Midnight Rising is the fourth novel in Lara Adrian’s Midnight Breed vampire romance series. Each novel in the Midnight
Breed series is a stand alone story and although there is an overall story arc, with characters from earlier novels cropping up again in the later ones, new readers don’t need to have read the previous books before reading this one. They probably should though, because all of the books in this series so far have been exceedingly good.
Midnight Rising is no exception. From the opening pages, where tabloid reporter Dylan first discovers the mysterious secluded cave half way up a Czech mountainside with its half-mad vampire occupant, Midnight Rising captures the attention and imagination of its readers and refuses to let go. Even in the closing pages a new plot by a Rogue master vampire to destroy the Breed vampire warriors is revealed – guaranteed to leave readers wanting more.
The Breed warriors are all prime specimens of alpha male vampire (also guaranteed to leave readers wanting more!) but each one of them has their own
problems and vulnerabilities, making them much more realistic heroes. Another thing that I personally like about the way this series is written is love doesn’t miraculously solve all of their problems. They may find love but, unlike a lot of paranormal romance stories, this doesn’t mean that all of their ills are magically cured.
Rio has a lot of problems. He was cruelly betrayed by his breedmate (Eva) during the events that occurred in Kiss of Midnight, the first novel in this series. She sold out the Breed warriors to their enemies and Rio was very badly injured in an explosion as a result. Eva took her own life when her duplicity was discovered. Rio was left with terrible physical scars and head injuries that left him prone to blackouts and bouts of rage, not to mention his emotional pain after Eva’s betrayal.
Half-mad with hunger and the pain of his past, Rio is a vampire on the edge of losing his will to live. Dylan soon gives him reasons to live as she shakes up his world when she discovers the ancient’s hibernation chamber and tries to write a story about it and the “blood drinking demon” that locals claim is haunting the mountain. With Dylan threatening to expose the entire vampire race Rio has to concentrate on finding out what she knows and eliminating her story. In the process he must fight his own demons and rejoin his warrior Breed brethren in their battle for the future of the vampire race.
The Midnight Breed series just gets better and better, and Midnight Rising is, for me, the best book in the series so far. It has first rate plotting and an imaginative vampire mythology that will appeal to fantasy readers - as well as realistic, multi-faceted characters that romance readers will want to fall in love with.