Lara Adrian – Deeper than midnight

The ninth book in the Midnight Breed series, published June 2011.



DELIVERED FROM THE DARKNESS, A WOMAN FINDS HERSELF PLUNGED INTO A PASSION THAT IS DEEPER THAN MIDNIGHT.

At eighteen, Corinne Bishop was a beautiful, spirited young woman living a life of privilege as the adopted daughter of a wealthy family. Her world changed in an instant when she was stolen away and held prisoner by the malevolent vampire Dragos. After many years of captivity and torment, Corinne is rescued by the Order, a cadre of vampire warriors embroiled in a war against Dragos and his followers. Her innocence taken, Corinne has lost a piece of her heart as well - the one thing that gave her hope during her imprisonment, and the only thing that matters to her now that she is free.

Assigned to safeguard Corinne on her trip home is a formidable golden-eyed Breed male called Hunter. Once Dragos's most deadly assassin, Hunter now works for the Order, and he's hell-bent on making Dragos pay for his manifold sins. Bonded to Corinne by their mutual desire, Hunter will have to decide how far he'll go to end Dragos's reign of evil - even if carrying out his mission means shattering Corinne's tender heart.


As usual in this series, this book continues right where Taken of Midnight ended, so you really need to read this series in order.

After many decades of being imprisoned by Dragos, experienced and breeded upon, she wants to go home, to her family, to heal. She still looks as young and beautiful as she did when she was abducted, thanks to the Breed blood she and the other captive Breedmates have been fed. She needs her powerful father to help her retrieve her son, Nathan, who was taken from her right after she gave birth to him. Only the memory of him have kept her sane and whole all those years, able to overcome the torture and degradation inflicted upon her.
Unfortunately, Brock is in Alaska with his Breedmate, and unable to come back soon to take her to her father’s Darkhaven in Detroit. To his own surprise, it is Hunter who volunteers to take her home. Ever since he saw her, he has been captivated by her. Her beauty, and what she endured all those years. Hunter was raised by Dragos as his personal assassin, and now works for the Order, fighting him. He has never known a woman, and he doesn’t understand his feelings or wants for her. He just knows he has to keep her safe.
But when he delivers her to her parents, something just doesn’t feel right. And when he comes back undetected, he confronts her father. The bastard knew what has happened to his adopted daughter all those years ago, who took her and why. It was him who staged the discovery of the body a few months after she disappeared, and even when his own son found out the truth, and killed himself, he didn’t come forward. And even now he betrays Corinne and calls Dragos. And in the end, it is his wife, his breedmate, who gives the order the name of one of Dragos’s lieutenants. He used to visit with Dragos’s all the time back then, so he should be able to tell them where to find Dragos now.
Boston isn’t safe at the moment to go back to, as Dragos has planted a tracking device in young Kellan Archer while he was abducted. When Kellan got so sick, he just threw up the device, the males of the Order knew they were fucked. Of course there had been no other choice for Kellan and his grandfather to go since Dragos had killed their entire Darkhaven and all of their family. But the Order’s headquarters are now exposed to Dragos, they desperately need a new safe place. So Hunter takes Corinne with him to New Orleans, where they are after Henry Vachon. But everything goes bad there, the local Enforcement agency has been tipped, and they are after them. The hunters become the hunted, and they need a safehouse of their own. Luckily, Gideon’s mate Savannah still has a sister living in the swamp, and she is willing to take Hunter and Corinne in. Hunter goes back after Henry Vachon on his own, and he finds him. When the man keeps talking trash about Corinne, Hunter looses it, and kills him savagely. And by ingesting some of the man’s blood, his own powers are finally freed. He is a bloodreader, and through the memories of Henry Vachon, he knows where he can find more info on Dragos.

Meanwhile, the Order is checking out some new property over in Maine, but the move will have to be postponed as Tess is in labor. Chase is falling into Bloodlust, and he leaves the Order after another fucked up mission. But when he finds the renegade Agency agent Murdock on an illegal Bloodhunt, he captures him and tortures him until he knows all Murdock knows on Dragos. It appears, he is after a brand new but powerful politician, and he has been making Minions by the dozens. What will he do when he owns the American government? But Chase cannot go back to the Order, he is too close to becoming Rogue, the very same thing the Order is chasing, when they are not after Dragos. He has to find out more first.


A great new book in this series. The plot thickens more and more, and I am really wondering what will happen next.
I loved the slow relationship between Corinne and Hunter. As Corinne has been tortured and abused for centuries, of course she isn’t looking for a mate. She is very weary of males, but Hunter makes her feel safe and protected. He doesn’t look upon her or her scars with disgust or something. He completely accepts her as she is.
Hunter has never known a female in his life, not as a care giver, nor as a lover. He was trained/conditioned not to feel emotions, not to desire or want anything. So he doesn’t understand his feelings, what they are. But their first kiss was so sweet, and the scene where she asks him to dance in the jazz club they are at in New Orleans. He doesn’t know how to dance. His few months at the order have not learned him everything about living in a society yet. I have to admit, I really liked Hunter. But I though Corinne a bit stupid and naïve, how she wants to risk everything, even capture again, to find her son. The son who doesn’t even know her, and has been trained to be a ruthless killer, just like Hunter. And Hunter still wrestles with the vision he once saw in Mira’s eyes …
Can he live with the fact that he will destroy Corinne’s happiness and her love for him?

9,5 stars