Kresley Cole
Lothaire
Gallery Books, $25.00/$11.99 digital, Jan. 10, 2012
ALL FEAR THE ENEMY OF OLD
Driven by his insatiable need for revenge, Lothaire, the Lore’s most ruthless vampire, plots to seize the Horde’s crown. But bloodlust and torture have left him on the brink of madness— until he finds Elizabeth Peirce, the key to his victory. He captures the unique young mortal, intending to offer up her very soul in exchange for power, yet Elizabeth soothes his tormented mind and awakens within him emotions Lothaire believed he could no longer experience.
A DEADLY FORCE DWELLS WITHIN HER
Growing up in desperate poverty, Ellie Peirce yearned for a better life, never imagining she’d be convicted of murder—or that an evil immortal would abduct her from death row. But Lothaire is no savior, as he himself plans to sacrifice Ellie in one month’s time. And yet the vampire seems to ache for her touch, showering her with wealth and sexual pleasure. In a bid to save her soul, Ellie surrenders her body to the wicked vampire, while vowing to protect her heart.
CENTURIES OF COLD INDIFFERENCE SHATTERED
Elizabeth tempts Lothaire beyond reason, as only his fated mate could. As the month draws to a close, he must choose between a millennia old blood vendetta and his irresistible prisoner. Will Lothaire succumb to the miseries of his past...or risk everything for a future with her?
In the twelfth book in Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series, we get to watch Lothaire, the much feared Enemy of Old, fall in love with a mortal, who happens to be on death row. Sounds crazy, right? First of all, he hates mortals with a passion. Second, they are very fragile compared to his great vampire strength. How does he fall in love with Elizabeth, or Ellie Pierce? Well, Ellie is in a complicated situation.
From a poor mining town in the Appalachian Mountains, Ellie has been possessed by the demon Saroya. Once a death goddess, Saroya has been cursed to possess mortal bodies for all her days. Saroya, though, prefers Ellie as a host because of her nice body and strength. Sometimes Ellie is too strong, however, since she can often keep Saroya held down deep within her for long periods of time. Unfortunately, when Saroya rises, she often goes on killing sprees, which is how Ellie ends up on death row.
When Lothaire meets Ellie/Saroya, he becomes blooded, meaning his heart beats and he gets breath, something that only happens when a vampire finds his Bride. Lothaire assumes Saroya is his true bride, as fate would never mate him with a disgusting mortal. His plan is to keep Ellie’s body safe, find a magical ring to extinguish Ellie’s soul, turn Saroya into an immortal vampire and then live happily ever after with Saroya. But Ellie isn’t too keen on this plan.
Lothaire also has other problems, as in he wants revenge on the people who tortured and killed his mother when he was a young boy. He wants the Horde to swear fealty to him and afterwards, he wants to unite the Horde kingdom with his mother’s people, the Dacians. The Dacians are a very old, extremely secretive faction (They will also star in Kresley Cole’s new spin-off series coming this August)
I had such high expectations for this book, and Lothaire meets them. The beginning is a little on the slow side, but that is because Kresley Cole has created such an immense world that it takes time to remind us of everything that is going on. Once we get into the book, though, it moves quickly and is so much fun. Lothaire is so arrogant that I volleyed between laughing at him and being frustrated with him. I love that Kresley Cole doesn’t necessarily change him in order to give him his HEA (happy ever after). He has to learn to listen to others, and realize he is not always right, but it is very subtle. At the end of the book, he is still the very incorrigible Lothaire, and there is no doubt Ellie will have a very interesting life with him.
Ellie, fearing she only has days left before Lothaire extinguishes her soul, refuses to go down without a fight. While she can’t explain why she is so attracted to him, she also comes to realize just what a lonely and unhappy guy he is. They develop this very fragile relationship. Not necessarily a happy one, as Lothaire is set to kill her, but there are times where they find peace with each other. And then those moments quickly turns to more yelling and screaming. Kresley Cole writes the hottest sex so far in this series in this book.
We also visit with the crazy Valkyrie again, and we learn much more of the backstory of Lothaire and Nix’s friendship (and I use that word lightly). As I mentioned earlier, we also meet new characters who are Dacian vampires, and I can’t wait to get more from them.
Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series is getting better and better—the Immortals’ world is so violent, yet so funny and sexy. Just like Lothaire himself.
Mandi Schreiner from Smexy Books.
