That's What I'm Talking About

Stroke of Midnight is a delightful novella set in the Midnight Breed series and loosely related to the events of the primary storyline. Jehan is a prince from a Moroccan family, who hasn’t been home in over a decade. He found out 12 months ago that he would have to participate in an accent custom of prearranged marriage to a Breedmate from a neighboring tribe. Supposedly it won’t be forced, but he has to participate in an eight day handfasting ceremony. He’s only participating out of obligation to his disappointed father.

Seraphina was called home by her parents for an emergency, which she later discovered was a prearranged marriage to a Breed from the neighboring tribe. She wants nothing to do with it, but agrees because her father will release her trust fund to her - which she will use to help refugees and orphans. However when the pair meet, neither Seraphina nor Jehan can deny their mutual attraction.

Stroke of Midnight is a quick story, one I enjoyed immensely. Although the story takes place only days after and refers to the events of the thirteenth story, Bound to Darkness, knowledge of the previous book and series is not necessary to appreciate Jehan and Seraphina’s romance. In fact, I think I liked this story more than some of the recent novellas because it generally takes place away from the Breed politics and events of the Order. 

Although the pair shares an immediate and strong attraction, both Seraphina and Jehan have independent lives away from their respective families and have no desire to follow the silly rules of an ancient custom which would have them mate for life. I appreciate that both characters recognize not only how a coupling would impact his/her own life, but how it would impact the other. And as the romance progresses, each continues to keep in mind the other’s needs outside of the relationship, giving the pair and equal and balanced footing.

While overall the characters’ status was on equal ground, there were a couple of times I cringed because a female character made some offhand remark about how a man fulfilled her, as if life before was meaningless, or that the reason a character and her mate were meant for one another was because of the way he looked at her. I am a romantic at heart, but these comments seemed to diminish the strength of the woman speaking them.

In the end, I found Stroke of Midnight to be entertaining, and in some respects, more so than several of the previous stories. I appreciate that the book got back to basics - a romance with some outside (and internal) conflicts. Ms. Adrian developed a pair of characters that I routed for, and kept their story simple yet enjoyable. I recommend Stroke of Midnight to both readers of the series as well as fans of good old paranormal romance.

My Rating:  B+ Liked It A Lot

Originally posted at That's What I'm Talking About

Review copy provided by publisher