Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3810 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-29
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Customer Reviews

Violent, steamy and well written...
I know there is a lot of discussion about the similarities between Lara Adrian's gripping new series and other paranormal romance series', but with each book Adrian carves out her own niche in the paranormal romance genre.

Dante is a wonderfully written tortured soul and Tess, while annoying at some moments, has a great honesty about her. The story keeps you involved and whilst slightly formulaic it still manages to keep the reader engaged throughout.

I enjoyed this book and have gone on to enjoy the following books in the series. Each one emmersing you more deeply in Adrian's new world of Vamps. Yes, it could be seen to be an amalgamation of Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood and Kenyon's Dark Hunter Lesser's (although missing both series's slant toward ancient mythologies), however Adrian walks a fine line and I believe she finds success with her own take on a growing genre.

Gripping easy read
Having read the first in the series, Kiss of Midnight, I really wanted to follow what happened to the characters that I had been introduced to. In Kiss of Crimson, I was not disappointed.

Dante's character is explored, along with his fears, hopes and desires. He meets a breedmate, Tess, and the story hurtles along from there. Its a fast moving, well written, easy read. Its not deep and meaningful, it won't change your life, but Ms Adrian has created a world that is highly believable and engrossing. These are basically romance novels set against the backdrop of vampirism (tackled very differently to some authors). If you like romance, fantasy, vampire stories and nothing too taxing on the old brain cells, this is the book for you.

I have enjoyed both of Ms Adrian's books as light, entertaining reads and would recommend them to anyone in need of a bit of escapism for a few hours.

Excellent follow up
"Kiss Of Crimson" is the follow up to "Kiss Of Midnight", a series very much in the Black Dagger Brotherhood mode, with vampires fighting foes, in this case renegade vampires, and trying to protect the humans amongst whom they live. The first book's similarities to J R Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood seemed rather over the top but this book was different, less like the BDB and more of its own story.

Dante, the hero of this book, is one of the vampire warriors who fights against the Rogues. When he finds himself injured he has to take the blood of a young vet that he finds in her clinic - but after he's done this he realises she's one of the Breedmates and consequently he has, in some ways, bound himself to her. Things get more complicated when Tess Culver and Dante meet again and he realises that her ex-boyfriend is involved in the production of a new drug, Crimson, which seems to be having serious effects on the young male vampires of the Darkhavens. In fact it appears that Crimson is causing some of these young males to turn into Rogues.

Dante and the other brothers are searching for the cause of the Crimson, along with Sterling Chase, a male member of the Darkhavens, but Dante finds his path tangled up with Tess Culver. However she's already had a frightening experience with a vampire and he's afraid of causing her more problems, especially as he knows she won't want him. But there's more to Tess than meets the eyes and her skills as a vet may have more behind them than just study and training.

This book, although focusing on Dante and Tess, also gives us insights into Sterling Chase and his long-term love for his brother's widow, Elise. Elise is apparently the heroine of the next book in the series, "Midnight Awakening", and I hope that Chase will also appear in that book as he was an interesting new character.

The writing style in this book was always enjoyable with great pacing, interesting locations and events and a rather touching romance between Dante and Tess. There were less scenes from the viewpoints of the Rogues or Minions, most of what we learned was either from Tess or Dante.

This is a very enjoyable series, especially now that it appears to be parting ways from its rather close relationship to the Black Dagger Brotherhood and finding more of its own voice. Lara Adrian's writing is good and her characters are varied and interesting. Originality isn't necessarily her strong point but there aren't that many truly original stories in this genre. Fans of the Black Dagger Brotherhood should love this series too!