A Hunger Like No Other

Good Monday morning everyone. How is everyone feeling after the big game last night? I thought the game was great, because the team that I was rooting for won. WOO HOO As far as the commercials go, I have to say I was disappointed there really aren't too many that stood out for me. I liked the little Darth Vader, but that might be because I am such a Star Wars fanatic, and the Dorito's commercial that brought things back to life was FUNNY but WRONG. LOL I was not a fan of Chritina's version of the National Anthem and that was before she messed up the words. I LOVE the Black Eyed Peas and was soo excited for the first non-geriatric halftime show since "The Great Nipple Escape" but man did they come out flat...not just in energy level but was seriously was thinking Fergie might be tone deaf for a bit. They seemed to get it together in the last half of the show and it got better but as far as I am concerned Usher should NEVER wear a shirt. This week is Kresley Cole week and her Immortals After Dark series is one of my favorites. A Hunger Like No Other was one of those books that I picked up and put down several times, I can't tell you why I didn't buy it the first time I picked it up but it just took me a while to come around. Once I did though, man I could not read them fast enough. They have everything I LOVE about long running series, they have funny kick ass heroines and ALPHA males that make you melt, the stories are quick and well written and make me want to read the next one as soon as I am finished with the one in my hand. Ms. Cole is one of those authors that is always on my auto-buy list and it really doesn't matter what I am reading when one of her books comes out I put it down and pick hers up.

A Hunger Like No Other, Kresley Cole, Pocket Start, March 2006
After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millennia for is a vampire. Or partly one. This Emmaline is a small, ethereal half Valkyrie/half vampire, who somehow begins to soothe the fury burning within him.
Sheltered Emmaline Troy finally sets out to uncover the truth about her deceased parents -- until a powerful Lykae claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. There, her fear of the Lykae -- and their notorious dark desires -- ebbs as he begins a slow, wicked seduction to sate her own dark cravings.
Yet when an ancient evil from her past resurfaces, will their desire deepen into a love that can bring a proud warrior to his knees and turn a gentle beauty into the fighter she was born to be?

Emma is a half vampire/half Valkyrie and has been sheltered by her aunts her whole life. She is away from home for this first time to find some information about her father. While in Paris doing research into her family history she is kidnapped by a crazy Lykae and forced to drive him back to his home in Scotland. Emma is scared to death of the really hot but scary Lykae who can't seem to decide to kill her or protect her.

Lachlain is the leader of the Lykae clan but was captured and has endured years of torture at the hands of the vampire horde in the catacombs below Paris. On the verge of insanity he finally scents his mate and escapes. Only to find that his mate, that he has waited hundreds of years for, is a vampire. He plans on using Emma long enough for her to get him home but can't help but feel protective of her. He knows there is something not quite right about his mate but doesn't know what it is.

This book is fast paced and one that I found I could not put down once I started it. I fell in LOVE with Lachlain but it took a while. He is not very nice to Emma in the beginning but by the end of the book you can't help but root for the lykae. The secondary characters are just as likeable as the lead couple and really make you want to read more about this world that Ms. Cole has created. I love the Valkyries and they make me laugh out loud, but really what's not to like about the lightning eating, lingerie obsessed crew. I give A Hunger Like No Other, 5 chocolate dipped strawberries.