A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark Book 2)

I bought this book based on all the excellent reviews it received. I have to say I was diappointed. Hardly any plot and a whole lotta sex. Well, almost sex for a long time than, finally, sex. If you like a book that is a big tease and not much on story than this is the book for you.

Lachlain MacRieve is the King of all Lycans. For hundreds of years he's been waiting for his mate to appear. He knows that he will recognize her the moment he sees her, or scents her. However Lachlain never expects to find his mate is half vampire. Lycans and vampires have been at war for a long time and the King of the Vampires imprisoned and tortured Lachlain for over 100 years. So when Lachlain finally finds his mate, he can't accept the fact that his enemy will be his Queen.

Emmaline's mother, Helen, was a Valkyrie. Before she died, Helen made arrangements to send Emmaline to her coven, with strict instructions to never let the vampires know of Emmaline's existence. On her first trip away from the coven, Emmaline is on a mission to discover information about her parents. She didn't bargain on meeting Lachlain. Before Emmaline knows what's happened, she finds herself captive to what appears to be an out-of-control Lycan.

Lachlain forces Emmaline to travel with him to his clan's home in Scotland, where he is determined that she will accept her position as his mate. The more time they spend together, the more the passion builds between them. But once Emma's coven discovers that Lachlain has taken her, they wage an all out attack to bring her home. And just to make things worse, the vampires have discovered Emmaline's existence and are determined that Emmaline belongs with them. Can Lachlain fight all these opposing forces to keep his mate? As the emotion deepens between them, will Emmaline accept her place as Lachlain's Queen?

A Hunger Like No Other surprised me! I've read Kresley Cole's historicals and certainly enjoyed them but with A Hunger Like No Other she surpasses her previous work. By turns sensual and laugh-out-loud funny, A Hunger Like No Other brings together the best of paranormal romance. Lachlain and Emmaline hooked me from page one. Filled with vampires, lycans, witches, valkyries and wraiths, you never know what's coming from one page to the next. Readers of Angela Knight and Christine Feehan will find what they are looking for here. E-book aficionados who are fans of Shelly Laurentson will definitely find A Hunger Like No Other right up their alley. I anxiously await the next installment from Kresley Cole in what I am sure will be a must-read series.

Melissa
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

NOTE: After I read this book I realized that there was a prequel to this book in the anthology Playing Easy To Get. I read Kresely Cole's story in the anthology and highly recommend that readers also get Playing Easy To Get as they will also find Ms. Cole's addition to the anthology just as enjoyable as A Hunger Like No Other. It will certainly help set up Emma's story and explain away certain comments made by characters. You can't go wrong with these books!

Not my type of book. Came off like a trashy dime store novel with a supernatural twist. Nothing like a tongue and cheek guilty pleasure like a Charlaine Harris novel- I wanted nothing more than to delete this permanently from my kindle as soon as possible.

I like fantasy/ mystery / vampire books and this was a complete disappointment - I completely agree with the other people that rated this book with a 1 star. As I was reading this, I started thinking it seemed more like a harlequin romance. The plot and character development was poor and I just couldn't bring myself to read more. I'd like my money back.

so boring! I bought it because of the great reviews.... Yah, not hot at all. The guy is barbaric, the girl is timid and mousy. Tooooo many back stories and side stories. The whole flow is hard to follow. Action begins, and it takes me a min to realize its even happening. To many weird charactors, ect... Blah blah blah..... Sorry. This was deff a thumbs down for me. If you like sexy warewolfs, try the mating series by nicky charles, much hotter!

Having just finished reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood, I was searching for a new series to obsess over. I purchased this book because it appeared in my "Recommended for You" section and because the reviews were mostly positive. My first reaction when I finished this book was how could I get my money back and if the author would compensate me for the time I wasted reading this mindless dribble. There are several issues I have with this book that affected my ability to draw into it. First of which are the characters; there are waaaaaay too many of them and they are so underdeveloped that I couldn't form connections to any of them. Many of said characters, Cole doesn't give you any descriptive details to what they look like so I am left to my own imagination. Plus, I couldn't pronounce several of their names and just had to stumble my way through the majority of them. She also doesn't give you enough details about the main characters to draw you into them. I found most of the situations surrounding them to be confusing and poorly written. I was about 60% through the book before I really started to care about what was going on. The ending was predictable and I actually thought she made her character's sound stupid by not picking up on what I found to be completely obvious. I found Lachlain's character to be barbaric and her aunts completely overbearing. Emma's character is, as another reviewer so eloquently labeled her, "mousy." She is not the heroine that I long to be and therefore I just couldn't get on board with her. The only part of the book that actually WAS worth reading is the scene in the woods where they make love for the first time. This book was a complete waste of time and money. If you're into supernatural romance, check out JR Ward and Keri Arthur. Both are amazing. Kresley Cole.........not so much.

Don't waste your time. Unless you like boring, predictable, brainless characters. Try Black Dagger Brother hood. LOOOOOVE that series. And of course most anything by Charlaine Harris, the Dead series, or Grave series. This is utter crap compared to those. Unless you like the stupid Harlequin type books.

I have to agree with Erskine, Emma drove me nuts until I wondered why I was reading the book. By dumb luck I had bought the second book in the series, No Rest For The Wicked, and it WAS the best book of the series. My heart ultimately belongs to Cadeon Woede, he gets his own book, the fifth in the series. 2,3, and 5 are GREAT reads, but this one was mediocre.

Books like these should really have a "RAPE FANTASY" genre label emblazoned across the front of them. I'm on page 42, and I want to cry and throw up from this book so far. I can't read it anymore. Maybe if I thought it was a horror book it would be barely tolerable, but I was looking for and expecting a paranormal romance. I really find it awful that this thing is masquerading as a romance. I hope the rapist dies an awful death, and that the victim recovers. I can't read any more to find out though because I am guessing from the other reviews that they wind up together. That's about as appealing as child porn. Horrific, awful, YUCK.

I don't get why there's so many good reviews. Because of those good reviews, I wasted my money on this series. My problem is if the book is part of a series, I must start from the first book, and if it sucks, it's hard for me to continue onto the next book in the series, whether or not it's a different story or continuation.

Ok, I couldn't find myself falling into the story. It was just basically disgusting with almost none of the things I usually look for in a romance novel. What do I look for? I don't know, maybe character/relationship development, a connection between the main characters. I saw none of it. All I saw was Emma hating Lachlain for kidnapping her and imprisoning her to him. Oh yea, she hated him for 3/4 of the book while only lusting for his muscular and built body. I hated her. Seriously, why couldn't she lighten up like Lachlain. Yea, Lachlain hated you because you were a vampire and the one destined for him. He just went through a century and a half of torture from the vampire kind, so I don't see how he wouldn't be. But as the story progressed, he started to accept the fact that she was vampire, and love her for her(and of course, he was horny after being denied pleasure for so long). But that seemed like that was all the book was about. Emma hating Lachlain, Lachlain wanting her, and graphic sex. That was it... it's like this book was written for the sex. Who cares about an actual love story? No matter how unlikely the characters, as long as they end up having sex and loving each other.. AT THE VERY END, it's fine? I don't think so. We'll see if I continue with the rest of the book since they seem to be more liked by those who hated this book(not very likely though)

Also, did anyone notice all the missing words? Really bad on a few of the pages; I felt like I had bought one of those Fill in the Blank books and sadly, I didn't know all the words. What happened?

I put this on my Kindle because I recently got into PR and saw that it had such a high rating from an established author. Big mistake. Should have read the reader reviews more carefully. Make *no* mistake. What happens within the first two chapters of this book is sexual assault. No "sort of" or "almost" or "close to" as suggested by other reviewers. Take it from someone who has worked in the system: what the so-called hero commits is flat-out kidnapping and sexual assault. If that's your thing, proceed. If not, turn away from this one. Shame on you, Ms. Cole.

Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, it works just fine as a stand alone novel. I heard from other readers who have enjoyed the series that this was the first book published and later a prequel, which became Book 1, was published.

Emmaline Troy, a half-vampire, half-Valkyrie, is out on her own for the first time in Paris seeking answers about her dead parents. Werewolf Lachlain MacRieve, recently broken free from his captivity, hunts his mate. While their initial meeting will be tumultuous, they will have to join forces to face down a mighty foe – the leaders of the vampire horde.

This isn’t my typical read but I have been trying to expand my book horizons a bit. However, this wasn’t the book for me. I never became particularly attached to the characters and I found several aspects boring to distasteful.

Lachlain is an immortal, which means he can heal from nearly anything. The vampires have been torturing him for 150 years by having him chained over a fire, letting him cook to death, regenerate, and cook again. Lachlain senses his mate above him on the streets of Paris and that gives him the strength to finally break free. When he finally tracks down Emmaline, he’s still a bit crazed with disgust for all vampires and remembered pain from the fires. And that’s when things get a bit a rapey. Consent is sexy. Forced hand jobs are not. Obviously, I found it hard to see Lachlain as the hero after that. And it’s not just one instance of non-consensual sexual acts; there’s at least 4. Even if you can understand where Lachlain is coming from (his recent years of torture and deep hatred for vampires), it doesn’t make his actions excusable.

To be clear, there are several consensual acts in the book. In fact there is even one that is rather rough but both parties are enjoying it and clearly wanting to continue it. That made it steamy hot. Plus there was lighting in a moonlit forest, so that was an awesome image. However, these events occur between a kidnapped sexual assault victim (Emmaline) and the man who committed those acts (Lachlain), so I still found it hard to wish a Happily Ever After ending for them.

Emmaline’s character was nearly as disappointing. She never really sets boundaries for Lachlain. Most of her time is spent being beautiful and gentle. That’s her role in this story and I found that rather boring. She does eventually have a few moments of small glory, but because her character has been devoid of such characteristics, they felt out of place and rather forced. Emmaline, like all women with Valkyrie blood, has an acquisitive nature, which boils down to the fact that her interest can be bought with material wealth. Sigh…. Let’s not forget that Emmaline is only 70 years old, which is just out of childhood in the immortal world. Meanwhile, Lachlain is at least 900 years old. Emmaline is a virgin, never even having kissed a man. Meanwhile, Lachlain has plenty of experience under his belt. Sigh….

The plot is OK, though rather predictable. Lachlain, king of the Lykae clan, wants two things: Emmaline as his mate and revenge upon the vampires. Lachlain’s immediate friends and family accept his return really easily, which struck me as odd but the story marched on without giving it more than a squint and a blink. Emmaline plans to find out more about her parents. Her Valkyrie aunts want Emmaline back, as well as their long lost Valkyrie queen. In step the evil vampires who want domination over all immortals. Through it all, Lachlain and Emmaline will have to find love for one another and a way to hold on to it. It was pretty easy to guess who Emmaline’s father was once we had all the characters introduced. Also, the Beauty and the Beast theme wasn’t subtle about wending it’s way through the plot.

Some of the side characters were fun, but most were exaggerated in some way or other. They were mostly there to provide drama and comedy. Regan made me chuckle a few times with her blunt remarks about other people’s sex lives. Nix was fun because she’s obviously working on a different plane where the future is open to her but the immediate present may escape her notice. Kat, who came into the story late, was interesting because she was so straight forward about everything, lacking emotions. Gareth, Lachlain’s brother, doesn’t make a showing until late in the book and then he ends up standing side by side with a vampire named Wroth.

All in all, it was a rather disappointing story. I was turned off early on and the story never really recovered because Lachlain doesn’t learn quickly or thoroughly. The story piled on themes that bored me because it made the outcome predictable.

Narration: Robert Petkoff did a fine job with this book. I’m not a good judge for accuracy when it comes to Scottish accents, but I can say Petkoff was consistent and had a variety of sexy voices for the Scottish werewolves. His female voices were very good, being pretty darn believable. There were a handful of other accents he performed as well, like Louisiana southern accent for Emmaline and a general European accent for Wroth.

Kresley Cole’s apparent thought process for the paranormal romance A Hunger Like No Other –

“You know what’s fun? Opening with an assault! A deranged man (werewolf) will sense a woman (vampire), decide she is his mate, chase and tackle her when she tries to flee, and then hold her against her will in a hotel room that he will slowly destroy. He will refer to her as “it” in his head and insult her for not being the mate he imagined. Although her abject terror is an inconvenience, and in spite of her offensive nature, he initiates a physical relationship. Alone and defenseless in a foreign country, she’ll find herself becoming aroused when he rips off her clothes and paws her. After insisting she share his bed, he can wake her up with a sexual assault. She will fight only because she is confused by her arousal. When she tries to escape, he’ll stop her. To encourage him to be gentle, she’ll threaten to harm herself. To make himself more attractive to her, he’ll use her credit cards to buy himself whatever he wants. When her family calls, she will lie, say she is fine, and then leave with him. [fanning self] That is so hot!”

It does get less rage-inducing from there, but since “there” is a revenge fantasy set up and the heroine never gets around to curb stomping the hero, the so-called improvement is the most “relative” ever of the “all things being” variety. The relationship remains abusive. He needs her. He just wants to be close to her. He’s in so much pain. He’s been through so much. He’d never hurt her, you know, except all those times he tries to manipulate or control her.

What happened to the silly, sexy fun? The popularity of Cole’s campy Immortals After Dark series is built on silly, sexy fun. More importantly, even with outdated gender stereotypes, the immortal heroines are badass powerhouses. Is this book intended to tap into a predilection that simply doesn’t work for me? Because this is a terrified 105 pound, 5’2″, young woman alone with an unhinged 250 pound, 6’6″ man putting his hands on her with coerced consent. The heroine actually tells herself she doesn’t have Stockholm Syndrome, then admits she does, then denies it because she is getting something she wants out of the relationship. The American Psychological Association would like a word.

I've decided to reread this series so I can catch up on a couple of new books that I've missed. Now, I'd always remembered this one as being one of my least favorites, mainly because of the "destined mate" trope. The whole idea is lackluster for me, and I hate a force pushing two people together; instead, I like them to make a decision without "fate" in the way.

The idea of this series really is awesome. It's an immersive, flesh-out world with lycans, vampires, valkyries, demons, and ghosts. The world-building is awesome, and the coven of valkyries is the most entertaining bunch of characters I've read in a long time. Not to mention that each book is a red hot romance between two paranormal characters. And I'm talking red hot. I hadn't realized just how erotic this series was until I reread it.

It's funny how things have changed. When I first read this book years ago, I marked it under "book boyfriends," now...Lachlain is something, but he's just too much for me now. He's a lycan, and in this world of Cole's, lycans are, well, pretty much psychos with a penchant for violence. And he emanates that very well.

He kidnaps Emmaline, a half valkyrie/half vampire, when he realizes she's his mate.

I think I remember the next one being about a male vampire and valkyrie... so on to the next.

Firstly, I want to say that I entirely adore Kresley Cole's Arcana series. That is a 5 star rating book for me. Something with a storyline, consent, action, round characters, etc. I'm EXCITED to read that book. And I love Kresley's style of writing so much that I purchased this book without reading the reviews because I just wanted to slip into something that was familiar and I had so many high hopes for this other series that you've written.
And sorry (but not sorry), I was extremely disappointed with this book.
I didn't realize that within 10 pages he would be tearing off her shirt and touching her against her will in a field when I wasted my money on this. It really, honestly, gives off huge rape vibes. Other reviewers have said that he eventually does rape her. I stopped at 29 pages. I thought it would turn around somehow, but I stopped to read the reviews.
I don't mean this as an attack on Kresley, some people are into reading things like this. But I'm just saying that I did not feel comfortable at all while reading this book. I won't be finishing it or giving it a second chance. Hated that. But I love your Arcana series. And to me, that says that she must have grown as a writer and individual over the years.

Emma and Lachlain the unlikely couple of half vampire half Valkyrie mated to the lykae (basically were-beast) King.

He survived 150 years of torture dying each day to fire only to have his immortal blood revive him each day to die again. That is until he scented his mate that gave him the power to escape his eternal torment.

She has been secluded by her Valkyrie 'aunt's for the 70 years of her life. Always know as the timid one always scared and rather run from a fight and avoid conflicts at any cost.

This was a great book to read. Loved the back and forth with these characters and how Emma was able to grow from everything throw at her. Lachlan learned so much more about his mate, himself and most importantly can control his beast much better with her now. A few close calls though.

A special thank you to my local library that allowed me to read this ebook.

This is the first full length novel in this series. A Hunger Like No Other by Kresley Cole is a Paranormal/ Vampire/ Urban Fantasy.

Emma is part Valkyrie, part Vampire, and has been raised by her "aunts", because she never knew who her parents were. She has been kept away from vampires as a precaution and because she is like no other creature, she has no close friends and has never had a lover. She lacks confidence in herself and is easily pushed around by others. Burning for information about her parents, she travels to Paris only to find herself kidnapped by a Lykae.

Lachlain has been held captive by vampires for over a century. He has been tortured ruthlessly all those years, but,once he catches the scent of his mate, he breaks free to find her. To his utter horror he discoveres she is a vampire.

Lachlain keeps Emma with him even though he doesn't understand how on earth she could be his life mate. Emma fights him tooth and nail but they strike an uneasy alliance when Lachlain convinces her to stay with him until the next full moon by promising her jewels and gifts knowing the Fey have a weakness for shiny things. But, Lachlain doesn't intend to ever let her go.

Emma misses her coven and wants to go home so bad, especially since Lachlain has not taken very good care of her. He nearly let the sun get her once, then nearly lets her starve to death, and refuses to her return to her coven.

Once Lachlain learns who Emma is, he knows he has to convince her to WANT to stay with him.

Once upon a time I read paranormal and urban fantasy more than any other genre. But, when every romance author on the planet climbed aboard the Paranormal train, I began to lose interest. However, this series has garnered so much praise I decided to see what all the fuss was about.

I am happy to say that I LOVED this book!! Emma is really funny without it being forced. It was just a part of the character. She was rather self effacing at times, and lacked confidence in herself. But, she grows strong as she spends more time with Lachlain.

Lachlain is the perfect Alpha male hero. He comes from a different time and has some trouble adjusting to things in the present day such as cell phones, computers, and driving a car. But, he is a quick study. He is overbearing sometimes and refuses to yield at all. But, he means well and does his best to make Emma happy.
In the end the two of them will help each other to overcome all their pain. HEA of course. I hope the series will continue to be this good.
Super sexy, very imaginative, and unlike any other urban fantasy I have ever read. I have a feeling I am really going to enjoy this series. 4.5 rounded to 5

After a lot of arm twisting by fellow readers, getting hooked on Cole’s writing via THE ARCANA CHRONILES, and listening to a sample of Robert Petkoff’s orgasm worthy narration; I finally caved and committed myself to yet another series addiction. I enjoy Paranormal Romance, although somewhat sparingly because action is my one-and-only true love. Ok, that’s not entirely accurate, werewolves are but the two go hand-in-hand, and this audiobook has both AND toe curling hooks ups, so really A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER was win / win / WIN!

You know an author is truly adept when she manages to take two elements that rank fairly low on your list of awesome, and makes you love them. I strongly dislike immortal virgin heroines because honestly, how can one live for centuries and NEVER get it on? Granted, Emmaline hasn’t hit the 100 year mark, however Cole spun her innocence in such a way that even I was completely sold. And secondly, Valkyries have become more common in Paranormal than vampires and the female protagonist just so happens to be a mix of the two, and yet I couldn’t have cared less because her character was so well developed that I saw her as a person rather than just the sum on her preternatural parts.

Lachlain was barbaric, offensive, and presumptuous; he whisked unwitting little Emma away to his Scottish castle, tried to force himself on her, and strong-arm her into becoming his werewolf queen—I loved it! The chemistry between them was downright savage. MacRieve hates himself for being unable to resist his mortal enemy, Troy is repulsed by his Lykae nature, and yet they are inexplicably drawn to each other like moths to a flame. Their relationship and the mind blowing romp that followed were indeed show stoppers, however the praiseworthy world-building surrounding the Lore wasn’t too far behind. The plot wasn’t exactly cutting-edge, but enough secondary threads were brought in to keep IMMORTALS AFTER DARK going for a good long while.

As much as I enjoy Cole’s writing style, it was Robert Petkoff’s come-hither brogue that made thirteen+ IAD installments seem like a walk in the park. Yes, the number of pages involved is intimidating, but when you convert them into hours upon hours of listening ecstasy, the only conceivable answer becomes “Where do I sign-up?” His female voices were surprisingly genuine, and there’s no denying the sex appeal of his Scottish accents. Lachlain as a character was… abrasive, however Petkoff’s rendition made him ridiculously irresistible. Now I finally understand why all of my reviewer peers are fawning over this narrator; he truly is in a league all of his own.

A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER made me want to give real life the middle finger, and get drunk on IAD until I overdosed. ~ 4.5 Stars

his was the first book in this series, but now there's a new one that I'm SO excited to get my hands on. Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the Lykae Clan, breaks out of captivity because he senses his mate. He had been in captivity for over a century so he's extremely shocked by his surroundings when he escapes into modern day Paris. His mate is Emma, half-vampire, half-Valkyrie, but at first he only registers the vampire part. He basically kidnaps Emma, which turns out to be a good thing because the vampires are looking for her, which is NOT a good thing.

I had some issues with consent toward the beginning, but paranormal romance is probably the one genre where I can suspend my outrage to accept biological blah blah blah and respect the self-control and restraint that Lachlain exhibits. Also, Emma's character development anyone? She's amazing! I was so proud of her by the end.

Lachlain MacRieve, Lycan warrior king has been imprisoned in the Parisian catacombs for 150 years give or take. One night he sniffs his mate and amputates his own leg in his desperation to get to her. Emmaline spots him and sensibly does a runner. When he finally catches her, he tries to sexually assault her. I'm afraid that things pretty much went downhill from there.

Emmaline is very timid and insecure despite being half vampire and half Valkyrie. She braved the big bad world at the tender age of 70 because she wanted to find out more about her vampire father. I'm not sure how she managed to remain as naive as she had given the wild antics of her Valkyrie aunts. She undergoes quite a transformation throughout the novel as she endures Lachlain's advances and ends up doing something that no one else was able to pull off.

A number of things bothered me about this novel but most of them boiled down to Lachlain's treatment of Emmaline. Not only does he molest, assault and steal from her, he seemed to think he had the right to do it because she is a vampire, even though he admits she doesn't act like the no good flea-ridden varmints that imprisoned and tortured him. I don't like the idea that someone's race gives you carte blanche to abuse them, no matter the genre. The story veered very close to rape quite a few times and only just avoided it because Emmaline changed her mind and stopped screaming for him to leave her alone. One, two three...Stockholm syndrome! This plot device was used a number of times throughout the novel and I found it exceedingly unpleasant as the more he sexually assaulted her, the more she started to fall in love with him. Yes, Lachlain is an ancient Lycae so has different values to contemporary society. His behaviour though is reprehensible even by his standards as a Mate is someone who is supposed to be cherished, not abused. At one point he actually popped the vessels in her eyeball when he was "accidentally" strangling her. I don't care that she healed because she was immortal. It was wrong and letting her shop online doesn't make up for it.

Cole expands her world significantly and I can't feel that it got too big, too quickly. I wish she had kept the character pool smaller so she could round out the characters she had and deepen our understanding of the world she had created. Having just read the first book in the series, I noticed that quite a few of the explanatory sections were lifted from this one (or vice versa).

I can't recommend this book to anyone who has been in an abusive relationship or knows someone who has gone through it as it seems to glorify this sort of behaviour. If you like your heroes to secrete testosterone from every pore and don't mind if they treat their women badly because it's fiction, then you will probably enjoy the book a lot more than me.

First things first. I will forever consider this the first installment of this series. Yes I know technically they now changed the order so The Warlord Wants Forever (Myst and Nikolai’s story) is first, but that just doesn’t work for me. I read this one first many years ago and I will always consider it the first.

Naturally this is not the first time I have read this book. But it is the first time I have reviewed it!

I adore this book, I do. Lachlain is a sexy brutish Scottish alpha Lykae king. Boy does he make you drool. Trapped in the fires by vampires for 15 centuries he is barely sane when he escapes after catching the scent of his destined mate who he has waited over 1200 years for. Emmaline Troy is a skittish women who is literally afraid of her own shadow. She is on a hunt for history and information on her deceased parents when out of nowhere a freakishly tall, slightly crazed man comes chasing after her.

To be honest, Lachlain is probably one of my favorite male characters in PNR. There is something about his dominating, slightly crazed and protective Sottishness that makes me want to jump him (oh and he is King of the Lykae!). The poor Lykae has been in desperate search for his long awaited mate and has been saddened that he has not found her. As one of the oldest Lykae’s, he began to feel disheartened that he would ever find her. He then had his little revelation where he would not give up and would keep fighting until he finally found his true mate. Buying extravagant gifts over his many years in the hopes that one day he could give them to his mate. Now to find out that his long awaited mate is a vampire…well let us just say he is less than pleased. Sickened and disgusted by almost everything about her, he is mean, harsh and truly believes Emmaline is like all other vampires – cruel, twisted and murderers. Little does he know that Emmaline is anything but a monster. Lachlan cannot also help at having mixed feelings because his Instinct is telling his that Emmaline is his mate, but his mind cannot process why fate would land him with such a creature.

Emmaline Troy is a kindhearted half vampire – half valkyrie who is afraid of her own shadow. She is timid, coddled little thing who unfortunately gets walked on by everyone because even though she lives with her valkyrie aunts, they still constantly, albeit not purposely, cruelly remind her of what she is when they say cruel and harsh things about the other vampires they slay. Emmaline can’t help but feel like an outsider because even though it was not of her choosing, she is half vampire and nearly all the lore despises them.

On a self proclaimed mission to find out information about her deceased parents, Emmaline travels alone to Paris. There she literally gets tackled by the crazed Lykae who is both very sexy and downright terrifying. Though unhappy at his chosen mate, Lachlain has decided to take her with him to his home in the Scottish Highlands anyway. On their journey, though it was extremely rocky, they begin to realize they actually do truly care for each other. Lachlan, more so than Emmaline, reapplies this first and must convince her of er own feelings before the full moon when he claims her. Because of his cruelty and lies, Emmaline is hesitant to trust him and it takes all of Lachlain’s heart and effort to show her the truth. Not only does their love blossom; but also, Emmaline finally fulfills her destiny and through a series of events that occur within the book, becomes a pretty badass Queen of the Lykae.

Overall, I have always loved this book and I always will. Though this book his the start of a series, I enjoy how I don’t have to read the complete series to feel a sense of completeness. The story was summed up beautifully and though we know certain characters stories are coming next we don’t have to read them right away….but let’s be honest, we usually do!

A Hunger Like No Other is a good paranormal romance...until the last 20 percent - which is wicked awesome but if I gave you details I'd be a serious tool. Read if yourself!

This is a classic enemies-to-lovers story that pits the werewolf (called Lykae) Lachlain against Emmaline, a young Valkyrie/vampire halfling. Over one hundred years ago Lachlain set out to destroy the evil king of the vampire Horde and avenge his brother's death only to find himself imprisoned. He's burned to death over and over again in an eternal fire only for his immortality to revive him once more...until he scents his mate, the one woman meant for him. She alone can soothe him and the promise of having her gives him the strength to wrench free of his bonds even if it means doing the unthinkable.

Emma has come to Paris in order to find out more information about the Valkyrie mother she never knew and the identity of her father. Raised by her Valkyrie, vampire-hating aunts in New Orleans Emma has never felt like she completely belonged. Her problems increase exponentially when a crazed Lykae captures her and forces her to accompany him to his Scottish highlands home.

For Lachlain's part he's horrified that his mate is in fact a vampire - a race he reviled to begin with and even now burns to destroy. However, he can't help but feel captivated by Emma. Despite treating her badly at first he becomes more entranced with her and it doesn't take him long to accept her fully. Emma is mystified. While in some ways she feels like she's finally coming into her own Lachlain still plans to destroy as many Horde vampires as possible. And one of them could be the father she never knew. After discovering her Valkyrie heritage he also vows to keep her from the family he deems vicious. All the while Emma feels like something is coming, like some great destiny awaits. But since Valkyrie don't have fated mates Emma isn't quite sure Lachlain has a permanent place in her future.

Lachlain and Emma are quite the pair. One of the most entertaining parts of this book is seeing Lachlain catch up with the modern world. His confusion over Emma's constant pop culture references is endearing. Also, the desire these two feel for one another is electrifying (in more ways than one due to Emma's half Valkyrie status). Emma's aunts are utterly captivating, especially the wily Regin and strange Nix. By the time Emma decides she might just want to keep Lachlain around for good her entire world shifts on its axis and suddenly she finds herself faced with something she never imagined...

This is the first full-length novel in the Immortals After Dark series and an excellent place to begin. Kresley Cole's Valkyrie are among the best imagined creatures in paranormal romance. These ladies can kick some major butt and snark with the best of them. They're also total babes. With a match up to Lachlain's very strong, very alpha and very devoted Lykae he and Emma make a powerful, memorable pair. I really enjoyed their story, but the last 20 percent of this book is totally amazing and completely hooked me on this series. A Hunger Like No Other...the book that is so good you will want to eat it in one bite ;)

** copy received by Gallery books in exchange for honest review - XOXperts **

"Long ago - and who knows how much time has toiled past- the Vampire Horde trapped him in these catacombs deep beneath Paris. He stands chained against a rock, pinned at two places on each limb and once around his neck. Before him - an opening into hell that spews fire.
Here he waits and suffers, offered to a column of fire that may weaken but is never-ending - never-ending, just like his life."

It's no secret that I'm a huge paranormal fan and every second or at least third book that I'm reviewing must be a paranormal, otherwise I suffer from withdrawals. Before A Hunger Like No Other I was a Cole-virgin; yup, I've never read one of her books (shame on me!!). But oh boy could I pinch myself for waiting this long.

This book with its well plotted story, funny characters, steamy scenes truly blew my mind. I was hooked after just a few pages.

Cole has a brilliant talent to combine all necessary ingredients to write a bestselling book. I was in blogger-heaven by how incredible she crafted this book - beginning by telling tales of old folklore, developing a love story that makes your toe curls, to combining the past and presents in hilarious way. Overall, this book was perfect and I couldn't have picked a better book to get to know Mrs. Cole's writing.

When a very old Scottish Lykae King (also known as werewolf) could finally escape after decades of torture - thanks to sensing his mate - nothing and no one would come between him and her. Lachlain waited nine hundred years to finally find his mate and now that she's so close some chains won't stop him.

I didn't know whether I should laugh or fan myself because the hero is super old-school and his mate is a young vampire mix, feisty, much younger and so NOT what he expected her to be. So to say these two had some difficulties would be the understatement of the year. Thrown into a modern time, Lachlain was somewhat lost and didn't know what to do or think....of this new culture, language and his mate. Add to it his Scottish accent and manners I was a goners, book friends. He was hilarious and such a hottie!!

"Then to the closet to examine her strange clothes, so many of them red in color, so many of them lacking in coverage. The vampire would not be leaving this room in some of them."

Not only did Emmaline not know that she got claimed as mate she also had a much bigger problem: pure evil was after her! Between escaping and avoiding danger, she and Lachlain grew closer, desire was blooming and both felt the sparks fly - me too. I can honestly say this is one of the hottest paranormal book I've ever read, which is not lacking on plot.

If you've never read a paranormal romance because the paranormal factor hindered you, try out this series; it'll make your romance heart scream with joy. You'll find everything what you enjoy in a normal romance book: love, steam, strong alpha, tough female and a great developed plot.

You know a book is brilliant when you read so fast that you forget to put sticky-notes on pages to highlight your favorite quotes/moments - I was so engaged in this story, my world around faded away....

After being unable to put down each of the three MacCarrick series books I raced to grab this too. But sadly there are so many things off in this book, I'm absolutely astounded by the rave reviews.

Main Characters: Both are unbelievable and borderline cliche. Lachlain is your classic super hottie, powerful, werewolf king (thus making him also extremely wealthy), who is good at everything he does. For bonus "hot points" he's also a scottish werewolf because we love it when gravel-voiced men say things like, "Lass, I doona want you to leave, ken?" Well OK we do love that but lets keep it for Highlander books or other historicals where its reasonably germane to the plot and not just tacked on for fun. Supposedly he is tortured by the 150 years of pain he suffered at the hands of an evil vampire. Although frankly this barely surfaces other than as a somewhat weak basis for his poor behavior at the beginning of the book.

His mate, Emma, is little better. She's a small wafish beauty who is gentle, sweet, and innocent. Although she also seems to prefer to dress an extremely provocative way that seems to go against the "sweet and innocent" description (the picture on the cover says it all - read leather S&M ensemble?). She is supposed to be younger (a mere 70 years) and her only interests prior to traveling to Europe and meeting Lachlain were watching movies, her iPod, and regularly painting her toes. She never comes together as a plausible or interesting character.

Mythology: So the main immortals are the vampires, the werewolves, and the valkyrie. They all have some concept of finding the ONE (though they go by different names) which brings out a huge passion and has the men using the word "MINE" a lot. Clearly Kresley is setting the stage for a long and lucrative series of romance novels here.

However the Valkyrie were particularly frustrating. They are warrior women who live on electricity (instead of food). However they also seem to produce lightning whenever they're upset. Or they poop lightning, I couldn't quite figure out how that worked. They also seem prone to screeching and histrionics. When not screaming they also have a fondness for toenail polish, movies, and making popcorn which they don't eat but like throwing about like a hoard of 12 year old girls. Supposedly they are unearthly gorgeous although it was hard to anchor this fact alongside all the screeching and popcorn throwing.

There is an enormous cast of background characters mentioned briefly and they clearly placeholders for future books. Every mention is a mildly annoying distraction - throwing out 1-2 leads for future books is acceptable (Ward heavily leverages this technique) but I felt like this book was planting the seeds for a 20 book series.

Romance: As many have mentioned, their first encounter is unsettling in that it is borderline rape. Their next real encounter is when he marks her under the full moon. I think it was supposed to be a lusty romp in the woods but frankly it was too abrupt a turnaround for the innocent virginal girl who wanted nothing to do with him 5 minutes ago and now is rutting in the mud with wild abandon (I think she has like 18 orgasms, I lost count and started skimming at a certain point).

JR Ward is flawed but I would recommend over this book. The MacCarrick trilogy is fantastic and I hope to see more from Kresley Cole!

For years Lachlain has only know the torture of the flames. Being and immortal only means that he can burn over and over again just to wake back up the next day still imprisoned. Two things keep Lachlain going, revenge against the vampires who doomed him to burn and the day that he will finally find her... Lykae's breed for life, and some wait for so long to find the right mate....the one mate for life. Lachlain the king of the Lykae clan has waited all his life for her so he knew right away that the girl on the streets above him was the one he had been waiting for.

Emmaline Troy never knew her mother or father. She was raised by Valkyrie as their own for 70 years, but it's time for Emma to find the truth about her parents. Emma knows that her mother was a Valkyrie so her vampire blood came from her father. Breaking away from the shelter of the Valkyrie she has come to Europe to search for a father she has never met. As she walks to the busy streets of Paris little does she know that someone just below the surface is searching for her.

Thoughts: I was a bit weary of this book because of it's marketing as a romance, little did I know that behind the romance came a well thought out paranormal plot complete with creatures of the night. Do not be deceived by the title and the cover (which I loved by the way) this book is much more than just a romance.

So when one of my best friends came to me and handed me the first book 'A Hunger Like No Other' and told me that this was an amazing series with sizzling sex scenes, and great plot, I was curious. Then she told me that that book was about a Lykae, a type of werewolf, and a half Valkyre half vampire, I stared at her like she grew a second head. I thought it sounded really dumb. Fortunately I have friends who shove things down my throat and tell me to read this anyway. So I did.
From the first page it captivated me. I find that Kresley Cole was one of those writers whose erotica books isn't just focused on sex. It was much more then that. She had written a completely different world and concept of the supernatural. Every book in that series, deals with two characters that dont even like each other first! But as the story goes on, they deal with situations that pull them together and eventually into a hot romance that has women of any age craving. And unlike a lot of episodic series, each character deals with different characters from different books. Even the first pairing has a place in book eight, and even mentioned in book 15. You learn to love the characters who show up, and even wait in anticipation for the wild and crazy Nix who happens to be in every book.
I give this series a 4 out of 5 and recommend it for anyone to read.

1st read - March 03 to 06, 2010
2nd read - April - May 18, 2014

I first read A Hunger Like No Other back March 2010, and never wrote up a review on it because during this time I was still in the Navy. My schedule was chaotic so I couldn’t stay up at night like I do now to type up my reviews. (Believe me I needed my beauty sleep in the Navy, especially with working 12+ hours a day or more depending on duty days)

It’s been 4 years since I read this book, so it was like I was reading again for the first time. Well at least some parts I did not remember…but I did remember how Lachlain was. Holy CRAP!! Lachlain definitely is the CAVE man of all Alpha Males…meaning he gets what he wants whenever he wants and he will do anything to get it. He has his reasons to be the way he is though. Imagine being tortured for centuries! You would be a raging maniac just like Lachlain. He happens to finally escape the Vampires that tortured him for those centuries and ends up finding his mate…who happens to be the one creature he hates. (Queue…instant hatred at first.) But he’s a male that finds his mate and ends up fighting that hatred. (Hello…the poor Lykae has been waiting for her for many, many centuries.) I felt terrible for him even with his crazy ways.

Emmaline (I just love her name) is the sweet petite halfling who is just minding her own business when she is attacked by the sexy possessive Lykae, Lachlain. (Imagine a cave man dragging off his cave woman by her hair) Yup…that is exactly how Lachlain acted, but in a way of jumping her bones. She is trying to find out about her father…and when she’s captured by Lachlain, she’s wondering what her Aunts are going to do to him. (I just love each and every one of her Aunts..especially Nix)

Kresley Cole is one author who can world build like crazy in her books. She throws you into this fictional world full of mythical immortal creatures that you fall for. You just want to know each and every one of them personally. That is how Kresley Cole is though. She’ll give you bits and pieces of each character and leave you wanting to learn more about them. She even throws in a very dramatic action-packed adventure with the characters…especially in A Hunger Like No Other. Lachlain was dealing with getting his revenge, and Emmaline was trying to figure out about her father and also about herself. In the beginning of the book Emmaline is the sweet girl, but in the end she’s a very intimidating character. I loved how Kresley had Emmaline develop in the story and how Lachlain changed too.

If you have not read this series, you need to. Start off reading The Warlord Wants Forever though first. (it actually starts off the series) I read this when it was in Playing Easy to Get back in 2010 before reading A Hunger Like No Other. ( I didn’t read in order this time)

I give this book 5 full moons and highly recommend it to paranormal romance readers out there.

THIS BOOK WAS IT, the one that snagged me. The book that locked me onto IAD and I was never able to look at another book the same. Believe it or not, this book isn't even my favorite but I will never forget this one because it was my first IAD read and I was immediately hooked on the series. I actually read Poison Princess series first and then decided to read this one from a "suggestion" queue. I have read every IAD now and feel like I am always waiting for my next IAD fix. Thank you Kresley for this amazing series. Loved every one...Please make them faster haha

If you are debating on giving her a chance, please do!

He stands chained against a rock, pinned at two places on each limb and once around his neck. Before him—an opening into hell that spews fire. Here he waits and suffers, offered to a column of fire that may weaken but is never-ending—never-ending, just like his life. His existence is to burn to death repeatedly, only to have his dogged immortality revive him again. Detailed fantasies of retribution have gotten him this far; nursing the rage in his heart is all he has. Until her. Over the centuries, he has sometimes heard uncanny new things in the streets above, occasionally smelled Paris changing seasons. But now he has scented her, his mate, the one woman made for him alone. The one woman he’d searched for without cease for a thousand years—up until the day of his capture.

Lachlain is a lykae (think werewolf) and he has been imprisoned in his own personal hell for decades... By vampires.

The human males she passed turned their heads slowly to regard her, frowns in place, sensing something, but unsure. Probably some genetic memory from long ago that signaled her as their wildest fantasy or their darkest nightmare. Emma was neither. She was a co-ed—a recent Tulane grad—alone in Paris and hungry. Weary from another failed search for blood, she sank onto a rustic bench beneath a chestnut tree, eyes riveted to a waitress drawing espresso at a café. If only blood poured so easily, Emma thought. Yes, if it came warm and rich from a bottomless tap, then her stomach wouldn’t be clenched in hunger at the mere idea. Starving in Paris. And friendless. Was there ever such a predicament? Couples strolling hand in hand along the gravel walk seemed to mock her loneliness. Was it just her, or did lovers look more adoringly at each other in this city? Especially in the springtime. Die, bastards. She sighed. It wasn’t their fault that they were bastards who should die.

Emmaline (Emma) is a very rare bird, even in the world of the supernatural. She is half Valkyrie and half vampire.

When Lachlain finds that a vampire is the mate he's yearned for, he must make a choice.

I gave this book a 3.8 out of 5 stars. While it is very fast paced and interesting I felt that there was something missing at the end. This is the first book in a series, but the series is set up where each book tells about a different couple while still being interconnected. I hope that as the series continues, not only will I meet new characters but I will also get a bit more about the old ones as well. At first I didn't really have a favorite character but as the characters grew my favorite became clear. Emma became my favorite character, I didn't like her in the beginning because she was kind of depressing. She saw herself as weak and didn't see herself as attractive, and it really annoyed me (she was a bit pathetic, but she would have times of inner strength which gave me hope). Luckily as she was forced out of her comfort zone she learned to believe in herself and began to unlock her true badass potential. Lachlain was another story, he was always strong but in my opinion he doesn't really think before he acts most of the time (and it gets him in trouble, mostly with Emma). I mean yes, he was tortured for decades and that probably (definitely) had something to do with it too, but some of the stuff he did should have gotten him his ass kicked. I'll just say that kidnapping Emma in the beginning worked for him in some ways but it really did burn him too. I love the way the Kresley was able to create this new world with some crazy characters and keep the reader interested and in the know (lots of explanations were needed but she wove them into the story). Anyway like I said, this is the first of a series but you do get some closure on Emma and Lachlain, which is good because I think there are like 12 books in the series so far. Fe's Fiction

This is the first "erotic" or "adult fiction" book I have read that hasn't been on some sort of story posting website like Wattpad. I actually listened to this book on audible (I'm cheap), and it took a little while to get into it when the narrator was a male and didn't very well narrate Emmaline (understandable). However, his Lachlain voice is the only voice I can ever see Lachlain having, and it's probably the best Scottish accent I've ever heard a non-Scottish person produce.
The story itself was absolutely enthralling, its characters very well written and enticing. I was very worried that Lachlain would try to take Emmaline without her consent (rape), but I began getting really into it when Emmaline began standing up for herself and it became less of a victim situation and more of a tug-and-pull. I like that in the two books I've read in this series never once has a male character forced himself on a female character in a way that would show rape. Yes, there has been excessive and unwanted touching, but never once has a character pinned another character down unwillingly as they cried out and took them without consent.
I ended up listening to all fourteen hours of this four hundred page book in one sitting, not leaving my position in bed or stopping the story. I cannot begin to describe how much I adore this series and am very excited to continue on! I recommend this book to anyone who loves erotic/adult fiction and would encourage them to give it a try.

***I would like to thank Kresley Cole and her assistant Brooke Meyer for providing a copy in exchange for a honest review! :D***

It's no secret that I became a huge fan of author Kresley Cole after reading her YA debut novel, Poison Princess. At first, I was hesitant to start reading her Immortals After Dark series, but after hearing high praise - and some heavy consideration on my part - I finally gave it try. With her first installment in the series Ms. Cole, once again, proved that writing to her is child's play. A Hunger Like No Other is the epitome of why we should kick our hesitations to the curb. A dark and seductive storyline driven by brilliant characters and a passion-inducing romance, this book was far from disappointing.

Vampires and werewolves are nothing new to the paranormal genre, but when coupled with a brand new twist on mythological legends surrounding them; the paranormal takes on a whole new meaning. By mixing vampires, lycans, witches, valkyries and even wraiths, Ms. Cole created a vivid and dynamic world in her book, called the Lore. Right from the gripping and sensual opening of the story, you can't help but appreciate the rich world-building. Unfortunately, the events that occur, (in the next 2 chapters) after that, are undesirably drawn out and the characters' first meeting offensive (for lack of a better word). Aside from that, the plot is exceptionally enchanting. Full of intense action scenes, brilliant dialogue, shocking revelations and beautiful imagery of Scotland, A Hunger Like No Other had me glued to it's pages. And albeit it's few and far between short-comings, I can't wait to explore and learn more of this fascinating world.

The main aspect of this book is the romance. The story is heavily focused on this, and while it may come as a hindrance in books such as this, where the world-building should be at the forefront, Ms. Cole managed to keep a perfect balance between the two, and keep a smooth plot-line. Lachlain's hatred for vampires put a strain on the relationship between him and Emma, but it also made it very interesting and fun to watch his character overcome that and accept Emma for who she is - a half vampire half valkyrie. On the other hand, Emma's more confused attraction towards Lachlain (insistent to push him away in the beginning and then giving in way to easily) was less appreciable. It would have been nice to have her one-minded and then come together with a notable flow rather than in a rush. Thankfully, the chemistry and steamy love scenes were a great distraction for that minor issue.

Lachlain and Emma are both easily likable characters. They compliment each other in every way - Lachlain is tough, attractive and an alpha male, whereas Emma is feisty, witty and timid. Their interactions with one another are entertaining and provide just the right amount of light moments in the story. They made a great pair, and despite the sudden change in Emma's romantic decision, it was nice to see them together in the end. Ms. Cole did a brilliant job in developing well-rounded characters, and by adding unique history to their heritage (Lachlain's lycan heritage and Emma's valkryie), only made them more intriguing. It was very easy to fall in love and connect with the characters and appreciate them both individually.

Another aspect I truly enjoyed, was learning about the valkyries. It was a new experience, and what mind-blowing creatures they are - strong, independent women all tagged with their own afflictions - Nix seeing the future, Lucia cursed to feel pain if her bow misses a target, Kaderin the Cold loosing all emotion - it was simply fascinating and I hope to see more of them in the next books.

With A Hunger Like No Other getting my interest right from the start, and providing an addictive escape from reality, I am anticipating the next books in the series, of what I am positive will be more pleasant surprises.

I have wanted to read this series for a long time now, but no library in any state I've lived in has had all the books so I have waited. I decided to start anyway since I got the prequel as a kindle freebie and liked it. This one though was only ok. Maybe even a bit below ok. I'm going with 3 stars because it held my interest enough to read the whole thing, and I would continue with the series. I think this book laid a lot of ground work for upcoming books. I'd like to read Garreth and Lucia's story, but I am in no rush to keep going with the series. I will read it at some point, hopefully if I can find them free.

Have I mentioned this is one of my favorite series?? Yea....well, I'm telling you again!

No only do I love the IAD series, I love this book! A Hunger Like No Other is hands down one of my favorite books in the whole series!

I could say it's because I loved watching these two finding each other, but it's really not that so much as just watching Emmaline comes into herself!

She's such a strong and amazing girl, so sweet and so timid and shy when we first meet her. I loved being able to see her find her strengths as well as still having her weaknesses as well.

Lachlain is pure alpha male and I don't think I could even say no to him!! Pure sex on a stick!

One of my all time favorite scenes is when Lachlain is waiting outside by the car for Emma to come out. Him watching her, her watching him. Both of their points of view are told, both of their desires and well and insecurities as well! I love it!

Wow. This book was so good. And I was really surprised that I ended up liking this book as much as I did. The synopsis sounded kind of cheesy and it took me a few minutes to get into it, but I just couldn't help but fall in love with Emma and Lachlain's relationship. I always say that I'm not a fan of paranormal or paranormal romance novels, but it's clear that I've read quite a few of them lately. But when I'm reading a book like A Hunger Like No Other, Feral Sins,etc., I'm not interested in it because of the paranormal aspects. Like any novel, whether or not I enjoy them is because of things like the relatable characters or how intriguing the storyline is, regardless of who has magical powers or can turn into a wolf.

I've been seriously obsessed with this novel lately. I started listening to it at work... and, oh boy, was that the wrong decision. This book is HOT. Like, so-good-it-makes-you-shiver. I couldn't get enough of Lachlain and Emma's extreme chemistry. Not to mention that the voice actor who read this book was absolutely incredible. Lachlain had one of the sexiest voices I've ever heard...making it that much harder to concentrate on my work!

The author did a really good job with the whole "will they, won't they?" part of the novel. Even though it took a long time to find out whether or not Emma and Laughlin would become a couple, I wasn't bored with it and didn't get annoyed with the constant back and forth.

There were really only two minor things that I didn't like about this novel, which is why I had to give it a 4.5. First of all, the whole "pointy ears" thing was confusing. At first, I thought that all vampires in this book were supposed to have pointy ears, but that's not really the case. And the Valkyrie. Maybe it's just that I'm not an experienced paranormal book-reader, but I'd never heard of Valkyrie before. But the author just assumes that you know exactly what she's talking about, until halfway through the book when there's like three sentences explaining what they are. And I still don't really get it.

The second thing that I didn't like was that, while the book isn't actually super long, it kind of started to feel like it towards the end. It didn't drag...but I felt like the story could've been wrapped up a little quicker. And, towards the end (maybe about the last 1/4 of the book?), there are no sex scenes. It was really weird. This is supposed to be a romance book, but there's literally no sex for that last big chunk, which I was so odd and, honestly, disappointing -- since those scenes were some of the best parts of the book. But I did really like that there was a clear and exciting storyline that didn't involve romance. I just wish that she had put something in there at the end.

ARGH....I'm HOPELESSLY HOOKED! Addicted even.

In my lifetime I've probably read a minimum of 150 books per year, starting with "Dick and Jane" and "Black Beauty" at the age of 6 and I've continued reading almost anything and everything for 40 years.....That's a lot of books. Less than 5 of them have fallen in the category that I would refer to as paranormal romance (I'm not even that fond of Sci-fi either). And another thing - I'm TIRED of "series" books - and it doesn't matter what genre you read, they are EVERYWHERE. I usually find them less than the author's best effort - I sometimes feel a bit "used" - they just want my money - so I didn't want to start another series anytime soon *sigh*

I made a huge mistake. Honestly, I had NO IDEA it would happen. I really didn't.

I bought a box of used paperbacks. This book was in the box and I made the mistake of actually....you know....READING IT. Now I just HAVE to read the others. I'm shocked, poleaxed, flumoxed and even, dare I say, fit to be tied. I really thought I'd read this book and consider it probably a waste of time and maybe even a waste of good paper and yet, here I sit wanting the rest of the series or at least all of the series that exists so far. I've already spent this month's fun money on these books and most of next month's as well. No new heels, no new sandals...definitely NOT the pair of Skechers Shape Ups I've had my eye on and when you are my age, you'll find your body rearranging itself...sort of like much of your body fat has suddenly relocated to your butt (I believe the technical term is "middle aged spread" and I NEED those shoes darn it!!!)

If you need me, you can find me skulking out by the mailbox waiting for the other books to arrive.

I cannot BELIEVE that a paranormal romance book is on MY keeper shelves. MY VERY OWN!!

My best advice to you, if you've not yet started this book is to walk...no RUN in the other direction. If, like me, you're a bit curious or contrary and you just have to see for yourself then you must do two things:

1. You must not even open this book unless you have in your possession the next few books in the series because I guarantee you ARE going to wish you had them and if you're going to give into temptation you may as well go whole hog.

2. Have your significant other handy or a reasonable fascimile thereof to help you through certain parts of the book. You'll be glad you did.

Best romance I've read in awhile. Interesting, definitely sexy and a real page turner.

Enjoy if you must.

Lachlain MacRieve, King of the Lykae, has spent a thousand years searching for his one and only mate. He crosses numerous countries in hopes of eventually finding her until one day he's captured by the Vampire Horde. For the last 150 years, he's been held prisoner and tortured by Vampire King, Demestriu. Until one day he scents his mate and escapes the catacombs he's been imprisoned in, which happens to be below the streets of Paris.

After many years of being protected and sheltered in a Valkyrie Coven compound, Emmaline Troy, half Valkyrie/half Vampire, has been living in Paris to uncover the truth about her deceased parents, most notably her father. After her mother passed away after child birth, Emma has been in the dark in regards to her Vampire side. To date, she's never even seen a full-blooded vampire.

One day while strolling through the streets of Paris, Emma is chased by Lachlain and claims her as his mate. Thinking the only way he can protect and keep her safe, Lachlain then forces Emma to escort him back to his Scottish castle, Kinevane. Scared out of her wits, Emma agrees thinking she'll just bring the brut back to his home and make her way back home to Louisiana. Unbeknownst to her, Lachlain has made no plans of letting Emma go and will do anything to seduce and keep her by his side. Even if that means lying to her.

Now what really got me excited about this book, aside from the fact that it's part of a highly popular series, is the hero with a tormented soul. I'll gladly admit that I'm a sucker for slightly damaged male book characters. There's just something about a man overcoming his own personal demons. It speaks highly of their courage and tenacity. As for our hero, Lachlain, I was expecting a little more tormented soul angst from him. I mean the man was locked away underneath the earth and left to basically burn in hell. You would think that he'd be a bit more mental after escaping but it turns out the dude was just really horny. There were moments he'd let the beast out but I was looking for a little more meat in his mental anguish. I was thinking of something in the same lines as Zsadist from Lover Awakened. I mean that guy was really messed up and everyone around him knew it.

As for our heroine, Emma, I quite liked her. At the beginning she's a bit oblivious to some of her fellow Lore species but that's mainly due to her upbringing from her adoptive family. She had a few humorous moments and I liked that even though she was virginal she knew just how to tease and drive Lachlain's labido into overdrive. Coming from a Valkryie Coven I was expecting her to be a little more formidable but nicknamed Emma the Timid, she was a bit lacking in the kick-a** department. She does grow throughout the story, so I was grateful Cole didn't give us a damsel in distress throughout the book. One characteristic about the Valkryie's that I found jokey was their love for shopping and how they could be easily swayed by gifts. I mean seriously, what girl doesn't love shopping or getting new baubles? Sounds like my kind of gang but for the most part everyone else in the coven is pretty darn scary.

As for the romance there were a few moments in the story where I just didn't find romantic. Lachlain's heated lust for Emma was a bit petrifying and I was put off a bit. I usually get chills when men make their claim but with Lachlain it was just a bit too primal and possesive, border lining crazy bafoon. But once he eased up a bit, you discover that he's just a big and warm hearted guy that has been waiting a VERY long time for his mate. It's those moments you see him longing for his mystery woman that really clench your heart and make you forgive his absurd actions.

4.25 stars -- I am rounding up!

At the start of this book, I really thought it would be a 5 star; although it didn't turn out that way, I still enjoyed it a lot.
The dialogue - especially between Emma and her family-- was pretty freaking funny. I actually laughed out loud a couple of times, and that never happens when I read!
The plot and originality of the story were really great. I think Kresley Cole is quite talented.
What I didn't like about this book:
-- Emma: her character bothered me at times. She was just a little too immature for me.
--- the story dragged between 25% and %55. There was just NO forward movement between Emma and Lachlain. When I read romance (or really any book), I want to see things develop and change. During that whole section, it just seemed that their interactions were repetitive.

Despite some of the negatives, I am planning to read another IMMORTALS AFTER DARK book, just as soon as my library request comes through.

** spoiler alert ** EXCELENT READ! I absolutely loved this book, I am so hooked to this series. I have to say that I now have a new favorite author and this series is tied with my favorite series by J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood Series.

Kresley Cole does a wonderful job with this romance and you fall in AWE and in love with all the characters. The story wraps around Emmaline Troy and Lachlain MacRieve's romance. The history of each of these characters is what makes this story so interesting.

Emmaline, a half Valkyrie/half Vampire (Valkyrie is fey) has been raised by her Valkyrie Coven since her Valkyrie mother Helen died. The coven took her in and protected her from all the evil out in the world of the Lore - "those sentient creatures that are not human shall be united in one strata, coexisting with, yet secret from, man's."

The coven has protected Emmaline from all the dangers and has put such a fear in her about everything that she grown up to be so innoncent, loving, caring, but most of all scared to do anything. She is very nieve about her sexual feelings or even about sex, she doesn't even know what a vampire looks like even though her sisters of the coven have told her many stories of all the creatures in the Lore and who their enemies were. The sisters in the coven forced her to learn how to fight and protect herself since she is very small and not as strong as her sisters and other vampires and that the fact that she was scared of her own shadow. By the time she desides to do something on her own away from her sisters, she is 71 years old.

Lachlain MacRieve, however has lead a different life and a lot longer life at that, such as 1200 years. Lachlain is the leader/King of the Lykae Clan (were-wolfs). Lachlain has been captured for 150 years by the evil bloodlusted vampire Demestriu - the vampire who killed all of his family but one other brother Garreth. Demestriu tortured Lachlain by putting him into the fires to burn over and over for eternity since he was immortal. The only thing that kept Lachlain alive was his will live and love to find his destin mate.

Emma ends up going to Paris to get away, learn more about herself, and to find out more about her parents. She knows who her mother is but doesn't know who her father is. While Emma is in Paris walking around, she walks by a catacomb that she doesn't even know exist and her scent is carried down to debts where Lachlain is chained within the fires. Lachlain becomes even more inspired when he smells the scent and knows his mate is within reach, he has finally found her. Lachlain lets his were-wolf beast take over and he bust through the chains that hold him prisioner all except for one that is attached to his ankle, he is desperate to find his mate and get to her so he chews his ankle off and escapes his prision.

A week later from following Emma's scent, Lachlain finds his mate and grabs her and forces her to take him to her home. Since Emma's home is not in Paris, she takes him to the hotel she is staying in. Lachlains foot has grown back but he is still healing and his leg is weak. While in the hotel, Lachlain tries to seduce his mate several times but she always finds away to keep him off. She doesn't know she is his mate. Lachlain tells her he needs her to take him to his home in Scotland. He has no money and doesn't know how the times has changed while he was kept captive so he ends up using her credit cards to buy himself clothes and rent a car for Emma to drive him to his home.

Lachlain's enemies are all vampires, he had heard of a group of vampires who were not blood lusted led by Kristoff, the rightful king of the vampires but that was years ago. Lachlain knows Emma is a vampire but she is different, he doesn't know she is Valkyrie, she has pointed ears and seems scared of everything, she is not a fighter or a killer.

While in Lachlains castle, he finally tells Emma that she is his mate but she is in denial for her feelings towards him even though she is extremely attracted to him for there as been several close calls to losing her virginity. Emma thinks about the Coven and all that they taught her about who their enemies were and knows that her sisters wouldn't like the fact that she is with a were-wolf and can not see how any type of relationship would work out between them. However, as the full moon approaches, Lachlain's desire gets stronger and he knows that if he doesn't claim her before then that his beast the were-wolf side will have her. The full moon arrives and the were-wolf finally has her and she finds that she wants him more and more and they make love under the moon until dawn. Emma now feels love toward him but is still scared of how her sisters will react.

The sisters of the Coven (which by the way I love them all - they are so funny and they cracked me up with all their comments and the way they treated each other and how protective they are over Emma) - Annika, Emma's foster mother, Lucia, Regin, Cara, and Kaderin finally show up at Lachlains castle to get Emma and bring her home and to kill the were-wolf for keeping her away. They not only bust into the castle, but the evil vampires have followed them and they bust in behind them and then a fight is on. Emma realizes what her destiny is and she goes to one of the vampires and grabs his hand and then traces (disapear) to Demestriu's Lare - she finally realizes that Demestriu is her father and her destiny is to kill him because by drinking Lachlain's blood, she was able to see what all the torture Demestriu did to Lachlain by burning him in the fire for eternity. Now her goal is to kill her own father.

When Demestriu and Emma finally come face to face with each other and Emma finally gets the answers she has always wondered about and why he never came for her, Demestriu tells her she is just another obsticle in the way for someone to use to get to the throne. By that statement alone, Emma tells him she is there to kill him. When Emma finally gets him down, he looks in her eyes and tells her how to kill him and how to keep him from coming back to life which was by cutting his head off, his waist and his legs and separating them. Demestriu tells her she is now "Emma the Unlikely...the killer of kings"

In the end, Lachlain and Emma end up together and her Coven sisters finally accept their union along with accepting Myst (Valkyrie) and Wroth (Vampire).

There was so much that happened, I couldn't put it all in but there are many things to look forward to finding out about hopefully in her next books in the series. For instance, they find out that Fury their Valkyrie sister is still alive, the sister that had been captured by Demestriu and chained beneath the ocean to drown over and over for eternity - I look forward to hearing of her rescue. Also, Lachlain's brother Garreth has found his mate which happens to be Lucia - so I look forward to reading about their romance.

Also, the sisters tell Emma that she and Lachlain will eventually have children and I wonder if their children will be included into this series.

Such a great and excelent story.

A Hunger Like No Other is infuriating like no other. This so-called romance is absolutely disgusting and I wanted to throw it into the fireplace after about 30 pages. I had enjoyed the previous book, although I did find some elements of it questionable, but had hoped the rest of the series wouldn't follow that pattern. Well, this one took all of the troublesome things and took them to the next level. This story is all about Lachlain, a werewolf who has been tortured by fire for the past 150 years, but manages to escape when he senses his mate, Emmaline, a half-vampire and sworn enemy of the Lykae. The prologue was actually pretty great and disturbing, but it's all down hill from there.

A Hunger Like No Other is 350 pages of romanticized rape, and no, I am not exaggerated. From the first chapter, Lachlain threatens to rape Emma multiple times. He touches her against her will and makes her touch him. She is crying and pleading, and is generally terrified out of her mind. He promises not to hurt her if she complies, but he continues to threaten to have his way with her for the first several chapters. He even molests her in her sleep! He says he continues to do these things because he can tell she's aroused despite her begging to be left alone. WTF is this!? He holds her hostage and makes her take him back to his home in Scotland, since he's been chained up for so long and doesn't get modern transportation, and promises again not to hurt her if she helps and stays with him until the full moon. Of course he's lying since he has no intentions of letting her go.

I totally get this whole alpha male, must claim his mate, old school male privilege nonsense, I do, but A Hunger Like No Other takes it to a whole other level. Lachlain repeatedly tells Emma that she has no say in what he does to her and takes liberties with her body that he has no right to. This is all excused away by the fact that she is his destined mate, and he can't control this side of him when it's close to the full moon. It is possible to be an alpha male who is totally enamored with his mate without threatening rape every few pages! Shouldn't he be more concerned with her well being and not wanting to cause her harm, since she is his one true love?! Everything about this relationship was total crap! It's not sexy!

There were points where I started to enjoy A Hunger Like No Other. Lachlain backed off a bit and actually started taking care of Emma, even though everything he still said was a lie or a manipulation. But then he gets her drunk and is all "I'm going to do you now!" But then he stops himself because he promised not to do that! Is that really a promise you need to make!? How about, just don't do it because it's wrong!

But then...oh...he rapes her. Yes, he does. She is literally running away from him. Like, she knocks him out, and RUNS! He catches up with her, tackles her, and forces himself in her! She screams in pain! She was a virgin, by the way, and he knew this. So, she screams in pain, but he keeps going, because eventually she starts screaming in ecstasy! This is blamed on the moon, because of some kind of moon lust or some such other nonsense, since she's been drinking werewolf blood. Never mind that she was LITERALLY RUNNING AWAY from him when he decided to do this. Do not write away rape as some kind of ritual! SHE DID NOT WANT IT!

Lachlain, an immortal tortured for fifteen decades by the fires of the catacomb underneath Paris, scents the mate he's been waiting for over thousand years giving him the strength to free himself from the chains the vampires tied him into the fire with. But before he surfaces she's already gone, but her scent lingers and he will find her.

Emma the Timid, raised by her Valkyrie aunts in the bayou near New Orleans is half-vampire from her father's side, half-Valkyrie from her mother's side. In Paris she tries desperately to find information on her mother and father, especially her father who she knows nothing about, not even his identity. When suddenly a tall dark dangerous man captures her, growls and wants her - in a way she's never witnessed before. She's not called Emma the Timid without a reason, dead afraid of pain and death she doesn't but up a whole lot of fight as it turns out Lachlain is a werewolf, bossy as hell enemy of both Valkyries and Vampires, kidnaps her and forces her to go to Scotland with him.

Lachlain is so much fun to read, he's primal, rough, bossy and gets exactly what he wants except for Emma who wants absolutely nothing to do with him. He's waited for her for thousand year and she says, No. Never once he entertains the idea of letting her go, even though she's a vampire hence everything he hates and despises, no she's going to be his for the rest of his life wither she wants to or not. Which is sexy as hell! Sorry, that just had to come out. ;)

Emma finally gathers courage she's been missing the seventy years she's been around, seeing her courage rise as Lachlain bullies her makes the character grow on you, even being timid she grows a lot during the novel and becomes more and more likable... and a match for Lachlain.

I haven't read a book lately as sexy, steamy and delicious as this even though there isn't more than one or two actual sex scenes in the book - but there is a lot of teasing, almost and frustration, a yummy yummy book!

Cole's story is wonderful, it has depth where it needs it, laughter to keep it light, danger creeping up closer and closer to Emma for threat, teasing until the reader is rooting for the couple to get it on and a plot with enough character drama to feed the story of Emmaline and Lachlain and the wickedly fun Valkyrie aunts! I'm addicted to the Immortals After Dark series! And to Lachlain. ;)

I like the second cover much better than the first, even my husband asked if she's a hooker as he saw me reading the first cover version (where she is dressed like a hooker in the red leather top). So props for coming up with a better cover! (the top one)

If you are into Paranormal Romance and haven't yet read Kresley Cole I urge you to go get a copy!

I feel like I will be one of the odd one out. I was spilt in the middle with this book.

*****Lachlain I actually liked him, I know most reviewers who rated it one star thought he was too aggressive, I thought he was restrained for so long it's understandable his reaction, I think that is what the author was going for. Through out the book I began to really like Lachlain more and more because he just wanted his mate and to protect her.

*****Emma she was very naive most of the time for me through out the book which annoyed me a bit but I applaud her for not wanting to be man handle by Lachlain. I also understand though that her being naive was apart of her up bringing and being sheltered and protected by her adoptive family.

In a whole I liked the book and the plot. The scenery was amazing as they traveled a lot the moment they met, we were introduce to her family and protectors we assume will be in books to come or that has been written already, but some sections felt a little drawn out mostly between Lachlain and Emma, it made me frustrated, this is how it felt between them most of the time ( not their first encounter when Lachlain might have been aggressive) written below.

Lachlain: Mines, I want you

Emma & Lachlain: Kissing and touching

Emma: No, you promise not to touch me.

Lachlain:I will have you soon etc.

They did this communication back and forth, they had a very strong chemistry but the back and forth wore me out. Other than that it was a good story.

***********************

This is the second installment in the IAD series. I don't recommend you read the series out of order, but each title can be read as a standalone. Of course you'll enjoy them much more if you follow the order!

Her Valkyries are strong an independent woman, usually with a temper. And often stubborn. Be ready for an alpha hero and lots of hot scenes!! There's a HEA and the romance doesn't end with a cliffhanger, but some facts of the story are left open.

It's a must read for romance readers, even if you're not a big fan of paranormals. Kresley Cole is, in my opinion, one of the most skilled and talented authors nowadays.

Lachlain MacRieve, the leader of the Lykae Clan endured years of torture from the vampire Horde until, while trapped in the dungeons in Paris, he scented his predestined mate and escaped. He tracks her down in the city and captures her, only to find out she's a vampire herself. Emmaline Troy is half Valkyrie/half vampire (unbeknownst to Lachlain) and has been sheltered by her Valkyrie aunts her entire life. This was her first venture outside of their protection and she's claimed by a powerful Lykae as his mate.

I cannot point to one aspect of this story that hooked me so I think it was a combination of many things as there was quite a bit going on. First, the idea that Lachlain spent over 150 years in the dungeons of Paris being tortured daily was awfully intriguing. The idea that the power of sensing his predestined mate gave him the will and ability to free himself after all of that time was pretty alluring and a sign of interesting things to come in that relationship. I also liked that Emmaline, who was extraordinarily timid and insecure after spending a lifetime with her batty aunts, struck out on her own for the first time in her life and was learning to fend and think for herself. It was uplifting to follow her metamorphasis to a young woman of confidence, strength and intelligence. She held her own with Lachlain. Lastly, the secondary storylines were awfully exciting and provided intrigue and suspense as the romance between Lachlain and Emma developed, which was gradual, well paced and sensual.

Initially, I thought the premise sounded absurd but it works. Lachlain's initial barbarism was authentic and we immediately got to see that Emma had game as she seemed to know how to handle him and diffuse the situation. Her quick thinking and adroitness was more of a surprise to her and ultimately prepared her for the final showdown with her aunts. There were a few twists at the end that you could sort of see coming but the scenes delivered in spite of it being somewhat predictable. I really like the start to this series (I'm not counting the prequel) and cannot wait to continue with the next book.

Lachlain is the long lost king of the Lykae Clan, taken captive by the Horde Vampire Clan for the last 150 years tortured endlessly in the fire pits below the city of Paris, France. Emma the Timid is the cherished, sheltered and protected half Vampire and half Valkyrie raised by her Valkyrie aunts. Emma has never seen another Vampire and certainly not one of those animalistic Lykae. Emma is in Paris looking for information on the father she never knew, Lachlain is chained to the fire below the city when he scents Emma and knows she's his mate. Lachlain severs his leg to escape the pits to get to his fated mate. Emma is alone and hungry in the city when an enraged beast grabs her and forces her to take him back to her hotel. Lachlain is enraged that fate would give him a vampire as his fated mate! He decides then and there he will make her pay for all the years that he was held captive by her kind. Will Emma the Timid's gentle nature tame the wild beast?

In this book Emma really grows as a character going from Emma the Timid to Emma the King Killer. Throughout the book you watch as Emma develops a back bone and starts living up to both sides of her heritage. Using the training her aunts forced on that she never excelled at, no longer is Emma the Timid running from sword practice and avoiding conflict but a true Valkyrie in the flesh with silver in her eyes and passion in her heart. By the end of the book you kind of feel like a proud momma watching your little girl grow up and become a woman as she stands up not only to her fierce man but her exceedingly difficult aunts.

Lachlain as a character I am somewhat torn. As a male that was tortured for 150 years I expected him to be more tortured in mind and spirit. I tend to like my "tortured" males to be more brittle and haunted in spirit except for a couple of rages he seems to keep it together better than you would expect of a man/beast that was kept in the pits of hell for over a century. As an overbearing over protective Lykae he plays the part perfectly. You can't help but like him and keep hoping he is able to win over Emma in his botched attempts to win her heart. Kresely Cole really helps you get into Lachlain's character while writing with the Scottish brogue. It is absolutely delicious!

Overall this is a great read; there is plenty of action in and out of bedroom. You get to watch Emma grow as a women and Lachlain struggle not only to win Emma over but to acclimate to the 21st century that he has been thrust into, having never seen a TV or a car. You are introduced to new characters that you will be seeing in several books to come. And as always you find yourself laughing from Kresley Cole's humor. I love a book that can make both your heart race from the steamy passion and then turn around and make you laugh.

Cole's IAD series is probably the best, or one of the best, paranormal romance series currently being published. She generally manages to deftly balance: action; intrigue; dialogue; otherworld building; character and love relationship development; likable independent-minded female leads; and dangerous but protective, sexy alpha-males; and most importantly--hot, sensual (but tastefully written) sex. I read this first novel in the series last summer after years of avoiding romance novels due to tedious formulaic plots, predictable and flat characters and generally weak writing. The HBO series _True Blood_ sparked a renewed interest in the romance genre so I read the Charlaine Harris "Sookie Stackhouse" books during the channel's off-season, but those novels have weakened as the series has progressed. Happily though, discontent with those books led me to Cole's work.

This first full length novel of the "Immortals After Dark" series is preceded by a novella, _What a Warlord Wants_, published in the anthology _Playing Easy to Get_, which is worth reading. In _A Hunger Like No Other_, the intensity of the passion the alpha male werewolf Lachlain feels for his fated mate, the initially timid half-vampire, half-Valkyrie Emma, is hot, hot, hot. What woman doesn't want to be desired like that? I read the book twice during one weekend, something I never did with the Harris books. Only troubling aspect of this first novel is the slightly forced feel of Lachlain's Scottish accent (Cole has a trilogy, a historical romance series set in Scotland which is a recommended read, but suffers from the accent issues too). Similar in pacing to J.R. Ward's "Black Dagger Brotherhood" books, Cole's novels--happily for this reader--avoid endless scenes told from the creepy-evil-bad-guys-perspective, instead devoting that time to the development of the central characters' feelings for each other, which make the romance satisfying and believable, rather than scripted and formulaic. Like in Ward's BDB series, each IAD book resolves the love story of one couple, allowing the reader to enjoy that HEA ending, and still eager to read the next couple's story.

An overarching build-up to a mythic war between immortals links the books, as does the appearance of related characters in each books. We are teased into wanting to see the next story which tells of another couple falling in love, and it's a pleasure to meet up again with those who've we've already seen fall in love in previous books, as they return to be secondary couples in subsequent books. Increasingly, the couples actions are playing a role in the evolving political mess. For that reason, it's best to read the books in order. Kresley Cole's web site has the books listed in the correct order.

If a reader hates cliff-hangers determined to lure her into buying the next book in the series, like I do, she'll enjoy the satisfaction Cole delivers in each individual book's resolution, while still hooking her into wanting to read the next of the series. Highly recommended.

JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood "Lover" series got me hooked on paranormal romance. I've been on the look-out for anything that is even close to as good. I've tried Nalini Singh's psy-changeling series and although interesting, it's not in the same class as the brotherhood. After reading Cole's first two Immortal After Dark books....the first being the novella in the book Playing Easy to Get and now A Hunger Like No Other, I'm convinced that this series rivals the "Brotherhood" in it's intensity and appeal.

This is a story about a Lykae king and his half vampire/half Valkyrie mate. Lachlain is the king who was imprisoned and tortured heavily by a vampire. He is in agony, chained to a wall in a fiery furnace like hell when he scents his mate. He amputates his own leg to escape and find her, only to find that she is a vampire...the same kind that imprisoned him and are his sworn enemies.

Emma is none to pleased either when she is taken to his home and told that she was his mate. Their journey to Lachlain's home is laced with humor and sexy interactions as both try in vain to fight their growing attraction.

I really like this world that Cole introduces us to. It's not difficult to understand like I've found Singh's to be, and I really like all the different aspects of the Lore and how they relate to each other. As in the first book, The Warlord takes a Bride, this book is speckled with fun secondary characters that would make great books of their own.

No matter what, "A Hunger Like No Other" will remain a favorite. I loved the evolution of this relationship. What begins as disappointment and disillusionment with each other becomes "oh so much more" as they realize just how suited they are despite the seemingly unsurmountable odds they face. This is a passionate, sensual, and unique love story.

Don't Miss It!

5 amazing stars!!

This is the second book in the IAD series but the first one I ever read.
I love everything about this book. The cover is gorgeous, the story is wonderfully crafted and the characters are incredibly detailed in their personalities.

Lachlan and Emmaline make an unlikely couple. That, however, makes their journey that much sweeter. I love the female character's evolution from mousy to badass!!

If you like action and alpha males, this is the book (series) for you!

PS. Nix is my goddess!

This is one of my all time favourite books from one of my my all time favourite series. I read and re-read plus I listened and re-listened to it several times. It never fails to touch my heart and always leaves me with a smile.
I normally prefer reading over listening, but this series is an exception. Robert Petkoff's narration is absolutely perfect.

~A Hunger Like No Other~
Immortals After Dark Series
~Book 1~

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?

Wow!!!!!! I "REALLY" Like this Series!! Amazing Characters & Story line was "Awesome" It's a REAL page Turner, I "COULDN'T" Put it DOWN!! I Liked it As Much As I Did the BDB Series by J.R. Ward, And the Dark-Hunter/were-Hunter/Dream-Hunter Series By Sherrilyn Kenyon

But I have a Question, Why Would the Publisher Release the First two Novels in this Series & The Latest one "Lothaire" "in Unabridged Audio Book Format" and NOT the Rest of them??? From "No Rest For The Wicked" up to "Dreams of a Dark Warrior", I Don't UNDERSTAND that at All...That Makes Absolutely No Sense to Me?????

Emmaline Troy is a half vampire and half Valkyrie. Sheltered all her life by her Valkyrie aunts, she finally decides to leave the nest and go to Paris, to seek answers about her parents. There she is attacked and kidnapped (and mistreated) by the sexy, handsome, just-to-die-for Lykae king Lachlain MacRieve, who knows that she is to be his destined mate. Lachlain had just escaped from being tortured by vampires for the last 15 decades, so you can understand his shock and disgust when he realized the mate he'd been searching for the last thousand years is a vampire. Needless to say, his treatment of her most times is rather harsh. This was kind of a turn-off for me when I read it. If someone had treated me that cruelly, I don't think I would've forgiven them that easily.

Anyhow, moving on.

I do really like Emmaline. Heroines who start out weak sometimes can sound whiny, but she's so adorable. And I love how Ms. Cole slowly let Emma grow into the strong creature that she is destined to be, not just suddenly decide that oh, she should be strong now, but the character development is worked out in detail. Another thing I really like about this book is that the protagonists don't just jump into bed together. Yes, there're a lot of sexual scenes, but they only service to build up the sexual tension between the characters. (And must I say, there are a lot of sexual tension there.) The woman doesn't just give in to her sexual need and have sex with him. In fact, the female actually have some backbone in resisting the male and can actually call off the encounter even when she's horny as hell.

Over all, this new series by Ms. Cole totally surprised me. I've read plenty of paranormal romance considering the genre's popularity (Feehan, Kenyon, Ward, etc.). To be honest, I am a little jaded by the genre, but this hooked me from page one. Or actually, before that. I have to say that it would be a good idea to read Ms. Cole's story in the anthology Playing Easy to Get as that is a very good introduction to the world. This book might be less confusing if one's got the background from the anthology story. One bone I have to pick is that everyone seem to hate everyone in this book (Valkyrie hates vampires, lykae hates vampires, valkyrie hates lykae). all those hating and narrow-mindedness got on my nerves a bit, but they weren't that distracting, overall. I mean, I just kind of skip those parts when the Valkyrie are hating on others.

Other than that, wonderful book. Can't wait to read the rest of the series. I can already tell that all the other books on my to read list will be pushed to the back until I finish this series.

This is another book that I downloaded from an audible.com sale.

I was quite pleased with this one. It took some getting used to listening to a man tell the story, and at first I found myself giggling when he would attempt the woman's voice, but after a while I was too engrossed in the story to pay any attention to the sounds.

This is an engaging book from start to finish. There is always some type of action going on, whether its a fight or play time. I would say bedroom time, but that wasn't always the case. What more do you expect from a wolf though?

Usually I hate books that flip flop from one character to the other, but in this case, the way it was written, made it all the more enjoyable. It was frustrating at times to know they were both thinking the same thing but assuming something different about the other... but that's what reading is all about, suspense and finding yourself invested in the characters lives and feeling emotions as they do.

This is definitely a series I will continue with!

I bough this book about two or three years ago and now have all of them, but I just finally started with this first one. The book has its flaws, the writing was a little difficult to read but not impossible, the premise were pretty much the same as J.R Ward or Lara Adrian, the characters especially Emmaline wasn't...relatable!?

It wasn't that Emma was weak, soft spoken, gentle, fragile etc...that bothered me, no Emma was sheltered all her life and lived like a princess, still acts like it. She's a spoil brat, whiny and selfish, always feeling sorry for herself. Emma was lacking personality, her character wasn't appealing and almost unlikable. I feel the only reason Lachlain is with her is because of she's his mate. I find it unbelievable what she was able to do to Demestriu, there's no way! (if you read the book you'll know what I mean!)She called Lachlain "A Monster" yet she drinks blood from a cup, when she's mad her feature change and looking like one herself!

Moreover, her reaction after P.250 It as if a switch went on and the light came in out of nowhere! The story just didn't flow. The book has good idea behind it but was poorly executed(another one!) Could it be that this book was written in 2006(?) maybe! But I hear the serie do get better, so I'll give it another try since I have all of them.

Lachlain is king of the Lykae and has been imprisoned for the past 150 years by the Horde under the streets of Paris. When he smells his mate he rips off his leg to free himself to get to her.

Emmaline is half vampire, half Valkyrie, and has lived a very sheltered life with the Valkyrie. Emma is in Paris to discover who her vampire father is and gain some sort of independence. All of the sudden she is being chased by this half crazed monster (Lachlain) who is bent on claiming her as his mate right where she stands. I actually thought that part was really hot!

When Lachlain finds out his mate is a vampire he is appalled and thinks there has been some mistake. I love the way she grows on him and the romance between them blooms. Emma is also a 70 year old virgin! Yup, I love sacrificing the virgins. Since Emma has lived such a sheltered life she is very timid and unsure of herself. I really like that the more she is with Lachlain she becomes brave and stronger.

I just love this series!

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the werewolves (Lykae), is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millenia for is a vampire. Or at least partly one. Emmaline Troy is half Valkyrie / half vampire. After her mother's death, she grew up sheltered by the Valkyrie coven and she's rather fearful and very shy. When she finally sets out to uncover the truth about her parents, the powerful Lykae finds her, claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. Despite the tension arising from his initial anger and their differences, the two are getting closer and Emmaline discovers her strengths. But will they be able to conquer an ancient evil resurfacing from their past?

This is Kresley Cole's second story set in the world of the Lore (vampires, werewolves and other mythical creatures living hidden from us, but in our world). "The warlord wants forever" (from the anthology "Playing easy to get") introduced this world and the Valkyries while telling the love story of the Valkyrie Myth and the vampire Nikolai Wroth. While I find it makes the experience of reading "A hunger like no other" richer, I think that one can also read it on its own and still understand what is going on. The series will continue with "No rest for the wicked".

"A hunger like no other" is at once suspenseful fantasy, sexy romance and often very funny (but not in a slapstick way like Lyndsay Sands). I simply couldn't put it down and enjoyed it very much, mostly because I really liked the characters, the (sexual) tension between them and how Emmaline grew as a person (which is unfortunately rare in romance novels). There were also a lot of interesting supporting characters that I'd like to see again in other novels (maybe with their own story). In addition, Crole doesn't simply warm up the clich?es about vampires and werewolves, but gives them an original touch and also centers the story around the Valkyries, which are partly based in Viking myth, but as a whole quite original. I'd say Cole is in the same league as Kim Harrison, Adams / Clamp (Sazi-series, "A touch of evil") or Lynn Viehl - new authors who manage to write paranormal romances with originality and their own touch. So I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes intelligent and entertaining paranormal romance with an alpha-hero and a strong heroine (Emmaline has to find her strength first, but when she does - beware!).

This book was hot, steamy, AND had a plot! The author didn't take up the whole book with superfluous love scenes, but the love scenes it did have were well integrated, storyline appropriate, and definitely left you panting for more.

Emmaline Troy is a rare female vampire/valkryie hybrid. She lives with her coven of Valkyrie who have raised her since she was a baby when her own mother, the legendary Helen of Troy, died. She doesn't know who her father is since her mother refused to tell anyone. On a trip to Paris she hopes to find information that will lead her to her father. Unbeknownst to her Lachlan the king of the Lycae (werewolves) lies trapped beneath the city, burning continually. With his superhuman senses he detects his mate in the city above. In a crazed, mad frenzy he amputates his own leg (don't worry it regenerates) in order to get free and find his mate who he has waited for for over a thousand years. Following her scent he tracks his mate down. To his horror (and hers) he discovers his mate is a hated vampire, the very creatures responsible for his imprisonment and continual burning for centuries. Outraged and half-insane he takes out his fury on Emma. Eventually, his anger ceases but its too late now for Emma (known as Emma the Timid) is terrified of him. Eventually, they come to love each other. But just as they are settling into their relationship Emma comes to a horrible realization. Her father is Demestriu, King of the Vampire Horde, and the one responsible for killing Lachlan's brother and imprisoning him. Believing that she is tainted, and that Lachlan will hate her because of her father, Emma flees to Demestriu's hidden palace to kill him. Surprisingly, she accomplishes what so many have failed to do, her father's death. But she is mortally wounded and heads back to her Valkyrie coven. Lachlan tries to see her but the Valkyrie distrust him and refuse to let him see her. Eventually everything gets worked out and they all live happily ever after. This book is a great beginning in this new paranormal romance series with great descriptions and in depth characterizations. This is a definite must read!

Ms Cole has created a unique paranormal world here and although it took me a bit to get into all her legends and lore I thoroughly enjoyed this sexy, witty and thrilling romance.

Emmaline our heroine is half Vampire, half Valkyrie. She has been raised by her aunts in New Orleans but as the story begins she's in Paris searching for information about the father she never knew. Lachlain is a Lycan or werewolf who has been imprisoned and tortured by the evil Demestriu for the last 150 years. When he scents Emma somewhere on the streets above him he knows immediately that she is his mate and nothing will stop him from reaching her even if it means loosing a limb in order to escape.

The initial meeting of our couple is quite erotic. Lachlain, almost crazy from the years of torture kidnaps Emma and then is somewhat shocked to realize that the mate he's waited so long for is in fact a Vampire and therefore his Clans natural enemy. Remarkably it is Emma who is able to soothe the tortured beast within him. Lachlain then forces Emma to travel to Scotland with him. The world has changed a lot in 150 years and of course he can't drive, never mind all the other technology. These scenes are hilarious as Lach attempts to catch up with the times by reading magazines and watching TV. Yet as the two get to know each other and the passion starts to build they were also very sensual. Emma is shy but clever and slightly goofy. Lachlain as her hopeful mate is patient, loving and grumpy with a great Scottish accent. Emmaline's character evolves throughout the story as she drinks blood from `the source' regains her strength and discovers some new powers. Lachlain is continually at his wits end. Trying to please her but making a mess of things as he regularly lies about releasing her and is a little too alpha male.

The ending was exciting, full of twists and very funny. With a cast of great secondary characters, you just never knew who was going to turn up next; lycans, witches, valkyries, shape shifters, demons, fey and wraiths... oh my. A glossary of lore has been included which helped me with Kresly Cole's incredible paranormal world and I look foreword to the next instalment in this unique series.

I was expecting yet another objectionable Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy mesh when my friend gave me this book, especially after having just strongly disliked Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. Therefore I was pleasantly surprised that this book worked for me. I found myself enjoying it quite a bit and rushed through it in hours. In my opinion, this is a great example of good writing - the author took a very predictable story that is similar to many in its genre, but added her own unique voice making the characters come alive on paper.

The narrative begins with Emma, who is a half breed Vampire and Valkyrie, setting out to Paris to find information about her vampire father. The quirk is that Emma is a complete coward and this is her first act of independence in 70 years of her life. Having been brought up in a Valkyrie coven by her powerful intimidating aunts and being part vampire, Emma's calm and reserved personality was quite refreshing, especially since everyone we meet from those two lines is explosive and fierce. As more becomes known about Emma's personality, we can see that despite her timidity she is in no way weak. Her growth as the book progresses is steady and realistic and makes her a very likeable protagonist.

And then there is Lachlain - who has been tortured in the catacombs of Paris by his nemesis vampire Demestriu. Then one day, as he is about to finally succumb to madness after decades of pain, he scents his mate and goes through extraordinary lengths to free himself and find her. Lachlain is a Lykae, a very ferocious breed, and they search for eternity for their mates to calm their violent natures and complete their souls. Expecting a strong and vivacious Lykae like himself, Lachlain is stunned to find a small vampire with pointy ears to be his eternal mate. This extraordinary twist of fate doesn't just attach a very pissed off Lachlain to a woman whose vampire brethren murdered most of his family, but makes a faint-hearted Emma potential queen of all the Lykae.

The story evolves around their relationship and sets up the rich world of magical creatures of the Lore. The existence of each race is well established with suitably defined traits pertaining to their people. The characters are witty and entertaining, and their personalities come alive, which is the main reason why I enjoyed this book so much. The antagonists are not all out evil creatures and there is a good rationale for their madness. Overall, the tale is light and engaging, which is what I think the author meant to create.
You won't find too many tortured souls (I call them poorly developed characters) and extraordinarily dramatic scenes (I call them page fillers), but a great cast and a fun story.

I'd never heard of this author before, and I picked up this book off of an FOL sale table simply because I like paranormals. I wasn't really sure what to expect.
I LOVED this book! There was so much action I was never bored, and there was great tension and steaminess between the main characters! I didn't want to put it down. I will definitely read more by this author.

I recommend everyone who likes paranormal romance to read this books. It's even better than Gena Showalers Lords of the Underworld. With every book it's some up and downs depending on what characters story are getting told. However the serie is getting better and better. This story is a interduction of many of the key characters in this serie. I love that both the woman and the male have strong personalities and that its equality in the relationships. All of the lore woman are strong and independent, and the males have to live with that.

True this serie Kresley Cole have made me cry, cheer and laugh. I selected this book to review because it's the first real novelle in this series and when you have read the first you have to read the rest because Kresley Cole is amazing. If you don't like one of the books in this series I can guarantee that the next one is better. Its impossible for everyone to like every character. I don't like Sebastian Wroth and because of that became his book a bit boring.

Lachlain is the Lykae King, but for over a century he's been imprisoned and tortured by the Horde. Thoughts of vengeance has kept the slimmest grip on sanity for him, but only one thing will truly save him: finding his one true mate. When he scents her walking far above his underground prison he finally finds the strength and will to do the impossible and escape. Unfortunately, he finds that his mate is a vampire--and it was vampires he's been fighting and who had imprisoned him. He is also barely holding on to sanity, but he needs to make sure she is the one without scaring her away...

Emmaline Troy is not a typical vampire. She's only half-vampire and she's been raised by Valkyries who are also enemies of vampires. All her life she's been timid and quiet, unable to even hurt a fly. She's in Paris to see if she can find out who her Vampire father was, but has been totally unsuccessful. Suddenly she's confronted by a crazy, animalistic Lycae who seems to have never seen cars or technology before--and one who hates vampires. He's gorgeous, however, but that doesn't quite inspire trust, particularly when he kidnaps her...

Lachlain and Emma are somewhat star-crossed lovers, as neither of their clans like the other. Lykae also have one mate and they mate for life. Vampires have their Brides, but Valkeries do not have these special mates and Emma isn't at all sure about Lachlain, even after he's sure she's the one--and has to try to cope with her being a vampire (or half-vampire).

I enjoyed the two main characters, although when Lachlain first goes after Emma there are overtones of forcing and molesting that bothered me a bit. I'm also not a fan of accents in dialog (Lachlain uses a lot of "dinna"s and "doona"s -- and I do love a Scots accent, I've had Scots boyfriend and have lived in Scotland, but these seemed so forced). I also don't really care for the nutty Nix or the crazy Valkyries. I should probably try to stay away from Cole's books with Scottish characters and with Nix in them, but this is sadly the second one I've read (people keep recommending them). I did enjoy the read, though. It was good to see Emma grow (although Lachlain being happy about her hitting him and dislocating his jaw is kinda sick). Lachlain, too is a decent character, able to get over his past and his prejudices in order to gain love.

I was given a paperback copy of this book from a friend to read. I found A Hunger Like No Other to be a very enjoyable book. I thought it was well written and I was excited to see how it was all going to play out. The beginning was a little much for me, especially since Lachlain came on very strong, but thankfully it wasn't entirely pushed aside. I enjoyed seeing how much Emma grew and began to believe in herself. This was an awesome new world we entered and I loved how strong the Valkyrie were and how underestimated they were. It felt very empowering to see women so strong, smart and brave. It was a great addiction to the adult paranormal world and I look forward to continuing on with it.

This is the first book in her IAD series out of 16 and there are 2 more books on the way. I was hooked instantly with this book. You fall in love with every single character you encounter, in this book and all the rest. Emmaline and her Scottish Lykae king, Lachlain, are both so sexy. You can't stop reading. Kresley Cole re-opened my eyes to how great books can be. She gave me the gift of enjoying books again as an adult. I have read every book she's written and you won't be disappointed with any of her book series'.

So after reading this entire series out of order, I finally finished the first book, 'A Hunger Like No Other.' While I have my favorite books in the series (Dark Needs at Night's Edge, Kiss of a Demon King), and while being partial to Cole's vampires (oh, those Wroth brothers...) and the witches, I can't deny that Lachlain and Emma's story is fast-paced and high-octane page turner.

I wish Cole had written these characters with a little more substance, instead of Lachlain being bent on hate and revenge and Emma going on and on about being babied by her family. No the ending wasn't surprising, but having more details leading up to the end would have definitely improved the story. What I love about this series is that whether or not the series is read in order, the reader can easily grasp the stories of all of these characters. I love that even though these storylines are repeated throughout the subsequent books (the Horde vs. Forbearer battle for power, Garreth and Lucia's story, the Wroths' history and stories of their Brides, etc.), it's never repeated in the same way twice as other authors are in the habit of. But reading 'A Hunger' first (or at least early on) really helps to put the Lore timeline into perspective. This also helps readers to really appreciate how much stronger this series is now. And I for one am grateful that the cheesy horror-erotica covers aren't used in the latest novels!

Emmaline Troy is half vampire, half valkyrie: something that should not exist. Sheltered by her valkyrie aunts her entire life, Emma decides to step out of her comfort zone and leave home, looking for answers about her life halfway around the globe in Paris. Lachlain MacRieve, king of the Lykae (werewolf) clan, has been trapped literally in a living hell for a century and a half in the catacombs under Paris by his hated enemies, the vampires. When he scents his mate - for whom he has been waiting for nearly twelve centuries - nothing will stop him from getting to her and claiming her as his. Forever.

I have several thoughts on this book. First, let me start with the cover image: it seems to be a little misleading, implying that he is the vampire about to bite her neck. Now that I have read the book, I realize that it is probably trying to be a portrayal of a pivotal scene in the book, but it was a slight shock to realize that the female was the bloodsucker in this novel. Now, on to my thoughts on the book itself.

I like the author's unique take on the paranormal world - she names it the Lore - and each species' take on the idea of mates. Vampires have Brides, Lykae have mates, and even the Valkyrie believe in the idea of a one true love. I was not pleased with how the male MC dealt with claiming the female MC, but I understood it as fitted the character and his own history and prejudices - even if it did bother me while I read it. I'll be reading the next book in the series, No Rest for the Wicked (The Immortals After Dark, Book 2), and will see if the series is worth reading through. I hope it is.

So, fans of romance involving vampires, werewolves, and creatures of myth: this book is for you.

It was just impossible to get into this one. Everything about the book is two dimensional and cliché, and a badly formulated one for that matter. J. R. Ward also writes in clichés, but manages to often marry them to a fresh, unexpected point of view. I wish I could say the same for Kresley Cole. The characters are cliché, the story line is cliché, the sex is cliché (or disturbing). The heroine (see: the-gorgeous-limp-wristed-maiden with the mysterious lineage) is trapped in a hotel room by the brute, creepy hero who keeps pawing her at every given chance, because he is certain she is his life mate. Never mind what she wants or says, and she does say no loud and clear. Then, contrary to her own words, she jerks him off in the shower, while he is a total stranger who has just kidnapped her and she has never seen male genitalia in her life. Right you are. A six foot something hairy growling menace kidnaps me, I'll jerk him off because I can't resist his manly charms. Hello? Brain, are you there? Hellooo? Someone has to tell those women writers that if the rape fantasy was a horse, it has been flogged to death already, and they just keep flogging the carcass of the damn thing like there is no tomorrow. There are so many other possibilities they can explore. And as a general observation, after reading a few of the paranormal romance genre novels, I strongly believe women writers should stop using demeaning and stupid stereotypes, like the "no means yes" stereotype, regardless of the hero having an irresistible Scottish accent or not. What kind of message does this give? Press the lass enough and talk like you have a sock in your mouth and sooner or later you'll score? Hmmm? I am actually grateful such books aren't read by men, as they seem to verify and empower every negative stereotype on female behaviour I have come across, including the "read my mind and you'll know what's wrong with me, because I sure as hell won't tell you. I'll just sit here and pout" drill. Ladies, you can and should write better than this.

Back to the book. The characters... Another fantastic innovation. Oh, the distressed, mousy heroine, she is so weak, poor thing, with her baby fangs and everything. How cute it is to be a doormat and a spineless squeamish little porcelain beauty who is perpetually bossed around by others. Of course, halfway through the book she transforms into super woman, super heroine, super-you-name-it, because the mystery of her lineage is revealed. Duh. Then there is the mad male protagonist who has all the behavioural traits of a violent, overbearing spouse (regularly destroys furniture and clothes, does not understand the meaning of the word no, nearly strangles her, gives her baths against her will, uses her credit card without permission to buy whatever he wants including a car, blah, blah). Later on he becomes the perfect, loving, caring lover and of course, hold on tight, he is a king rightfully restored to his power. A huh. Of course he is. From that aspect, the book is a complete lunatic park with Valkyries who squeal and behave like school girls and various other unrelated, random occurrences and shenanigans. I do understand that the use of mythological beings is arbitrary to begin with, but Valkyries who talk and behave like 12-year-olds and love nail polish and pop-corn are something that made my hairs stand on end. If Wagner knew, he would probably rise from his grave and bring down the entire Norse pantheon armed to the teeth to deal with it.

The writing style and the plot crafting of the book are letdowns too. The style is unclear, confusing, halting, often falls short. I had to re-read whole paragraphs in some cases. Characters appear and disappear before the reader has any idea who they are or what they want. The storyline is messy, often inexplicable, there is no chemistry between the protagonists, and I could not find anything believable about it. There is even the mother of all `plot twists' we come across in romance books (see: another cliché, preferably narrated with a deep, ominous voice, hinting of impeding doom:) "I won't tell you the truth about who I am, so inevitably there will be a huge and potentially lethal misunderstanding". Whoa, now I can barely contain my excitement. I almost fell off my chair by the sheer force of unpredictability. I wonder what's next? Let me guess, this will ONLY mean that the two protagonists will bond DEEPER when that is finally settled through TRIALS and AGONY because TRUE LOVE, YEAH BABY? Wow, just... wow. Never saw that coming. I swear.

I never managed to finish it. I flipped through and finally tossed it aside and gave it away via bookmooch.com. On a more positive note, I have been told that the third book of the series is much better. The brief excerpt from it does seem better, but I am not going to take the risk after the disappointment of this one.

This one had me from the first chapter. It has all of the elements I enjoy in a paranormal romance. I was a little shy to start because I have a problem with werewolves in steamy romances (the yick potential). None of that here. What it has is an alpha-alpha hero who comes on too strong and jerkish (not that it's his fault, all things considered), discovers the error of his ways, and earns his way back. It also had a heroine who starts out very meek and frightened (again, understandably) and grows to become a force to be reckoned with. The heat and tension between the two is relentless and scorching, the romance develops slowly and thoroughly. And then there's the whole new world of vampires and werewolves and demons and valkyrie, witches, etc. One thing to be aware of, this isn't actually the first book of the series; there's a novella "Warlord Wants Forever" that precedes it (which I didn't read and can't say that I missed).

Be prepared to be taken in to a world of Lykae, Valkyrie and Vampires with The Accession that is upon them. Every five hundred years there is a power struggle among all Factions altering the balance of power among all beings of magic. But that is not the only thing that is changing as Lachlain, trapped under the catacombs of Paris, smells his mate. He tears himself free of the chains that bind him to the walls and for the first time in a hundred and fifty years he is free, free to hunt the woman that is meant to be his mate.

Emmaline is in Paris for one thing, to find out more about her birth father but instead is facing a savage beast of a man that has one thing on his mind: complete possession. This does not sit well with Emmaline but what she doesn't know is that she is meant to be the mate of this man who is the King of the Lykae's. Through circumstances they travel to Scotland together but still events unfold the truth...and it is up to Emmaline and Lachlain if they have the strength to handle it.

Kresley Cole has created a refreshing new world with Factions of Lykae, Valkyrie and Vampires and an interesting Accession that happens every five hundred years and is basically a battle where it is survival of the strongest. This is the background for an enthralling love story, it starts with Lachlain recognizing Emmaline as his mate, the tortured feelings of Lachlain, desperate to claim his mate grabbed me from the very first moments and drew me in to a story that I savored from start to finish.

The characterization is strong, presenting me with background information that explains the world and rules to me and shows me where the characters are coming from. This is important to me for the emotions of Lachlain and Emmaline are experienced all the more intense for that very reason. With sparkling and interesting dialogue and a well paced plot this is a novel that you quickly ease in to and before you know it you've reached the last chapter of it, instantly wanting more of this world, more of these characters and first and foremost more of this kind of love and claiming. The secondary characters all bare enough depth to become leading characters in next novels and I for one am very interested which ones it will be.

Though I have already read much in this genre I feel that Kresley Cole has given her own voice to all the myths and legends creating a vibe all of her own that will reverberate with many readers. For all who cherish this genre, this is an intriguing start of a series to watch out for!

With A hunger like no other Kresley Cole has made a strong statement and proves to be a welcome addition to the paranormal genre.

reviewed by Leontine
Courtesy of Realms on our Bookshelves

I do not understand where these fantasies of being brutally abducted followed by physical abuse and attempted rape are coming from. How in the world could it possibly seem sexy for a woman - a warrior? - to be trapped, physically forced into sexual situations, imprisoned, permitted no privacy, denied her family, denied ANY decision-making except for shopping???? I was so tense reading this book that when I finally realized it was never going to improve, that the relationship was never going to be anything other than some dark age possession and conquest, I walked away feeling faintly ill. The writing is adequate, if mildly immature, the world is fascinating, but I do not see any romance here. Violence and ownership and co-dependency are not sexy. Writing a hero as a tragic victim of PTSD could have been an opportunity -- instead it was a caveman cliche.

I usually read historical romances (medieval, Georgian, regency & Victorian), but the trend in romance seems to be going in the paranormal direction so I figured I'd give one a try. I was seriously afraid of what I call "rolling eyes syndrome" ; some things are just unbelievable and I was hoping that this wasn't going to be just a bad B-movie read.

I am so surprised! I love this book! It reminds of some of my fav Scottish romances, but MUCH more intense and WAY edgier/darker! The alpha male hero is totally hot Scottish highlander hunk (a real treat for this Julie Garwood fan) and the heroine is this a shy little thing who eventually turns into a kick a*s woman. There's werewolf's, vampire's, Valkyrie, witches, wraiths etc., and Cole (author) does a excellent job introducing and giving background information on each one of these. She does this so well that I became instantly engrossed in the book and simply couldn't put it down. There are tons of really cool secondary characters that each have their own unique powers and personally I can't wait for those sequels!

So if you like historical romance or contemporary for that matter, this is a great place to start checking out paranormals. As for me, I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

I just finished reading this, I usually am not so fond of weak heroines, but this one gets stronger and that is super!

the story line is fluid, the book itself is not heavy, all the characters are very well defined and most of them have strong personalities, if you really pay attention you can see some other couples coming, just really pay attention ;)
I love the way the story flows, i really got into it, i couldn't wait to have a break or finish my shift to continue reading.
This is my first series of Kresley Cole and I am impressed, i am so going to read the whole series.
there are some minor things i didn't like but nothing that affects the storyline so i can live with it.
overall i really enjoyed enjoyed this book

I enjoyed this book and will continue on with the series. I like the creativity presented here, done up in good writing and a touch of twisted humor. Initially, it can be hard to find the story believable, but as you get more immersed into Cole's world of the Lore, you begin to accept it and buy into it, even if some of it makes little sense. There are so many paranormal series out there now, it is hard to find something different. Sure, the story is somewhat formulaic, but this one is different enough to keep things interesting. Kudos to the author.

Emmaline and Lachlain, the beauty and the wolf-beastie...
I loved their story!

Lachlain is able to escape 150 years of brutal torture by vampires when he finally senses his one true mate.
When he finds Emma he is completely in shock that she turns out to be a vampire, a creature who belongs to
the same race that murdered most of his family and kept him locked up for 150 years.
But somehow he still wants her, craves for her... and he will make her his mate no matter what.
So Emma finds herself the captive of a tall, dark Lykae and doesn't know Lachlain sees her as his mate.
She is terrified of the Lykae but also strangely attracted to him.

The world of the Lore that Kresley Cole created is amazing, so diverse and strange.
I love the quirky Valkyrie! They seem like fragile, delicate women but are in fact fierce warriors.

I can't wait to read more of this world!

As far as vampires go, Emmaline Troy is a petite and timid half-breed. Guarded by her overprotective Valkyrie aunts, Emma has a strong aversion to pain and conflict and much prefers to study other Lore creatures. If cornered, her grand fight strategy is to run.

As far as werewolves go, Lachlain MacRieve is a massive beast on the edge. The Lykae Clan's leader, it's been over a century since he disappeared into mindless torture, and the world has changed.

Mortal enemies, vampires and Lykae aren't supposed to like each other, let alone fall in love. So when Lachlain is led to his mate, he's horrified to learn Emma's true nature. Emma isn't thrilled either, but at first, she's too intimidated to escape the warrior's grasp.

While Emma is held captive at Lachlain's castle, all hell breaks loose at the Valkyrie coven where Emma's aunts live. Soon, it's more than her family that's threatened, and Emma must connect with her deeply buried strength and courage in order to save them all. If she's lucky, she might find the love of an immortal lifetime.

In this dark and edgy romance, Cole has created a vivid story with characters that clutch the heart. This tale is about more than fighting evil creatures and falling in love. It's about betrayal, pain, forgiveness, passion, and coming of age.

Some readers may be uncomfortable with the level of violence and explicit love scenes, but this is truly a tale that cannot be told without it. These events are catalysts for the changes that occur within the characters, and therefore worth the journey.

Although a large cast is introduced, the secondary characters' unique personalities come to life without overshadowing the hero and heroine. This new series promises one fresh story after another with the wonderful assortment presented here.

Definitely a recommended read for fans of paranormal romance.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
5-11-2006

Torture of mythic proportions--like Tantalus from whom food is always just out of reach or Prometheus whose liver is devoured by an eagle during the day and regenerated each night so the torture can resume anew in the morning--Lachlain Mac Rieve, leader of the Lykae (werewolf) Clan, is being toruted by the vampire horde. Burned in an unquenchable fire, his body regenerates to allow unceasing torment. He's endured 150 years of this torture, kept sane by the hope of meeting his one true mate.

The moment Lachlain scents Emmaline (Emma) Troy, he knows she's the one--his true mate. Unfortunately, Emma is half vampire. Can Lachlain reconcile his desire for his beautiful, sheltered mate with his need for revenge against the vampires?

Kresley Cole's aptly named paranormal romance A Hunger like No Other pits prejudice, fear and loathing against fated love and desire. As Emma searches for the answers she needs to reconcile her vampiric half with her Valkyrie half, will she be able to overcome her prejudice against werewolves to accept her growing attraction for Lachlain? In the growing tensions that precede an all-out war in which Lykae, Valkryrie, and several different vampire factions all battle each other, Emma and Lachlain must fight nature and nurture to find a love that fulfills their destiny and satisfies A Hunger like No Other.

I don't usually do reviews. Rating, yes. Reviews, noooo. Takes too much time
for me to complete them. The reason I'm doing this one is because I got
emotional. Another rule I broke. I don't do reviews emotional because my
judgement gets clouded. But after reading AHLNO for the n-th time, took more
time with the details, I just had to.

If you don't know what paranormal romance is, do yourself a favor and don't
read this book.
If paranormal romance is not a genre you appreciate, do yourself a favor and
don't read this book.
If you don't feel comfortable with the idea of Immortals, Valkyries, Lykae,
romance, endless fun, belly-holding humour, alpha males, scorchingly sensual
scenes and witty lines, do yourself a favor and do not read this book.
Because all of this and even more is what you 're gonna get with 'A Hunger
Like No Other'. And then you're gonna get stuck for good with the Immortals
After Dark series that so far numbers 11 books. (I am so waiting for Lothaire's
book...)

Now, when it comes to the story, you can read the sum and excerpt everywhere.
Lachlain king of the Lykae escapes his "prison" in Paris to answer the call of
his Instinct and find his mate after she entered the premises. It's fate. But
fate's pairings don't mathematically equal to mutual love. The how and whys are
inside the book. Now don't go and turn the first page if you're not ready. We
talked about this.
And be fairly warned. This book is hot. Fun. And addicting. You may feel a
little overwhelmed in the beginning having to adjust in this new world called
the Lore. But really, it's not the theory of relativity you need to understand.
Now if you're expecting to get infused in the depths of a world equivalent to
the 'Lord of the Rings', well, you'd better pick up 'Lord of the Rings' indeed.
'A Hunger Like No Other' is meant to keep you company in a light, fun and
raising-body-temperature way, not to answer your inner call of
psyche-deciphering quest.

That being said, 'A Hunger Like No Other' follows the short story of Myst the
Coveted (in publishing) which can be found in "The Warlord Wants Forever", and
officially launches the "Immortals After Dark" series. In terms of the series'
timeline, you're gonna find out that every installment is a part of a jigsaw
puzzle. One completes another, with a different couple each time on the
spotlights. (No, this is not urban fantasy either.) Some of the stories even
run at the same time with the current event being the Accession. Again, don't
read the book if you want to whine about paranormal romance installments, it's
started getting old...

Cole's writing is one of the best you're going to find out there on this genre,
weaving a plot of romance around a persistant alpha male that will make your
toes curl and a timid female that discovers the world -and herself- under his
ministrations. The world of Lore, that is.
The secondary characters are delicious and promise to show up in the next IAD
books, the lines are witty, the plot flows unrushed -I get headaches when a
book spans over a large timeline just to prove its existence, and thankfully
this is not the case here- and it accelerates when it needs to accelerate. In
times, you may feel the need to swoon, even if you're not the swooning type
-I know I wasn't...
So. Forget what I said and turn that page...

Let me start off by saying that this is the first paranormal and the first paranormal romance book I have read, so my review is going to be shaded by that. You can think of this as a guy's first impression of the PNR world. Also, the reason I am reading this book is because a dear friend recommended it to me to start researching the world of paranormal creatures. With that out of the way, let's get to the review.

A Hunger Like No Other has two characters I disliked a lot right from the start. Lachlain is the epitome of an alpha male, who thinks he is a gift to the world and women in particular. He is a Lykae (werewolf) leader who has been imprisoned in hellish conditions for 150 years by vampires, and escapes from there when he scents his true mate. Also, he is over 1,200 years old, just keep this in mind. I actually liked how the author described the pain and anguish that Lachlain had to face while being held there. What I did not understand was why he did not attempt to get out sooner, if he was in such pain that the only thing keeping him sane was thought of revenge. I think revenge is a huge motivator, which should have given him the incentive to break out. But ... moving on.

Emmaline or Emma, who is the other main character in the book, is a vampire-valkyrie mix. This was something unique for me, and it was interesting to see how this mix gave her qualities from both. Emma is quite young when it comes to immortals, being only 70 years old, and is actually just starting to gain her feet in the world. Her Valkyrie aunts have coddled and protected her, and kept her away from the big bad world. This has left her timid, submissive and weak. She seems to be someone who cannot take care of herself, and she admits this herself, as she longs for the protection of her coven, her daily routine, and being given everything by her aunts without ever having to work for anything.

The attitudes of both Emma and Lachlain shocked me. Lachlain manhandles Emma and nearly rapes her in public, then threatens her with `dire' consequences and kidnaps her. This kind of torture does not end there, and there are numerous other situations where he comes really close to assaulting her and raping her. Emma, on the other hand, does not fight this one bit. She actually takes the "bad man" to her hotel room without putting up even a semblance if a fight, the reason being that she is really afraid of pain. Really?

I do have to give Lachlain some benefit of the doubt. He was imprisoned by the vampires, and when he finds out that his one true mate is actually a vampire, I can imagine his reaction to the cruelty of fate. He also may not know how women are treated in the modern world. But, that is where this ends. The way he treats Emma like a sex-toy and after his realization that he actually likes her, as a possession, I found it to be quite disgusting. His attitude towards Emma changes when he realizes that she is actually part-Valkyrie, and he seems to feel a lot of remorse for what he has done to her, but he still continues to lie to her, and treat her as something he is entitled to, with no regard to Emma's feelings.

But, enough about the characters. The story line could have been so interesting, but the book moves at such a slow pace that I wanted to quit reading a number of times. The only thing that stopped me was the friend who promised that the book gets much better towards the end. For about 80% of the book, we have to wade through the back and forth between Emma and Lachlain, as they go from captor and captive to actually liking each other. Can someone say "best ever example of Stockholm Syndrome"? Or maybe Emma is being practical, thinking that Lachlain is the best bet to protect her from the Vampires who seem to be interested in capturing her as well. I think the part where Lachlain actually saves her from being abducted by the vampires is the turning point of the book, where it starts getting somewhat interesting.

Everything in the book feels hurried along, except for the part where Lachlain is treating Emma like thrash. One minute Emma is trying to escape from Lachlain, when BHAM! He mauls her, they have incredible sex where Emma climaxes innumerable times, and they fall deeply and madly in love. Is that what love is really about? Or is it the fact that Emma actually gets attuned to the fact of being Lachlain's mate? Or maybe it is Lachlain's blood which she drinks. I am thoroughly confused. After this point, Emma will do anything for Lachlain, including, going after his enemies all by herself.

I have no clue why the book could not have had more action throughout the story. When the action does come, in the form of Vampires attacking our duo, it all seems to happen so quickly, that you could miss it if you skip a few pages in the book. It all happens in about 5% of the book. Here again, I have no clue what gets into Emma that changes her from being timid and powerless, to someone who can kill Lachlain's enemies. The book does not seem to have bad guys as such. They are referred to at numerous times, but they are not developed at all. I was left wanting to know more about the Vampire king, what and how he is as a character, why and how he had imprisoned Lachlain, what his relationship with Emma is, how the politics of the Vampire horde affects the world and who all the actors in this horde are. In fact, I was amazed that both the bad guys in the book go down without so much as a whimper, within a few pages. One minute they're there, next minute they are dead, even though before this, they have been alive for centuries. Few as in, maybe 5 pages are devoted to how the bad guys are finally taken down!

In the end, I have to wonder. Do women really find such behaviour suitable, or even hot? Are they looking for men to degrade them, treat them like thrash, and to use them how they see fit? If not, why is it they find it ok if that happens to characters in a novel? How can they find a man who does this tolerable, no matter how hot he is or how well endowed? Is it that, wild, out-of-the-world sex is so important that they are willing to overlook the rest of the relationship?

So, what redeemed this book from the one and two-star slush pile? For one, in the end I did believe that Lachlain could change for the better and that Emma could grow a spine to become a bit more powerful. Also, this is very early in the series and I think the author may be still developing the characters, especially Emma as I think she will play an extremely important role as the series progresses, what with her now being associated with three of the Lore's creatures. And finally, I actually liked how the book ended, with everyone ending up somewhat happy, or atleast pacified.

Tell me ladies, do you like your male leads to be like Lachlain? Also, can someone recommend better books if I want to research the paranormal creatures in fiction today, besides sparkly vampires?

This is by far my favorite author! So much detail, so much drama and you can experience the love that was put into each character. I always turn to this series first when I reread my books. There is just so much going on other then the plot to have two souls fall in love. Love these books keep them coming!

A Hunger Like No Other is what an excellent paranormal romance should be. From page one, the main characters draw you into their captivating world filled with a plethora of supernatural beings as lycans, vampires, valkyries, furies, and wraiths.

Lachlain and Emma are extremely likeable characters who are strong, witty, and passionate. I adore lycan and prefer the stories with the intense, volatile, devoted Lycan males. I fell in love with the tortured, complex, and sexy lykae king, Lachlain. His half vampire/vakyrie mate, Emmaline, is adorable, sassy and smart. It is during their road trip from Paris to Scotland that their attraction and relationship builds into one of trust.

My only picks are the cliché cover and the relentless sexual tension which began to grate after while.

Their story is full of action, drama, romance, suspense, and intriguing secondary characters which propels the story forward. Paranormal romance blends the real with the fantastic. Ms. Cole has done this genre proud.

After enduring years of torture from the vampire horde, Lachlain MacRieve, leader of the werewolves (Lykae), is enraged to find the predestined mate he's waited millenia for is a vampire. Or at least partly one. Emmaline Troy is half Valkyrie / half vampire. After her mother's death, she grew up sheltered by the Valkyrie coven and she's rather fearful and very shy. When she finally sets out to uncover the truth about her parents, the powerful Lykae finds her, claims her as his mate and forces her back to his ancestral Scottish castle. Despite the tension arising from his initial anger and their differences, the two are getting closer and Emmaline discovers her strengths. But will they be able to conquer an ancient evil resurfacing from their past?

This is Kresley Cole's second story set in the world of the Lore (vampires, werewolves and other mythical creatures living hidden from us, but in our world). "The warlord wants forever" (from the anthology "Playing easy to get") introduced this world and the Valkyries while telling the love story of the Valkyrie Myth and the vampire Nikolai Wroth. While I find it makes the experience of reading "A hunger like no other" richer, I think that one can also read it on its own and still understand what is going on. The series will continue with "No rest for the wicked".

"A hunger like no other" is at once suspenseful fantasy, sexy romance and often very funny (but not in a slapstick way like Lyndsay Sands). I simply couldn't put it down and enjoyed it very much, mostly because I really liked the characters, the (sexual) tension between them and how Emmaline grew as a person (which is unfortunately rare in romance novels). There were also a lot of interesting supporting characters that I'd like to see again in other novels (maybe with their own story). In addition, Crole doesn't simply warm up the clich?es about vampires and werewolves, but gives them an original touch and also centers the story around the Valkyries, which are partly based in Viking myth, but as a whole quite original. I'd say Cole is in the same league as Kim Harrison, Adams / Clamp (Sazi-series, "A touch of evil") or Lynn Viehl - new authors who manage to write paranormal romances with originality and their own touch. So I can highly recommend this book to anyone who likes intelligent and entertaining paranormal romance with an alpha-hero and a strong heroine (Emmaline has to find her strength first, but when she does - beware!).

The story between Emmaline & Lachlain was full of ups and downs. I liked the fact that little Emmaline grew a backbone and owned up to her heritages. What a twist on who her father was. I enjoyed the destruction of both the bad vamps and look forward to which bad guy in the accession shows up next. The glossary at the end of the book is helpful with all the Lore factions and explanations. Nix has me laughing in every book and I love the weirdness of the Valkyrie clan. I look forward to the next book in the series and highly recommend this series to other readers.

BDB fans recommended this book as I finished the BDB series, and I am glad I listened. Now, I enjoyed BDB more, but I really enjoyed this first book to the IAD series. This book has more creatures than vampires (i.e. fairies, werewolves etc) but it's all good.

I enjoyed Cole's writing and I enjoyed the evolution of their Lachlain & Emmaline's relationship. It was nice to see Emma growing up and taking control of herself and her destiny. No more puny Emma, hello Demestrius slayer. I really liked the scenes when Emma drank from Lachlain.

I was curious as to how other Lykes can see that you have been marked. Does your skin glow where he bit you? I assuming Emma is dressed, so how can all Garrett and Bowen see the mark? Well, I guess I will ask the discussion threads.

I am reading book 2 "No rest for the Wicked" and it is even better.

Since the plot has been so thoroughly summarized by other reviewers, I'll just go on to second all of the wonderful things that have been said about this book. It was electric from start to finish and I read it in only four hours. I literally could not put it down. Kresley Cole has created a world filled with vampires and werewolves, ghouls and demons, fairies and wraiths, but all of it is cohesive and all of it makes sense. In Lachlain MacRieve she has created a hero willing to go to any lengths to be with the woman to whom he is bound even breaking down all the barriers she has erected around herself to keep from falling in love. In Emmaline Troy she has created a likeable heroine who, though initially giving the appearance of being shy and unassertive, is actually strong and confident once she finds the life mate whose sole purpose it is to bring out the best in her. This is one of the best paranormal romances I've read this year and I cannot wait to get my hands on the second in the series, No Rest for the Wicked.

This is the first book from Ms. Kresley Cole that I read, and I instantly fell in love with her writings. I went and bought all the other Immortals After Dark Series that are available and all of them have proved to be fantastic reads.

Although some readers have mentioned that they did not like the idea of fated "mates" I find that Ms. Cole made the idea merely a way for the characters to meet and get to know each other. When it comes to subjects such as "fated mates" and "love at first sight"," it is generally easy for authors to fall in to the trap of not being able to explain/show why or how the two became so deeply in love with each other. However, this is not the case with Ms. Cole. As much as the two characters are destined to be together, and insticts did urge Lachlain to "protect" and "provide" his female, the emotional attraction between the two was never left out. By the end of the story, you will not have questions as to why they were so deeply in love with each other.

The character development of both Lachlain and Emmaline were great too. As much as Lachlain is an alpha male, and that he is very dominating in personality, he never overpowered the existance of Emmaline. In fact, with her being so timid, she personality stood out as much as the dominatign Lachlain did. Her change towards the end of the novel was also something that made her a very unique character. She was never annoying and stupid that you'll think she's too dumb to exist, nor was she ever so strong and stubborn that you'll want to kill her off just so the story can keep moving along. All in all, by the end of the novel, I've fallen in love with both of the characters and couldn't wait to see more of them in the books later on the series.

A lycae (werewolf) tortured for for a very long time breaks free only to find the mate he smells near. Now with a mate that is all wrong for him, one of his enemy no less, he must convince her to stay with him. Emma starts out a timid half vampire/half Valkyrie, and soon grows into her own skin as her love grows for her mate.

I started this book like most others, expecting it to be just alright, I would read it and then put it on the shelf and forget about it. Nope, didn't happen. After the first chapter I was so hooked I skipped dinner and continued reading in one straight shot all the way through. There is so much going on in this book, but it is amazing. It has a sweet new twist on the whole mythological creature genre. It also has a bit of the Carpathian feel with the bonding and mating, but that's ok...it wasn't the same at all. It was a wonderful book...oh, and so freaking hot there is practically steam coming off the pages.

I couldn't get past the first chapter. I love the idea of a man who knows what he wants and who he wants... however, I was weary with the intro... he can sense his mate and his first thought is basically 'I must do her' - like... ok. I'm more of a 'I feel the other half of my soul' type of gal but to each their own. Then the scene where he chases her down and rips open her shirt though she's crying begging him to stop... it made me feel very uncomfortable. If he truly thinks she's his soulmate, why not care for her, discover her, then seduce her? I guess I like a slow burn of build up... This cave man thing just feels lazy. Like it is a substitute for writing complex characters, with confusing emotions, from different worlds, who find a deep passionate love. Also the Emma character felt really 'weak' for a heroine and supernatural creature. I mean her own thoughts were just whining, then she's attacked and she doesn't even try to fight her attacker. Weak female characters, shallow minded heros, and romanticized attacks. Not my jam.

My thoughts:

I actually started with book 10 or so, fell deeply in love and knew that this was the paranormal romance series for me. So I read book 1, which is a novella (you can get it for free on her website), and then this book. And what I felt then I felt again, she is so good!

At first I was a bit taken aback. Lachlain was crazy, too demanding, a brute, a barbarian, I called him so many names. And with any other book I would have frowned, but somehow Cole made me fall for that dog (as some of Emma's family happily calls the Lycae). I have no idea how she manages it, but he just creeps under your skin and stays there.

Poor Lachlain, tortured, dying, and brought back to life for 150 years. No wonder he was a bit crazed. He was all alpha, so very alpha. He was also later very protective and sometimes the whole mine thing just makes a girl weak in the knees. Then we have Emma, she is no kickass female, she is actually weak and timid. But all women do not need to be kickass. She just does not want conflicts, but little by little this little weakling gains more strength. They are suited for each other.

This is what I want paranormal romance to be like. I am smitten and I like it. The book has plenty of passion, and two people that are so unlikely to fall in love, they are enemies, but they are destined to be together and the road there is not easy.

The whole universe is interesting with many different "creatures" running around, making alliances and waging war against each other.

Conclusion:

Would I recommend this book, yes! Will I read more, I sure will :D

Rating

Made me love Paranormal romance again

I was pleasantly surprised by this novel. I received the first three in the series through a reddit exchange. I had never heard of the series or author (which is surprising considering my taste in paranormal fiction) and, truth be told, I'm not a big fan of the romance side of paranormal romance. But this was a pretty good read and it was easy to get into. I will say it was pretty reminiscent of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series at time (not necessarily a bad thing), but it's different enough to enjoy on its own merits. And to be quite candid, the amount of blood and rough sex went a long way to keeping my attention. So I would say anyone who enjoys werewolves, vampires and paranormal romance is likely to consider this worth a read.

This just wasn't for me. There are certainly worse paranormal romance series out there, but I couldn't get into this one. At all. Well... I guess the male protagonist's introduction was intriguing, but I felt like a lot of things had happened "off camera" before the book ever began, especially for a first book in a series. Then, another issue I had was that it seemed to take an inordinately long time for what I was reading to match up with the summary of the book.

Oh, and let us not forget to mention the cover. Had I actually judged this book by its unimpressive artwork, I probably would have skipped it altogether. Why does it look like the guy is the vampire?? It makes no sense to me because the chic is the vamp in this one. So yes, this book was definitely not for me.

Do we deserve our own bit of porn? Yes we do ladies! The rest of the series frankly has better fighting-action and plot, but so far this one is by far the sexiest, in my opinion. If you're looking for page after page of steamy scenes this is the book for you (and me)!!!

I checked this out from the library intending for a bit of reading before bed. I was literally up until 4am cause I couldn't put it down. I finished it the next day. I had just started the second book when I was spending the weekend with a visiting girlfriend. I suggested she just start A Hunger Like No Other... and the SAME EXACT thing happened! We were up until 4am reading our respective books.

I have lots of respect for this author.. but not much for the person who picked the cover art. Clearly they haven't read the book, lol.

<3 for Kresley Cole!

This is an amazing book, a sort of "Beauty and the Beast: meets myth and legend. A sheltered beauty comes into her own after a beast with a brogue high-jacks her trip across the pond. And tortured Scot finds that riling even an 80-year-old virgin can reveal a vixen with a few tricks up her sleeve. And if she chooses to unleash her new-found bad-ass-ness on more than just her captor....well then.

And best of all, it's at an old-school price (especially for Simon and Schuster the king of over-priced e-reads) of $5.99. I love it, picked up a paperback a few years back and read it so often over 2 years that it (and its replacement) fell apart. Now that the e-book scene has exploded, I finally got an e-book copy (that hopefully won't break down).

Since there has been quite alot of people reviewing the book with vivid descripton's, this means I won't have too :-) I loved this book ! I have 2 types of books: the books I have read and just couldn't get in too or finish and then put on the store to sell then there are my keeper's that I would read again and sit proudly in one of my many bookcases waiting to be picked up again. I am usually a slow reader, but I read this in a day, then I went to pick up the other two in the series. The characters are so well developed, I loved the tension between them, their world was so well writen. I never read anything about valkerie's in paranormal romance novels before,well not untill now. Kresley Cole will be on my auto buy list now, and I'm spreading the word to my friends, book club and customers ( I work in a bookstore )If you want a really amazing paranormal romance , pick this one....you will love it too!

After spending nearly 200 years being tortured in a firey hell by the Vampire Horde, Lykae (read: Werewolf) Lachlain MacRieve escapes, swearing revenge on the vampires. His escape is spurred by his sensing of his eternal mate, but when he finds her, he's maddened to discover that she is a half vampire. Emmaline Troy is a half vampire/half Valkyrie in Paris searching for information on her biological parents. She's accosted by Lachlain and forced to accompany him back to Scotland. All the while, they are pursued by vampires trying to steal Emma back, as she's the only female vampire left.

Oh, where to start on this book. Cole writes a very sexy book, with fascinating characters. If you like your heroes alpha, then Lachlain fits the bill. The book moves rapidly, and the secondary characters really come to life. I started out not liking Emmaline very much. She seemed weak and wimpy and indeed, the character herself says she's a coward and weak. However, Cole grows Emma from a scared, timid heroine to a very strong and empowered woman able to stand up to the alpha male trying to run her life. And considering her "youth" (she's 71 years to his 1200 years), she needs some assertiveness to handle him.

Cole also captures the essence of each "creature." Emma is sexy and there's no question, but she talks about clawing and pawing things, and she hisses. Lachlain's beast really comes out, and even in the cover, the model's hands are very beasty looking. I like the realism.

Cole's book completely captivated me, but I did have some issues. The primary problem I had was that her dialogue tended to leave the subject out. Quite a bit of the Lykae dialogues were incomplete sentences, and I could never figure out if it was just a trait in their speech patterns. Whatever it was, it didn't work for me as I read the book. Maybe if I heard it spoken out loud the way the author heard it, it might sound more natural, but unfortunately, it bothered the bejeezus out of this English major. Also, Cole tends to switch points of view pretty frequently, almost like you're watching television. It was disruptive for me.

My other issue was that Emmaline's foster family -- the Valkyries -- were interesting, but seemed there to provide nothing but comic relief. The book started out pretty intensely serious and dramatic, but as it progressed, it felt like the author decided on twisting it into a bit of comedy. Not too over the top, however, and I grew to really like them.

And for those who are bothered by rather forceful sex, and near rape-scenes, you might need to skip this one. Lachlain is a touch crazy in the beginning (I would be, too, after 200 years of having the flesh burned off my body), and has a very strong dislike of vampires, so he treats the heroine very shabbily and while there isn't any actual rape, there are some close calls that made me uncomfortable.

Overall, however, despite the sentence syntax and the switch in styles, I really enjoyed the book and I'll look forward to the next one.

I just finished this book, after having read Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night not too long ago. I was interested in the vampire angle in the Immortals after Dark series. (by the way, why is it called Immortals After Dark when it's only vampires that have to wait to be outside at night?) The book was only ok. The heavy petting that Lachlain forces on Emma the night they meet is a little too close to rape. Even if he feels she is his true mate, you would think he would have more consideration for her feelings and not push himself on her. Not hero worthy behavior.

The author's attempts at humor grew old during the duration of the story. I guess giving a vampire a penchant for an iPod and earbuds is somehow amusing, and having a 1000 year old werewolf learn how to drive is supposed to be amusing. Let's not forget the uneaten popcorn. Fortunately the humor is not as snarky as Wicked Deeds. I guess Ms. Cole hadn't got in her groove yet. (Just a thought, why was Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night entitled as such? They were in a Guatamelan jungle, where's the winter in that? I pictured snow. Was there any snow in that book, or was it just a cool title?)

Another thing about this series that stands out is that in these two books definitely, and from the reviews I have read about her other 4 books in the Immortals series, is that the main goal of the book is for the male character to find his "wife." Cole refers to these females as mate, bride, lover or whatever name the female takes, depending on the type of immortal group that male belongs to. Does Ms. Cole have a wheel that she spins to decide which group of the Lore she is going to write about? So for instance in book three it was another werewolf looking for his mate? Where in another book it was about a demon looking for his lover?

If this were a stand alone book it might not be so bad, but as a series that focuses on everyone finding fated love over and over again it gets a little old.

I'm just not sure about all those five star reviews.

The first 3 chapters almost put me off. Lachlain is suffering and recovering from torture and hurts/forces Emma. who is a virgin and meek character, into intimate contact. Normally, I would stop reading at that element but the writing was good and I was intrigued by Emma. And Emma has quite a journey as she grows stronger and stands up to the very Alpha male hero and her Valkyrie aunts. I really loved the world build with wolves, Valkyrie and vampires and all their mythology. Best of all is it has a lot of build up before they consummate. Oh, Lachlain is Scottish and been imprisoned for centuries to the man out of time element is fun once you get past his actions in chapters 1-3. I loved the end. Emma's journey completes in a satisfying way that had me cheering.

This is the first book that I have read by this author. I loved it and can't wait to read the next book in the series. If you like reading books about handsome, preternatural men who meet their match in a woman, you might enjoy reading Karen Marie Moning, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan too. Here's an excerpt in my own words: Emma just got off the phone with her relatives after telling them that she wasn't coming home. After she hung up the phone and turned around, there stood Lachlain without even acting like he wasn't listening to her phone call. She asks him if he eavesdropped, he answers "Aye" and she nervously asks him if he learned anything new. He replies "Your accent's odd and you speak too quickly...But I did hear that you think me 'wildly handsome'". She glances away in embarrasment. He asks why she didn't tell her family what he is but she doesn't want them to worry. He asks "And knowing you are with a Lykae would worry them?" She answers "Of course it would. They've told me about you. About what you are." He asks "And what am I?" For the first time since he'd taken her, she purposely met his gaze. "Deep down, you're a monster." Want to know more? You gotta read the book!

I am not entirely sure why I like this book... I think Lachlain is an awful person for a good portion of the story... probably until about halfway through. I think it's the redemption factor and the fact that I feel bad for him because of everything he went through. I can't say I particularly like their first actual sex scene together, especially considering it is highly unlikely a virgin would enjoy that. I do, however, like Emma's character development as the story goes and her affect upon Lachlain as their relationship evolves. All in all, I definitely enjoyed this book, but if I were Emma I would have totally killed Lachlain in his sleep as he is at the beginning of the story.... if I could haha (highly unlikely chance of success).

I think you should read the prequel (The Warlord Wants Forever) before reading this book. Its a free novella but characters from that book are referred to in this one (which is typical of paranormal romance books). What I liked about this book is the focus on immortals - male or female. I am use to reading the male dominated series and their search to find love. This one tells their story pretty evenly from both perspectives. There is not a lot of detail at this point about they history of the different breeds but I hope Cole goes into it more later in the series. There is definitely love and romance, the sex so far has been pretty tame.

I would recommend the series based on the 2 stories I have read so far and I look forward to reading more.

I read a lot. So much so that it makes my husband angry and my friends tease me. I tell you this so you know I mean business when I say Kresley Cole's "A Hunger Like No Other" is the best Paranormal Romance book ever. The story centers around Lykae king Lachlain MacRieve. At the start of the book, he is chained in the pits of hell (for lack of a better word) and has been burning to near-death and resurrecting for hundreds of years. But then he scents his fated mated above ground. He busts free and finds her... only to discover she is part vampire. Lachlain hates the vampires, though, since they chained him that fiery prison and all....

Anyway, Emma is sweet, timid and not at all worldly. An innocent in just about every way. Lachlain kidnaps her and uses her to help him acclimate to the new era he's facing. He pushes the envelope of a sexual relationship with her... and slowly begins to form an emotional relationship as well.

Emma helps Lachlain journey back to his home in Scotland. (His accent is to die for, BTW.) And he reunites with his people he hasn't seen in centuries.

While all this is happening, bad-guy vamps are trying to kidnap Emma. It creates lots of drama and sets up a great twist at the end.

The world of the "Lore" that Kresley Cole establishes is unique and so easy to lose yourself in. The events in this book integrate seamlessly into other books in the series. I can't recommend the Immortals After Dark books enough. And this is the book that made me fall in love with them all.

I'd give it more than 5 stars if I could.

I checked out Kresley Cole on the recommendation of another who loves supernatural romance serials. She has morphed quickly into one of my favorite authors for this series alone. I will admit that this book pales in comparison to the following novels for the simple fact that some of the following novels seem to be a bit more action packed. However, I read and re-read these novels anytime I get the itch to read about a strong female in pursuit by a male that would otherwise be strong if it weren't for the weakness she presents. Who doesn't love a great alpha, and in my opinion, she creates some good ones. Love all the different types of characters and beings as well. Not so traditional. I love how carnal and raw some of the love scenes come out as well.

I have been reading about how good the IAD books are for a couple of years now. It was not until I read Gena Showalter's The Darkest Night that I decided to pick up this series. For most part I am a fan of all things supernatural and enjoy reading different authors take on various mythos. I did enjoy the direction the author is taking her story when it comes down to the lore and that is what took this 2.5 to maybe 3 star book up to a 4.

The underlying story is the story of the Ascension/Accession. A battle that happens every 500 years between the various Lore, which is what Vampires, demons, witches, wraiths, Valkyrie, and the Lykae are called. The story that is focused on is one a powerful Lykae who was imprisoned and tortured by vampires. He senses his mate and breaks free, the thing is she just happens to be of the race that tortured him...so he believes. Emmaline is weak and not what Lachlain expected. He easily overpowers her and they ensue upon the typical romance blueprint of meet, unwarranted attraction/obstacle, acceptance, another obstacle, and happy ever after.

The book starts off good and then there is a drag and this gets repeated at least 2 more times before the novel completion. I totally felt unsatisfied at the end and I did not get the urge to go out and buy the rest of the series. What I find myself disliking about Showalter, Cole, and Ward is that they find it necessary to introduce characters and their soul mates in another characters book. Which ends up ruining the suspense and making the stories predictable.

This is quite possibly one of the most awesome books I've read in a while...and I read A LOT! I first ordered this book after reading Cole's short story "The Warlord Wants Forever" in the book Playing Easy To Get. I have always wondered why romantic fantasy writers have neglected to address the mighty Valkyrie, and finally stories are written that do these strong, complicated women justice! I've already ordered Kenderin's story in No Rest For The Wicked, and am breathless with anticipation!

Emmaline Troy is (probably) the first and only half-vampire, half-Valkyrie..but she doesn't really know who she is. As her mother died shortly after her birth, she has no clue who her Vampire father was..or is. Growing up protected by her Valkyrie coven who kill vampires daily, she fears her own nature to the point of not even recognizing what that nature might be, and feels utterly alone. So, in order to not become one of the insane killers she has never drank "straight from the source" and is scared to death of pain and confrontation. In a stroke of rebellion, she leaves her coven in New Orleans to travel to Paris to "fulfill her destiny". All she hopes is to discover the secrets of her conception.

Lykae King, Lachlain MacRieve, has but two goals in life..to rid the world of vampires and to find his destined mate - the women who will quiet his beast and complete him for all eternity. After being imprisoned by the vampire horde and tortured for the past 15 centuries, his is on the brink of insanity.....when he finally scents HER! He finally escapes his hell and tracks his mate, only to discover that she is Emmaline - who, as part vampire, should be his bitterest enemy.

Lachlain kidnaps Emmaline trying to determine if she is really his mate or if he has lost his mind, only to determine she is sweet, compassionate, innocent and nothing like her ancestors. Convinced she is his mate he must accomplish the un-accomplishable -capture a Valkyrie who only wants her freedom.

Can Emmaline overcome her timidity to seize a life with a wild man who despises her kind and fight an ancient evel to protect those she loves? Can Lochlain overcome his hatred of all vampire-kind to love Emmaline, as well as acquirine his vengeance? Together can they learn the secrets of her conception...and if they do, can they live with what they find?

Reviewed at Another Look Book Reviews

A Hunger Like No Other is book 2 in the Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole. A friend on Goodreads recommended that I actually read this book first and then read the book 1, The Warlord Wants Forever. I am quite anal about reading books in order but I do have a lot of trust in my Goodreads blogging buddies so I did read this one first.

Right off let me tell you that A Hunger Like No Other reads as if it was the first book in the series. I was not lost at all nor do I think I missed out at all. I am going to read The Warlord Wants Forever next so I will share in my next review if I am still really positive that that I was okay to read this book first.

So let me get what I didn't like off my chest first and then allow me to sing the praises of A Hunger Like No Other.

One of the things that I do not like (and one of the reasons I avoid Paranormal or UF books) is that authors seem to think they have to create worlds and that are freakishly spelled and hard to pronounce. I hate trying to sound out words the entire time I am reading. Well I have to admit there was a touch of that in A Hunger Like No Other. Lykae and a few other character names did annoy me but I just learned to look passed them (even though I refer to Lykae as Lycra now). I guess there is just no such thing as a bad ass vampire named, Pete eh?

The one other thing that kept me a bit frustrated was the lack of description about what the characters look like. I get that Lachlain turns into a werewolf (uhm kinda) but I don't get what he looks like. It is made clear that he doesn't look anything like what you and I traditionally think a werewolf looks like but I'll be damned if I have any clue of what he does look like. I am almost tempted to see if I can dig up some fan art.

Here are some descriptions as it was explained in the story about what he looks like when he turns wolfy:
Yes to fangs. No to fur and there are frequent mentions of paws and claws. His eyes turn blue. His body gets bigger, while the shape of his face changes to lupine. (he turns purple???) Then when Emma asks if he gets a snout he replies, "No. Not like you are thinking." (So what does that mean?) And that my friends is a description of a his werewolf self. (did that even sound wolfish?)

<<On blog I inserted a picture of the Disney fairies>>>

As for the Valkyrie, (that is what is Emma is partially) I also don't have a clue what they look like other than they have pointed ears and that they are female. I have a pretty good idea of what Emma looks like but as for her full fledge Valkyrie aunts, I'm lost. I was thinking that they are short fairy creatures similar to what Disney created for Sleeping Beauty's guardians but later in the book Emma does say how beautiful all her aunts are so then it had me re-think. Anyone have any clue here what they look like?

Now for the good stuff. The story was really good and it kept my eyes glued to the pages. It was a joy to read how weak and timid Emma was at the beginning and then how she grew into a bad-ass warrior woman. She made me proud.

I also liked how the author kept the readers in check. I admit to getting increasingly frustrated with Emma not giving into Lachlain's desires until Kresley Cole reminded me (via Emma's POV) just how devious he had been with her. Then I wanted to high five Emma.

There was a lot of future stories to build on from A Hunger Like No Other but the readers are not left on cliffhangers. I really liked that. I am always willing to invest into a series while it is still being written if the author leaves nice breadcrumbs to return but not have me cursing waiting for the next book to arrive. Kresley Cole got me on this first book and I am eager to continue.

There are lots of steamy scenes but it does take until almost the end of the story for them to do "it". The build up and teasing is really amped up. So much so that I think this rating would the first time I granted a heat rating of four when the actual act itself was so late into the book.

Teasers: self amputation, electric love, grabbing the headboard spindle so hard they disintegrate into dust, an odd way to make a father proud

Kresley Cole has created a fabulous world that I want to know more about! Emmaline Troy is half-vampire, half-Valkyrie. She has been raised by the Valkyrie and fears her vampiric side as her foster aunts refer to vampires as leeches and have ingrained in her that blood should not be taken directly from anyone. While in Paris searching for information on her parents (she doesn't know the identity of her father and her mother is deceased), she is kidnapped and forced to go to Scotland by Lykae King Lachlain MacRieve. Lachlain is half-mad initially as he has escaped (by chewing off his leg!!) from the fiery catacombs where Demestriu of the Vampire Horde had imprisoned him for 150 years. Emma is terrified of Lachlain at first, although she is terrified of just about everything as she has been taught to run and hide when trouble starts. However, Emma quickly learns to stand up for herself and evolves into a very strong female character. Lachlain doesn't know how to treat her as part of him is horrified that his mate is half-vampire but he learns through trial and error what Emma needs. Meanwhile, vampires are terrorizing the Valkyrie, looking for Emma. Lachlain defends Emma from the first attack but is horrified when she willingly traces with a vampire during the second attack. I will not spoil the story by revealing any more but will add that it was great to see Wroth and Myst appear (albeit briefly) in this story as well. This was a very original take on several overused themes (vampires, werewolves) and I highly appreciated the author's creativity. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment. Highly recommended!

I have to say that I loved this book. I actually had to go out and buy the next one at the store because I couldn't wait for it to be shipped to me. If you like women who are, or become confident, in themselves and their own talents then read this book. It's a vampire/valkayrie and a werewolf love story that hits a more believable possibility for being around now. It balances the need we women have to feel protected with the ability we find in oursleves to protect those we love and how we want our partners to not only accept but love that. Finding that Emaline is not the weakling or monster she fears echoes many of the fears most women have of not being enough for those we love or being to selfish in what we want. Emaline finds, just as we all do, that real love wants us to be selfish and that gives us the courage to slay any demons in our paths.

The sex scenes are hot and if your shy you may blush, but I have to say my husband didn't mind(:)) The storyline flows nicely and you even get glimpses of other stories that are to follow or happening along side.

Hope you enjoy it!

O.k. my friend and I have read the book and we absolutely adored it!!! So when we saw it only got a 4 1/2 star review we shook our heads furiously! (HOW DARE!) Anyway.... You must read this book!!

It's about a vampire half breed that becomes coincedentally the mate a of a vampire hating Lykae (werewolf) and she soon learns to trust and love each him over many hard fought battles of her own and he learns to love who she is.

CAUTION I repeat.. CAUTION! this is NOT I repeat NOT a PG rated novel....more so on the "R" side of the scale.... Little-Minds ...BEWARE

Still good though if you are old enough and mature enough and you have not read this than...... I'm sorry but SHAME ON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

P.S. Please forgive the spelling

I know I am behind in the Immortals After Dark Series. It seems everyone has read this series but me. I questioned people if I should read this and they were surprised I hadn't read it already. They did recommend in starting with this book -- which is suppose to be the second book -- since it fits the timeline better. So I signed up for the reading challenge and started reading about the world created by Kresley Cole.

I am having a little trouble writing this review though. I loved the characters of this book. Lachlain was amazing in his beastly and wild way. He knew what he wanted and he took it -- literally. While I didn't like some of the things he did to achieve his end goal of claiming his mate, I felt it brought out his personality and true nature. Emma was a timid and weak half vampire that was hurt when a fly died. I couldn't believe we were going to have to read about such a weak character paired with an amazing lead like Lachlain. When she finally started coming out of her shell though, it became amazing.

I think the main problem I have with this book is the complicated world. There are many species and terms that I haven't been able to figure out yet. I still don't understand the big battle that is suppose to happen every few hundred years and the full ramifications that come with it. I did find to be curious about some of the secondary characters though. I looked around a little on the authors website and found that most of the secondary characters will have their own book.

While I am not a huge fan as most, I think this series is one that you grow to love as the author brings us a new book. Hopefully I can share in the excitement as I read along to the other books in the series.

Ahhh, this book is what started my current obsession with PNR novels. I was bored at work and so I looked up new things to read on the store. Read the chapter 1 teaser and was hooked.

I love Lachlain and I love Emmaline. I thought both of their storylines were very authentic and honest. After I finished it I ran out and bought every Kresley Cole IAD book I could get my hot little hands on. That to me is a mark of a great story and an even greater author. After one book Kresley Cole had me chasing down the rest of the series at full price at B&N. I even got Myst and Nikolai's book.

She has created a fantastic world with AHLNO, one that I had never immersed myself in before and I'm loving it.

I even like the cover.

This book is fantastic!
I was looking for a new good series and decided to pick this one after reading the reviews.
I'm so glad I did.
The book will keep you reading until you can't fight your eyes anymore.
It'll even follow you in your dreams!
I didn;t want the book to end and was very angry when it did so suddenly.
Looking forward to the next!

*** NOTE: I read this book first because it said "Book 1" but then learned that there's a story by Cole in the book "Playing Easy to Get" that tells the story of Myst and gives a lot of back story to the Valkyrie clan. Reading Hunger Like No Other first confused me at times because I didn't understand the characters and their actions but once I went back and read the short story, it all came together. Excellent short story, don't skip it! ***

This is the the second book in the series( first book is in an anthology tittled playing easy to get) and one of my favorites. if you like to laugh as much as you like passion and down right steamy sex senes, you will love this book.(as well as the series)
a brief desciption of the story..
lachlain is a lycke a.k.a werewolf who has been trapped and tortured for over a 100 yrs. when he smells his mate from his dungen, he breaks free to find her. only to realise she is one of his most hated enemies, a vampire.

this book is fast paced, funny and very sexy, can't say enough about how much I love this series. I gave this book 5 stars, but I'd give it 10 if I could.

I liked this book a lot but found that it seemed to lose some momentum, however it left me curious enough about the secondary characters to continue with the series and I'm glad I did - the next book is great!

Kresley Cole has great character development and I really enjoy her dialogue style.

A nice change was that I didn't find the heroine to be intensely irritating and unbelievable. She wasn't portrayed as a 'strong,intelligent, independant woman' only to turn out to constantly be doing and saying silly, pathetic, contradictory things - the heroine was actually portrayed as being quite weak and dependant initially (still not stupid though) but then really comes into her own.

One of the standouts for me from the first two books in this series is that I find the characters beleiveable (apart from the fact that they're valkyrie, vampires, werewolves etc.) - it's a nice change to be reading and not stopping constantly shaking your head and rolling your eyes over what characters do or say.

This was my first Kresley Cole read and I wasn't disappointed. The chracaters were interesting and well described. The plot though flimsy at times was well established. I understood where she was going with it even though she strayed a little. I found the italizced phrases confusing at times because most of the time it was used for the characters for thought process but sometimes it was used for speaking out loud. There were words that the author used that were not properly defined. You were kind of left guessing on what it was or could be. Other then that it was a prety good book It was hot in places where it needed to be and serious when it should have been. I look forward to reading about some characters that were introduced in this book.

Though I did find the 10 or so non main or supporting characters introduced that did not further the plot a waste. They could have been cut out and in their places could have been more character development for the 2 main characters and the 3-5 main supporting characters.

This was a realy good start to the Immortals After Dark series.

I was into the contemporary romances and didn't realize that the contemporary paranormal romance better. Mrs.Cole captures her readers and brings them into a pleaseruable realm. She has taken the paranormal genre and created her very own legends and lore...filled with ultra entertaining characters.
Emmaline is half vampire and half Valkyrie. Trying to find her place in the world. Being different, she feels lonely because there are no other half vampire and half Valkyrie.
Lachlain has spent the last hundred and fifty years being tortured by the vampire Demestriu. He is slowly going mad and then...he scents his mate.
And his mate happens to be Emmaline.
He must battle his hatred for vampires, and welcome his llove for Emmaline.

The Capulets and Montegues had nothing on this new 21st century romance of Romeo & Juliet.

I have all of Kresley Cole's imortals after dark books,and this one is my very favorite one. I have read this one 4 or 5 times and it never gets old My next favorite is Lothaire. A Werewolf and a Vampire, what's not to like? Buy and read A Hunger Like No Other. You are going to love it, especially one of the hottest love scenes to come along in a long time. Hint............. it happens in the woods!!

This was in my TBR pile for a long time. I guess I didn't pick it up because I need a break in-between vampire/paranormal or they all start to blend together. I am up to date on the Black Dagger Series, the Midnight Series, and even the Lords of the Underworlds series, so after reading a few historicals I picked this up.

What a fun read! I liked the way the romance played out, and even though the heroine claimed to be timid and shy, she really wasn't and the way the book was written showed that. This was first published in 2006, so there are 5 more I need to read, looking forward to them!

A tip though, there is a glossary of terms in the back, that I didn't see until the end. It would have been helpful to see that at the begining as there was a lot of information introduced on the different characters!

Don't let the "cheesey" cover fool you - it's a good read.

This is the first book in the series and in my opinion the best so far. Lachlain is the king of the Lykae who has been tortured almost to point of madness by vampires. Emmaline is the much sheltered daughter of a Valkyrie and an unknown vampire trying for a show of independence in Paris. Emma is gentle and easily frightened(in the beginning) and when she finds out Lachlain is her predestined mate she has reason to fear, for he hates all things vampire and with good reason. I can't express how much I LOVED this book. The storyline was intriguing and well written, the lead characters quickly pulled you into the story, you wanted to know what happened to them and cheered each new victory. This goes on my keep shelf!

I usually read historical romances (medieval, Georgian, regency & Victorian), but the trend in romance seems to be going in the paranormal direction so I figured I'd give one a try. I was seriously afraid of what I call "rolling eyes syndrome" ; some things are just unbelievable and I was hoping that this wasn't going to be just a bad B-movie read.

I am so surprised! I love this book! It reminds of some of my fav Scottish romances, but MUCH more intense and WAY edgier/darker! The alpha male hero is totally hot Scottish highlander hunk (a real treat for this Julie Garwood fan) and the heroine is this a shy little thing who eventually turns into a kick a*s woman. There's werewolf's, vampire's, Valkyrie, witches, wraiths etc., and Cole (author) does a excellent job introducing and giving background information on each one of these. She does this so well that I became instantly engrossed in the book and simply couldn't put it down. There are tons of really cool secondary characters that each have their own unique powers and personally I can't wait for those sequels!

So if you like historical romance or contemporary for that matter, this is a great place to start checking out paranormals. As for me, I have a feeling this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Leader of the werewolf clan, Lachlain MacRieve, has been kept a prisoner in the catacombs below Paris by the vampires. When he caught sent of his true mate, it released the beast which gave him the strength to break free. He'd been searching so long for her and now he was so close.

Emmaline Troy, part vampire and part fae, was in Paris to find out more about her parents. She knew who her mother was, but her father was nameless. She'd been sheltered all her life and wasn't prepared to meet Lachlain, who was handsome, yes, but seriously dangerous. He had tendencies of explosive anger and in the blink of an eye, could rip a room to pieces.

On a romantic level, this was a heavenly read. I found some parts the book hard to believe, but that didn't extinguish my interest level. Another thing is I think if the reference (From the Book of Lore) had been place in front of the book, I'd have understood more at the beginning. But again, this didn't slow my reading down one bit. I can see why this is a popular series and I'll be reading more very soon!

Outstanding! The first three-four chapters is intent on putting readers on the edge of their seats. Story revolves around a 1200 year-old Lykae (kind of werewolf) King who has been waiting to find his mate. He finds her alright but she's not what he expects... instead of another Lykae, he gets a half Valkyrie/half vampire - and a sheltered one at that. Lachlain is blunt and quite primitive. At first, he's not beyond man handling, but then he realizes the error of such methodology. She resists the pull of desire. All the while the full moon looms adding undo pressure.

As an avid paranormal romance reader, it is becoming harder to be surprised. I haven't put it down yet and I've only a few chapters left. Full of surprises and addicting!

Robert Petkoff's audio interpretation of ALL characters is not only consistent, but he does one hell of a portrayal of Lachlain especially during intimate moments.

Well I wish I was one of the Lore because Kresley Cole's characters are sexy and have a lot of fun! This is the first Kresley Cole book I've read and it was excellent. Fast-paced, exciting. I could not put it down and I've read a lot of books. If you're a Christine Feehan fan, you'll like Kresley Cole's take on things. Her characters are real and believable. Lachlain is this sexy beast of the Lykae who happens to be King! Emma is his intended; half-vampire, half-valkyrie who isn't too excited to find out she is his truemate. He's not too crazy about it either, but neither can stop the attraction they have towards each other. It's very well written. I warn you now, if you read it you won't be able to put it down! Excellent!

I started this book after reading the Twilight series and Sookie Stackhouse series. In contrast to those mentioned, "The Immortals After Dark" series focuses on serious passion rather than romantic teenage longing or suspenseful mysteries. "A Hunger Like No Other" is smoking hot and I could not put it down. I was a little concerned with the beginning of the book. The hero possesses over-the-top alpha male traits, survived decades of torture, and is extremely rough with the heroine. However, as their attraction grows and they build trust, the hero softens and the story heats up. This is must-read for those who like paranormal/vampire romances!

Lachlain is the king of the Lykae, a Scottish clan of werewolves.
He has been a captive for over 150 years suffering the agonising torture of constantly dying and regenerating; until one day he smells the scent of his Mate and that is enough to make him master the strength to release himself from the bonds that lock him in the catacombs where he is being held. Strength enough to make him chop his leg off once he realises he is too weak to release that last cuff. He does that without so much of a second thought. This is only to show how much finding his Mate means to him- he has been expecting her for over a thousand years. He has dreamed, fantasised and hoped that one day he would finally meet the one that was destined to be his.

So he chases her scent and finds her and is completely horrified by the fact that his Mate is a Vampire!

That poses a lot of problems. Not only vampires are natural enemies of the werewolves on the particular mythology of the book, but also it was a vampire that has kept him prisoner for so many years. He is furious; he is confused, it abhors him to think that she is leech, a killer. This Mate of his who is to be the Queen of his people is supposed to be his enemy! On top of everything, she is weak and has no idea of what being his Mate means. So yes, he behaves in a horrifying way towards her in the first few chapters. He is overbearing, he threatens her, he wants revenge as much as he wants to mate with her.

Now, Emma is a complete coward. She is meek, she is a ninny and that makes her feel sick about herself. She is known as Emma, the Timid amongst her people - a Coven of Maiden Warriors from the Norse Mythology, for Emma is half Vampire, half Valkyrie. She has a lack of confidence that comes from not knowing what is her place in the world; she never reached the balance between her two halves. She has grown up amongst these women warriors who are powerful, strong, cold in the face of danger. She has the potential of being all that but her vampire half brings vulnerability to her for not being able to go into the sun and for the need to be nurtured with blood whereas her people don't even eat. So it is no surprise to me that Emma is such a coward and even though she received training in fighting she never really mastered it. She doesn't know what she is capable of, because she has an identity problem - she is a vampire but she has never been allowed to actually live like one, to suck the blood out of a living being (she drinks from a blood bank) and her Valkyrie half never truly surfaced.

When she is taken by Lachlain, she is even weaker for she has not fed in days and yet she still manages to try and fight him the best way she can even though she is terrified of him. But then, she realises that his touch does strange things to her, things that she never felt because she never felt connected to anyone and that spikes her curiosity. And that is enough to make her start to feel comfortable in her own skin. Lachlain also starts to understand that he cannot escape his destiny and that this woman is indeed intended for him. He cannot avoid feeling protective towards her -it is his duty after all. And as soon as he realises that she is not a killer, he decides that he is going to be the one to feed her - from his own blood. And that makes her stronger - not only because she is taken the blood from a strong being but also because she is finally allowed to see who she really is. This is where they start to connect and to bond.

I liked that as the story moved forward they were both changed. Emma started terrified of him, lacking self-confidence and horrified at the thought of being attached to him forever - this is what being a Mate to Lykae means and Valkyries are independents beings. But as she feeds from him she gets physically stronger, enough to feel so confident in herself that she fights him (she manages to break his jaw), fights one of the females from his clan and eventually she meets the King of Vampires and vanquishes him. That was the culminating point of the story where Emma became what she was always supposed to be and Lachlain realised that this woman is very capable of taking care of herself.

I also loved the secondary characters specially her Valkyrie Coven and his Lykae friends. I want to learn more about them and about this universe so I will definitely be picking the next one up.
[...]

As others have already left long and detailed reviews for this first book of The Immortals After Dark series, A Hunger Like No Other (The Immortals After Dark Series, Book 1), I'll keep my review short and simple and to the point:

I can totally see why this is the favorite of the series.

Like the other heroes in this series, Lachlain makes the story unlike the heroines of other installments, I really liked Emma who was uncomfortable in her sheltered skin but still managed to make Lachlain work for her.

Very enjoyable. If I had any quibble, it was that I didn't get enough of Garreth and Lucia but that's a minor quibble.

I've been through many of the paranormal romance series and this is one of the best. This is the first book in this series I have read and I am eager to delve deeper into the Lore. I will not be reading them in order but I am told that it doesn't matter much. I loved the characters and although Emma was a little weak for my tastes, I still liked her as the female lead. My library didn't have the prequel to this story but as soon as it becomes available, I am curious to find out what the deal with Emma is. Her Valkrie family protected her so much and I want to find out why. I would highly recommend this book.

Read this book for the first time when it first came out in '06 and I absolutely loved it!
There's action, romance, getting to know yourself/the characters and love.

Emmaline and Lachlain's first meeting is a bit extreme and they have to go through a lot to finally be happy.
But all of these challenges are what eventually makes them who they are and at peace with themselves.

I've seen so many people moaning about how this first meeting is 'basically rape' and 'assault'.
Granted, it is not a loving first meeting but it is exciting and brutally honest. What I would like to remind people is that we are dealing with a completely different species! Vampires, werewolves, valkyries, witches and so on and they are not like 'normal' people.
If you cannot look past this fact, do not read the book (I'm sure Kresley would prefer this as well). BUT if you are attracted to alfa males, the extreme, fantasy and you can accept that not everything has to come in a neat little package with roses, chocolates and sweet and innocent kisses then this might be more you thing.

BASICALLY: If you feel strongly violated by things that are not what you expect, are not politically correct and do not include the typical package of marriage, virginity and vomit-provoking innocence and self-righteousness then this is not for you. Find something else.

If you are open to a different kind of romance that is breath-taking, extreme and all-consuming then Mrs. Cole is your woman! Give this book (and all of her other books) a chance and prepare to be swept off your feet!

This is my 1st paranormal read and skip the 1-3 series coz as many reviewer said this is best in the series. It's been long time since I try to find this book, and wondering is this book superb as other mentioned?
As the fans of "Twilight" by Stephanie Meyer, I start to love story about vampire and werewolf. For me, at first this book have an exciting "hero in pursuit" kind of romance, which I adore the sensation. But sorry, after 3/4 of the book - the story is rather plain - without an interesting twist, and make me struggling to finish it.
So for me the whole romance of this book is wonderful, however not "that" perfect or remarkable.

He searched for his soul mate for a millenium before the vampire horde captured him in the catacombs below Paris. However, after a seemingly endless captivity, Lachlain MacRieve senses the scent of his Beloved One; this gives the leader of the Lykae Clan the incentive to escape, which he does.

Lachlain's euporhoria turns into a rage when he realizes the irony that fate has wrought to him. His chosen mate is a hybred vampire-valkyrie, two natural enemies merged inside her soul and body. Even worse following his abduction of Emmaline, he realizes she lacks the strength of either species. Instead she behaves like a frightened rabbit, which Emmaline is as she has heard horror tales about the torture and violence employed by the Lykae. However as scared as she is, Emmaline finds courage in her attraction to her chief kidnapper Lachlain. Her fortitude makes him realize that his beloved has an inner strength few contain. As the soulmates fall in love in his remote Scottish castle, the vampire horde seek both of them at the same time her irate valkyrie relatives seek to liberate her.

Romantic fantasy fans will appreciate the return to Cole's world (see the novella "The Warlord Wants Forever" in PLAYING EASY TO GET) as this character driven star-crossed lovers tale is so much fun to read. The action-packed story line plays out on three levels: the lead couple's seductively sexual encounter while falling in love in his castle; her Valkyrie aunt coming to her rescue; and the vampires wanting to kill him and abduct her for her different blood type. A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER is a superb thriller that will allow NO REST FOR THE WICKED as this is a fast sensational read.

Harriet Klausner

Paranormal at it's best!
This is the 4th or 5th time I have read this series. I swear each time it only gets better!
If your new to this series may I suggest starting with -Warlord wants forever - it's a short story located in the "Blood red kiss" collection

PROS
--> Fast-paced, new-to-me plot.
--> Fully developed characters, and not just the main romantic pairing -- they're all interesting and memorable, based off of dialogue alone. I didn't find myself stumbling to remember facts, either.
--> The leading pair grew. Everyone else seemed consistent.
--> The sexual situations were quite steamy, very descriptive.

CONS
--> I couldn't decide whether I liked the lead lady/vampire/valkerie til near the end -- ultimately, she left me shrugging my shoulders. The man/Lykae totally impressed me, though.
--> I was annoyed by the side stories and cuts back to the aunts at times because they were either more character history or felt like filler, rather than anything supporting the main plot. Wouldn't the next books be the appropriate place for the stories we get in blips from repeat cuts to New Orleans?

OVERALL
I wouldn't mind owning this, it makes me eager to read more by Kresley Cole. One star each for: having an actual, interesting story; an incredible leading man, and great side characters I want to learn more about later; hot sex; the good, easy (but not too easy) to read pace.

This book was hot! I was hooked within the first few pages, and literally could not put it down. Lachlain is a macho, alpha male, yes, but he tempers that with growing respect for Emma. I also loved Emma's growth throughout the book - instead of the now-common "feisty female" character, she slowly picks up a spine as the book progresses. Believeable and likeable character.

The erotic tension was very well-done, I haven't read many books that ratcheted up the tension the way this author did. I'm going to check into more books by her, she rocks!

I think the thing I loved the most was the beginning; Lachlain is very sling-my-woman-over-my-shoulder from the second he tracks down Emma. It made me feel positively Victorian with delight. Can we clone him? Because that? Is hot.

I was first turned on to vampire romance novels by Christine Feehans Dark novels. After about three books I was very bored by not only the exact same plot that seemed to jump from book to book, but also the heros of the book were to stuck in the old world. The books were inventive, but not fresh. Sherilyn Kenyon was a relief and I am still addicted to her novels, but new commer Kresly Cole has stole my attention from the dark-hunters to the immortals after dark.

Her writing is fresh, hip, and fast paced. Her characters are well rounded and dont fit the same stereotype from book to book (they actually have diffrent personalities)! The sexual tention is scorching through the entire book and the love stories tender.

A Hunger Like No Other is actually the second book in this series. The Warlong Wants Forever is the anthology Playing Easy To Get first introduces the words and characters with Myst (Valkrie) and Wroth(Forbearer).

A Hunger Like No Other is a great read that keeps the reader spellbound, a hard thing to do when you relize the characters are alone together with little to no secondary character interactions or action scenes until almsot half way through the book. The interactions between the two characters are riveting. Emma a young, weak "halfling" fighting against a half mad werewolf king who has taken her hostage. In the first few chapters he sexually assualts her several times and rips thier hotel to shreds while also driving up the balance of her credit card and new clothes and rental cars. Little by little he gets his sanity back. Emma gets stronger, little by little, as she faces the worst of her fears (daylight, vampires, physical plain of any sort) while he drags her from Paris to his castle in Scottland. This all builds until she has to face her father, a powerful vampire who tortured her mate for two hundred years, and seize her own destiny to become a formidable creature.

First of all I want to say that this is the second book not the first. This first book introduces Myst the coveted one and Nikolai Wroth.It's called A warlord wants forever. I have the copy on word, if anyone wants it.
So, a Hunger like no other was another winning series for me. I wasn't that connected with Lachlain due to the fact that his personality fell a little flat for me, but I still enjoy his part. His mate Emmaline was a little feeble at the beginning but proven otherwise at the end. The story is told from both Lachlain and Emmaline POV and a little snippets here and there of her Valkyrie family POV as well. I love Nucking Futs Nix, she is just too hilarious. The story builds more and more each chapter and will have you wanting for more. From sexy werewolves, vampires and other supernatural beings, Kresely Cole's series will not disappoint at any moment.

Warning: this series will consume your life!!!! It is that good!!! I tried to start this series a few times and the first chapter was hard to get past because the female main character seemed so weak and kind of pathetic! Don't make the mistake I did, keep going! I kept coming back to it not sure why so many had given it such a high rating and the author. Now I have read the series twice and struggle to find a series to even get close to this one! I had actually read this series a few years ago, but as I was on here searching for my next book, this came up and made me wish to stumble across a book series this good again; and made me feel the need to write my first review!

Don't walk...run as fast as you can to get this book!!! It is a must read and a must for your collection. I was honestly not expecting such a fabulous read. It was recommended to me at a local used book store. Just when I thought the paranormal world couldn't get any better, Cole jumps in with a whole new world of story and adventure and love. I laughed. I cried. I sighed. I sat on the edge of my seat totally aborbed in the tension and emotion. I felt the joy, pain, fear, and courage as my own. I fought to keep my droopy eyelids open because I couldn't put it down. And was left hungry for more and so glad I had bought the next 4 books!!!!!

I'm really liking this series, which basically centers around a coven of Valkyrie fey. This one focuses on the youngest one, Emma, and how she gets captured by a werewolf, Lacklin, who spends the entire book trying to convince her that she belongs with him, all while she tries to evade capture of the Vampire King, her father.

Can't wait to read the next one in the series.

If you like Christine Feehans Carpathian series you will love this new series by Kresley Cole. I have been waiting forever for another author to come up with another series that is as good as Mrs. Feehan's and Mrs. Cole has done it. Her new series has the same dark romance that leaves you longing for more.

The story is about Lachlain who is the leader of the Lykae Clan (werewolves or war-wolds) and his search for his soul mate. His soul mate Emmaline is half vampire and half valkyrie. Lachlain's love for her is so deep that it will leave readers longing for more. I can't wait for the next book in the series. If you love paranormal romance where you feel the long deep connection between the hero and the herion this is definately the book for you.

I judge books by their covers, unfortunate, but true. That said, the cover art for Cole's A Hunger Like No Other is thankfully misleading--incredibly so in fact. I sat down to what I though would be a simply smutty paranormal romance. Five hours later I got up, got a glass of water and then proceeded to read it again. It is Fantastic! Wonderfully written, rich characters, a fascinating take on lore, and incredibly hot besides!
Our heroine is Emma, a vampire/valkyrie mix who has travelled to Paris in search of the mysterious vampire father she's never met. Emma is young for an immortal, only 70, and at first rather timid and weak. Enter Lachlain MacRieve, a vicious Lykae(werewolf) warrior and king who has spent the last 150 years being endlessly tortured by vampires. As an immortal he is forever burning to death in the fires beneath the catacombs and has gone mad gone mad with hate for the entire species, despairing at how he never found his mate, at least until he scents her and tears himself free of his bonds...only to find Emma, with her fangs, pink tears and penchant for the liquid diet. Outraged at her and with Fate, the chaos that ensues is absolutely delicious!
five stars! six stars! a sky full of stars! I strongly recommend this book, and the next two in the series (4,5 and 6 are currently in the mail!), though so far Book number one is still number one in my book!

I usually prefer historical romances, especially Regency & Georgian era, but there has been so much interest in paranormal romances that I've tried a sampling the past 6 months. In the past, I have not been a fan of vampires or sci fi but I did find two great authors: this author and the entire JR Ward series.

The best part about this book was the fabulous attraction between the two main characters. And the author found a way to make the attraction palpable but also able to keep them apart in a believeable way.

The other terrific talent this author possesses is great humorour dialogue. My favorite scene was when the heroine patiently explained why the hero (who has been locked away from hundreds of years) must wear a seatbelt in her car. He lets her drone on and on until he finally looks at her and says one word only: "Immortal." I laughed until I cried!

A hunger like no other was really a delicious read but what stopped me from giving this book a five star review was that Emmaline (the Heroine who was half valkyrie and half vampire) managed to get on my nerves quite a few times. But even that didn't stop me from enjoying the chemistry her and Lachlain shared.

Both the hero and heroine's coming together was just sizzling H-O-T. It left me wishing that my room had an air conditioner. What made it even better was all the sexual tension the two shared right up until that moment.

Lachlain is one of those alpha-males (and he's a werewolf!) that you don't want to miss reading about. By the end of the book, I was waiting for my very own Lachlain to appear, claim me as his mate and then kidnap me away.

I warn you ladies, if you're going to pick up this book, make sure you have either a box of chocolates or an available man handy so that you can take out your sexual frustrations after you're done reading!

This is the first Kresley Cole book I read. I just loved it!!!!! It's the best story I've read in a while. I loved the hot male lead. The way she wrote this character surprised me and made my toes curl. Very steamy and a page turner, I was never bored and couldn't put it down. I also loved all the female characters. I have read the most recent two books since then and loved the too. I even ordered the books I missed from the store and are waiting for them to arrive. This is the first series I have been excited about in a long while. Please don't let it end too soon. I'm hoping for at least a dozen stories. With so many great characters I could see this series going for a long time. I know there is supposed to be a war at the end but I hope it doesn't come too soon.

While searching for another title on the store, the search engine suggested this book. I'd never heard of Kresley Cole, but the reviews were extremely positive, so I decided to give it a shot. So I spent the first morning of my vacation doing my favorite thing-shopping for used books. But A Hunger Like No Other was nowhere to be found. My assumption is that people who buy this book, KEEP this book-and with romance readers there is no better compliment. The Romance section is always the biggest section in used bookstores. I couldn't even find this novel NEW!

Out of sheer frustration, I purchased an eCopy of the book, something I've never done before. When it comes to books, I'm from the old school. I want something I can carry about with me. Still, I'm extremely glad I did.

Vampires and Werewolves may be currently thick on the ground, but this is the best take I've read on the genre in ages. The characters are appealing; the plot is riveting; the romance is steamy (WOAH BABY!!) and the world building will bring me back for the rest of the series. It kept me glued to the computer for FAR too long yesterday-making me late picking my husband up! Kresley Cole definitely has my attention and I'm willing to buy her novels new-if I could jut find them!!! I want to read No Rest for the Wicked, the second in this series-NOW-so it looks like another eBook for me!

Ah! Great book. Looking at the cover art, I thought this book would be mostly sexual-based situations with a thin plot. Hey, I have no problem with that. But this book not only had great sex, but was CLEVER. There was an entire world created involving the Lore, the creatures humans think of only as myths. Cole created a world in which Vampires run PR to promote themselves as sinful and sexy while investing in Middle Eastern oil for long-term financial security. Werewolves (here, Lykae), lacking the same foresight, are depictd in human movies as vile, monstrous creatures. Everything in the book corresponds correctly with situations in the real world. It's fascinating to see the ways Cole has firmly placed the habits and situations of the ancient Lore creatures into modern life.

The characterizations of the main characters are great. I cheered for Emma as she grew in strength and confidence. I smiled like a dope for a good half hour at blunt and slightly brutish Lachlain's fight to express his astounding sweetness. The secondary characters are also finally drawn. Emma's Valkyrie family is a collective of interesting, sympathetic creatures. The residents of Lacklain's Scottish estate are individuals with distinct personalities.

All that and good sex with a minimum of morning-after awkwardness and pained regret. I was very impressed by this book and will be seeking more Kresley Cole works in the future.

The is a good book...good. The lead characters are interesting Some of the supporting characters are interesting, some of less complex, some are just flat. That is too bad. The plot is interesting but there are big logic holes. HUGE. That said, I liked it, as it is a good not great book.

Chemistry, action, humor, fantasy, this book has it all. This great introduction into a seductive para-normal romance series will captivate you, make you blush, make you laugh, and make you burn through the pages. Once you are done, you'll empty your bank account just to possess the rest of the series! I've read all of Kresley's selections and while none of them will disappoint, this is still my standing favorite! A good leap for those who enjoy Highlander romance novels, this has the same feel, more adventure, more fantastic escape.

Plenty of details about the book can be found on other reviews..so I'll go ahead and dive into a different sort of review! I've been reading romance novels since I was 13 years old and much to my dismay the genre has taken a downhill nose dive lately. I'm a huge fan of Feehan but I find that her newer books in the Dark Series lacked the excitement of previous installments! I was skeptical when I picked up my copy of A Hunger Like No Other but much to my utter delight I adored it! Run out and grab a copy you won't be disappointed! Ms. Cole does an amazing job with this book and I'm very eager for the next installment! If you feel bored with romance lately, you won't with this!!! Sizzling, Funny, and a perfect story is all found between the pages of this one! My keeper shelf hasn't seen a book in a while...this has an honorary place on that shelf now!

To be honest I picked out this book not expecting myself to read more that a few chapters, I just want to make a long car ride a little less boring. I was blown away by Kresley Cole. I the story sucked me in and I could barely put it down to go to bed. Since reading A Hunger Like No Other, I have read the rest of the Immortals After Dark Series, and have experienced the same thrill with each novel including my reluctance to put them down.

Thank you Kresley Cole for reigniting a passion for reading!

This most certainly lives up to the ratings!!! From the first page to the last, I was hooked. I read this book in a day, and then went back and re-read some parts! Oh it was delicious. He was my perfect alpha male. I felt the butterflies, the frustration, the yearning, the elation, and more! I will be reading on in the series, and am happy to say that I am a new fan of this author! I look forward to more books by her. Thank You Ms. Kresley Cole for such a wonderful treat!

This series was recommended to me by the same friends that recommended the Black Dagger Brotherhood books. I'd have to say that I really enjoyed it. I loved the struggle between Emma and Lachlain...her struggling with her developing feelings and him struggling with trying to make her "his". The world that Cole developed is quite interesting, and makes you eager to learn more about all the creatures of the Lore and how they all relate with one another. Fans of other vampire/paranormal romance will enjoy this read, no doubt.

There are so many paranormal novels out on the shelves with each author putting their own spin to the world of vampires, lycanthropes, fairies and what have you. As this is a genre I enjoy, I thought I may as well get acquainted with Kresley Cole and delve into her world.

Lachlain MacRieve has been imprisoned by his enemies for over a century. Trapped in the catacombs below Paris, he was virtually going mad until he catches a whiff of the one person he has waited centuries for - the one woman made for him alone. Using the last ounce of strength left in his battered body, he breaks free of the chains that have bound him and goes after his mate, only to discover that as cruelly as fate has let his mortal enemies capture him, so does it unkindly present him with the cruellest joke of all - a vampire for a mate! Yet mortal enemy or not, Lachlain will do anything in his power to convince his part-vampire mate that they are destined to be together.

As the only one of her kind - a hybrid - Emmaline Troy has come to Paris in search of the truth about her parentage. Part vampire, part valkyrie, little does she know that life is about to get more complicated in the city of lights. For a woman who has been wrapped in cotton wool from the time of her birth, Emma finds herself knee deep in adventure and trouble merely days after meeting this arrogant stranger who claims to be her mate. Is Emma the timid ready for a life as queen of the Lykans? And what do the vampires want from her?

A HUNGER LIKE NO OTHER was quite an enjoyable read though certainly not a book that made me go "wow!" after finishing it. The prologue gave me the impression that this was going to be a dark story, yet the pages that followed convinced me otherwise. Cole has woven pop culture and cheeky humor throughout the novel providing much amusement to the readers. Emma's Valkyrie aunts are a blast. And it is the humor, shallow as it was, that made me overlook the thin plot and inconsistencies. Unfortunately, I expected Lachlain to speak with a heavier brogue considering he has been imprisoned for a hundred and fifty years. Instead, we get a few `naes' every so often and apart from his ignorance on modern technology, he spoke like any modern man you would meet on the street. This may be a minor quibble but I couldn't help but notice. Overall, Kresley Cole has blended a cocktail of relationship issues that Lachlain and Emma must overcome such as his resentment over the fact that she is half-vampire, the lies that he had to weave to get Emma to go to his ancestral home and, finally, Emma's insecurities. The way they prevail over these obstacles provided a nice ending to the story.

Kresely Cole's lastest venue into the paranormal is a smashing success!! Though I don't usually enjoy contemporary set novels, I loved, loved, LOVED this tale of destined lovers. Sensual, thrilling and humorous at times, HUNGER has all the elements (and then some) necessary for a great read.

Don't let the beautiful cover fool you...this is not your ordinary vamp tale. Ms. Cole has managed to pen a unique, fast-paced paranormal of the likes I've yet to read. Instead of the normal, "Buffy"-esque heroine, we have Emmaline. A timid, self-conscious, scaredy-cat of a vampire--something I found to be a refreshing change. However our hero, Lachlain, is the true gem of the book. He's a werewolf whose been imprisoned and tortured for the past 150 years. Only when he senses his mate, the one woman he's been searching for, for a thousand years does he manage to escape. His joy quickly turns to rage when he discovers she is a vampire...a creature no different than those responsible for his years in "hell." Ms. Cole accurately portrays Lachlain's mental instability from his years of pain and repeated death. The change in Emma, from weak mousey girl to self confident woman progresses in a believable pace.

I can't say enough good things about his book. I couldn't put it down! Highly Recommended!! You won't be disappointed.

For creativity alone Ms. Cole deserves five stars!

Blending the "real" world with one entirely conceived from her skill and creativy, Ms. Cole delivers a brilliant universe and a darned good read. The storyline is the eternal Romeo and Juliet--with otherworldly complications. A most unsuitable fellow, Lachlain, falls in love with an equally unsuitable lady, Emmaline. They meet, obstacles abound--she can't handle sunlight, he might get fleas--they fall in love, they over come other obstacles--but who ever imagined obstacles that thrive on lightening and, even worse, might turn out to be your inlaws?

This is a light read with stunningly dark elements. The contrast between subject matter and style, however, is entirely complimentary. The obvious contrasts, such as dialog among creatures hundreds of years old versus the "young" heroine who is only seventy is engaging. Ms. Cole's dialog is pithy, quick and effective and moves the story along at a good pace. The story very briefly drags but only because one is so intrigued by the foreshadowed climax that one is in a hurry to get there.

The characters are fully developed and all evolve in a believable manner--even if the setting is wildly supernatural.

As romantic figures, Lachlain and Emmaline might not achieve the imortality of Rhett and Scarlett, but not for lack of trying. Their interactions sizzle and the sensual scenes are extraordinary. The blend between their otherworldly characteristics and their "human" sexuality is exciting and shocking but not sordid. The scenes, while explicit, are exceedingly well written and captivating.

If you like romance, sex, intrigue and boundless creativity, this book is for you.

Best regards and happy reading,

B. Schamberger

I've repeatedly been drawn to this book based upon the reviews and how frequently it came up on listmania lists, but the painfully embarrassing cover was a huge deterrent. I am SO glad I finally swallowed my pride and gave it a chance! Unlike most other "romance" books I've read, this one was a fantastic mix of steamy tension and entertaining dialogue, and the characters (both primary and secondary) were GREAT! Loved it and I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series (even if all the covers ARE cheesy!)

I didn't like the beginning of the book where Lachlain's feelings for Emma seem so violent. I half expected him to rape her in a couple of scenes. The best part was at the end when Emma finally takes control over her own life and is finally able to stand up to not only her family, but also her long-lost father. I look forward to another of her books that I have ready to go; No Rest for the Wicked.

WOW! That pretty much sums up this book. This is one of those books that you can't put down, can't forget and will reread over and over again!! Kresley Cole worked her magic again when she told the story of Emmaline Troy a Vampire/Valkerie on a mission to find her father, and Lachlain MacRieve, the King of the Lyakes (basically werewolfs) who is also on a quest to search for his mate. But when he finds that the one person meant for him is Emma he is at first confused and repulsed (he was imprisoned by the King of the Vampires a couple of centuries ago and was senteced to a life of never ending pain by fire). But Lachlain is still fiercely attracted to Emma. And when he almost loses her to her vampire family he realizes that he cannot live without her. This story is soooooo sweet and fun and sexy!! And this is not my usual cup of tea, but I love it from the first moment I read the book and now I have also finished NO REST FOR THE WICKED (second installment) another truly wonderful story. I'm waiting with barely bated breath for the third installment, WICKED DEEDS ON A WINTER'S NIGHT. My moneys on this book! Please I beg you, do yourself a favor and read this book. You'll fall in love!

This is still my favorite book of all time. I have read many Kresley Cole books and many other romance novels but this one is still my favorite. It is my ideal romance story and I recommend it to all my friends and sometimes boyfriends. I have yet to find someone who does not like this book.

A Hunger Like no Other was the very first romance novel i have ever read. most of my personal library is filled with Anne Rice books & this was my first attempt to read any "quote" romance book. After have reading all of the Twilight books, I was looking for something a little more adult. I'm 37 years old so after reading a love story for teens, I was looking for something that was a slight more sexually expressive, and boy did I get more than I bargained for. There were a couple of places that I have read more than once & bought books 2&3 when I was only half way through A Hunger Like No Other, which I read within 3 days. I'm not much of a reader & it takes me a while to read through books, but this was a fast read & very hard to put down! There was action starting with page one and sexual scenes throughout the book along with a romance that would make your heart melt for the leading characters. I wasn't quite as thrilled with the other two books, although the third was a close 2nd, in fact all of them just seemed to be the same type of story line, just with different characters you briefly are introduced to from the previous books. Same plot except with different characters in different places, however this one had a little sexual tease and play, the 2nd not as much, but the 3rd had a lot of play & tease to it. While I gave this book 5 stars for it being my first in this particular area & I was not at the least disapointed, I would give the 2nd 4 stars & the 3rd 4 & 1/2. The 2nd & 3rd books had more characters in it from the mystical lore, which I loved, but once you read A Hunger Like No Other, you want the other books to be more about them instead of them just being background characters. However you still do end up getting caught into the relationships of the other books.

Lachlain MacRieve is leader of the Lykae Clan. After enduring centuries of torture in catacombs beneath Paris by the vampire horde, he's finally found a reason to escape when he senses his destined mate nearby. When he finally holds her within his arms though, he's literally disgusted to find she herself is a vampire...and something else too. Intending to deal with the detestable female in due time, he cannot dismiss the eerie calming effect she begins to have on his long raging mind. Lachlain intends to have his revenge, and just maybe through their connection as mates, his little vampire will be able to help him focus.

Emmaline Troy is tired of living under her very powerful family's shadow. She's taken a trip to Paris in a first step bid to win some independence. Dismissing the dire warnings of her family, she nevertheless regrets her behavior soon when she's taken prisoner by a mad Lykae. Not only is this deranged, too-sexy-for-words male making her life miserable, but the vampires, a race she's never had occasion to meet, is hunting her as well. Could it be her half Valkyrie nature they're after? Whatever the case may be, she's got plenty to deal with in terms of her captor, a frustrating, mesmerizing mess of a Lykae king who's all to ready to Kill her one minute and protect her the next. It's enough to make this vampire/Valkyrie hybrid more than a little mad, and more than a little leery of her heart.

Now THIS is paranormal romance! Action, drama, suspense, wit and more intriguing supernatural beings than we can shake a broomstick at coalesce into one of the best paranormal romances ever. This is an amazing intro into a very promising series, one with plenty of well-rounded secondary characters to carry on what begins here. Lachlain is at once a rough, anti-hero alpha and achingly caring and sexy. He's very complex given the nature of his last several centuries and he couldn't be better complimented by Emma's sweet, yet not-so-biddable nature. She's weak in the beginning, yes, but morphs into a powerful, kick butt type the longer she interacts with our hero. She's smart, witty and possesses a timeless grace that others around her can only dream of possessing. Her family of Valkyries is very intriguing and I'm glad to see Cole keeping their stories coming as well. This is a very fresh, very consuming addition to the world of paranormal romance. Very much worth as many rereads as the book itself can handle. It's on to the second in the series next, No Rest for the Wicked and the third, Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night, releases October 31, 2007.

I will be the first to admit that I am experiencing Twilight Saga withdrawal and was looking for a little Vampire Romance. I am an old school Anne Rice fan from the 90's and hadn't read much in this genre for awhile. Well, this series is no Twilight and is certainly for mature audiences. But, I enjoyed the book. I also think she is a funny writer. Half-way through the book, I looked the author up to see how she looked because her writing was so humorous and contemporary. I am glad I found this series. She definitely has a new fan.

I read a lot of paranormal books but this one just didn't quite do it for me. It wasn't bad but there were a lot of definitions I was unfamiliar with and so I had to "think" while reading to follow properly. In most books they just call them werewolves or were's but here they call them Lycan. I did like the book but I guess I prefer books that are a little more "steamy"

Thrift stores are goldmines for trashy romances, and the Salvation Army in Hudson, NY proved no different. I picked up a gem of a title (along with 9 fabulous clothing items). "A Hunger Like No Other" by Kresley Cole is about "a fierce werewolf [Lachlain] and a bewitching vampire [Emmaline]" (the latter actually half Vampire - half Valkyrie, raised by a posse of Valkyrie aunts in New Orleans).

Aside from all the Valkyries talking like aging valley girls trying to be current (it would have been ok if just Emmaline was being all ditzy), and the frail innocent victim heroine character, I thoroughly enjoyed the book (lots of fun sexy passion), and even felt a little tuggy on the heart strings at times.

The characters and dialogue were snappy, and there were more than the usual plot intricacies: battles between the vampires, werewolves, valkyries, witches, wraiths, trolls, fairies, ghouls, and demons replacing the standard societal machinations in period/romances. And there was a nice thread about Valkyries needing their freedom, even upon finding true love, and so the women were all strong independent types and often had separate homes from their partners. Yay for (free) love!

A Hunger Like No Other (Immortals After Dark, Book 1)

Loved it!
Constant action.
Great characters.
Awesome sex scenes.
Even has Rock-N-Roll!
Can't wait to read the next book in this series.

This is such a great book!! You can really feel the love between the characters...great relationship development!! Loved the heroine and the hero!!! If you plan to read this series you should start with the novella in "Playing Easy to Get," just for chronologies sake although the stories are happening simultaneously at certain points. I'm not a fan of short stories, but that one is EXCELLENT, there is full character development and you don't feel cheated like in most short stories.

There is only one reason to read this novel. It starts at around page 250, lasts for about 10 pages and then the story reverts to the d.r.i.v.e.l and padding of the previous 200 pages. The chapter concerned is pretty gross but the heroine seems happy enough. Takes all sorts to make the world. The story is contradictory, full of discontinuities, plot holes and narcisistic materialism. The cover is misleading in that it gives the impression that the hero is a vampire when he isn't. Why are people using swords in the 21st century? And there are just too many characters in it.

Kresley Cole is one of my favorite authors, and her first novel in the IAD series is my favorite romance ever! Cole is so skilled in creating sexual tension. Unlike some authors who just constantly throw sex in a novel, Cole builds the relationship along with the heat. I love all of the IAD books, and I would recommend any of Kresley Cole's historical romance novels as well. She is a master story teller who pulls you in right at the start.

When I fist began reading this book I dreaded it was going to be an excuse for sex, because it begins in sucha a hot manner... But then you go on on reading, waiting for them to get it going, and when you realise that, you're hooked on the book! (no pun intended).

The characters turn out to be great ones, Lachlain is simply amazing, how she carea for her is great, and Emmalinne is just... so sweet and dangerous!

A great book in its genre! ;)

Interesting twist about a werewolf finding his mate, who happens to be a vampire/valkyrie in Paris. The werewolf was tortured for 200 years in the catacombs of Paris by the crazy, evil vampires that want to rule the world. He finds his lady and brings her back to his place in Scotland basically to tempt her to stay since she doesn't know that she's his lifemate. Interesting tension emotionally and physically arises between these two at the beginning and throughout the drive to Scotland; they learn things about each other that ironically humanizes them in the other's eyes instead of being a monster. I know it's kind of hard to understand about the human and monster twist, it's not literal just a saying. If you like vampire stories you'll enjoy this story since it's another race of species intermingling in forbidden fruit instead of the usual twisted soul of a vampire reaching for the beautiful, light filled human girl that he can never have but oh so craves. Pardon my melodrama.

Even though I am a vampire aficionado, even I am beginning to get tired of the many, many vampire romance novels out there. But I picked this one up anyway, because it sounded a little different - and it was! Kresley Cole does a good job differentiating her world and characters from the other paranormal romance settings out there. Her characters are interesting and unique and you soon begin to care. I look forward to seeing other books in this series!

For those of you, who like a passionate story about love, you've probably just found what will be one of your favorite reads. The beginning is scary and forceful, but as the story progresses it ends up a very engaging tale of loyalty, compassion and true affection. The main heroine (Emaline) goes through a transformation that is seamless and natural. Very well written. With each page, you relate more and more to the major characters and the supporting ones are just as three dimensional and real. A very steamy and intelligent story

I love Kresley Cole and the entire immortals after dark series - I am not a huge paranormal romance fan (generally go with the traditional historical romance.) But man am I glad I bought this - I have read it probably three or four times - it never gets old and always amuses me. The H/H are both fantastic characters... yes, it is a bit "hot and steamy" and I wouldn't necessarily read in public - but she is an automatic buy for me.

A Hunger Like No Other(the first in the Immortals After Dark Series) was a fantastic read! The Alpha male leader of the Lykae, Lachlain, was one of the hottest alphas I have ever read. His instant hatred for his mate sets the reader up for great, uber hot sexual tension. I love the dominance of his character. He is a true alpha! And Emma, the shy and fearful female lead's transformation into a strong, sexy and capable half Valkrie is a smooth transition and fits into the story very nicely. I couldn't put this book down! It reminded me of when I began the BDB series!!

After reading Kresley Cole's novella in "Playing Easy to Get", I went directly to the bookstore to buy "A Hunger Like No Other". And yeah baby, it is good! (... just the cover is worth the buy all by itself; awesome, isn't it?) If you read the publishers' summary, you know what it's about: Lachlain MacRieve, king of the Lykae, was shackled in Paris' catacombs by the Vampires - mortal enemies of the Lykae - to be burned alive again and again. For 150 years he endures the pain and only when he finally smells his mate does he get the desperate strength to break through the chains. But when he puts his paws on Emmaline however, it's to discover that she's a cursed vampire; as he's still three quarter crazy from the last 150 years, he's much rougher on her than he should. As for Emmaline, half Vampire/half Valkyrie, despite being raised in a Valkyrie coven, she's not tough, and not brave either (her usual response to confrontation is flight). So Lachlain's harsh treatment does not to endear him to her.... despite the way he raises in her a desire she never (literally) felt.

This book is Cool (no, the uppercase C is not a mistake) and the world Cole develops, with the intermingling Lore creatures and everything, gleeful; the posturing and reparties between the Valkyries, for example, are terminally hip. As for when Lachlain finally let go of his prejudice... yummy-yum! Also, the way Emmaline finally comes into her own make for good moments - even though it takes her a loooooong time to do it. In fact, and this is the only bad thing I have to say, the way the relationship between Lachlain and Emma goes (take-tow-steps-forward/take-two-steps-back) becomes annoying after a while...

After reading many books in the paranormal/romance genre I was very pleased to find a new and refreshing voice. Yes some of the characteristics may seem familiar, such as the vampire vs. werewolf plot but this book is fast moving and exciting. The characters are interesting and fun. If you like the following authors Charlaine Harris and Mary Jane Davidson then I believe you will greatly enjoy this author's take on the sexy world of vampires/werewolves etc. This is a very entertaining read and I am looking foward to more of Kresley Cole's work.

Kresley Cole has a great writing style and adds in just the right bit of humor just to ease a little tension. It's my 3rd time reading this book and I still enjoy it. Worth the read if you enjoy legends mixed together with romance. Read the books in order though. The events crossover each other through the series

This book is delicious! This is an addicting tale with all the supernatural creatures of the world.

A great battle is in the midst between all the clans of the Lore. Vampires, Lykae (werewolves), witches, ghouls, and Valkyries, are all out to win over the other at all cost. However, Lachlain, the Lykae King escapes from being imprisoned and tortured by the vampires and begins the search of his one true love, the real battle begins when he finds her, Emma, half vampire and half Valkyrie.

This is an exhilarating story on the challenges of when love is forbidden and what extremes have to be conquered to get to that happy ending.

I very much enjoyed this book! The whole of the universe of creatures the author created is fascinating and compelling.... the way the immortal, mythical creatures have very human emotions.... I also enjoyed that the characters weren't either evil or good, but a combination of both, with a dose of humor thrown in.
Definately a book and series you don't want to miss if you enjoy the Vampire Romance genre!!!!

The best way to describe this book is a train wreck. The grammar is off, and even the spelling in some spots. If not for that, then the characters are very two-dimensional and predictable. The hunky wild werewolf that has a primal lust, and the demure blonde vampire that finds her fiery spark. It's all been done and rehashed a million times in series that involve both werewolves and vampires together.

So, why so bad? Because it's so blatantly predictable! Not just the characters, but the plot devices can be seen a mile away before you even reach the chapters containing them. Also, the sex scenes that were written felt like I was reading a fourteen year old's fan-fiction story than anything that was actually published and part of a series of books. They were so over the top, it left little to the imagination and felt like the author was trying to push me into her own fantasy.

Oh, did I mention how horrible the Scottish accent is written? Well, it's terrible. I have a bad pet peeve with anyone writing any sort of accent phonetically, and this just missed the bar half of the time that some dialogue points were just incomprehensible.

Why did I continue reading if this book is so bad? Plain and simple: It was like watching a train wreck and I couldn't keep my eyes away. The story does flow well, and albeit being very predictable, it does carry us from point A to point B with a purpose. So, I must give credit where credit is due. The mashing of the mythos and lore wasn't bad, but not entirely believable. Regardless, this book is far from a best seller or anything to be taken seriously. I can't say how the series goes as I only read this book. But, this would be good for a light-hearted summer read or something to indulge while in the bath or while in bed.

All my friends had finished book 1, and kept going on about how great it was - and were reading the next one - so I picked it up and WOW they were right! I'm already lusting for more!!! Kresley please keep the blood flowing and the tears running!

I just finished a very different but more solid Vampire book that is also worthy of your worship (and its a little erotic in a different way - but don't tell anyone):

The House of the Vampire

It will be the next big thing.....

I LOVED this book so much. This was the first Kresley Cole book that I ever read. I feel in love immediately. This has to be one of my all time favorite books. It is amazing and you will fall in love with the characters. You will become addicted to Kresley Cole like I did.

Ordered this as an audio book and couldn't put it down. I plugged in a set of headphones and listen to it all day. LOVE this series, though I am upset that the audiobook editions end after 3. I am going to wait to get the 4th when it does finally come out on audio, its so worth the extra money to hear it. Great book and story line, love the characters as well. Must read if you like fantasy and romance.

I must admit I did not particularly care for how Lachlain treated Emma in the beginning of the book and how Emma would just let him practically control her. But I knew the book would eventually turn into the type of romance story that the series is known for. Great read!
PS: This isn't the first real story of the Immortals After Dark Series, it starts in the anthology Playing Easy to Get.

I cannot give Kresley Cole enough praise for her Immortals After Dark Series! Ladies, you've got to purchase these books! They are just so hot, juicy and...ahhhhh good!!! Cole is very inventive, and she just brings so much to her stories, plots, characters, and locations. I love how she brings all the new age stuff into this set too. The Valkyrie clan CRACK ME UP! And as for sexy Lachlain MacRieve...oh god I dream of him. SMOKIN HOT STUFF!

This is one of the best paranormal romance series EVER! I am serious, there is action, STEAMY love scenes, and awesome alpha males and strong women! I finished the whole series in about a week and a half! I couldn't put them down and am trying to figure out what to do until the next book comes out! You can't go wrong with this series, Kresley Cole is fabulous!

I have a used kindle and I discovered that this series was on it and decided to give it a try. I am now hooked! I am a new fan of this authors style for keeping you heated up and wanting more. Very well written. Very imaginative, especially with all the stuff out there it can easily get overdone, but this surprised me. I am now half way through the second book and loving it as well, and cannot wait to keep going to the rest.

I love this author and I love werewolf romance, so this was the perfect combination for me. I didn't want to put it down. Of course, as in all series I have read, I have not read this 1 in order either, but the series comes together. Readers, no worries about reading out of order or a single book, these books can stand on their own! Enjoy!!!

This author is in the group of my all time favorite authors. I love her stories, but this one is what started it all in my love for her characters. She has a way of drawing you into the story and getting you hooked and begging for the next one. I had came across it for so many days that the cover haunted me and made me curious. I could not put it down as much as i tried. Even once finished I have gone back and re-read the story, even though I had memorized it the first time. It is a wonderful story to start off on (though there is one that is before this one) and all the rest to date are as wonderful. I suggest it for any who like the supernatural world and like romance, but I do not advise it for people under the age of 16, that is my opinion.

Brooding man is irresistably drawn to shy woman, yet problems keep them apart. Classic plot, nicely done but not spectacular. This is a fun "read & sell used" book. The sample pages provide a good representation of the book. My biggest beef is that the leading lady is yet another vampire when the author has far more interesting human-variant race ideas.

A Hunger Like No Other is the first book I've read by Kresley Cole, and I doubt that I'll be buying any more written by her. The Immortals After Dark series was recommended to me because I like The Black Dagger Brotherhood books. Don't be fooled, the series are nothing alike! I made it through maybe 60 pages, then was too disgusted to continue. This reads like a thinly veiled psychopath's rape fantasy. Lachlain is a brute (yes he had a tortured past but that's no excuse)and the way he keeps forcing himself on Emmaline is not sexy. Sexual tension is fine but this was more like sexual assault.
I really can't comment on the rest of the book, plot or character development, I just couldn't force myself to finish it.

While I must admit this is my least favorite of the series it is still a great book. I have read everything Kresley Cole has wrote and have to say she is by far the best romance author I have ever read (though JR WARD would have been very close if the bdb series hadn't gone out of the romance genre in my head). All Kresley's books are good and even though you don't have to I require myself to read everything in order and it does help. This book is a little bit edgy as in there are some parts that seem very close to rape, but she still makes you fall in love with the characters.

I only started reading this serie and I love it. The plot doesn't present great twists but it has a tight schedule, it is flow, it is completely, it is pile of action and a good level of sensuality.
I like Kresley Cole's style handwriting because it is immediately and without gimmicks, two likeable protagonists and a pleasant interaction between them.
I look forward to reading next books.

I liked the book and will probably buy the second one in the series, but I was pretty upset when on page 186 it looked as if the editor took a little crack trip and decided to scramble the words on the page and totally leave words out of the book at random. What the heck? Doesn't anyone check for quality before these books are sold to the public?

After reading all the rave reviews I couldn't wait to read this book and I was very disappointed. It is good but not great. For one thing the cover is misleading. He is not the vampire, she is. It started out great but seemed to loose the intensity as you got further into the book. Anyway, I have since read two other books in the series and they all seem to have the same formula and I found the heroines (and most of the female characters) barely likeable. Like I said, it was good but I do not see why everyone is so crazy about this book or the series.

I really like Kresley Cole novels and while I did enjoy this book, I enjoyed her historical romances better. I liked the main characters, but once again I think it would be sooo much better if she could insert more humor into her books or make the characters have a more quirky personality. The loves scenes as usual were smokin' hot.

Man I cannot say enough about this new series! I love anything about Vampires, Lore, Werewolves.. etc. But add a Celtic Hunk and I will die a happy woman! And if that isn't enough Cole provides an incredible storyline with characters just screaming for a story of their own. I cannot wait to read the next one. Do yourself a favor, get this book, shut off the phone, lock the door and ENJOY!

Finished this book in less than a day....I am a sucker for paranormal romance, but this book blew me away. I purchased it because of the high ratings, but it was a lot more than I expected. The heroine is witty and relatable and the hero is right out of my dreams. If you want a book that will grab you from the start and keep you begging for more well after it's done, then this is the one for you. I can't wait to start the next book in the series!

The energy of this novel! It's years after I first read this book and I still sit around thinking of how fun the trailer would be... option this whole series--get Joss and watch the millions roll in! This was the first novel I ever read that had the immediacy and diction of my every day interactions. Ms. Cole has stayed current linguistically speaking, enabling you to more closely relate to her non-human characters-- who seem all-too-human. Her multi-dimensional characterization is just one reason to enjoy these action-packed books.

I can't say enough about how much I love this book. I've read is numerous times which is really rare for me. And I don't think I've ever posted a review before. I've really enjoyed Kenyon's "Dark Hunter" series and Feehan's "Dark - Carpathian" series but Hunger is my all-time favorite. It's totally sexy, there's great character development and it has laugh out loud moments. Examples involve the character Nix who is a seer and her impatient, random complaints about having "seen this part before" and that "this is rerun" during high tension moments. I'm almost worried that the following books won't be able to live up to this one. But of course I'll be getting every one.

This book was an excellent read. While it seemed like it got off to a rough start, and Emma seemed a little... naive and ubelievably obedient to the shocking demands presented to her (i.e. getting naked and letting herself be touched by a complete stranger, allowing him to stay with her, etc...without argument) it progressed into an enjoyable story and the series only continued to get better. There are definitely more story lines presented to follow, and I encourage anyone to read the 2nd book and proceed from there! Once I got going with the series, I couldn't stop until I'd read them all!

this is the 1st Kresley cole book I have every picked up and I am so glad that I did. I love the story and characters and the way that the author builds the world and entwines everybody in some way or another.
I found myself getting entranced in the book. It is like watching a movie.
Favorite new author, I rank her up there with JR Ward. If you coming off the BDB, then you will like this series.

This is one of the most exciting sf/erotic/romance/horror books I've seen in a while. I'm constantly checking for the next in the series. Despite the potential to be stereotypes, vampire/valkyrie Emma and werewolf Lachlain are totally appealing and absolutely sexy together. The story is intricate, interesting, and funny!!! After being so disappointed by recent stuff by Hamilton, Feehan, and Kenyon, Kresley Cole is a breath of fresh air. More please!!!

I started with the second installment, read through a few and had to go back to the original, worth it even if I already knew many of the developments. Cole writes great heroines, developing them along with their Alpha heroes. I really like how the interaction pits strong personalities and with great situations that help them develop both their relationship and their persons. And its definitely the series where I laugh out loud the most, just LOVE the women in these series.

I was not to fond of paranormal romance prior to reading A Hunger Like No Other (IAD, Book 1). However, after reading Cole's first book, The Captain Of All Pleasures, I was so intrigued with her unique, brilliant, writing skills that I knew I would read any book she ever publishes. She's an absolute brilliant story teller; her books are never lacking, filled with adventure, wonderment, sensual sex scenes, conflict, and great character's that you can't help but fall in love with. This story is a FANTASTIC paranormal love story and after reading it...WARNING!...you will be hooked!