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Taken by Midnight

Lara Adrian

Published 2010        370 pages

Summary (from the book jacket)

In the frozen Alaskan wilderness, former state trooper Jenna Darrow survives an unspeakable breach of body and soul. But with her narrow escape comes an even greater challenge. For strange changes are taking place within her, as she struggles to understand – and control – a new hunger. To do so, she will seek shelter in the Boston compound of the Order, an ancient race of vampire warriors whose very existence is shrouded in mystery. Perhaps the most mysterious of them all is Brock, a brooding, dark-eyed alpha male whose hands hold the power to comfort, heal… and arouse. 

As she recovers under Brock’s care, Jenna finds herself drawn to the Order’s mission: to stop a ruthless enemy and its army of assassins from subjecting Earth to a reign of terror. Yet in spite of their resolve, a purely physical relationship without strings soon binds Brock and Jenna together with a desire fiercer than life and stronger than death itself—until a secret from Brock’s past and Jenna’s own mortality challenges their forbidden love to the ultimate trial by fire.

The Review

Taken by Midnight is the eighth book in Lara Adrian’s bestselling Midnight Breed vampire romance series. Each Midnight Breed story works as a stand-alone romance as well as being part of a long-running story arc – so whilst you don’t have to read the books strictly in order, the backdrop and sub-plots will definitely be easier to follow if you do. The Midnight Breed books have been a long-time favourite of the LoveVampires site and are highly recommended for paranormal romance fans, so it’s no hardship for series newbies to read entire series in order…

Eight books into a romance series and established Midnight Breed fans should know what to expect by now. Strong alpha-male vampire warriors battling to save both humans and their own species from an evil rogue vampire threat – check. Exciting background of secret missions and deadly violence – check. A heroine that readers can identify with – check. Oh, and not forgetting the sexy, hot, against-the-odds romance – check. Taken by Midnight is no exception and delivers another top quality instalment of thrilling vampire romance – fulfilling reader expectation on all counts.

This time out it’s Brock’s turn to find love. I’ll be honest here and say going into the story I had few expectations of Brock. He’s a character that has been around for a few of the previous books, taking part on missions and doing all the things that Order warriors do but he never really grabbed my imagination. He just blended into the background (a bit like a “red-shirt” on Star Trek) and in my mind became Breed-warrior-number-3, a worthy but ultimately bland character who helped to make up numbers. In Taken by Midnight, the author turns the spotlight on Brock and gives him the star treatment – neatly turning him into a much more exciting proposition. Brock’s need to protect Jenna, his overwhelming attraction to her, and a personal past tragedy revealed – all give depth to his character and relationship development with Jenna. Now I can’t imagine why I ever thought he was boring!

Jenna makes a different kind of heroine too. In a break from the usual rules of the Midnight Breed world she is a regular human, rather than a Breedmate – one of the females genetically compatible with Breed vampires. Her encounter with the Ancient (Shades of Midnight) that left her bloody, battered and speaking a language that hadn’t been heard in hundreds of years, changed her in ways that have yet to be understood. How Jenna is changing and what this means for her and the Order, generate a fresh interest and while the change to the usual Breedmate formula is a welcome one, the plotline is quite ambiguous and isn’t really resolved during the story.

Unanswered questions about what the Ancient did to Jenna and what it means for the Order will undoubtedly be revisited in future Midnight Breed books. Dragos, the rogue vampire, who is plotting everything from the enslavement of humans, to breeding a master race of vampires and the death of the Order, hasn’t yet run out of evil plans either. Hunter and Chase, both alpha-male Breed warriors who do capture the imagination, have still to find love. All-in-all the Midnight Breed series shows no sign of running out of steam anytime soon. More please!

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