Abel Jin and Delilah Johnson have lived their lives with a hole in their soul, yearning for something they don’t understand.

Until one night Delilah is in mortal danger and a man who’s otherworldly strong and supernaturally fast saves her. Delilah is then cast into a world where fiction comes to life in the form of Abel, her destined mate, a vampire/werewolf hybrid who claims her at first breath as his.

But Abel knows the danger isn’t done. He’s dreamed for centuries that his mate will perish and he will stop at nothing to keep her safe.

For Delilah, she’s not only coping with fantasy come to life, but a mingling of very different families. Not to mention, she has on her hands a man who doesn’t understand his true nature and has lived his long life thinking he’s a monster.

Abel and Delilah together fills the hole that has been clawing at them for decades. But finally finding each other, it also tips their destinies as the last of The Three. They must unite with the other destined lovers, who with Abel and Delilah, are fated to save the world.

Or die trying.

Abel and Delilah have lived all their lives knowing something in their lives was missing. On a quest to find the hole within her soul, Lilah goes to Serpentine Bay without understanding why. Unfortunately, one night she is attacked by werewolves and vampires. Thankfully, she is saved last minute by a man with one brown eye and one blue eye. Instantly, they know what was missing in their lives. They don't understand it, but they know they are lifemates. However, despite barely meeting each other, they also learnt they are the remaining couple of the Three and they are bound to save the world or die trying... 

I loved this book. SO. MUCH. What did I love about ?

- How simple Lilah and Abel relationship was. It was uncomplicated, they trusted each other, they knew what the other needed without having to say it, they apologized when they made a mistake, they were honest... Best. relationship. ever. 

- Despite being a cool, strong, alpha male Abel had that sensitivity and innocence that came from him not knowing what he was and growing up thinking he was a monster. He had everything to learn and was a bit unsure about many things. Made me love him even more. 

- How confident Lilah was. She was comfortable in her own skin, trustworthy, respectful, understanding... She helped Abel a lot and I loved that for him! And she was never scared to not have much to bring during the fight. She never thought she was less worthy than the other couples. 

- Reading about all the other couples. Yes!! Leah/Lucian and Sonia/Callum are back! I was so happy about this. We even had some POV from these characters. I was so happy!! 

- The side love story between Aurora and Yuri. They were so cute together. I would have loved for them to have some short story within the series. It felt a bit rushed and I'm sure we could've had an amazing story with these two! 

Leah Buchanan’s family has been in service to vampires for five centuries. Even so, Leah wants nothing to do with her family’s legacy. But when she’s summoned to her Selection by the Vampire Dominion, under familial pressure, she has no choice but to go.

Lucien has been living under the strict edicts of the Vampire Dominion for centuries but he’s tired of these ancient laws stripping away everything that is the essence of the vampire.

So he’s taking it back.

And this is because Lucien has been watching and waiting for decades for Leah to become available for a Selection and he will not be limited with what he can do with her. He will have her, all of her.

Therefore, Lucien is going to tame Leah, even if he gets hunted and killed for doing it.

What neither Leah nor Lucien expects is the strong bond that will form between them, connecting them on unprecedented levels for mortals or immortals. And what will grow between them means they will challenge their ways of life and their union will begin The Prophesies which makes them one of three couples who will save humanity… or die in the effort.

Forget everything you knew about the vampires/humans stories. Kristen Ashley completely re-wrote this! In this series, humans and supernatural beings have coexisted for centuries. Some humans knew and fully live in adéquation with supernatural beings, but most of the human beings did not know other creatures lived among them. 

Centuries ago, vampires could mate with humans. But in order to protect both species from extinction, it has been forbidden for vampires and humans to have any kind of relationship besides for humans to be concubine. Concubines are willing humans who serve vampires for a certain amount of years. This helped maintain balance of power and to keep vampires from hunting humans. Willing humans attend a gathering called The Selection, where a vampire chooses his next concubine who then serves them on a contractual basis. Being a concubine is a great honor. You are cared for throughout your service and until you die. 

Leah Buchanan was born into a family of concubines. Her lineage is extremely famous for being the most desired concubines. But where her family finds pride, Leah is nothing but uninterested in serving a vampire. For her, being a concubine is close to a death sentence. When she reluctantly attends the Selection, she is surprised to know that Lucien - a very famous, powerful vampire - has been waiting for her for years and selected her. But everything goes downhill for her then. He tampered with the contract forcing her to be a concubine until he decides otherwise, agrees to having sexual intercourses with him and should she choose to run away, he is allowed to track her and punish her the way he sees fit. When she is close to refusing, Lucien compels her to sign the contract and carries her away, cutting her from her family and the outside world by taking away her wallet, passport, phone, bag... 

Leah is not the regular concubine Lucien is used to: she defies him all the time, frustrates him on every single thing he asks of her. Despite his patience, Leah is more stubborn than he anticipated. But both characters are in for a wild ride...

At first, I thought Lucien was a real a**ho*e! Yes, he is a very respected vampire and he is expecting Leah to treat him accordingly. Let me tell you that Leah cannot give two crap about what he wants and I loved that! Anyway, by the end of the story, I started liking Lucien a lot. He turned out to be caring, loving and super sweet. BUT... I am still pissed at him that he didn't explain better to Leah what the taming is exactly (see below for more explanations). The other thing he did and bugged me was he claimed loud and clear he waited for Leah for centuries, but as soon as he runs out of patience, he almost cheats on her. That was a big NO for me. But thank God, he didn't do anything reprehensible. 

I loved that Leah was a strong, stubborn character.She had a mind of her own and I found her to be super funny. I was just frustrated every time she resisted Lucien only to give in ten minutes later. I just wanted to yell "Girl, get your act together!". But she was a funny, relatable character. I just struggled with her age. It is said she was 40 years-something and I couldn't help picturing her as a teenager or in her early twenties. For example, she was expelled of Vampires Studies for passing notes, exchanging texts and writing her will. I thought it was hilarious, but not really fitting for a 40-year-old woman. 

The only reason (at the beginning of the book anyway) Lucien selected Leah is because he wants to tame her. Now, I can see the wheels of your brain turning and be like "Say whaaaaaaat?!". A guy calls me pet and tells me he wants to tame me, be sure I will run the other way screaming at the top of my lungs after spraying his face with some pepper spray. Anyway, the taming is actually the moment a concubine gives herself wholeheartedly to her vampire. She lets go of everything and relies completely on the vampire. But Lucien did not explain any of this to Leah and of course, she made (the wrong) assumptions, which he never corrected, but only replied with a "You need to feel it" stuff. Ugh... if he had told her from the beginning, a lot of things would've been much easier for the both of them. 

I was also disappointed by how Leah gave in to the taming. It is like all of a sudden she had an awakening of some sort and was super happy about the taming and understood what it was despite not having a clue for the first three quarters of the story. It kind of came out of the blue. Anyway... 

I did enjoy Kristen Ashley's writing. I am a huge fan of hers anyway, so it shouldn't be too surprising. I couldn't put the book down when I started it and like I said before, I read it at least five times. Overall, I liked the plot and the universe KA created. There is also an upcoming war that will most likely run throughout the series, so I cannot wait for more actions and you can be sure I will read the other two books. 

Part of a small demon lair in North Las Vegas, tattooist Harper Wallis lives a pretty simple life. That changes overnight when she discovers that her psychic mate, or ‘anchor’, is a guy who’s rumored to be the most powerful demon in existence. Compelling, full of secrets and armed with raw sexuality, Knox Thorne is determined to claim her as his anchor, creating a psychic bond that will prevent their inner demons from ever turning rogue. The billionaire also wants Harper in his bed. She’s not so sure she wants either of those things. No one seems to know what breed of demon Knox is, only that he’s more dangerous than anything she’s ever before encountered. But he refuses to walk away. And when an unknown danger starts closing in on Harper, it seems that Knox is the only one who can keep her safe.

As Prime of his Las Vegas lair and a successful businessman, Knox Thorne is used to being in control. He’s also used to people fearing and obeying him. Harper does neither, which unexpectedly amuses him. Unpredictable, elusive, and complex, she draws Knox and his inner demon like nothing ever has. Knox is used to getting what he wants, and he wants Harper. He’ll have her, and he’ll keep her safe from the threat that looms over her. Because Knox protects what’s his. He won’t allow anyone to take her from him. Even if it will mean letting the demon inside him rise and wreak the havoc it was created to make.

Some scenes contain sexual and violent contents that may offend sensibilities of readers.

Knox is a powerful, ruthless demon who scares everyone, mostly because no one knows what demons he holds inside - like, literally. He is a billionaire and owns pretty much all Vegas, including the Undergroung, created for demons so they can fight each other.

One night, Harper decides to take her cousin's place in the ring after she had been harassed. That is when Knox - and his demon - notices her. Harper is a demon and a tatoo artist who has been raised by her grandmother when her mother decides to give her up and her father did not find the maturity to raise her.

She is Knox complete opposite and yet, this night will be a life changer for both of them. Indeed, they discover that they are each other's anchor. I am pretty sure you want to ask what an anchor is. It is pretty simple: it is a step before mates. Basically, they psychologically balance each other. Their demons find some kind of peace. They can then take it further by mating.

“You’re mine. I don’t walk away from what’s mine.”

The more time they spend together, the closer they get. But Harper is not ready to give in yet. She suffers trust issues but Knox will stop at nothing to prove that together they are perfection and meant for each other.

“Brace yourself, because I’m going to annoy you, ignore you, and surprise you for as long as we both shall live.” He smiled. “And I’m going to spoil you, fuck you, and – of course – order you around for the rest of our lives.” 

At least, that is until someone targets Harper. Knox will stop at nothing to protect his mate.

When I started this book, I was pretty confident in the writer skills to give me an amazing story to cling on to. And yet, even though it was good, I am conflicted regarding the characters. Trust me, I am completely into the Alpha, dominant and powerful male and yet, I struggled with Knox character. I felt like he was too much. You can tell that this was probably the purpose but I don't know. I still felt slightly disappointed.

I felt like the story was slightly rushed at the beginning. They meet, he wants her, she resists (and sometimes she was truly annoying about that) and then she gave in, they moved together, and finally (SPOILER ALERT!!!!) they mate. But I feel like we didn't really have time to see their feelings deepen. I really didn't feel the love between the characters. The lust - HELL YES! - but I didn't feel them caring for each other.

I truly love Suzanne Wright writing. I am completely in love with the Phoenix and Mercury Packs series but Burn didn't fully do it for me. I enjoyed it but I am not sure this is a book I will often re-read.

I also struggled a bit with the anchor explanation, to find someone who psychologically makes you a stable person. I guess I just read too many books with mates so it is hard for me to grasp the concept of a step before mating.

I loved some characters: Harper's cousins, Jolene, Knox's sentinels... I feel like the secondary characters should have had more presence in the story. I would also have been interesting in knowing more about them and maybe witness their matings but I have seen that the second book will also focus on Harper and Knox story.
Lucifer character literally killed me. He was so funny and he just made me think so much of Lucifer in the TV show. They both see a shrink and they don't take themselves too seriously.

Trust me, I will still continue reading this series and I still have a positive impression on it but I am just less into it than her other series :) 

“What bothers me is that health professionals give fancy names to conditions or learning difficulties that will irritate the patients; like OCD not being in alphabetical order, putting an ‘S’ in ‘lisp,’ and making dyslexia a word that no one can spell. It’s just mean.” 

Hannah, bientôt dix-huit ans, était loin d'imaginer que sa vie prendrait un tel tournant. Ses vacances tant redoutées à Wick vont se transformer en véritable conte de fées, puis en cauchemar... Tout va changer, brutalement. Elle devra affronter l'inimaginable, car les légendes ne sont pas toujours ce qu'on croit. Leith, ce beau brun ténébreux, mystérieux, ne s'attendait pas non plus à Hannah. Il tombe de haut, l'esprit a choisi : c'est elle, son âme soeur. Pourra-t-il lui cacher ses sentiments encore longtemps ? Osera-t-il lui avouer qu'il n'est pas tout à fait humain ? Il le devra, elle est en danger et il lui a juré de la protéger, toujours...

Hannah Jorion est une jeune étudiante de 18 ans qui s'apprête à quitter la vie parisienne pour des vacances à Wick, l'Écosse natale de ses parents. Cette perspective est loin de l'enchanter. 

Arrivée à l'aéroport, Hannah trébuche et est sauvée in-extremis (elle et son flacon de parfum) par un garçon aux yeux vert émeraude. Ça promet ! 

Ces vacances sont aussi l'occasion pour Hannah de tenter de nouvelles choses et de retrouver d'anciens amis, notamment Davis Burns. Alors qu'Hannah pensait que ces vacances pourraient finalement devenir intéressantes, les choses empirent et virent au cauchemar.  

Lors d'une soirée un peu trop arrosée, Davis tente de l'embrasser contre son gré alors qu'ils sont sur une route de campagne. Hannah essaie par tous les moyens de lui échapper et ce n'est que par l'intervention de Leith Sutherland, le garçon rencontré à l'aéroport, qu'elle parvient à se dégager de cette situation.

De jours en jours, Hannah ne cesse de rencontrer Leith et des événements de plus en plus étranges vont se produire. Elle ne le sait pas encore, mais Leith n'est peut-être pas la personne qu'il prétend. Vampires, loups-garous... et si tout cela était vrai? Peut-être serait-il temps pour elle de croire dans toutes ces histoires qu'on lui racontait quand elle était petite? 

Cette lecture a eu des côtés positifs et des côtés négatifs. Nous allons commencer par les points négatifs.

Tout d'abord, l'histoire me faisait étrangement penser à Twilight. Peut-être un peu trop, Notamment le côté chaud/froid de Leith : à un moment il veut être proche d'Hannah et être avec elle, et la seconde d'après, elle existe à peine à ses yeux.

J'ai été très surprise par la tournure de certaines événements. Je m'explique. Leith connaît à peine Hannah, il vient de retirer le masque du Leith froid et distant, et il décide de l'inviter en weekend chez son oncle et sa tante. Après seulement deux jours de relation, Hannah veut rencontrer le père de Leith. Personnellement, j'attends plusieurs mois afin d'être sûre de savoir où la relation ira. Puis, les révélations que fait Leith a Hannah la laissent visiblement de marbre. Certes, je préfère une héroïne qui passe rapidement l'effet de surprise, mais quand même. 

Il faut aussi attendre un certain temps avant que les péripéties arrivent. Je comprends la volonté d'installer ce nouvel univers franco-écossais, mais attendre plus de la moitié du livre pour un peu d'action, c'est un peu too much quand même.

Le personnage d'Hannah est par moment un peu trop... gnangnan. Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire? Pendant une bonne partie du livre, elle se plaint de plusieurs choses alors qu'elle pourrait tout simplement passer à l'action. Leith ne l'embrasse pas, elle a le droit de faire le premier pas. Je la trouve trop accrochée et trop dépendante, comme si sa vie ne tournait qu'autour de lui. Je peux comprendre le sentiment amoureux, mais il y a tout de même des limites.

J'ai aussi trouvé dommage que des personnages secondaires soient mis en avant au début du roman, puis complètement délaissés, comme Davis. 

Maintenant, les points positifs. 

I have to admit that after season 5 it became harder for me to catch up with every episode because the intrigue did not appeal to me anymore.

The characters did not always evolve: Damon got sloppy always mourning for Elena, Stefan reminded me of a puppy that would repeatedly get kicked by his brother, the whole story seemed to continuously be centered around Elena, the new villains were not truly villains anymore, the humanities being swtiched-on and off... If you followed the TV series, you probably understand what I mean.

When I learned that season 8 would be the final season, I knew I had to catch up. I basically grew up with this TV series through high school and more. I got attached to the characters over time. So basically, I watched season 7 and 8 in a matter of a week. I liked the beginning of seasons 7 and 8 but then it would always go back to things scenarists had already done. For me it was a big NO. 

At least, season 8 was slightly more interesting than season 7 with the intervention of the sirens and the comeback of previous characters. 

I was fond of some characters and couples that got together these last two seasons. I know that many people disliked Stefan and Caroline together. But I really liked them together. For me it was meant to be. I felt like the character of Caroline was the only one who actually evolved throughout the TV series. She was the brat cheerleader who wanted to be the most popular of high school. Now she is a mom and a soon-to-be wife. She grew up so much! 

Damon with Elena... that's another story! He lost his interest when he got (apparently) madly in love with her. Everything revolved around her and it is just like he stopped thinking on his own. Remember when he was the big villain in season 1? Yup, completely forgot that he could be mean and interesting. 

Bonnie and Enzo... I just fell in love with them over and over again with every episode. Enzo was such an a** in the previous seasons. Who could have known that he had a deep romantic soul? Bonnie became stronger with him and I was so happy that she finally got the chance to taste some happiness after everything she went through. 

So if you watched the final episode, you know that Stefan dies, leaving his new bride by herself. Jeez! I was so sad for Caroline. Stefan was reunited with Lexie. I couldn't help but squeal when I saw her. I missed her so much! Anyway, Caroline went through so much and now, she lost her love. She is also the last remaining vampire in Mystic Falls. It makes me sad to think that she will watch all of her friends grow old and die, including her children. At least the opening with Klaus' letter cheered me up a bit.

Bonnie is now traveling the world with Enzo whispering in her ear. She cannot hear him but he is watching over her. This broke me. I mean, Stefan killed him. He killed the only true love of Bonnie. She also went through so much in eight seasons and she only got a half happy ending. She deserved so much more. I mean, she looked happy but I wanted her to be happy with Enzo. 

Elena and Damon are now finally back together and they are both humans. They are free to live the lives they want and Elena becomes a nurse. At the really end of the episode, Elena and Damon are reunited with their relatives. Elena joins her family and her aunt Jenna. Damon goes back to his house where Stefan is waiting for him. The final "Hello, brother" was just the perfect way to end this season and this series. It started like that and it finishes the same way. It was just perfection! 

Let's not forget all the previous characters who come back: Jenna, Vicki, Tyler, Jo, Elena's parents, John, Kai, Katherine, Jeremy... I was so glad the scenarists managed to gather all the previous characters for this final episode. It made it just perfect!

She's a mortal with dark powers...

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...

He's the Prince of Night...

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges...

Leila's psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn't sure what the future holds. If that weren't enough, her lover, Vlad, has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she's also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won't admit that he loves her.

Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity...

Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity.

Play with fire, pay the price.

Leila’s years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn’t learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin…

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn’t like Vlad to feel fear, but he does…for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad’s greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad’s love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both…

Soooo I read this series a long time ago but as Halloween is coming closer, I thought it would be nice to do a little review of these three books. 

Basically, the story starts with Leila - also known as Frankie - a young woman with some unusual skills. What do I mean by that? Oh, she can see people's past, present and future just by touching them. She is a telepath. How did she get this skill? She nearly died when an electric pole fell down on her. Now, electricity runs along her right hand, thus she needs to permanently wear a glove. She is well aware that there are not just Human beings on Earth but also other creatures. Hell, her best friend is a vampire. 

Anyway, she is kidnapped by 3 vampires who ask her to find someone else, another vampire far more powerful than they are. She "connects" with him through an object they have her. And damn, how they connect! She is surprised when she understands that he can actually read her mind. Desperate time calls for desperate measures! She asks him to help her get rid off the other vampires. 

Even though Vlad actually flies - as literally flies - from Romania to the U.S to rescue Leila, he is not ready to let her go just yet and together, they intend to know who wants to bring Vlad down. 

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father - the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership.

In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner - are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat. 

Prepare yourself for a saga that you won't want to let down for a second.

There is a specific reading order for the Night Huntress Series including all other Night Huntress World series books, and some novellas. I will try to write the reviews in the order. If not, I will say it before going further. 

Some scenes contain sexual contents and violence that may offend the sensibilities of readers. 

Plot:

I have read this series a while ago but it was a pleasure for me to re-read the whole Night Huntress books.