Lothaire (Immortals After Dark 12) [Hardcover]

 

 

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Honestly, Kresley Cole's "Lothaire" left me feeling quite torn once I finished reading it. While there were definitely a number of enjoyable and good parts, I was left feeling disappointed and for the first time ever, I found the quality of a Kresley Cole book lacking. This is the weakest book in the series (novellas included).

Let me first say that Lothaire and Ellie through the book became some of my favorite characters in the series. Both are clever and creative when dealing with whatever life throws at them, and they do make an enjoyable couple (at times). A few of the other characters we meet, Thad, the Hag, Nix and La Dorada especially, were entertaining and revealed glimpses of really intriguing plots to come, but most minor characters remained part of the background, which was a shame. The book also contains a lot of information about vampires in the lore and their history.

However, the book suffers from a number of problems. Firstly, Lothaire is one of the books strengths, but also one of its greatest weaknesses. Lothaire is cunning, dry humored, selfish, arrogant, ruthless and evil, all things that make him the interesting character he has been. But while these traits are what make him so great, it also makes him a terrible leading man in a romance novel. He is hard to relate to, sympathize with or even like in a significant portion of the book. Also, he doesn't interact all that much with Ellie, and in fact, the romance part of the story is barely visible until the end.

My second problem with the book is the fact that the first half of the book was almost exclusively expositional, acting as an incredibly long, dragged out setup for the actual story. I love Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, her books have always been really entertaining and engaging, but the first 200 pages of "Lothaire" were dull and pretty pointless.

Third problem was the plot. It was a mess, a tangle of cheesy, predictable and convenient plotlines and resolutions.

All in all, this is the weakest book in the entire series. Cole's writing is still awesome, and the humor and sexiness is still great the few times it actually does appear, and again, loved the characters. Ellie is probably one of my favorite female characters in this series, a strong and cunning woman who doesn't use cussing, physical violence or throw tantrums whenever she needs to express herself. She really stands out from the valkyries and witches, who often come off as really over-the-top and unrealistic. This book has some really great things going for it, but it is such a mess. This is the first book of the series I am not interested in re-reading, at all.

I've been waiting for Lothaire for quite some time, and I've just stayed up all night reading it because, like everything Kresley Cole writes, I couldn't seem to put it down.

What can I say? Lothaire was fantastic, everything I'd hoped he'd be. Arrogant, dry, utterly intractable. And so dirty. The sex in this book is a bit of a change of style compared to some of the others in the series. It's still steamy as ever, but Lothaire isn't the usual animal-passion Lykae or tortured Wroth or Woede. Lothaire is like... my kinda guy. Let's just say he can turn a pretty phrase in EVERY situation ;) At one point, I became worried that he was going to 'go soppy' like some of her other heroes do... but then Cole pulled it out of the bag in spectacular style, and Lothaire screwed it all up by being so Lothairish it was awesome (The heart scene? Pure Lothaire!) Yet I still totally felt his romance with Ellie. It was very honest, yet he never lurched in to 'tortured' or 'over-protective' hero mode. He was basically an arrogant idiot, and in several places I wanted to smack his head against the wall, but at the same time just loved everything he said. If there was ever someone who needed a bit of no-nonsense love (as oppose to doe-eyed adoration), it was Lothaire. But when he gets it? Boy, does he ever not have a clue what to do with it! Lothaire is the least 'heroic' hero Cole's ever written. I love how he does almost nothing to earn Ellie's forgiveness... yet he gets it anyway. The human character puts all the warring, vendetta-carrying immortals to shame. Ellie forgives Lothaire not because he's earned it... but because she likes him and wants him in her life, knowing that he'll probably always be like it. I think he realises how lucky he is though, in the end ;)

I'll admit I was a Nix/Lothaire supporter, and worried a little about Ellie. Who could possibly match Lothaire? And, at times, I think perhaps Ellie did pale a little in comparison to the Enemy of Old - as indeed almost everyone in the IAD series but Nix does. But instead of a powerful lore character, in Ellie, Cole gives us a powerful HUMAN - one we can identify with in a way we never can with her other heroines. She's basically trailer trash - and darn proud of it! She's not a wilting violet, and her very naivety about the lore is the one thing stopping her from quaking in her boots around Lothaire. She's got nothing to lose, she gives as good as she gets, and she's a complete ray of sunshine without being a sap. She's not princessy like Holly/Emmaline nor immortal-sassy like Regin/Sabine - she's a friendly, no-frills, inquisitive girl trying to make the best of what she's been given, making tough choices because she's brave in the way only a vulnerable person can really be, and finding happiness in the little things... things that Lothaire forgot about millenia ago. I can totally see why she floored him!

A special shout out to Nix, who was lovely as ever. I can't wait to see who she ends up with. I have my suspicions but who can say? Cole keeps pulling surprise after surprise out of the bag in this series. Thad was also fantastic - how cute that big bad Lothaire has a soft spot for these sweet, naive, ray-of-sunshine humans (or baby immortals).

I prefer the faster, more plot-based pacing of Dreams of a Dark Warrior or No Rest for the Wicked, and Lothaire slowed down again and was more reminiscent of the Neomie/Conrad relationship. But, as we discovered in the last book, Lothaire is dreamiest to read when he's doing very little at all. This is the most quotable of all her books, so many I'm not even gonna try. Another great IAD - well done Kresley!

This review is actually for the hardback edition but as Amazon says it hasn't been released yet it won't let me post a review. Even though I pre-ordered it off Amazon and received it yesterday!

I'm not going to give away any spoilers as I don't want to ruin it for anybody. But here's a short blurb.

Lothaire, as we all know is the `Enemy of Old'. He is the bastard child of the King of the Horde. He promised his Dacian vampire mother before she was tortured and killed that he would slay his father so the Horde will swear fealty to Lothaire. He then plans to unite the Dacian and Horde kingdoms together.

Elizabeth is from a poor mining family in the Appalachian Mountains. She became possessed by a demon Saroya at the age of 19 and has been fighting to get rid of her ever since. She is strong enough to keep Saroya hidden deep but every now and again she manages to break free and during these times kills and mutilates people. Elizabeth therefore ends up on Death Row.

When Lothaire meets Elizabeth he becomes blooded but he assumes his bride is Saroya not Elizabeth as fate wouldn't be so unkind as to give him a mortal bride. Therefore he needs to find a magical ring which will extinguish Elizabeth's soul thus allowing Saroya to take full possession of the body and Lothaire can then make her immortal by turning her into a vampire.

I really enjoyed this book, though it's not as good as I'd hoped it would be. This is the book all `Immortals' readers have been waiting for, the same as `Acheron' by Sherilyn Kenyon. When something is as hotly anticipated as these books they very rarely live up to expectations.

For those of you who are trying to work out who the heroine is, don't bother, Elizabeth is a complete newcomer. And I quite liked her, even with her trailer trash background and inability to speak properly. She uses the word `yourn' instead of `your' a lot which I found quite annoying. She is in parts feisty and vulnerable and used to like to `park' with boys, a lot! Though she is a virgin, of course!

Now Lothaire, I've loved him in previous books, evil, antagonistic, murderous, sarcastic. He's not really evil in this book, doesn't really do anything too bad, though I suppose Ms Cole had to tone it down a bit otherwise he wouldn't make a very good hero! He does the usual nasty things to the heroine but he mostly redeems himself in the end. Though if I was her, a couple of things he did, I would have left him staked out for the sun.

The main problem I had with this book is that all the problems are wrapped up without too much effort. I'm not going to give away any spoilers but one of the main issues of the book? Oh, she's turned up and it just so happens there's a history there and she's going to do that to her which sorts that out, great. Oh, and the place he wants to find? Sorted, they'll take him. And, that thing he wants to do with that? No effort involved and it works out perfectly. It all seemed too easy really.

There are also a couple of errors, the most glaring was during a sex scene where he ejaculates over his stomach although she's currently performing oral sex on him! Don't know how that works unless she's got a hole in the back of her head. The sex scenes were very sexy as you would expect with Ms Cole, no complaints there at all.

To sum up, I really enjoyed this book but it didn't blow my mind like I was hoping it would. There are a few new characters introduced (Dacian Vampires) and I think from trawling the internet that they may be part of a new series? I would very much like to read a series about them as they sound very interesting.

I would recommend people getting this book, it is well worth a read. Just don't expect any serious issues that need to be resolved with old characters like in previous books. You hardly hear about the old characters at all, a couple turn up for a page or two but nothing major. Mainly Nix, who is getting worse and I think her head is about to explode.

Can I also just add, I am not happy that I had to buy the hardback version of this book as the paperback version isn't coming out until August. If this is the way Ms Cole is going to treat her fans from now on then I won't be buying any more of her books on principle. I don't like being forced into paying more for a hardback just so I can read the next book in the series I am following. Shame on you Ms Cole.

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3.0 out of 5 stars Lothaire
I have read all Kresleys books, and Lothaire wasn't one of her best that I have read, only took me 2 days to read, and some parts were good especially with Lothaire being all... Read more

Published 2 days ago by MAGZ

5.0 out of 5 stars Cole has done it again.
Love this series of books have read every one and enjoy the New Orleans that Cole portrays, counting down the days to the next book.

Published 4 days ago by bookworm uk

5.0 out of 5 stars Great series of books
Always enjoy her books, and await the next with patience. I've read everything she has written and have never been disappointed.

Published 5 days ago by Sara

5.0 out of 5 stars Omg just when I thought it couldn't get any better!!
For those who love this amazing series already this will enhance that admiration 10 fold, and for those who aren't avid fans already this will surely win you over!! Read more

Published 5 days ago by Cfran

4.0 out of 5 stars Lothairistic !
Lothaire was everything i thought he would be. He was arrogant, sarky, mad as a box of frogs, sexy as hell and delightfully evil. Read more

Published 9 days ago by rebecca the wonder

4.0 out of 5 stars loved it!
Have read all the other titles on the series, so this was a must read! I love Lothaire. If you are a fan, you will love it. If you are not, you'll become one!

Published 12 days ago by M. ALVAREZ

5.0 out of 5 stars Ah Kresley how we love thee
Another absolutely great book from Kresley. Full of humour, action and of course gorgeous, nutty loreans!! Read more

Published 14 days ago by charlottesmind

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, You really do grow to care about Lothair.
Enjoyed this one, lots of giggles and fun some sad bits too. As above, you do end up caring for Lothair by the end.

Published 14 days ago by Twister

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fantastic book by Kresley Cole
Another fantastic can't put down book by Kresley Cole. I read it in 2 nights and am absolutely shattered now! Read more

Published 17 days ago by Hal

5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner As Always
Just finished Lothaire. Wow, wow, WOW. Once again Kresley Cole has done well. I could not put this book down (or in this case my kindle). Read more

Published 23 days ago by Bookworm Paper or Kindle

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