Lothaire (Immortals After Dark, #12)Lothaire by Kresley Cole

My rating: 5 of 5 flames

The beginning of this book sucks you in, it traps you, and it doesn’t let you go. By the time you finish, you realize the whole day has passed, and you haven’t fed your children or husband, or even grabbed a coffee. Just me? I didn’t think so.

I wasn’t sure how much I’d like Lothaire as a hero, I mean he has had his moments, but always with a price. We find out why he’s been hoarding these “favors” owed to him. And we find out just how much he’s willing to give up for those favors, if anything.

Ellie is the complete antithesis of Lothaire. She’s a mountain girl through and through, but she’s possessed by a demon, so she thinks. Around age 18, she starts having blackouts and waking up to carnage, blood, and heaps of questions. After dealing with the murders, she decides to go out fighting. Suicide by cop. She grabs a shotgun, steps out in front of the police, and is instantly protected by Lothaire. Who is seriously pissed, by the way. So he tells her that she will go to prison where she can be safe from herself an others, until he can come for her. Surprise surprise, Lothaire found his bride. But it’s not Ellie, it can’t be this uncouth, barefoot mountain girl. It is of course, the vampire goddess inside of her. So off to death row for 19 year old Ellie, until Lothaire can find a way to separate her soul from Saroya, his vampire goddess bride.

5 years later, Ellie is strapped to the table, waiting for her death sentence by lethal injection, and who shows up once more? Lothaire, of course. Taking her with him, he decides he’ll keep her hostage until he can retrieve the Ring of Sums and he’ll use that to separate Ellie from her body. But he sort of realizes that Ellie may be his bride after all, not the frigid vampire goddess Saroya.

Oops, did Lothaire send his Bride to Death Row? And oops, has he treated her like crap? And oh, was he just as high-handed as they come? I think Kresley Cole has an amazing talent of having her heroes do things that I hate, behave in ways I hate, and yet I still like the hero. She gets me every time.

I loved how Ellie not only could hold her own with him, but she made him like her. Her, not Saroya. And the best part? Ellie made him question his End Game.

My fave quote has a teeny bit of spoiler for scene set up:

After a huge fight between them, Ellie is kidnapped by the Valkyries to be used as leverage against Lothaire. He sends her his heart, in a gift wrapped box with a note telling her, she had his heart, it’s the only one she’ll ever get from him. (I won’t spoil what she send him back, but it gives her street cred with the Valkyries, it’s just that awesome). So when they finally get back together, Ellie asks him if he didn’t want her, after all, he’d sent her his heart. He offers her, claws to his chest, his new heart muttering,

“Take this one, My heart doesn’t fucking working right without you.”

Best scene in the book. Best line ever. I forgave him his alphahole tendencies then and there. This intense hero, mad as a hatter, made me love him from the first page. I loved his relationship with Ellie, and I loved watching him fall for Ellie, even when he was an ass to her. Ellie is one of my favorite heroines yet–I just adored her.

The only thing I didn’t like, is that I wish that he’d understood [certain things I can’t spoil] without having to dream her memories, I mean I get why, but still, would have been nice to see him understand without that. But I am just dying to see what happens with Kristoff, Fury, Cara, Nix, and all of the characters who we love. Kresley Cole has reminded me of why she is one of my favorite authors ever.

***Thank you to S&S for the the book

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