Review: Dark Desires After Dusk - Kresley Cole

UK Cover

A seductive beauty he can never have, yet can't resist . . .
Cadeon Woede will stop at nothing to atone for the one wrong that will haunt him forever. But once he secures the key to his redemption, the halfling Holly Ashwin, Cade finds that the woman he thought he could use for his own ends and then forget haunts him as much as his past.

A tormented warrior she should fear, but can't deny . . .
Raised as a human, Holly never knew that some frightening legends are real until she encounters a brutal demon who inexplicably guards her like a treasure. Thrust into a sensual new world of myth and power, with him as her protector, she begins to crave the demon's wicked touch.

Surrender to dark desires . . .
Yet just when he earns Holly's trust, will Cade be forced to betray the only woman who can sate his wildest needs - and claim his heart?

Immortals After Dark Series:
The Warlord Wants Forever (Novella in the Playing Easy to Get anthology)
A Hunger Like No Other
No Rest for the Wicked
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night
Dark Needs at Night's Edge
Dark Desires After Dusk
Kiss of a Demon King
Untouchable (Published in the Deep Kiss of Winter Anthology)
Pleasure of a Dark Prince
Demon from the Dark
Dreams of a Dark Warrior
Lothaire
Shadow's Claim (The Dacians book 1)
MacRieve
Dark Skye

For more information visit Kresley Cole's website

Review:
900 years ago a foolish mistake by Cadeon lost his brother Rydstrom his throne and the pair have been trying to get it back ever since. Cadeon is full of guilt for his actions and is determined to do whatever it takes to make it up to Rydstrom but their enemy Omort the Deathless won't be easy to kill. In fact they have only one last chance if they are going to defeat him. They must track down the Vessel (a female from the Lore who will give birth to a child of either ultimate good or evil, depending on who the father is) and exchange her for the only weapon that can destroy Omort. Cadeon believes it will be an easy task, until he discovers the Vessel is Holly, the woman he has been watching from afar and who he is convinced is his mate. Now Cadeon has a difficult choice to make - will be betray his brother again, this time loosing the throne forever or will he hand over his mate to an evil sorcerer?

I've been looking forward to reading Cade's story since he was first introduced in one of the earlier books and he didn't disappoint me. There are actually a lot of things about Cade that should make him dislikeable, he is chauvinistic and cocky but it comes across as more of a front that he puts on to the world than his true character. In fact he has a much softer and more caring side that you get to see more and more of as the story progresses. I loved the way he was torn between doing the right thing by his brother and wanting to take care of Holly, he really was between a rock and a hard place and I found it easy to forgive the actions he took. I think he's probably my favourite male in the series so far, he is one HOT demon!

I found Holly a bit too prim and proper for my taste, particularly in the beginning, but it was really good to see how much she changes throughout the story. Her OCD made for hilarious reading and I absolutely loved the banter between her and Cade, she certainly wasn't going to sit back and accept his coarse language or let him force her into anything she didn't want to do. Holly didn't know about her Valkyrie ancestry and has always believed she was a human so it comes as quite a shock to her to discover a world of demons and come into her new abilities. A lot of her problems have been caused by the way she tries to suppress her true nature so the more she starts to accept who she is the better things get for her.

I have to admit that I think Dark Desires After Dusk is my favourite book in the Immortals After Dark series so far. I'm pretty sure you could pick up the series here even if you've not read any of the other books but I'd still suggest reading the books in order. I've just realised that Rydstrom's story is up next so I'm off to order my copy of Kiss of a Demon King!

Source: Library

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