"Amazing paranormal tale"

I jumped into the middle of Holly's Midnight series. CATCHING MIDNIGHT is the first book, so I guess I really should have read it before HUNTING MIDNIGHT. I will have to back track. This book takes up where CATCHING MIDNIGHT left off. I know this book received mixed reviews, but I wonder if that is because it was a new direction for this writer. I have often seen, when a writer is known for one sub genre and they switch to another, the readers are resistant and grumpy until they get used to the idea.

This is an amazing book on so many levels, proving Holly a talent beyond comparing. In the first book, Gillian was a young girl running away to the woods to escape the plague in 1300's Scotland. A clan of shapeshifter-vampires - the upyr - takes her in. Gillian finally decides to leave the clan and make her own way in the mortal world, and falls in love with a mortal. The first book ends with her leaving Ulric, the leader of the pack of upyr, heartbroken because Gillian has left him for the mortal.

Eaten up with rage and despair over losing Gillian, Ulric leaves the protected realm of the upyr and ventures in to the mortal world. He meets a mortal, Juliana Buxton, who is seeking to escape an arranged betrothal, and she asks him Ulric for help. He agrees and takes her on the journey back to his world. Still hurting from Gillian's betrayal, Ulric keeps his distance emotionally, but enjoys teaching Juliana the physical delights a passion. It's erotic - as we come to expect from Holly - but so compelling. The character of Ulric is so complex, so darkly dead sexy, it is amazing.

Juliana learns the meaning of desire under Ulric's tutelage, but there is still more to discover about this compelling, mysterious man. As she learns his secret, she is not frightened, but wants to embrace his dark nature. She has a longing to become an upry herself, and remain by Ulric's side as his mate.

This book is typical Holly in red-hot to the wall, no holds barred sensual exploration, yet she is so deft in creating the characters, with such a strong plot - the story is mesmerizing. The reader is spellbound by the complexity of her riveting prose.

Holly's deft use of Multi-POV (Point of View) allows the reader the full range of emotions, painting her "canvas" with the rich textures of both characters' emotions.

Be sure to check out her novella in the HOT BLOODED anthology (Christine Feehan, Maggie Shayne, Emma Holly and Angela Knight) because she continues her story with Emile and Bastien.

Reviewed by DeborahAnne MacGillivray
Posted November 15, 2004

Read an Excerpt

2004 RITA for Best Paranormal Romance Finalist

Summary

For centuries, Ulric's pack of shapeshifting immortals have hidden in the Scottish forest, far from the dangers of the human world. Only when his longtime lover betrays him does their leader venture out, recklessly roaming the streets of Bridesmere, singing for his supper . . . and whatever else he desires.

Ulric never expects to meet Juliana Buxton, dutiful daughter of a rich merchant, nor to be blackmailed into helping her escape her elderly betrothed. Juliana is everything he has learned to distrust in a woman: bright, bold, and endlessly curious. The smart course of action would be to ditch her, no matter how deliciously passionate she is.

Luckily, Ulric's heart has other ideas.