Search - Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark, Bk 6)

To say that I eagerly waited for this book is an understatement. I was counting down the days until I could get a copy. Normally with this kind of anticipation I read the book all in one sitting, but this book I was able to put down. I might be alone in this, but I didn't think this book was all that and a bag of chips.

Rydstrom is the king of the rage demons, a kind without a crown and throne. His arch-nemesis, Omort the deathless, has taken over Rydstrom's kingdom and made it into an evil fortress. Rydstrom has been searching for a way to defeat Omort for hundreds of years and finally he has found a way. All he needs is for his brother, Cadeon to find a sword that has been reputed to be able to kill Omort (see this story in the fifth book "Dark Desires After Dusk.") Omort's sister Sabine is the Queen of Illusions and through sorcery she has found out that she is Rydstrom's fated mate (the only woman he can have children with.) Through the prophecy Sabine must bear his child and then sacrifice it to keep the evil side in charge. Sabine captures Rydstrom and tortures him into trying to impregnate her. Eventually Rydstrom escapes and takes Sabine with her, turning the tables and using Sabine as his prisoner. They both are distrustful of the other and continue to treat each other badly.

The book was good, but not as fantastic as I had been lead to believe. The characters were both likable (even Sabine grew on me after awhile, and she's very evil.) Rydstrom was a great hero, and as far as sexy tension and romantic scenes the book was full of them. Sabine may have been hard to like at the beginning, but many explanations were given for why she was so dark and evil and I found it easy to empathize with her. The problem was that I was ambivalent as to whether or not the characters ended up together in the end. They both didn't really seem to even like each other, they both wronged each other so many times it was getting a little bit hard to believe when they finally did fall in love. It was a good plot installment in the "Immortals After Dark" series, but I preferred many of the previous books much more. I hope the next one will be about the Valkyries or Sabine's sister Lanthe, no more rage demons for me please, I've had enough.

I'm such a huge fan of Kresley Cole I drove like a rage demon to the bookstore to get this book day it was released. I admire Cole's writing because she's one of the few paranormal romance writers out there who can actually write WELL. But I'm sad to say that along with other reviewers, I found this title the least captivating of the series. I never really became invested in Sabine and Rydstrom and the book was darker and angrier than previous books in the series. It's worth reading to follow the series, but it doesn't have quite the humor and snappy dialogue that I so loved with Regin, Nix, Emmaline, Mariketa and of course the swoon-inducing "men" of her previous 5 books.

I love most of Kresley Cole's books, but something was missing in this one. I love the werewolves and the vampires. What can I say, this was a kind of blah. Hope her next one is better.

Recently re-read this book and loved it much more this time. I found the romance very hot and sexy, a little kinky without being pornographic and thought both Rydstrom and Sabine were fun and entertaining.

As I said in my first review of this book, there's a very similar story in another book - hero being held hostage for his semen, even the tit-for-tat parity in the revenge. But I think this book is much more memorable and sexier. Plus you have immortals.

Love!

Throughout this series a continuing story line that never gets tiresome, keeps you coming back for more great adventure and romance in a paranormal world time and again. Keep them coming KC!

I know many give Cole's books high marks. I just don't like the romance angle all that much. The plot is just too predictable.