Kiss of Midnight

The Midnight Breed, Book 1

By: Lara Adrian

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle Maxwell's deepest fantasies. But nothing about this night---or this man---is what it seems. For when Gabrielle witnesses a murder outside the club, reality shifts into something dark and deadly. In that shattering instant she is thrust into a realm she never knew existed---a realm where vampires stalk the shadows and a blood war is set to ignite. Lucan Thorne despises the violence carried out by his lawless brethren.

A vampire himself, Lucan is a Breed warrior, sworn to protect his kind---and the unwitting humans existing alongside them---from the mounting threat of the Rogues. Lucan cannot risk binding himself to a mortal woman, but when Gabrielle is targeted by his enemies, he has no choice but to bring her into the dark underworld he commands. Here, in the arms of the Breed's formidable leader, Gabrielle will confront an extraordinary destiny of danger, seduction, and the darkest pleasures of all.

©2007 Lara Adrian (P)2010 Tantor

Ask and you shall receive

I have been asking Audible to put this series on audio for almost a year now and thank you Audible for making this available. I loved this book series and think the audio version was just as thrilling. The narrator did a wonderful job with the characters. I'm happy they started with book one. Sometimes they start with the most recent book and work their way through the series. I can't wait for the rest of the books to come out!

great story with a great narrator

I have read the whole series and was curious if an audio version would measure up. I loved it! The narrator did a wonderful job. I hope we will see the rest of the series on Audible soon.

Kiss of Midnight

For the first book in the series, it was great. I am not usually a fan of first books only because we get bogged down with so much world-building that it can take away from the characters. Though saying that I feel like this book did a good balance of both. We get to understand the Breed warriors and what they are fighting against but we also get to know Gabrielle and Lucan.

You can feel Lucan’s fight within himself and as much as he wants Gabrielle he knows he can’t. I really enjoyed the back and forth but also how much Gabrielle stands up for herself.

The narration is awesome can’t wait to keep going in the series.

Meh, okay....

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
I like to listen to audiobooks while I'm doing other things. Considering that I only spent $4.95 on this title, I can't claim complete disappointment. That being said, I'm sure there was another $4.95 title out there I would've enjoyed more.

Would you recommend Kiss of Midnight to your friends? Why or why not?
Probably not. I don't know too many friends that would enjoy this type of story.

What didn’t you like about Hillary Huber’s performance?
I felt like the narrator's performance fell flat throughout the story. Sometimes, I expected her to convey a little more emotion from the main character, and was left feeling like she was bored.

What would have made this romance irresistible?
While the hot sex is great, I think it would have been nice for the characters to develop some emotional attachment before going all in.

Intriguing start to a "Junk Food" series

What made the experience of listening to Kiss of Midnight the most enjoyable?

For all of the vampire stories out there I really appreciate the twist that Lara Adrian puts into her story by actually having the vampires be aliens. Clever! She also finds a clever way to make the ladies suitable for vampires without making them vampires as well. Don't get me wrong, it's EXTREMELY convenient, especially since most women (I assume) don't like the idea of drinking blood from people/ potentially being savage enough to kill someone while drinking their blood, but whatever. It's better than Bella having the mysteriously wonderful ability to not want to kill everyone when she's a new-born vampire. At least it's all breedmates in this series, and it's a thing for all of them.

What other book might you compare Kiss of Midnight to and why?

Definitely reminds me of the other "BIG" paranormal romances series' like Immortals After Dark or Psy-Changeling series, but not as good.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Hillary Huber?

I'm stuck with her for this series but I am not impressed AT ALL. She does ok in this book but as you go along (I've now read almost the entire series) she becomes more and more awful. Like, she only had enough talent for a few books, but with 11 and counting in the series, it's beyond her skills as a narrator.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me want to download the next installment, so I imagine that's Mission Accomplished as far as anyone should be concerned.

Any additional comments?

This is a general comment on the ENTIRE series for anyone who is considering the time/ money investment in reading them. I came around to this series after I finished the Immortals After Dark and the Psy-Changeling series'. If I had read these first, maybe I would be more impressed. However, having read the others first, I can tell you these are not nearly as good as either of those. If I rated those as an A, this series is easily a B. It feels like much of the plot is dependent upon characters making completely irrational decisions, purposely avoiding plotholes the size of Texas and in general, lack the sophistication that you get from other paranormal romance authors. Like, I shouldn't be halfway through the book wondering how long it's going to take the author to get around to the big "Duh Duh Duh" moment that has been spelled out in alphabet blocks since about Chapter 2. I realize I'm a smart cookie, but I shouldn't be able to assume the entire plot of the story only 2 hours into the novel. THAT BEING SAID, I'm a sucker for a romance, so here's what I can say to the positive: In terms of the romances that are developed, they are decent enough that I can buy into them, and the sex scenes are fairly hot. The world created is fun enough and despite my griping, I still gobbled them up like candy. Essentially, this series is like Junk Food. It's not the best tasting, and not the healthiest, but it's a craving that's hard to ignore. And when I'm done and it's sitting in my belly, making me feel gross, I'll be inspired to go out and find something of higher quality....until the cravings hit again!

I'm hooked!

I love this book and wish Audible had the rest of the series. I will keep my fingers crossed!

Hate the narration!

Would you try another book from Lara Adrian and/or Hillary Huber?

Sorry, but I just don't like Hilary Huber's narration style. I think I would like the book better if someone else were performing it.

FINALLY.........Lara Adrian!!!

I read these books when they first came out and was so happy the are showing up on Audible. A whole new take on the vampire story that grabs your attention from the start. The characters are believable and interesting and the sparks really FLY between the Breed men and their mates!! I hope more of her books shows up here on Audible. She is a great new talent for the Audible family.I hope all enjoy Ms. Adrian's work as much as I do!!!

The story was pretty good, but the narrator...

The narrator's voice was very dull, and often incorporated odd inflections into her speech style.

It was okay. Slow paced no action, only sex

Explicit sex scenes and drama, but very predictable, no action. I won't read the next book.