A good story but not as suspenseful or intense as Kiss of Crimson or Midnight Awakening.

Rio and Dylan are a sweet couple. Rio is the epitome of the tortured hero (for which I have a weakness) and Dylan is feisty and definitely has a will of her own. I liked how she doesn’t let Rio or Lucan walk all over her, and is wonderfully accepting of Rio’s physical and emotional flaws. Nevertheless, their romance feels a bit rushed and their chemistry is not as forceful as in the other books.

I also appreciated the differences between Dylan and the other Breedmates. While she is not as sensitive as Tess or as kick butt as Elise, she is special in her own right. To begin with, her ability is darker than those of the others and the manner in which she copes with it reflects her determined spirit. Second, she has connections to the human world that the other mates lack. Unfortunately, Adrian’s methods for severing these ties feel contrived and even predictable.

Another issue I had difficulty with is the fact that Rio seems to overcome his trust issues and fall in love with Dylan far too quickly. This is inconsistent with his characterization in the previous books where he has an intense distrust of women following Eva’s betrayal.

Perhaps it would have been better if Rio’s story came later in the series after more time had elapsed.

The plot revolving around the villain’s plans for the ancient is developing in an interesting and exceedingly diabolical way. This villain is seriously evil and in this respect surpasses those in the previous books. I look forward to seeing how this aspect of the series develops.

Overall, I enjoy the way the series is developing and will definitely continue reading.