Kiss of Crimson is the second book in the Midnight Breeds series and this is Dante's story. I think I've mentioned this before, but I'm going to say it again: Dante is hot!
He reminded me a little of Rhage from the BDB in that he's this utter player on the outside but a bit of a lonely soul on the inside. Dante has had these visions of his death from an early age, so he's been doing all he can to outrun his eventual demise. Basically, he lives a hard and fast life, just waiting for death to crash into him. After a nasty fight with a group of Rogues, it looks like Dante is going to meet his fate a little early. And he does, just not in the way that he expects. He staggers in all bloody and bruised into the storeroom of a veterinary clinic, looking for a place to hide from the Rogues.
Enter Tess. Tess is a vet with a way with animals. She's also got a Dark Past. This means that she's unwilling to let anyone get too close to her emotionally. She is utterly dedicated to her practice, which normally leaves her working late. So, she's there when Dante shows up and she is scared as hell. Here's this huge-ass guy decked out in leather bleeding all over her floor, and he's asking her not to call the police. What is she supposed to think?
Tess agrees to help Dante, but their first meeting goes downhill from there. Dante, in desperate need of blood, bites Tess. What Dante didn't realise is that Tess is a Breedmate and he's unwittingly claimed her as his mate. This is so not what Dante needs just then.
Further complicating matters is the fact that a drug called Crimson is being sold to young members of the Breed. This drug seems very benign from a human perspective, but has devastating effects on vampires. It gives them brief episodes of Bloodlust and, if taken often enough, can turn them Rogue. It's up to the Order to find out who's dealing Crimson and get the stuff off the streets.
We meet some new characters in this installment of the series. Special Agent Sterling Chase is apparently as straight-laced as they come and he's keen on helping the Order get Crimson off the streets. However, we soon realise that he's not as cool, calm and collected as he'd like everyone to believe. He has a ginormous tourch burning for his widowed sister-in-law, Elise, and he's pretty much alone in his affections. Elise misses her deceased husband terribly and she lives solely for their son, Camden.
I have two issues with this book. The first is superficial and the second is something that bugged me in Kiss of Midnight too.
Firstly, not enough Rio and Nikolai! I really liked these two, so I didn't like that they were in the periphery. We did see Rio for a little bit, just enough to know that he is having some serious trouble adjusting to things after the explosion in Kiss of Midnight.
Secondly, there was a whole lot left unresolved. And these aren't cliffhanger issues. These are directly related to the current story. Tess lost two people she cared about. So, what happened to the grieving process? Same with Gabrielle. Her best friend was kidnapped with her. How did they handle the fact that Jamie was involved in something he wasn't supposed to know about?
Overall I enjoyed this book and I quite like the series. I just think that Ms Adrian kinda rushes her endings.
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