6 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.

Kathleen R. (
kfr) wrote on 4/3/2009...
4 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.

Cynthia F. (
frazerc) wrote on 5/11/2009...
2 member(s) found this review helpful.
After 1500 years of being the 'good brother' Rydstrom meets his much anticipated fated mate - who does NOT believe in truth, justice, or love... The battle of sexes ensues with lots of sparks [figurative, real and illusionary. This book takes place at the same time as the previous 'Dark Desires After Dusk' - DDAD really needs to be read first.
The Immortals After Dark Series
Playing Easy to Get contains a short story (The Immortals After Dark .5)
Nikolai Wroth vampire
Myst the Coveted Valkyrie
A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark 1)
Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan
Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire
No Rest for the Wicked (The Immortals After Dark 2)
Sebastian Wroth vampire
Kaderin the Cold Hearted Valkyrie
Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night (The Immortals After Dark 3)
Bowen MacRieve of the Lykae clan
Mariketa the Awaited the witch
Not That Innocent
Murdoch Wroth
Daniela the Ice Maiden Valkyrie
Dark Needs at Night's Edge (The Immortals After Dark 4)
Conrad Wroth
Néomi Laress, a phantom
Dark Desires After Dusk (The Immortals After Dark 5)
Cade of the rage demons
Holly Ashwin Halfling Raised as a human
Kiss of a Demon King (The Immortals After Dark 6)
Rhydstrom, deposed king of the rage demons
Sabine, the Queen of Illusions of the Sorceri
Not That Innocent (The Immortals After Dark 6.5)
Murdoch Wroth vampire
Daniela the Ice Maiden, a Valkyrie with a very difficult problem
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
In this sixth installment of Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series, dethroned king of the rage demons Rydstrom falls in love with the evil sorceress Sabine, Queen of Illusions.
If you are a fan of the series, you will not be disappointed. The plot was rich and interesting, if slow in a few places. The characters are well developed and engaging. I particularly enjoyed Sabine--she is such a departure from the typical virtuous heroine we see in the romance genre. Furthermore, the world continues to grow and develop at a satisfactory pace. Highly recommended!
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
This is a good book. It would be a better book, if I didn't already know where they are eventually going to be, due to the previous book. Because I already knew this, I was a little frustrated trying to get to that point for the first 300 pages. So because of Ms. Cole's unfortunate tendency to overlap books, this story drags a little and thus is not as good as it could have been.
Once I finally passed that point, the book did get REALLY good. Loved the last 100 pages the best. But I liked the previous book, about Cadeon, better.

Kimberly K. (
kmk) wrote on 2/16/2009...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
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.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Absolutely the best one in the series to date. Fantastic! The cover model perfectly fit the character...The hero was soooo sexy and I even liked the heroine. Can't say enough good things about this book.

Kimberly M. (
KimM) wrote on 2/5/2009...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I loved this book! I love the whole series, too. This one had conflicts between H/H like the others but I thought it was very funny. There was more humor around the evil powerful sorceress. I laughed out loud several times. I think the humor offset the dark life the sorceress had to endure. Still had Hot Scenes, lots of actions, Valkyries, Witches, Bad Sorcerers, Werewolves, Demons, Vampires etc. I love the Demon King's story and I enjoyed him & his brother in earlier books.