Midnight’s Kiss
By Thea Harrison
Publisher: Berkley
Date: May 5, 2015
The book starts fast, with
Julian going on the hunt for a member of the demesne council who tried to
murder his closest friend. The stakes
take a big jump immediately when the councilor, Justine, kidnaps Melisande.
When Julian learns what has happened, his old, painful belief that Melly
cheated when they were together is not enough to stop him from doing whatever
it takes to free her.
The two end up prisoners of
the rogue vampire, Justine, and form a reluctant alliance to survive. The
experience shows them both that the passion they shared is not dead. While trying to figure out what that want to
do about that, they go after Justine. Along the way, they
also learn what really happened when they broke up and work on dissolving their
old resentments.
Melisande uses her inherent
Light Fae charm as an actress, which may be why Justine considers her as “Pretty
and well meaning, and stupid as a poodle.” One of my favorite lines in the book
comes when Melly, left alone by her captor at last, reminds herself, ‘Poodles
are smart.” And so is she--smart, brave,
and compassionate, even toward the man who broke her heart.
Julian has not always been a
fully sympathetic character in this series.
It’s difficult, though, to resist a man who’s willing to sacrifice
himself for a woman he doesn’t trust and doesn’t want to admit he cares about. His courage and determination stun Melly and
have her reconsidering his past actions.
Xavier and Thea from Night’s Honor also play roles in this
story, giving us a peek at the evolution of their relationship and at his
recovery from the events of the last book.
Julian’s household staff, mainly just glimpsed in earlier books, play
somewhat larger roles here. There’s also
a fun scene with a group of bikers.
Harrison pulls off the trick
of making both Julian’s and Melly’s reactions to their past breakup
sympathetic. The characters work through
their old hurts and resentments instead of waving them away and starting anew.
Harrison weaves the romantic
arc through the action plot. The stakes
escalate, with Justine always one step ahead until the climactic battle at the
end. The story moves at a good pace and
stays absorbing.
~ Nancy Northcott
A former attorney who never outgrew her love of comic books, science fiction and fantasy, Nancy left the legal profession to pursue her dreams of creating her own action adventure stories. Check out her terrific contemporary romances set within a fantasy world in present-day Georgia.
