Blood Red Kiss by Gena Showalter, Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione Series: Immortals After Dark#1
Published by berkley on September 20, 2016
Genres: PNR
Pages: 532
Format: Paperback
Source: Courtesy review copy
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Good things always come in threes—and this paranormal romance anthology featuring steamy stories from New York Times bestselling authors Kresley Cole, Larissa Ione, and Gena Showalter is no exception!
Get ready for a collection chock full of vamps, demons, aliens, and plenty of sizzle!
In Kresley Cole’s celebrated story “The Warlord Wants Forever,” the first in her scorching Immortals After Dark series, vampire warlord Nikolai Wroth will stop at nothing to claim his Bride, the one woman who can make his heart beat again. But can beautiful Myst the Coveted accept an enemy vampire as her own?
Tehya has spent the last twelve years as an accidental wolf, but is truly a vampire at heart. When she gets injured, Lobo sneaks her inside MoonBound’s headquarters and nurses her back to health…with potentially deadly consequences. Desire collides with danger in “Forsaken by Night,” a MoonBound Clan novella from Larissa Ione!
In Gena Showalter’s Otherworld Assassins novella, Dark Swan, Lilica Swan isn’t quite human or otherworlder; she is the best—and worst—of both. She is willing to do whatever proves necessary to save her sister from the seductive and deadly Alien Investigation and Removal agent, Dallas Gutierrez, even bond her life to his…effectively wedding him. But without consummation, the bond will fade. Can Dallas resist his insatiable desire for the powerful beauty? Or will she lead to his ultimate downfall?
This anthology is fantastic! Three of my favorite authors in one!
The Warlord Wants Forever-In this re-vamped (heh) version of The Warlord Wants Forever, I was able to notice parts seemed different. But I’ve also read this story like 5 times. Most people didn’t notice, but what I felt was that it was smoother. Whatever KC changed (and she said it was like 12,000 changes), it worked well. The story itself wasn’t changed, but certain parts are more clear, and it was subtle and well-done. If you haven’t read the IAD series, this is a great chance to start! Sexy vampire warlord meets badass Valkyrie maiden? This story kicks off one of the most awesome series out there!
Forsaken By Night-Larissa Ione’s story doesn’t stand alone very well, just FYI. Lobo is a lone vampire who’s been outcast from his clan. He’s spent the past 12 years in a cabin with his pet wolf, Tehya. Tehya isn’t just a wolf, though, she’s a vampire who got stuck in wolf form. It takes an accident to force her body to turn back to its human form, and to say Lobo is shocked is an understatement. But this attraction they feel is overshadowed by the fact that Lobo is still an outcast, and he tricked his way into the MoonBound Clan to save her. This makes him their number one most wanted.
How can they get to know each other now that she is human, if they can’t go five minutes without someone hunting them down?
This series is intense, and the vampires are servants to humans. But change is on the winds, and I don’t think they’ll stay that way for much longer. With Native American undertones, the lore of the typical vampire is changed. It’s a cool spin on an old legend.
Dark Swan: This Gena Showalter story takes us back to her Alien Huntress/Otherworld Assassins series which is one of my favorites. And finally! Dallas’ story! It’s a long novella, and it’s vintage Showalter. By that I mean, it fits in perfectly with the Alien Huntress series, even though it’s listed as part of the spin-off the Otherworld Assassins. Lilica Swan is one of three triplets who were created rather than born. Their entire lives are spent under observation and experimentation. It isn’t pleasant. Yet she grows up to be a good and decent person, even though she believes she’s evil.
Dallas, oh Dallas, have I been waiting for his story. And I loved it! He was worth the wait, and I hope this series is not over. I really love every book in both series Ms. Showalter has going on.
I think this can be read as a stand-alone. You’d be missing out on a bit of backstory, but you wouldn’t be confused. This was my favorite story in the book.
***Review copy provided by Pocket Books
