The Midnight Breed Series Companion Part 2

Romantic Leads Lucan Thorne.

Gabrielle Maxwell Plot Summary.

A gifted young art photographer gets caught in the crosshairs of a growing war within the Breed, thrusting her into the arms of the darkly sensual leader of the race's warrior Order.

Primary Story Locations.

Abandoned old asylum outside Boston, Ma.s.sachusetts La Notte night club in Boston's North End Gabrielle's apartment on Willow Street in Boston Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Various other locations in and around Boston Playlist Save Yourself by Stabbing Westward Tourniquet by Evanescence Falling by Lacuna Coil Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum by Collide Predator by Collide Too Sick to Pray by A3 Possession by Sarah McLachlan Story Background.

As much as I enjoyed writing historical romances, I have to admit I was getting a little bored with the restrictions inherent to the genre-particularly the limitations on character types and settings. So, when I first sat down to put together a formal proposal for Lucan and Gabrielle's story, which at the time I was calling, Kiss of Darkness, I felt an incredible sense of freedom. I could set my book anywhere. I could populate it with a diverse cast of characters from all walks of life. My heroes-h.e.l.l, even my heroines-could carry bada.s.s weapons, drive cool cars, carry a cell phone, even use the f-word if the situation called for it!

Of course, I also wanted to write something that would interest a publisher, as I'd just received word that I was out of a contract at the same time I'd just become a first-time homeowner. But even that setback fueled my enthusiasm to throw off all of the old restraint I'd learned from writing historical romances and write the kind of book I would want to read but wasn't finding in the romance genre at the time. A gritty, dark, scary-s.e.xy vampire story set in Boston, a city I love.

Less Dracula and more Underworld.

Better yet, an erotically charged blend of Predator meets Blade.

The story poured out of me fast and furious, and I realized it had been a very long time since I'd had so much fun writing. By this point, I had an amazing three-book contract in hand from one of the top publishers in New York, and a twisty plot that would carry me through the trilogy and bring everything to a big finish.

But then I got to the last page of Lucan and Gabrielle's story and I realized that the ending I plotted out for this book...well, it sucked. The bad guy (Marek) needed to get away so he could come back again, bigger and badder, in the next two books. But the way I orchestrated his escape-a very lame "exit, stage left" kind of thing, where he dashed out the back door of a warehouse while Lucan ran in to save Gabrielle-read like a lazy cop-out.

I sent the draft in to my editor and told her I wasn't satisfied with the ending in particular and that I wanted to take another crack at it. She read the ma.n.u.script and agreed with me-the ending needed some work. Then she did what never seems to happen in tight publis.h.i.+ng schedules anymore: She gave me more than a full month to work on the revisions.

I tend to write a clean first draft, and I'm even better with revisions and polis.h.i.+ng. So a month to fix a shaky ending was an invitation for me to take a good look at the entire ma.n.u.script and really make it s.h.i.+ne as best I could.

Now, it's at this point that my husband would tell you he rode in to save the day. And maybe he did. John has been my best friend for nearly three decades. He's also my best plotting partner (and my sanity checker when it comes to writing believable men). So when I complained to him that my ending was weak and I needed the villain to escape in a big way, John nodded and said, "You need a helicopter."

Um, okay. Together we sketched out a better escape plan for Marek, and I went back to write in a helicopter to another scene in the book so it wouldn't seem totally convenient that at the pivotal moment the bad guy happened to have one handy.

I fleshed out a lot of other things too, including more "getting to know you" scenes between Lucan and Gabrielle, and I layered in more details about upcoming characters that I could use in the other two books.

I also changed the ending from a simple, "I love you, let's make a life together" type of closing, to one where we get to see Lucan finally show Gabrielle a more vulnerable side of him than he had allowed thus far in the book. Not the smoldering powder keg, but the tender lover he was promising to be for her in asking her to take his blood, to bond with him, and be his mate forever.

I sent in the revised ma.n.u.script and was stunned to hear back from my editor just a couple of days later. She loved it! Actually, she said something along the lines of, "This book was great the first time I read it, but you've taken it to a whole new level." Wonderful words. Almost eight years later, I still remember them and smile.

It wasn't too long afterward that I got another call from Shauna. Everyone at the publis.h.i.+ng house was really excited about the revised book, so instead of releasing it by itself in 2006 as planned, they wanted to hold it until I had the second book ready to go too, and they would release them as a back-to-back marketing event in the first half of 2007.

The series was off to a great start!

Kiss of Crimson BOOK 2.

Romantic Leads Dante Tess Culver Plot Summary A reckless act of need binds the fiercest of the warriors to a mortal woman who arouses his most primal hungers and desires...a woman who just might be in league with his enemies.

Primary Story Locations Tess's veterinary clinic in South Boston Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Chase family Darkhaven in Back Bay, Boston Playlist Razorsharp by Collide Weak and Powerless (Tilling My Own Grave) by A Perfect Circle Wicked Game by H.I.M.

Uninvited by Alanis Morrisette Morning After by Chester Bennington Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n Roses Killing Loneliness by H.I.M.

Story Background Creatively, I was on fire when I began writing Kiss of Crimson. I'd just turned in Lucan and Gabrielle's story, and I had a lot of publisher and agent enthusiasm behind me, the only outside feedback I had on the series at the time. Let me tell you, knowing that you have a team of experienced industry professionals genuinely excited about something you created-especially after failing in another genre-is incredibly motivating.

Plus, I just couldn't wait to write Dante and Tess's story.

While Gabrielle was my wounded, tormented artist, Tess was a sc.r.a.pper and a survivor. I'd had the opening chapters from Kiss of Crimson in my head for a long time-from Dante biting her in a state of desperation, to her stabbing him with the syringe full of animal tranquilizer.

Their courts.h.i.+p was dark and aggressive, unconventional (to say the least!) but, of course, Dante wouldn't have it any other way. Dante is the kind of character who's most interesting when he's pushed into a corner, so forcing the smarta.s.s, street-fighter of the Order into a blood bond with a mate he didn't plan on having made sparks fly right away.

Dante also runs up against a source of conflict in his work with the Order-a source of conflict by the name of Sterling Chase, Special Investigative Agent with the Enforcement Agency. (*Scuse me, I mean, Senior Special Investigative Agent.) I like a good bromance almost as much as I like a good romance, so pairing these two up as unwilling partners in a joint investigation between the Order and the Enforcement Agency was one of my favorite parts about this book.

So, about Sterling Chase. When I was writing this book, I didn't realize I would be developing his character or storyline beyond what we see in Kiss of Crimson. As far as I knew, I was writing a trilogy, and I already had the plot and characters for Book 3 sketched out. I loved Chase, but he was going to fade into the background after this book (along with Elise, who, by the way, was never meant to end up with him).

But in the middle of writing this book, we had something terrible happen in real life. John's eldest daughter, who'd been battling leukemia and the aftereffects of treatment since late 2001, pa.s.sed away in January of 2006.

All along, in the third book, I had been planning to match Tegan up with a human woman who was a world-famous concert pianist, but who was also dying from a mysterious blood cancer. Tegan was going to abduct her from the hospital and find a way to cure her with his blood. [Author's note: This is now against the series lore; Breed males cannot heal human disease with their blood, and they don't take human women as their mates.] I suppose I thought it would be therapeutic or romantic in some way to write a happy ending for a heroine battling what seemed to be a terminal disease.

But as Leslie became sicker, and after she eventually pa.s.sed, I knew there was no way I wanted to live that kind of story for the months it would take for me to write it. Nor did I want to minimize what Leslie went through, and it seemed out of the question to make that kind of story a part of my household when everyone was so raw with grief.

Which meant I had to come up with an entirely different romance for the heart of Book 3.

It didn't take long for me to realize that widowed Elise Chase would make a wonderful mate for Tegan. Perhaps even better than what I'd originally envisioned for him. So, I reworked a few scenes to bring the two of them together, and what do you know? I found what is arguably one of Midnight Breed readers' favorite pairings from the entire series thus far.

I completed Kiss of Crimson and before I wrote the first word on the new outline for Tegan and Elise's story, I received word from my agent that Random House had made an early offer for three more books in the series. Hurray!

Except...my overarching plot was ending with Book 3.

It had to end there. I had already altered so much of the storyline for the book, but one thing that had to remain was the death of Marek and the way it was all supposed to go down with the final confrontation between Tegan and him.

So, while I celebrated the opportunity of being able to write about more characters in this new story world, I also knew I needed to come up with a suitable villain to carry the torch after the end of Book 3. And he needed to be a bigger threat than Marek, because we'd been there and done that.

The pressure was on in many ways as I set out to begin Tegan and Elise's story.

Midnight Awakening BOOK 3.

Romantic Leads Tegan Elise Chase Plot Summary An unlikely alliance is formed when a beautiful Darkhaven widow enlists the help of the Order's deadliest vampire warrior in her personal vendetta against the Rogues.

Primary Story Locations Chase family Darkhaven in Back Bay, Boston Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Andreas Reichen's Darkhaven in Berlin, Germany Aphrodite erotic club in Berlin, Germany Rogue rehabilitation facility in Germany Bohemian mountains in Czech Republic Playlist Cat People by Gosling Iris by Goo Goo Dolls The Sacrament by H.I.M.

Man in The Box by Alice in Chains Hand That Feeds by Nine Inch Nails Stripped by s.h.i.+ny Toy Guns Lithium by Evanescence Story Background I got off to a wobbly start when I began writing Midnight Awakening. I was trying to adjust to a new romance storyline and a new heroine, while at the same time working to wrap up the overarching plotline of the first three books and begin a new external plotline that could carry me through another three, but potentially more, if things went well with the back-to-back debut of the first two in May and June of 2007. Everything about this book seemed up in the air for a long time, including the t.i.tle, which during the first draft phase was called Kiss of Temptation. (I know, blech!) But there were a lot of good things happening too.

The series had been acquired by an exciting new German publisher that was looking to start a paranormal romance imprint called LYX. They wanted my series to be their launch t.i.tle, which was a thrill for many reasons, not the least of which being that Germany is my mom's home country. I wanted to do something to show my appreciation to my new German publisher, and to the readers there whom I hoped would enjoy my books. So as I was recasting and re-plotting Midnight Awakening, I decided to write in a brand-new character, Andreas Reichen, a charming, sophisticated Breed male who led a Darkhaven in Berlin.

I also decided to bring on more members of the Order in this book. I had three more books to write, after all, and if I wasn't careful, I'd run out of Breed warriors pretty quick! Thus, enter Kade and Brock-a wolfy-looking Alaskan, and a smooth-talking Rogue-killer who hailed from Detroit. The pair of new recruits provided some comic relief in an otherwise dark book, and they also brought out more interaction between the rest of the Order's members who would soon be on deck with their own books.

As originally planned, Midnight Awakening puts to bed the bad guy plot involving Lucan's brother, Marek, as the villain. In the final showdown with him, readers also learn more about Tegan's first Breedmate, Sorcha, and the truth behind her abduction and eventual death-events first referenced in Kiss of Midnight.

Marek was an evil man, no doubt about it. But I was about to introduce an even bigger threat in the series-and begin sowing the seeds of a larger story arc that had the potential to expand over more than just the next three books.

To make this transition to a greater evil, it was important to me that it feel organic to the first three books somehow. I didn't simply want to shoehorn it in, I wanted a clean dovetail. So I went back to the beginning to see if there was some creative portal I'd left open and could make use of now. I found it in Kiss of Midnight. Specifically, I found the answer I needed in the medieval tapestry hanging in Lucan's study at the Boston compound.

In Midnight Awakening, we discover that one of the original members of the Order, back in the Middle Ages, helped conceal the last remaining Ancient-his alien father-instead of killing the creature as Lucan's edict demanded. That Order member, Dragos, had an infant son also named Dragos. And between the separate actions of the two of them, the hidden hibernation chamber where this last Ancient slept remained sealed for centuries. Until the close of Midnight Awakening, when the Order uncovers the betrayal and finds the chamber empty.

Midnight Awakening was a challenging book, but one I'm ultimately very proud of. It took a bit longer for me to write than the first two books had. Of course, 2006 had been a long, difficult year on the personal side. I finally wrapped up Tegan and Elise's story in 2007, around the same time that Kiss of Midnight (the formerly t.i.tled Kiss of Darkness, until it was discovered that an established New York Times best-selling author was releasing a vampire book by that same t.i.tle in 2007) was about to publish.

Kiss of Midnight debuted on May 1, 2007, and immediately hit the USA Today best-seller list. On May 29, Kiss of Crimson released. This book hit the USA Today best-seller list too, but it also hit the New York Times list! Not long after the books came out, I noticed readers online were beginning to call the series the "Kiss" series. At this time, Random House was not printing the series t.i.tle on the front covers, only inside on the t.i.tle page (for what reason, I have no idea).

In an effort to root some part of the actual series name in readers' minds, I decided to begin putting the word "Midnight" in every t.i.tle. So, for those of you who wonder why Kiss of Crimson is the only oddball t.i.tle in the series without the word "Midnight" in it, now you know!

Midnight Rising BOOK 4.

Romantic Leads Rio (Eleoterio de la Noche Atanacio) Dylan Alexander Plot Summary After surviving a savage betrayal, Rio has given up hope of redemption...until he finds himself craving a fiery tabloid reporter who's in pursuit of a sensational story that's closer to the truth than she could ever imagine.

Primary Story Locations Bohemian mountains in Czech Republic Andreas Reichen's Darkhaven in Berlin, Germany Various locations in New York City Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Croton Dam in New York Playlist Who Will Love Me Now by Sunscreem The Undertaker by Puscifer Apologize by OneRepublic Dance with the Devil by Breaking Benjamin Savin' Me by Nickelback Make Me Believe by G.o.dsmack Story Background Midnight Awakening came out in late November, 2007, to lovely reviews and further appearances on national bestseller lists. I had a contract to write the next three books in the series, and based on the success of the first three that year-and the amazing response from readers in just a few months' time-I had the feeling that Random House was probably going to allow me to run with the series even beyond books four through six.

To avoid writing myself into another corner with my next overarching plotline, as I began working on Midnight Rising, I decided to sketch out basic story premises for all of the main characters I knew I wanted to write. And I also came up with the Big Finale for the series (which, by some miracle, played out in Darker After Midnight, Book 10, right down to the final scene, just as I'd planned it).

But back to Midnight Rising. Poor Rio! When I nearly blew him to pieces in Kiss of Midnight and killed off his duplicitous Breedmate, Eva, I had no idea I'd need to put him back together again and find him a suitable heroine. But as I was writing Tegan and Elise's book, I already had my eye on the s.e.xy Spaniard, and had begun trailing breadcrumbs that would lead to a hidden cave in the Czech mountains-the place where Rio's second chance at a happy ending was to begin.

One of my first hurdles with Rio was his name. What kind of name is that, anyway, for a hundred-something-year-old vampire? Frankly, things went so quickly on the initial publication side with these books, I hadn't done much homework on the characters beyond the first three heroes of my "trilogy." So, in addition to plotting for the overall action thread of the series, I also went back to the drawing board and fleshed out character profiles for the rest of the cast going forward.

For Rio, coming up with his true name, Eleuterio de la Noche Atanacio (or, loosely translated from Spanish, "he who is free and of the night everlasting") inspired his entire background and the dark circ.u.mstances of his youth. It also gave me the answer to what Rio's unique Breed ability was-his "manos del diablo," (devil's hands), which allowed him to kill with a touch.

I don't recall how Rio's heroine in Midnight Rising, tabloid reporter Dylan Alexander, came to me initially. I knew he needed someone fiery and forthright, someone whose own personal goals-to find a juicy story that would hopefully save her loathed, but necessary, job-came into direct conflict with his. And at the time that Dylan stumbles upon Rio, his primary goal is to be left alone to die in peace.

Of course, Dylan didn't merely stumble upon Rio's hiding place; she was led there by Eva in ghost form. I felt bad for the way things ended between Eva and Rio. I knew Eva wasn't a horrible person, just a selfish one who let her possessiveness become a disease, one that made her do something so reprehensible, there was no turning back. But I wanted to redeem her, even if only in some small way. Using her as the conduit for bringing Rio out of the dark place he'd retreated to after Eva's betrayal felt right to me. I like things that come full circle, and letting Eva atone for what she did by guiding Dylan into his life-and later, for allowing Eva to a.s.sist Rio in saving Dylan when she was in mortal danger-is one of my favorite parts of Midnight Rising.

In addition to the emotional, romantic side of this book, we also get our first glimpse at the new villain of the series-Dragos. I wanted him to come on scene in a big way, demonstrating right up front that if Marek seemed dangerous, this guy was diabolical. Hiding behind a.s.sumed names and secret alliances that wormed deep into the highest ranks of the Enforcement Agency, Dragos was going to give the Order a real run for their money.

Midnight Rising came out in April, 2008. John and I were driving home to Michigan to visit my parents when my editor called late in the afternoon, as we were approaching Buffalo, New York (yes, I remember where I was!). The New York Times bestseller list had just come in. Midnight Rising had debuted at #6!

Rio and Dylan's story stayed on the New York Times list for another four weeks. It spent two weeks on the USA Today bestseller list, and was my first appearance on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list. Later, Midnight Rising's German translation, Gebieterin Der Dunkelheit, would be my first bestselling t.i.tle there, debuting on Der Spiegel.

Veil of Midnight BOOK 5.

Romantic Leads Nikolai Renata Plot Summary A mission to stop an a.s.sa.s.sin that's targeting Breed elders calls warrior Nikolai to Montreal, where he crosses paths with-and finds an unlikely ally in-the one woman capable of bringing him to his knees.

Primary Story Locations Various locations in Montreal, Quebec, Canada Sergei Yakut's lodge outside Montreal One of Dragos's labs outside Montreal Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Playlist Bring Me to Life by Evanescence Ghostflowers by Otep Time of Dying by Three Days Grace REV 22:20 by Puscifer The Bird and The Worm by The Used Woman by Wolfmother Closer by Nine Inch Nails Personal Jesus by Marilyn Manson Story Background I can still recall the surge of excitement I felt when I was jotting down the preliminary concept for Veil of Midnight. I'd never written a truly kicka.s.s heroine before-one who dressed in black leather and spike-heeled boots, and who bristled with as many deadly weapons as any one of my vampire alpha heroes of the Order. So much the better, that this Breedmate was also gifted with an extrasensory ability that could take down even the most lethal Gen One Breed.

Dear reader, meet Renata.

Naturally, a woman like that needs an equally strong partner. I couldn't think of anyone more suited to go toe-to-toe with Renata than the adrenaline-junkie, combat-loving, gear-head of the Order, Siberian-born Nikolai.

As you can probably tell from the playlist of music I listened to while working on Veil of Midnight, Niko and Renata's story was hard-driving, fast and gritty, full of action. It was also s.e.xy and dark, at times very tender. I strive to make each Midnight Breed book feel new and different from the others, while still maintaining a sense of cohesion within the series. Veil of Midnight was certainly different from the others, but it also marks a turning point in the series. One that set the second half of the series into motion, but also laid the groundwork for what I didn't know at the time-that the ending I'd plotted for Book 10 would actually be the beginning of a whole new generation of characters and a further arc in the series as a whole.

Which brings me to Mira.

Now, I'm not really into kids. I never had any of my own, whether that was the result of too many teenage years of babysitting jobs or something else, I don't know. But as I was plotting this book, I realized that for all of Renata's toughness and almost superhero invincibility, she needed to have a soft underbelly. She needed something to make her vulnerable, and I mean something aside from the reverb migraines she suffered after using her mind-blasting ESP talent. Renata needed to care about something, about some one.

And that someone was an eight-year-old orphan girl (a young Breedmate with the gift of precognition) whom Renata had rescued from a Montreal blood club run by Renata's future employer, the nefarious Gen One, Sergei Yakut.

It was Sergei Yakut who brought Nikolai to Montreal on a mission for the Order, but it was the child-seer Mira who showed Niko that his future was tied to the hot female bodyguard who handed him his a.s.s the first time they met.

Writing this book was a h.e.l.l of a good time, and I hope it shows in the text. It was also a challenge, because in addition to the romance and the action plot of Niko and Renata's story, I was also introducing new characters and weaving external suspense threads that would continue into the rest of the series.

It is in Veil of Midnight that the storyline of my next book, Ashes of Midnight, starts to unfold. Since the arrival of Berlin Darkhaven leader Andreas Reichen in Midnight Awakening and his further involvement in Midnight Rising, I knew I wanted to include him in the series in a more meaningful way. This goes back to my own German roots, and to my awareness of how unusual it is to find German characters in American commercial fiction-romance, in particular-who are not straight-up n.a.z.is or some other brand of bad guy. Plus, I really loved Reichen!

It was difficult tearing his world down so completely. I loved the relations.h.i.+p he had with his long-time human lover, Helene. I loved his Darkhaven family in Berlin, such as the young mated couple with the new baby who'd only recently named Reichen G.o.dfather. I loved the life he had in Berlin, and I loved his easy-going, charming personality.

But there's a popular saying among writers: Kill your darlings.

The fact was, the way I'd written it so far, Reichen's life was perfectly settled. His storyline thus far did nothing to move the series forward. Reichen had no conflict, had made no mistakes in life, had no enemies...or did he?

I realized that to give him a compelling story of his own, I needed to first destroy everything I loved about him. It sounds really cruel, but one thing I've learned as a writer is that happy characters make for boring fiction. So I set out to make Andreas Reichen very, very unhappy. And very, very angry. By the time his story takes place, Andreas Reichen is a man on fire-in more ways than one!

Other introductions taking place in Veil of Midnight include the first on-page appearance of the Ancient, no longer in hibernation but imprisoned in Dragos's breeding lab. We also meet for the first time, golden-eyed Hunter, one of Dragos's homegrown a.s.sa.s.sins. Hunter is one of an unknown number of Gen Ones bred from the captive Ancient and raised to be emotionless killers, loyal to Dragos not only out of duty and training, but also because of the unremovable ultraviolet collar that keeps these lethal soldiers under his total control.

By the end of Veil of Midnight, Hunter is no longer shackled to Dragos's command. Thanks to the Order-and a vision glimpsed in Mira's prophesying eyes-Hunter leaves Montreal to join the Order in the fight against his creator and villainous master.

Veil of Midnight released in late December, 2008. It was my first book to stay on both the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists for four weeks straight!

Ashes of Midnight BOOK 6.

Romantic Leads Andreas Reichen Claire (Samuels) Roth Plot Summary Consumed by revenge for the murder of his kin, Darkhaven leader Andreas Reichen embarks on a quest of fiery retribution...a quest that leads him to the woman who once owned his heart, but who now belongs to his most treacherous enemy.

Primary Story Locations Wilhelm Roth's Darkhaven estate outside Berlin, Germany Wilhelm Roth's office in Hamburg, Germany Danika's little farmhouse in Denmark Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Claire's grandmother's estate in Newport, Rhode Island Playlist Broken by Seether and Amy Lee Close to the Flame by H.I.M.

Going Under by Evanescence All of This Past by Sarah Bettens Dreamsleep by Collide Falls on Me by Fuel Story Background So, I'd left poor Andreas Reichen in quite a state at the end of Veil of Midnight. As his story picks up in Ashes of Midnight, he is a man with a plan. And that plan is the total annihilation of his newly recognized enemy, a Breed male named Wilhelm Roth. A Breed male who's been mated to Claire Samuels, the woman Andreas once loved-and lost-a long time ago.

Claire is one of the gentlest heroines in the series. But don't mistake her calm exterior for weakness. True, she's made some mistakes in her life-chief among them, doubting Andreas's love for her and choosing another mate, the powerful Wilhelm Roth, after Andreas leaves her without a trace or a word of good-bye. Once she realizes the depth of her mistake many years later, after Andreas strides back into her life on a tide of fire and ash and b.l.o.o.d.y-minded vengeance over what Roth has done to Andreas's loved ones, Claire is prepared to march into battle right along with him.

After writing Veil of Midnight and spending time on the page with a kicka.s.s heroine like Renata, I came to Ashes of Midnight still very much on a "I am woman, hear me roar" kind of high. It is in this book that the women of the Order-who now included newcomers Renata, Dylan, Elise, Tess and Gabrielle, in addition to Gideon's longtime mate, Savannah-first step in to lend their own skills to the Order's rising war against Dragos and his followers.

Although Lucan and his cadre of Breed warriors are strong, none of them paired up with a woman who would be willing to stand by and let her man fight alone when she has unique talents to lend to their missions. For Claire, that talent is dreamwalking, which she uses in Ashes of Midnight to help Andreas and the Order locate one of Dragos's breeding labs and defeat one of his most dangerous lieutenants, Wilhelm Roth.

In the end, Dragos wins this round. His escape-and the hasty relocation of the captive Ancient-sets the stage for big things yet to come in Shades of Midnight and the books to follow. As for Andreas Reichen and Claire, while they do not come into the Order's fold officially in Ashes of Midnight, they remain an integral part of the series.

Another character we meet again in this book is Danika, the widowed Breedmate of Conlan, who was killed in action in Kiss of Midnight. During the events in Ashes of Midnight, I needed a safe house for Claire and Andreas to elude Roth's men. With Germany being so close to Denmark, it only seemed logical that the Order would call upon Danika for this special favor.

What I hadn't expected was the response from readers after Ashes of Midnight released. So many people were thrilled to see Danika again! Apparently, they'd been wondering how the Breedmate, who'd been pregnant with Conlan's son at the time of his death, was faring since leaving Boston to deliver her child back home in Denmark. Readers emailed, asking if I would write a story for Danika and give her a happy ending. Although I didn't have plans to expand on her future at that time, the ideas started percolating, and eventually I got the opportunity to revisit Danika again.

Ashes of Midnight published in May, 2009, spending three weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, two weeks on the USA Today list, debuting at #31, my highest showing on that list at the time. And still another high spot, Claire and Reichen's book hit #6 on the Publishers Weekly bestseller list its first week out as well.

Shades of Midnight BOOK 7.

Romantic Leads Kade Alexandra Maguire Plot Summary A mission to Alaska to investigate a string of savage vampire attacks sends Breed warrior Kade to the frozen land of his birth, where he encounters a s.e.xy female bush pilot whose own quest for answers forces him to confront his darkest secrets, and an even greater evil that could destroy all he holds dear.

Primary Story Locations Small (fictional) town of Harmony, Alaska Kade's family Darkhaven outside Fairbanks, Alaska Order's compound headquarters in undisclosed location in Boston Playlist The Fear by Trust Company Shame by Stabbing Westward So Cold by Breaking Benjamin Crashed by Daughtry Story Background Since the introduction of black-haired, silver-eyed Kade to the series in Midnight Awakening, I couldn't wait to set one of the books in Alaska. Naturally, it had to be his!

I'd had it in my head for a while that Kade had left his family Darkhaven outside Fairbanks for a reason he didn't really want anyone to know. And I'd also had it in my character notes that he was an identical twin-although whether Kade should be the "good" twin or the "bad" one, I wasn't yet sure.

I began plotting Shades of Midnight from the external side of things: The Ancient's escape from the cargo train at the end of Ashes of Midnight, and the subsequent slaughter of the Alaskan family, which prompts the Order to send Kade north-far north-to investigate. It was this same slaying that would bring female bush pilot, Alexandra Maguire, into the middle of the Order's business and, soon afterward, into Kade's bed.