And I'm kicking off the May reviews with the latest from Kresley Cole, Dark Needs at Night's Edge (Pocket), which continues her Immortals After Dark series. Conrad Wroth has succumbed to his blood lust, but his brothers have tracked him down to imprison him in an old bayou mansion that happens to be haunted by the ghost of Neomi Laress. Neomi has been stuck in her old house since her murder a hundred years ago, and no one knows she's there. Well, almost no one. She does have a nasty habit of scaring off looters and vandals, but hey, it's her house. And then Conrad sees her. Neomi is appalled by the vampires in her home, but she's compelled to see if she can actually make contact with this beautiful, tortured vampire who sees her. Not that she can do anything besides make conversation with him. Or, not much, anyway. When Conrad asks for her help in getting free, she's torn. She doesn't want him to leave, but it's becoming unbearable for her to see him chained like an animal when she finds him so fascinating. And attractive. But how can a ghost and a vampire ever get together? That's part of the fun of this one, and Ms. Cole pulls it off again, but I can't tell you how, because it'll ruin the story for you. So let me just say this: the series is fantastic, as is this latest installment, which will leave you ready for more. Fortunately for us this time, there's a new book in the series due out in just a month! Good news for us! And in the meantime, I suppose we can go back and reread the previous books while we wait. Conrad is a perfect tortured hero, dark, but not too far gone that he can't be redeemed, and Neomi has just the right amount of spice to balance her sweetness. I love this series! This one's earned four of Cupid's five arrows. I hope this series continues on for a very long time.
Until next time, happy reading!