by Kreisler Cole
Synopsis
A mythic warrior who'll stop at nothing to possess her . . .
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
A vampire captured by her wildest fantasy . .
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
An all-consuming desire . . .
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?
I have been meaning to read the Immortals After Dark series by Kreisler Cole for the longest time, and thankfully, Romanceopoly has created the perfect opportunity for me to do so. I landed on “Fates Mates” during my last dice toss and read The Warlord Wants Forever, which is the prequel to A Hunger Like No Other. Could I have counted that read as my “Fated Mates” category choice? Yes. Did I? No. Lol - I wanted to read the actual first book in the series! I’m so glad that I did by the way.
A bit about The Warlord Wants Forever - it is the perfect introduction to Kresley Cole’s world of the Valkyrie women. They are these totally badass women that border on slightly ridiculous (in the best way) that Cole wrote so well. In this novella, we meet Mist and we learn about her sisters and who they are, not only as the Valkyrie, but as a family. We also join her as she falls for the ultimate enemy, a vampire. Cue family drama.
In A Hunger Like No Other, we meet Emmaline Troy - the only Valkyrie who also happens to be half vampire - who is captured by Lachlain, a Lykae (*cough* werewolf) who is convinced Emma is his fated mate. This is a particularly interesting development for Lachlain as vampire are definitely their number one enemies.
Cole did such a fantastic job in immersing the reader in the world of the Valkyrie. I HIGHLY recommend readers interested in this series to start with the prequel because it lays out the Valkyrie background really well. The characters are solid and I ended up caring about them all. I quite enjoyed the fact that the men who fall in love or fall into “fated” love with these women are just a part of their story. Behind everything that happens with them, there is always the love of their sisters & family. There is plenty of jealous attraction, miscommunication, and enemies to lovers in Hunger which is totally my romance catnip. I fell in love with both the main characters in this book, Emma and Lachlain, and their story together. I also might be making a stretch here, but there was a little familiarity between this story and Pride & Prejudice. Albeit, very loose familiarity, but there’s a lot of miscommunication and both characters come to work toward understanding each other and their very unique perspectives.
I will definitely be reading the rest of the series because I am drawn into this world - good luck taking me out of it lol.
Romanceopoly Update
So! A Hunger Like No Other marks my second book for the Romanceopoly challenge. My third toss of the dice gave me a 6 and had me land on “Lover’s Lane” which is categorized as: “Read an LGBT romance which isn’t a contemporary”. I enjoy recommendations, so after looking around to the hosts’ recs, I have decided to read The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite.
This is what I am absolutely loving about this challenge - it is making me get out of my regular reading routine! I have not read any LGBT romances (unless you want to count The Misadventures of a Curvy Girl...which I guess we would, so never mind). I am so looking forward to this story and to updating you all on my progress!