Embracing Midnight [Paperback]

Undercover FBI agent Callie Whitten is getting the run around from the primary suspect in a series of brutal killings. Iollan Drake eludes her night after night, and then he turns the tables and catches her off guard and puts the moves on her. Despite the danger, Callie knows she has to get close to him. She just wasn't expecting to be in a situation where she might become intimate with him. Now she's inexplicably drawn to Iollan, despite what he is. His race is not human, not even of this world. She's faced with difficult decisions that will change her life forever, and a government conspiracy that could change the world.

In Embracing Midnight, Callie is extremely conflicted throughout most of the book, feeling the pull between duty and passion and basic human compassion. I wanted to dislike Callie for even considering betraying Iollan, but from her point of view, her actions are perfectly understandable.

Iollan is a delicious character, as are all of Devyn Quinn's heroes. She has a way of drawing readers into the story with irresistible characters and detailed descriptions; she takes you there, whether it's into the thick of the action, or painting a sensory picture of mood or setting. She's a gifted master of dark intensity, and Embracing Midnight is thrilling and not for the squeamish, which is one of the reasons it's so enjoyable. Get ready for heart pounding action that will make you feel almost giddy with tension. Readers who love a dark paranormal romance will not want to miss this fantastic book.

5 Kisses, 2 Peppers (graphic violence, m/m/f/m)

~Lindy
Reviewer, TwoLips Reviews, LLC
www.TwoLipsReviews.com

Devyn Quinn's latest publication, "Embracing Midnight", is an erotic paranormal romance; however IMHO it is also a thriller/suspense novel. The characters in this story become embroiled in a high level conspiracy within the government. Further, how humans in power justify cruelty because of fear of an unknown and previously benign species is addressed in this story. I found it absolutely riveting.

FBI Agent Callie (Carolyn) Whitten is working undercover as a waitress in a goth nightclub called "Hell Bound Train", where she is attempting to get a lead on Iollan Drake, a suspected criminal in trafficking women for the sex trade and murder. Callie's cover name is `Calista', she has been hand picked for the assignment because of her ability to switch roles and `blend in'. She has no family or roots per se; nor does she have an issue with picking up and moving at a moment's notice. She essentially leads a nomadic existence, moving from place to place where the Agency sends her for her latest assignment. Callie has a history of childhood sexual and physical abuse at her father's hands and grew up in foster care so she does have an underlying vulnerability, which she keeps closely hidden. However, she is extremely intelligent having put herself through college with top scores. She also has an affinity for computer language and is highly trained as a hacker. I found her to be a unique kick-ass heroine.

As the story opens Callie has left the goth bar and has made her way home in the wee hours of the morning. She is waiting for the elevator in her latest apartment, mulling over the fact that Iollan Drake has again escaped the FBI's surveillance. She is looking for her lighter, to ignite her latest cigarette, and a seductive slightly accented male voice asks if he can assist and offers her a light. She looks up; Iollan Drake is standing beside her.

What the agency hasn't told Callie; because it is a "need to know" assignment is that Iollan Drake, is a vampire. To say he is handsome and seductive would be an understatement. I think he can be best described as an otherworldly force of nature. He is of course, tall, dark and handsome, but his sexuality and immediate desire for `Calista', as he calls her, literally swirls off the page. As a reader, I found him magnificent and mesmerizing.

Callie is inexorably drawn to Iollan despite warring with her duties as an agent and his suspected involvement in crime. However, she is also duty bound to try and find out more about him. She therefore allows him to come up to her apartment and one thing lead to another.

Callie is suffering the aftershocks of a love affair with her married boss, Roger Reinke, who proves to be a malevolent and abusive man. I hated Rienke when he was first introduced in the book and by the end I despised him. He abuses his power as the lead investigator of the FBI team and through deceit and lies involves Callie in a horrifying conspiracy that could not only easily cost her life but also have an impact on mankind. Rienke has spun a web of lies surrounding Iollan, because he is obsessed with his capture.

Callie and Iollan's sexual encounters are nuclear grade hot and she finds, despite her misgivings and role as a Federal Agent that she craves his touch. During a night of erotic sex with Iollan and two of his "brothers" in a ménage a quatre, Callie experiences passion she never imagined. She also discovers he is a vampire and he, in turn `makes' her as a federal agent. Iollan wants to hate Callie for her deception and sees her as his enemy but he cannot destroy her. The barriers and conflict that Devyn Quinn penned between these two lovers seemed insurmountable and really pulled at my heartstrings.

Through a series of events requiring Callie to make some extremely difficult decisions, she and her partner `Paul Norton', are assigned to the special team hunting and capturing Iollan's people called the "Niviane Idesha", or `shifting spirit', an alien race that peacefully settled on earth a millennia previously. Paul Norton is an intelligent, benevolent agent with a conscience and moral fibre that made him an admirable character in the novel. He is essentially the antithesis of Roger Rienke.

As Callie and Paul are given more classified information with accompanying access to the team's activities, they are horrified to learn what is being done to the Niviane Idesha at the hands of a scientific team lead by the insane Dr. Yuan in a high security facility. Callie also learns that when these beings feed, they not only require blood from their donor, it must be donated at the height of sexual arousal for them to essentially be "reinvigorated". The blood must come directly from it's donor and be `sexually charged'. She has become Iollan's willing donor.

I will say that through Reinke's manipulation of Callie, Iollan is captured, leading to a climax that had my heart thumping double time. Iollan and his people are an extraordinarily powerful species and the extent of his power is not revealed until near the end of the story.

The outcome of `Calista' and `Iollan's' love story isn't certain until the closing pages, but in the end I was delighted and relieved they found their HEA...

IMHO Devyn Quinn's stories are getting better and better, I had difficulty putting `Embracing Midnight' down. I am looking forward to "Man After Midnight", to be released in March 2009, which is the sequel to "Flesh and the Devil", another of my favorites.

Erotic author, Devyn Quinn has always been a guilty pleasure read for me. She writes great romances that feature men that are vampires who don't just need blood to survive, but also feed off the sexual energy of the woman they are with. Devyn always makes sure to put at least one smoking hot ménage a trio scene in her books. Embracing Midnight is a bit different from her past few books. The vampire hero in this one is actually an alien from another planet that has vampire like tendencies. So even though this could be considered a paranormal romance, Embracing Midnight can also fall into the Sci-Fi genre also. And I have to say that Devyn does make the combo alien-vampire hybrid work very well. And rather than have a ménage a trios scene, the heroine is pleasure by three drop dead gorgeous alien-vampire men. After that scene, all I could think was that Callie is one lucky woman!

FBI agent Callie Whitten is undercover trying to catch the elusive killer, Iollan Drake. Drake is a well known outlaw who is suspected of killing various women as well as a few of Callie's fellow agents. One night Callie is returning to her apartment after working undercover at a Goth club where Drake frequents. Surprisingly Drake is waiting for her. He knows her by her alias, Calista, and wants to get to know her better because he has had his eye on her. Callie thinks this is her chance to capture Drake and even though it isn't the smartest move, she invites him into her place. Since Drake oozes sex, and Callie is in the mood for no strings attached sex, she allows Drake to have his way with her. Callie has the most intense sexual experience of her life and since she likes a bit of pain with her pleasure, Drake gives her both. Callie was a former foster kid who had had a lot of past abuse in her life. Men have used her for their own sexual pleasure, which includes her married ex-lover and boss, Roger. She also used to cut herself as a way to get passed her emotional pain. She feels sex is also a way to let go and allows Drake to use her body, as well as give her what she needs.

Roger doesn't like the fact that Callie has gotten so close to Drake. His boss wants Callie to start a sexual relationship with the suspect, and Callie is all too willing to go that next step. She can't understand how Drake is able to reach through all her defenses, and when he comes to her again, she sees a side of him that is not human. Drake is an alien life form known as a Niviane Idesha, a type of alien vampire that can only drink blood from their partner while they are sexually aroused. Drake can only come out at night, and during the day he must hide in the shadows. Callie is ashamed that she has fallen for this alien, and that he is on the most wanted list. But when Drake is captured by the FBI, Callie has to decide to help free him or allow him to become a subject to be experimented on and destroyed.

Devyn has taken the vampire myth and changes it in a way that is so very creative by making her vampire characters alien life forms. Embracing Midnight is an intense sexual suspense story where the enemy is not just Drake but those who hunt him. You would think Roger is one of the good guys, but what he does to Callie is so horrible. Because Roger is so obsessed with taking Drake down, he will take Callie down also just because she has fallen to Drake. The way Roger punishes Callie is the worst thing a man can do to a woman. And it is not really that hard to guess what he does. Poor Callie is stuck in the middle as she is caught in the grasp of Drake's sexual longings. Because Callie has a difficult past that deals with rape and cutting herself, she has many emotional issues and Drake is the only one who gives her what she wants both physically and emotionally. The sex between Drake and Callie is very, very hot but also tender.

Devyn writes very creative stories and pushes her limits. This is one of the darkest books she has ever written. But because she has a nice balance between the sex and violence, she really makes it work. I was also very impressed with the way Devyn wrote Callie. And who would have thought that alien vampire creatures could be so sexy?

Katiebabs