Review: Dark Desires After Dusk

Kresley Cole’s Dark Desires After Dusk, is the 5th book in her steamy Immortals After Dark series. Our hero is Cadeon Woede, a demon prince. We met him back in Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night, when he and his brother Rydstrom were trapped in the cave with Mariketa. He has found Holly, his fated female, but it seems she is a human. That makes her off-limits to Cade, because mating with a demon would kill a human woman.

Good thing she isn’t really human. It turns out Holly is really half-Valkyrie  and doesn’t know it. Not only that, but she is the “vessel.” Every Ascension, a woman is chosen as the vessel to carry a child that will be the ultimate good or evil. So all the different factions of the Lore are on the hunt for Holly, either to knock her up or to kill her. As she comes into her immortality, it would seem like the perfect time for Cade to claim her. Only he can’t.

You may remember, Cade is the reason his brother lost his throne. Now, he learns the only way Rydstrom can get his kingdom back is with a special sword. A sword the brothers can only get, by trading the vessel for it.

Cade agrees to bring Holly to the swordmaker, unbeknownst to her. And of course, he falls in love with her over the course of his journey. This despite, her very serious quirks. Holly has OCD, and I must say I didn’t find it at all endearing. In fact, she seemed to border on serious mental illness. Fortunately, Cade was ok with that and started helping her learn what it means to be a Valkyrie and an immortal.

When it’s time to turn over his woman, can Cade do it? Can he atone for his part in his brother losing the crown? Can Holly ever forgive him? What was Nix doing with those explosives? (I digress.)

I liked Cade a lot. And Cole can write the heck out of a love scene, so I’d give this one 4 1/2 stars. But I’m ready to go back to those Lykae. Aye!