Aloha to Lara Adrian and DARKER AFTER MIDNIGHT

This week I received a surprise in the mail ... an advance copy of Lara Adrian's DARKER AFTER MIDNIGHT, Book 10 in her Midnight Breed Series:

In the dark of night, a blood war escalates within the hidden world of the Breed. After existing in secret for many long centuries, maintaining a fragile peace with the humans who walk beside them unaware, a single act of retaliation has put the entire vampire nation at risk of discovery. It falls to the Order--a cadre of Breed warriors pledged to protect their own and humankind alike--to stop Dragos, the power-mad vampire at the center of the conflict, before his push for domination can explode into catastrophe.

At the center of the Order’s quest is Sterling Chase, once a morally rigid enforcer of Breed law, now a warrior fallen from grace, whose biggest battle is the one he wages against his own savage nature. With addiction beckoning him toward eternal darkness, Chase’s path to redemption has never seemed more out of reach--until he finds himself drawn to a beautiful young woman who may be something much more than she seems . . .

I was curious about the tremendous talent behind this successful series.  From Lara's bio,

As a child, Lara Adrian used to sleep with the covers up around her neck, afraid she might become the midnight prey of deadly vampires. Later on, under the influence of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, she had to wonder if her fear wasn't actually something else: a secret desire to walk in a darker world, to live a dangerous and sensual dream with a man of seductive, preternatural power. It is that twining of fear and desire that fuels Lara's own fantasies today, and the idea that she explores in her New York Times bestselling Midnight Breed series of vampire romance novels from Bantam Dell Books.

The Court of Henry VIII ... what happens after midnight?

With an ancestry stretching back to the Mayflower and the court of King Henry VIII, Lara Adrian lives with her husband in New England, surrounded by centuries-old graveyards, hip urban comforts, and the endless inspiration of the broody Atlantic Ocean.

General Meade, a descendant of a Mayflower passenger,
defeated General Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg.  
Perhaps he could challenge Dragos.

I am camping with the Boy Scouts at Bellows Beach this weekend.  Actually, I am staying in a cottage while they do Boy Scout things, like sleep in tents.   I shall crack open DARKER AFTER MIDNIGHT as the Pacific rivals the Atlantic in broodiness.    Look for review soon!   Meanwhile, I am giving away a print copy of Book 1, KISS OF MIDNIGHT, to one randomly selected commenter:

INSATIABLE DESIRE. ENDLESS SEDUCTION. ONE TOUCH IS JUST THE BEGINNING.

He watches her from across the crowded dance club, a sensual black-haired stranger who stirs Gabrielle'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 . . . .

To enter the giveaway, 

1.  Leave a comment about thrillers - can you sleep after reading one?  Do you hear things that go bump in the night?   Do you need to read something light as your next book?

2.  This giveaway is open to all readers.

3.  Comments are open through Saturday, January 28, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, January 29.

Mahalo,

Kim in Hawaii

To learn more about Lara, and view an amazing book trailer, log onto her website at www.laraadrian.com.

Bellows Beach looks serene ...
... but it holds a few mysteries, too!