This RITA® Reader Challenge 2016 review was written by Donna Marie. This story was nominated for the RITA® in the Paranormal Romance category.
The summary:
In the latest Novel of the Elder Races, two souls who have long buried their passions are about to be consumed…
Ever since their scorching affair ended years ago, Julian, the Nightkind King, and Melisande, daughter of the Light Fae Queen, have tried to put the past behind them—and distance between them. But when a war breaks out between Julian and Justine, a powerful Vampyre of the Nightkind council, they find themselves thrown together under treacherous circumstances…
Kidnapped as leverage against Julian, Melly is convinced that her former lover won’t be rushing to her rescue. But when Julian gives himself up to save her, they both end up Justine’s captives. Armed only with their wits and their anger, Melly and Julian must work together to escape. But will they be able to ignore their complicated history, or will the fiery passion that once burned them blaze again?
Here is Donna Marie's review:
Funny story. Due to lots of unforeseen travel in the last month – Shepherding the Dread Pirate Robert’s cataract surgery (You scheduled it for when? What you mean I don’t need to be there? It’s so cute that you think that, Dad) and moving my goddaughter to Ohio (What do you mean what time am I getting there? We’re doing what this weekend? Didn’t we just get her potty trained last year?), I was not as timely as I should have been getting my RITA reviews in. Also, I had adopted one of the orphan books and, since its due date had passed by then, I worked on that first, leaving this one hanging way too long. My apologies. Oh, the funny part? I sent my review to Amanda with many mea culpas. She sent back an acknowledgement and gracious forgiveness. Shortly after she sent me another email informing me that I had reviewed the wrong book!! Thank goodness it was at least the right series, and I had the correct book on the shelf.
And now, a review.
I admit I’m not the most analytical reader, nor a particularly sensitive one. I do have standards, though, especially for paranormal romance series. It doesn’t have to be groundbreaking; it does have to be fresh. The world building doesn’t need to be complex; it does need to be consistent. If you make rules for that world, you must follow the rules. You absolutely must respect your own continuity.
That being said, welcome to the Elder Races. I’ve been here a while, and it’s a fun place to hang out.
Midnight’s Kiss is the eighth book in a uniformly good, often great, series. Stand alone? Sort of. Serpent’s Kiss will give you the background on Julian’s relationship with his maker, which is pertinent to some of his angst. The action picks up immediately from the end of Night’s Honor, which is mostly a long prologue for what happens in this book. But that’s another review (and not the one I wrote by mistake). Also, the villain, Justine, will probably come off just bat shit crazy. If you can roll with that, you can skip them.
As for the rest of the series, reading all the books would give you a better grasp of some of the Demesne politics and the ancillary characters, but the dynamics are pretty clear without knowing what’s gone before. You can also go to Thea Harrison’s website for a very helpful overview of the world building and different races.
His words were almost soundless. “I’ve gotten to a really dark place, Melly. The darkest place I’ve ever been.”
“You don’t have to be there anymore,” she told him gently. “Don’t you know what happens at the darkest part of the day?”
He stroked her soft lower lip with the ball of one thumb. “What?”
She rubbed her fingers soothingly along his muscled forearms. “A beautiful, brand new day begins and it’s all fresh and full of promise.” She smiled into his gaze. “That’s why magic in the fairy tales happens at midnight, you know. When you reach that point, you have the power to change everything.”
At its heart, Midnight Kiss is a second chance at love romance. Julian is the King of the Nightkind Demesne. He has spent a goodly part of his life fighting: as a slave, a gladiator, a Roman General, Carling’s general, a ruler. Melisandre is the Heir to the Light Fae Demesne and an actress. She is bright and loving. They had a scorching hot relationship in the 90’s that was the subject of a lot of controversy. If or when Melly inherits, they would be the rulers of separate, adjacent and equally powerful kingdoms. It’s the whole if Elizabeth I had married Philip of Spain, who would really be in charge and how would France feel about being stuck between them thing. They crashed and burned when Julian received evidence that Melly had been unfaithful to him. He’s been throwing tantrums and furniture at the mention of her name ever since.
Melisandre, for her part, is hurt and confused over the whole thing. She was dumped like month old asparagus without much of an explanation. Julian never actually shows her the “irrefutable” evidence, but he used a lot of unhelpful words. They’ve been trying to stay out of each others’ way and negotiating Demesne business through intermediaries for decades.
I’m not a fan of the “Big Misunderstanding.” If you’ve got proof of betrayal, show it, confront it, use your explanation words. While Julian throws a lot of words around, they aren’t the right ones. I’d be less sympathetic if only it also weren’t so patently obvious how alone and tired he is.
He had seen over two thousand years pass, and he had borne so many yokes around his neck and engaged in so many struggles for so long, he felt like a pit bull at the end of his leash.
You breed a dog to fight then set him to fight for long enough, after a while that’s all he knows. He’ll fight and he’ll fight, until eventually somebody comes along and puts him down.
He’s been forced to break with his own Maker who should be a source of comfort and advice. He has trusted employees, but he is their ruler and/or maker. They can not be his equals. He is the ruler of a group of contentious and conniving fellow vampyres. He’s alone, he’s exhausted, and he’s stuck. Carling put him in charge two hundred years ago commanding him to take care of the Nightkind. What your maker commands, you are compelled to obey. No matter how much you want to wash your hands of the whole thing. And that “irrefutable” evidence was pretty damned good.
Enter the villain, Justine. She wants her slice of the pie, and Julian’s and as many others as she can get. In an effort to control him, she kidnaps Melly. While he swears she is anathema to him, everyone else on the planet understands the whole “thou doth protest too much” theory of attraction. He drops everything when Melly’s mother informs him of her disappearance, even though there’s big stuff happening at home. Then he walks out of the “how do we find Melly” conference when Justine orders him to come at once, come alone and speak to no one.
“Just tell me what the fuck you want me to do, and I’ll do it.”
The thing is, before the big kerfuffle, I would have said this was one of my least favorite books in the series. Maybe it was stained by my opinion of the seventh book as I read them back to back. I was about two chapter in, along about the time Melly whispers “Poodles are smart.” before she sets about rescuing herself, when I realized maybe it was just my least favorite cover, because this was a great read.
Melisandre is kind of perfect. Her Demesne encompasses Los Angeles, so her family is a big player in the film business. Her mom wanted her to join the business behind the scenes, but Melly chose acting instead.
She has a very realistic view about her skills (NOT Meryl Streep). From her comments, it sounds like her career is more Poseidon Adventure than Titanic, but she enjoys her work. When imprisoned, she doesn’t sit around in the dark waiting for rescue. She actively and rather awesomely sets about saving herself and Julian. Up to and including running into a biker bar and offering a huge amount of money for a phone, a helmet, a jacket, a motorcycle and a gun. And then signs an autograph. She takes no shit from Julian while doing it.
She’s also the source of most of the book’s humor. In addition to the bikers…
About her disappearance:
…the situation would have rocketed to Def Con 1. Sniffling, she thought of the Queen’s extreme displeasure that even now must be hanging over Los Angeles like a nuclear mushroom cloud.
About Julian’s guard, Herman:
“I love ghouls. They’re the Eeyores of the Elder Races.”
And there’s a rather hysterical cliché reunion fantasy with she and Julian (dressed in a puffy shirt) running toward each other through a field of flowers.
There’s plenty of action between escaping and revenging and cleaning house. It moves along logically and nicely paced. You aren’t going to find yourself wondering why someone wanders off by themselves or doesn’t stay put when told to stay put. It’s pretty entertaining, but the real reason to read this is the relationship journey. I probably won’t articulate this as well as a more analytical thinker. The exploration of forgiveness and moving on after trust is betrayed is deeply effecting.
“I want to let go of the past,” he said quietly. “Can we do that? Let’s draw a line right here and agree that whatever happened before is over and done. We make a pact to forgive each other and move on.”
He could hear the stress in her breathing from across the room. “Why?”
“Because I love you more than anything we’ve done to each other,” he told her. “Because I want to believe you’re right, and that we can make different choices that redefine our lives. Because I believe in you now more than I was able to believe in you then.”
It’s not that there’s an epiphany on Julian’s part that suddenly makes him believe in her fidelity back in the day – although there’s an epiphany when he finally tells her about the “irrefutable” evidence. It’s more the exploration throughout the book of the cost of holding onto anger and hurt. About the wear on the soul of being unable to forgive and unwilling to risk your heart to someone else. About the freedom and serenity that comes not just from forgiving, but asking for and being given forgiveness. The thing about forgiveness is the sense of worth it confers on the other person. It is a devastating feeling to have someone decide you aren’t worth the effort or the thought.
I’m so glad I screwed up because I probably wouldn’t have reread this one if I hadn’t. And I am so happy I reread it. I think you’ll be happy after you read it as well.
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I think I need to re-read this because it didn’t really grab me the first time. Thanks for a thoughtful review, Donna Marie.
Belated thanks.