Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian is a suspenseful, supernatural novel that introduces the reader into a world of vampires. The main focus surrounds a Generation One vampire named Lucan Thorne who becomes involved with a human Breedmate, Gabrielle Maxwell, after she stumbles upon something she shouldn’t have witnessed. The vampire world is separated into two groups – Rouges (vampires who have succumbed to Bloodlust) and the Breed (the warriors that hunt them down). When Gabrielle accidentally sees a group of Rouges feeding on a human in an alley way, she instantly becomes terrified and attempts to contact the police. The police, however, are very skeptical of her report and turn her away, stating that they would investigate. That night, Lucan turns up at her door step to learn what she knows and altar her mind in order to make her forget the night’s events, but he soon realizes that she is practically immune to vampire suggestion due to her status as a Breedmate. Throughout the novel, Lucan battles with the urge to give in to bloodlust as well as his feelings for Gabrielle. Along with this, Lucan and his teammates (also members of the Breed) realize that Rogues are banding together and that there would soon be an all out war between the two groups of vampires. Kiss of Midnight concludes with Lucan and Gabrielle officially becoming bonded together and a battle that ends in victory for the Breed but does not end the war.

Overall, I think that Lara Adrian did a wonderful job in terms of world building. She doesn’t throw all the information at the reader at once, but sprinkles in facts and tidbits when necessary. I find that the world Kiss of Midnight takes place in to be very fascinating and completely different than most vampire stories. For example, vampires descended from a group of savage aliens that crashed onto Earth and could only drink human blood to survive. We also learn that there are no female vampires and the only way they procreate is through a special type of human called a Breedmate, which Gabrielle happens to be. Further, there is a hierarchical system in place with Gen One’s (Lucan is one of these) being at the top. Gen Ones are the direct descendants of the aliens and are the most vulnerable to bloodlust. An element that is different then some other vampire stories is that these ones are not weakened by holy water or garlic, but cannot be out in sunlight for they will burn. All of these little details truly add to the novel and make it enjoyable for the reader to learn about a world so similar yet vastly different than our own.

In terms of passion between the main characters, there was a lot of it. From the moment Lucan and Gabrielle set eyes on each other, there was instant chemistry. Unfortunately, when Lucan finds out that Gabrielle is a Breedmate, he tries to deny their connection because he believes that a warrior should not be put in such a vulnerable position. There is further conflict between the two when Gabrielle finds out Lucan’s true identity and learns that he has been lying to her the entire time the two have known each other (which is a pretty short time – at most two weeks?). Ultimately, this wouldn’t be a romance novel if the two protagonists didn’t find their way back into each other’s arms.

Personally, I would rate Kiss of Midnight a 6.8/10. There were elements that I really enjoyed like the world building that I mentioned above, but there were some parts that felt a bit overdone. It felt a little cliché in that the reader was 100% aware the entire time that the two characters would eventually be together. I think that the waiting period was a bit too long and unnecessary which subtracted points in my book.

Adrian, Lara. Kiss of Midnight. Later Printing, Dell, 2007.