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Book Review of Dreams of a Dark Warrior (Immortals After Dark, Bk 11)

Dreams of a Dark Warrior (Immortals After Dark, Bk 11)
gabyd avatar reviewed on + 10 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4


Dreams of a Dark Warrior is the 9th book in Cole's Immortals After Dark series (11th, if counting the anthology stories, which one SHOULD count). This story concentrates on the Valkyrie Regin the Radiant and her reincarnated berserker mate Aidan/Declan.

Cole's writing is seamless (sorry for the pun in bad taste!). While the writing was riveting and highly descriptive (the lab scenes were honestly tough to get through), the chemistry between the main characters didn't seem nearly as strong to me as others in Cole's stories. For as much history as Declan and Regin had together, their fated love just didn't seem to leap off the pages. To me, they just weren't as intense and raw as Carrow and Malcolm, Rydstrom and Sabine, etc. As was alluded to in the previous installment (Demon from the Dark), Declan is the quintessential anti-hero, but is written here with much more pathos. And in my opinion, Regin is portrayed as a more believable immortal female and not as some drunken sorority sister. As I got closer and closer to finishing the book, I kept wondering HOW Cole would bring these two characters together, how could she possibly come up with a paranormal happily ever after in less than 50 pages... The ending itself was okay - not knock-your-socks-off great, but not horribly bad either.

This story parallels the same timeline as Demon from the Dark, and I love how Cole easily flips her magical literary mirror (lame, I know, sorry!) and depicts several scenes from the previous book through the eyes of others (events that occurred at the Order's facility, the exams, La Dorada, the battle to escape the island, etc. I absolutely loved how much depth Cole gave secondary characters like Natalya, Thad (such a cutie!), and Lothaire.

After so many installments, this series certainly has its share of ups and downs, but it is obvious that Cole (unlike other authors, you know who they are!) is definitely trying to keep her stories and characters fresh, her readers on their toes and the edges of their seats. I look forward to reading more about these characters from the Lore, catching up with old friends and seeing how younger beings like Thad and Ruby are faring, and what the heck is going to happen in the imminent Assession!