Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark) [Mass Market Paperback]

Nine hundred years ago, due to a careless act on his part, Rage demon Cadeon Woede caused the fall of an entire kingdom into enemy hands. His royal brother lost his crown. His entire foster family was murdered. And Cadeon has been living with the guilt and itch for revenge ever since. Now, after so many centuries, he's been offered the opportunity to right that wrong. All the demon mercenary has to do is locate the 'Vessel' (a chosen female of Lore who will beget a child who will become a warrior of ultimate evil or good) and hand her over to a wicked sorcerer. In exchange for the female, Cadeon will receive the only weapon capable of defeating his enemy and thus the opportunity to restore the kingdom to its rightful hands. Everyone is counting on him to get this job done and there is nothing Cadeon won't do to complete his task. Only one teensy weensy problem -the female happens to be his predestined mate.

Dark Desires is the fifth (or sixth if you include the anthology) book in the Immortals After Dark series -
Playing Easy to Get
A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1)
No Rest for the Wicked (The Immortals After Dark, Book 2)
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (The Immortals After Dark, Book 3)
Dark Needs at Night's Edge (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 4).

This book can be read as a stand alone. Although I do recommend that you read the entire series just because the other books are just too good to pass up. But a reader starting at this point won't be missing anything and can back track later it they want to.

As far as I'm concerned I absolutely loved this book! Cade is such a delicious demon, a gorgeous ladies man with a heart-stopping grin. And I just love the way he tried in vain to keep his hands off his little halfling brainiac Holly. And Holly is so cute with the way she dresses and her little quirks. She tries so hard to keep herself in control and keep her tempestuous Valkyrie tendencies under wraps. Its fun to see Cadeon try and *unleash* her. They make such a great couple.

Besides the sexy and fun romance, the book is full of some gripping fast paced action, as well as an infusion of new and interesting characters. There is also some surprises including a cliff hanger ending for one of the secondary characters...that was......OH MY!

Another great addition to a great series. Read them all, you won't be disappointed. This one is going on my keeper shelf.

The one and only goal Cade and his brother have is to get Rydstrom back on his thrown and now a simmer of hope is offered. Omort The Deathless is between Rydstrom and his thrown and as his name proclaims, he cannot be killed...until now. As a sword is forged especially for the Woede's to wield that can kill Omort The Deathless, they in return have to find and deliver The Vessel. With every Accession there is a female from The Lore that would come into sexual maturity. Her child would be a warrior of ultimate good or ultimate evil, depending on the side of the father.

Cade is indebted to his brother to get him back on his thrown and when he finds The Vessel, he looks into silvery eyes. The eyes with the color of a Valkyrie awoken. Holly felt the rage flow away as the threat subsided and looked in the eyes of another demon. Cade couldn't believe it, this female...his female... against all odds was one of The Lore! Yet apparently she was also The Vessel and his heart struggled with his honor, how could he give up that which he searched for nine hundred years but nor forgo on his vow to his brother?

Cade has until next full moon to deliver Holly to Groot The Metallurgist and in return get the sword that will kill Omort The Deathless. But can a demon let go of something as precious as his female?

As Kresley Cole let us taste a bit of the Demon world in the previous novels, in DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK she gives it to us all with one of the Woede brothers, Cadeon "The Kingmaker". I was plunged into a fast paces tale almost from page one without the author losing eye for details and background. Though Cade and Holly are hunted by various Factions this story feels very character driven as much revolves around the couple and their problems.

Holly with her OCD problems turns her into such a heroine that you can't help but like and her quirks are just another thing that makes her stand out. She has a whole new side to discover and in combination with Cade she triggers the humorous side in me. If there was one thing that had me stuck to the pages was the formidable verbal sparring between those two, and both give as good as they get! Cade is just a rude, overbearing, chauvinistic demon but has his endearing moments and in the end always tries to do the right thing. The vow to his brother weighs heavily upon him and the fact he has his female in reach makes him torn in two.

If there are two minor flaws in this novel, which is colored by preference, it is Rydstrom. I just didn't know what to do with him as he remains a bit of an enigma and in the end he even gets darker which left me a bit ambivalent towards him. Also the ending of the story itself was a bit underdeveloped as to what I'm used to from Kresley Cole. Still, despite this, the romance was beautifully captured again with the road trip Holly and Cade had to take. The sensuous blossoming of Holly was believably integrated within the love story and at times steaming hot and at other times...no, it remains steaming hot!

Though Cade is rude and chauvinistic it is his need for Holly that is so evident through all his actions, the torment between his vow and the need for his female is what makes him do all he can to keep both. In doing this he threads dangerous waters that does not always end well and might even cost him that which he wants to protect. This is something that kept me on edge because for quite a while it kept me guessing as how it all would progress and play out in the end. Kresley Cole held me riveted to my seat almost until the ending and surprised me along the way with certain turnabouts that I did not see coming.

Of course Nïx also appears in this novel and I have such a fondness for her. The power combined with a bit of arrogance and intertwined with true Nïx humour makes her a formidable secondary character that becomes treasured throughout the series and makes you eager to meet again in future novels. She has such a personality that upon reading an Immortal After Dark without Nïx is like apple-pie without whipped cream.

DARK DESIRES AFTER DUSK with Cadeon and Holly add another well entertaining story to this outstanding series!

Reviewed by Leontine
Courtesy of Realms On Our Bookshelves

Cadeon is the hottest Demon. The story is full of surprises and kicks, the journey that changes both Cadeon and his beloved is captivating and this series is highly addictive! I read all 6 of them in a week.