Review: Edge of Dawn by Lara Adrian & Midnight Breed reading order

Edge of Dawn-Midnight Breed Series #11 Title: Edge of Dawn

Author: Lara Adrian

Series: Midnight Breed #11

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Genre: Paranormal

Rating: 5 stars

Source: NetGalley

Release Date: Feb. 26,2013

Book Summary

from Goodreads…

Twenty years after the terror of First Dawn—when mankind learned that vampires lived secretly among them—the threat of violence reigns as the two species struggle to coexist. The only group preserving the fragile harmony is the Order, an elite cadre of Breed warriors dedicated to protecting humans and vampires alike. And in this precarious world of torn loyalties and shattered trust, Mira, a fiery squad captain, finds that every fight bears an intensely personal cost.

Raised among the Order, Mira has always believed in the warrior’s code of swift—and even lethal—justice. But the one thing she desires more than the Order’s hard-won acceptance is Kellan Archer, a sexy but troubled Breed fighter. In love with him since childhood, Mira once broke through his tough exterior during an unexpected night of rapture, but the next day he mysteriously disappeared, never to return.

Kellan didn’t think he would ever see Mira again—or have to confront the truth of why he left. After abandoning the Order years ago, he now leads a band of human rebels intent on carrying out their own vigilante rule of law. Yet a high-profile kidnapping assignment brings him face-to-face with the past he sought to avoid, and the striking woman he has tried desperately to forget. And as tensions mount and the risk of bloodshed grows, Kellan and Mira must take sides—between the competing missions that dominate their lives, and the electrifying passion that claims their hearts.

My Scandalicious Opinion of books

Oh Lara Adrian…how do I love your Midnight Breed series…let me count the ways. First, there’s Lucan, the leader. I mean the man is almost 1,000 years old and he’s still fuckhot, kicking ass, taking names and being all around awesome and angry growly. Then we have Teagan who just does things for me…all sorts of naughty things. And don’t get me started on Brock, god damn Brock…and he wears his handsome clothes for his girl Jenna because she likes him like that. Just the image of Brock, dressed in his handsome, going out clothes makes me all swoony and willing to give up a carotid. And the funny thing is, Brock was the young guy on the block when we left things last. (Brock is on my Fictional Freebie List by the way) Now twenty years have passed. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about so much time passing but hot damn, Adrian nailed it! Can you imagine the level of sexy roaming the halls of the Order with the “old” guys spawning these fucking gorgeous “young” guys…I mean, to the human eye, they’re going to look roughly the same age. That’s a whole lot of bad ass alpha males walking around in black t shirts with bulging muscles, black cargo pants that hang just right and fucking combat boots. Are you kidding me with the images running around in my head right now. I’m gonna need a minute.

Ok, if you are new to the Midnight Breed series, let me catch you up a bit. We’ve got these Breed vampire males. The most elite warriors are in the Order. When the series begins these guys are keeping the peace within their hidden vampire communities (Darkhavens), keeping humans and other vampires safe…all while battling a seriously fucked up bad guy who using the DNA of an Ancient or original vampire to grow an army of loyal killers. As the series progresses you get some insight into how the vampires ended up on Earth. There’s even a tease that the Breedmates, or woman born with special powers (and a special birthmark – not gonna lie, after the first book I totally gave myself a thorough once over in search of a hidden birthmark that would mark me as a Breedmate), are descendants of the people of Atlantis. Stay with me, it’s not hokey at all, I promise. A Breed fella can only produce offspring with a Breedmate, hence the name. And once they blood bond, it’s for life. The male’s vampire blood keeps the female Breedmate young so they stay young, strong and sexy forever. (Breedmates are not vampires, they’re not completely human either but they tend to live as humans until they discover their true calling…Breedmates only drink from their vamp mate)It’s a symbiotic win/win. So the Order is kicking ass and taking names left and right and then in the last book, their cover is blown. The vamps are outed to the humans of Earth and you can imagine, the humans are none too pleased to have vampires amongst them. ‘Cause you know, we humans never overreact or judge people because they’re different. No, we don’t have a history of doing shit like that at all. Anyway…this is just a brief summary of the series but all the hot vampire guys get their equally beautiful and strong woman thus leading us to new “blood” twenty years later. Yep, all the couples I fell in love with earlier in the series have babies…that have grown into big strapping warrior men…looking for love…just itching to unleash the sexy. It. Is. Awesome! And maybe because they aren’t of my species, I didn’t feel pervy one single time drooling over these young bucks! Oh, and don’t think for one second that this is a YA book, hell no, my new Breed men are fully formed grown ass adults, ready, willing and more than able to partake of the sexy times.

Back to this book. With Edge of Dawn, we are 20 years after the vamps have been outed. Mira was an orphan taken in by an Order warrior and his Breedmate. All Breedmates carry a special talent, some can heal, others can read a person’s past or even an object’s past just by touching it. Some Breedmates are like human(ish) lie detectors. Mira is a Breedmate and her special gift is in her eyes. When you look into them, you see your future. She can’t see it but you can. Since she has no control over this gift, she has to shield her eyes from everyone, I mean seriously, imagine making out with a guy and having him stare lovingly into your eyes and he sees his own death…well, that kinda’ happens. Boner killer, no? Poor Kellan, he had to fall in love with Mira didn’t he? He had to mess up and see his future and it had to freak him right the fuck out…thus leading to a series of bad decisions that lead us to the angst of the book. Now here is where Adrian throws another wrench into the plot. She introduces us to yet another level of…well, species. One that has been alluded to in past books but these fuckers are as strong, maybe even stronger than our Breed tough guys. These new bad guys are out to destroy the Breed and all of the humans on the planet because, well, they were here first and they want Earth back, bitches. That’s all I’m going to say about that, I don’t want to give anything away.

Like I stated early, go with it, I promise you all these vampires and other species fit right in. Adrian has a style of writing that creates these worlds that are so realistic and believable I swear she makes you wonder what the CIA might know that we don’t know and how the hell did Lara Adrian get access to this intell! I’m just saying, all the shit that goes on in this series feel disturbingly real and possible. The characters are so rich and layered. They may not be human but the certainly have the same social and personal issues we have. They have moral dilemmas and tough decisions to make that literally last forever. The love stories are captivating and often gut wrenching. Losing a child to drugs, losing spouses in the line of duty, depression, parents dealing with teen angst, it’s all in this series. The sub plots running around are so dangerous and suspenseful – I’m talking edge of your seat stuff happening! And my girl Lara Adrain can write some vampire sex that will make your heart ache for more and your girlie parts long for a nice set of fangs. These males know their way around pleasing their women and let me tell you…it makes for good fucking reading.

Trust a scandalicious bitch when I tell you, you need to read this series. It’s all about fighting the seemingly unsurmountable odds to be with your one and only for all eternity. Adrian throws some fucked up shit at these couples and what I love is how the women, who are not vampires, they don’t have super speed and strength but they always end up saving their guy’s ass when it’s on the line…because isn’t that what we women do, multi task like a mother fucker and save the asses of those we love on a regular basis?!!? And to my local posse, Dirty D and Innocent E…I’ll send you a text when this comes out, I expect you two to stop drop and roll on this one – it will not disappoint, we’ll have drinks and discuss! Great story.

5 star review!!