This was my first exposure to the Midnight Breeds series by Lara Adrian. I was delighted with Kiss of Midnight, the first book in the series. It was hot, it was steamy, and it was exciting. It was a little reminiscent of the Black Dagger Brotherhood, but it held its own special type of originality.Lara Adrian builds a world where vampires exist amongst humans. Set in Boston, Adrian creates a vampire lore complete with an original origin story, vampire rituals, and vampire laws. In Adrian’s world, the ancient vampires crash landed on earth from another world. The next generation of vampires – the Gen Ones are the royalty of the vampire world. The Midnight Breed vampires feed from humans, but do not necessarily kill them. Those that do kill succumb to the bloodlust and become Rogues. Her vampires mate with human breedmates, women who bond for life with a vampire and enjoy extended life as long as their mate lives. Vampires and their families live in Darkhavens, all over the world. Kiss of Midnight introduces us to the vampire warriors – those vampires who protect the Breed from the Rogue threat. We are introduced to Lucan, Gideon, Nikolai, Conlan, Rio and Tegan. There are very few warriors fighting many bloodthirsty Rogues. Gabrielle likes to take photographs, photographs without people. One evening, she is out with her friends and sees a group of vampires feeding in an alley. She photographs them and reports this incident to the police. Lucan goes to Gabrielle’s apartment posing as a police officer. He is instantly attracted to her, and so begins a very hot and steamy relationship.I found that Gabrielle and Lucan’s relationship was a touch angsty. Lucan was conflicted about forming a blood bond. He also felt that it was inevitable that he succumb to the bloodlust like his brothers before him. Lucan also felt the strong urge to protect Gabrielle, and at times, he was possessive. I was rooting for them by the end of the novel.Kiss of Midnight was an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.
