Review: Stroke of Midnight by Lara Adrian (@Mollykatie112, @lara_adrian)

Posted November 7, 2015 by Lorna in Lorna, Paranormal Romance, Reviews / 24 Comments

Review: Stroke of Midnight by Lara Adrian (@Mollykatie112, @lara_adrian)
Stroke of Midnight by Lara Adrian
Series: Midnight Breed #13.5
Published on: October 13, 2015
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 118
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
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Born to a noble Breed lineage steeped in exotic ritual and familial duty, vampire warrior Jehan walked away from the luxurious trappings of his upbringing in Morocco to join the Order’s command center in Rome.

But when a generations-old obligation calls Jehan home, the reluctant desert prince finds himself thrust into an unwanted handfasting with Seraphina, an unwilling beauty who’s as determined as he is to resist the antiquated pact between their families.

Yet as intent as they are to prove their incompatibility, neither can deny the attraction that ignites between them. And as Jehan and Seraphina fight to resist the calling of their blood, a deadly enemy seeks to end their uneasy truce before it even begins….

Paranormal Romance



The Midnight Breed books have always been favorite reads for me. They are usually well written, with a great romance, and all the action one could ever want out of a book. Great back stories, as well as complex characters also characterize these reads. This is the second 1001 Dark Nights book by this author, and now I have read both. They are novellas and I am one the people that enjoys novella length books-usually. I did have some problems with this read.

Jehan is a member of the Order and spends his time searching for rogue vampires that are suffering from blood lust. It’s up to the Order, made up of vampire warriors, to keep the human population safe from the insanity that afflicts those with blood lust. He is stationed in Rome, but is originally from Morocco, where his family was once considered royalty, making Jehan a prince, albeit only if he lived back in ancient times. As the eldest son of his family, due to an ancient pact, he is supposed to mate with the eldest daughter of another prominent family, someone he has never met. Seraphina is an aide worker at refugee camps in the area. She doesn’t want to mate for eternity with someone she has never met anymore than Jehan does. However, both of them take one look at each other and there is a definite immediate attraction.

Since it is so short, I am not going to go any farther into the story. I liked the main characters, and as long as you don’t mind the inst-love element, then the romance was a good one. Very little of the Midnight Breed trademark action makes it into this read. A bit here and there, but nothing really intense. Instead, most of the book centers mostly on the romance, which wasn’t exactly what I am used to when reading one of these books.These books are usually part of the urban fantasy genre, but not so this one. So that was disappointing for me. But my main problem with this read is this, at 118 pages, this book actually doesn’t begin until 8% into the book and ended at 88%, making a full 20% of the novella pure filler. I actually finished the book and said out loud, rip-off! So no, I wasn’t really happy with this read, something I really thought I would never say about a Midnight Breed book. It needed more character development, and more action. It could have had another thirty to fifty pages, still been a novella, and given us a better and more complex story, in my opinion.

People not familiar with all of the other books in this authors world probably wouldn’t miss the action scenes and mystery usually involved, but those of us that have read them from the beginning might feel this read comes up a bit short. I still mostly enjoyed the read, and it did keep me reading(for a little over an hour), but I just felt it wasn’t up to par with this authors usual excellent work.

Midnight Breed Series

My Review



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I’m Lorna and I live in Maryland. Since retiring, I spend my time mostly reading and reviewing books. My favorite reads are Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy, and Young Adult. I read a lot of indie books in addition to traditionally published books. Favorite paranormal creature? Vampires, but I am really liking werewolves more everyday.

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24 responses to “Review: Stroke of Midnight by Lara Adrian (@Mollykatie112, @lara_adrian)”

  1. Renee (Lover of Romance)  

    I have really been enjoying this series. I love the mix of action and mystery with a solid romance in each book I have read so far. I am only halfway through the series. Although I have never been a fan of novella’s…they always seem to lack substance and depth. But I will probably try it out as I get further along in the series. Great review.

  4. Tanya from Rantings of a  

    I did miss the action in this. I know it was a novella, so you can only fit so much in. We did get that little snippit in the camp, which helps along some of the couple’s reservations about being together. I felt like all of the novellas have fell into the insta-love category. The one with the tattoo artist (can’t remember their names off the top of my head) was really bad insta-love. I loved the heroine in that one though. I am not a big fan of novellas because I feel like so much is squished in, especially in big series where we have the other storylines going on.
    Tanya recently posted…Review ~ Hades by Larissa Ione

  7. Bookworm Brandee  

    I’m sorry this was a disappointment, Lorna. Although I’ve only read the first 2 or 3 in this series, I can understand what you’re saying about the missing action/urban fantasy element. And that would be a letdown to fans. It stinks that Adrian didn’t take the time to flesh out the kind of story her fans are used to…it is possible in a novella. At least there were a few things to like about it. And hopefully the next Midnight Breed novel will be stellar. 🙂
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…My TBR List ~ November ~ Let’s Vote

    • Lorna  

      Not really slow, as long as you like pure romance. Which normally I wouldn’t mind, but this series has always been all about the action as well as romance, and I just found it lacking that way 🙂