✩ Yaz ✩'s Reviews > A Hunger Like No Other

4 - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

His voice gravelly, he answered, “I think you’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen.”

Delighted to say that the Immortals After Dark series seems to be very promising and where was Kresley Cole and why did I only discover her books recently?! Although this novel was published in 2006 but it still holds up very well in our modern time.

A Hunger Like No Other is the first sizzling full-length standalone novel in the series following a turbulent and seductive forbidden romance between two strangers whose people are sworn enemies and are drawn to each other by their dark desires—as they are fated mates.

Note: each standalone follow a different couple but are connected with an overarching plot. There is a novella prior the first novel.

What to expect of this book?

— Dark Paranormal Romnace
— Enemies-to-Lovers
— Forbidden Romance
— Fated Mates
— Vampire x Werewolf (Lykae)
— Slowburn and Steamy
— Possessive Scottish Alpha Hero
— Relatable Heroine
— Forced Proximity
— Urban Setting
— Intriguing Lore
— Supernatural Creatures

Lachlain MacRieve, head of the Lykae clan (the werewolves), was captured and tortured by the Vampires and their leader for 150 years. Lachlain miraculously escaped but with his sanity hanging by a very thin thread. It wasn't his trauma that engulfed him with madness, but realizing that his long-awaited mate, the woman made for him and who he searched for without cease for a thousand years, was nearby.

The Instinct screamed inside him to touch her, to claim her. He’d waited for so long. . . .

Emmaline Troy is a 71-year-old immortal and a halfling as she is the product of a Vampire and a Valkyrie. She belongs to coven with her fiercely protective Valkyrie aunts. Although her Valkyrie aunts loved her, loneliness is a sharp blade that jabs at Emma's heart every single day. She longs to find an identity and to find a connection for something that feels like her. She is distraught that her Vampire side could turn into a mindless killer like them.

Emma embarks on a quest to Paris to uncover information about her deceased parents and her unknown father. She fails on her quest but the devastation was amplified by being taken away by a mad Lykae to his ancestral Scottish castle.

“Kiss me like you want to live.”

Kresley Cole constructed such a compelling supernatural world which she calls Lore. The world of Lore is the supernatural fabric in a mortal world where different creatures with powers and magic live among humans and this includes: Valkyrie, vampire, Lykae, ghouls, witches, wraiths, demons, shifters, fairies, and sirens.

The story is fast-paced and the writing style is quite immersive and even though it's cosndieted an old school paranormal romance but I would daresay it's still on par with the modern paranormal romances.

Lachlain and Emma's beginning is quite rocky and his posessive alpha behavior is not attractive at times because of how it seems he forced himself on Emma. It's not excused or covered up but I think it makes sense within context because these are supernatural creatures whose feelings and sexual appetite is amplified once they find their one true mate, plus Lachlain was descending into madness after being held prisoner and tortured for 150 years. So I have to point out that there is dubious consent and the hero forced himself on the heroine at the beginning a couple of times (but it didn't exceed beyond touching and kisses).

The romance I would say is slowburn with steamy scenes given as a treat to the reader every now and then. Lachlain yearns to claim his mate despite her status as a Vampire, marking her as a sworn enemy, but Emma is not so easily deterred by her desires and what she truly wishes to find when it comes to love. A maddened werewolf in the body of a man conjured by her wildest fantasies was not on her agenda, especially one so ill-mannered.

But the romance eventually blossoms beautifully and there are many romantic, steamy and tender moments that won me over. I wouldn't say they joined my list of favorite couples, especially not with how unbalanced their dynamic was at the beginning, but the author was able to redeem it.

And dear reader, bid farewell to your feminism because it will evaporate temporarily.

Emma was a special heroine to me because I found her relatable in so many ways. I love reading about heroines who are struggle with their identity and go on a journey to find themselves. Emma can come off as timid and sheltered but she is also passionate and kind. I love that she was afraid of Lachlain at the start but was never afraid to say "no" to him and draw her own boundaries. She was vocal about whenever Lachlain tried to make decisions for her and continue to challenge him. I think the author did a splendid job with her arc.

I think the conflict and the resolution was a tad underwhelming but everything else made up for it.

I'm eager to continue the series and explore more of the world of Lore and this could turn into a comfort series for me.

Trigger Warnings: blood, violence, dubious consent, sexual assault, death.