A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark #2) by Kresley Cole

Note: This is a review of an adult book. Please, do not read either the review or the book reviewed unless you are an adult.

SUMMARY (from Goodreads): 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.

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.

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?

MY OPINION:

From the first pages, when we witness Lachlain escape the vampire dungeons, to the last scenes of quite a different way of escape, A Hunger Like No Other is a thoroughly absorbing book.

In the beginning, I felt uneasy to some extent with initial erotic descriptions, especially because of a particular exaggeration in terms of size is redundant on my opinion. Apart from that, Kresley Cole handles sexuality well. She does not overdo sexually explicit scenes and she incorporates them into the story not just for their own sake, but uses them to function partly as a respite from graver themes and partly as a tool supplying explanations for the main characters’ behaviour or actions.

Cole’s characters are a combination of strength and vulnerability, constantly developing through their complexity. The themes of vengeance, destiny, identity and love are interwoven throughout the dynamic plot in the course of which Emma and Lachlain search for a way towards each other. Cole gives readers a great insight into their reasoning and emotions.

I found the theme of being predestined for something fascinating. On one hand, Cole presents destiny as an unstoppable, irrevocable force one is involuntarily subdued to. On the other hand, Emma does not and cannot simply surrender to her destiny, she has to work towards it, and so she ends up not a victim of her destiny, as one might fear, but a winner of it by her will.

Lachlain survives unthinkable torture only by the aid of hatred it ignites in him. Meeting Emma, he must fight the urge to give in to his hatred, knowing doing so would mean losing her. His physical strength is combined with his striving to control his beastly side. What he finds so hard to do gets easier and easier in Emma’s presence.

Inventively adding new concepts to familiar paranormal beings, Cole transforms them into a new kind of characters, thus creating foundations for the world of a unique and rich story with astonishing possibilities. A Hunger Like No Other definitely makes me want to come back for more of Kresley Cole’s writing.

RECOMMENDATION: This paranormal romance is a suspenseful story about fulfilling one’s destiny and the fight between forces of good and evil, and is an absolutely enjoyable story for everyone not too squeamish about sexually explicit scenes.