Lara Adrian -Taken by Midnight

The Ancient, one of eight otherworlders, came to earth and created vampire sons when they procreated with native women possessing the breedmark. He escaped captivity and held former Alaskan state trooper Jenna Darrow for hours. He did things to her mind and body that will have long term repercussions. As she nears death, he places an implant inside her; which winds within her skull and spinal column. After the Order vampire police rescued her, medical experts in Boston determine the implant is part of her body having altered her DNA.

She proves strong, faster, and can do things humans cannot. Throughout her ordeal, Brock takes care of her especially with relieving her pain. He begins to have feelings that he does not want as she can never be his breadmate so he rationalizes to himself this is only sex. While the Boston order tries to figure out what the implant is, the vampires fight their biggest enemy Dragos who has an army of Gen-Y warriors. The breedmates fight their adversaries as powerfully as their vampire husbands do fending off Dragos's attacks and trying to figure out where Dragos and his army are.

Lara Adrian is one of the top urban fantasists on the market today with her Midnight Breed series (see Shades of Midnight). The current entry is fast-paced and moves forward the overarching plot yet insures Taken by Midnight contains a complete enjoyable story line and three dimensional characters including besides the lead protagonists the villain. Brock and Jenna have experienced first hand tragedy and trauma, which brings realism as their relationship teeters because of their respective pasts. Ms. Adrian has written another fabulous thriller that goes on this reviewer's shelf with all the rest of the works written by this very talented author.

Harriet Klausner