ARC Review: Wicked After Midnight by Delilah S. Dawson

“If there is one thing I know with certainty right before I crack open a Blud book, is that it’ll take me on a wild ride, stimulate my imagination and make me want to transport into Sang myself.  WICKED AFTER MIDNIGHT delivers that and more!  ” ~Under the Covers

Sometimes, a reader just needs to trust an author.  I was a little upset when I found out this wasn’t a Criminy book, but I was excited to go back to Sang and seemed like a glimpse of caravan life again.  I shouldn’t have worried.  If there is one thing I know with certainty right before I crack open a Blud book, is that it’ll take me on a wild ride, stimulate my imagination and make me want to transport into Sang myself.  WICKED AFTER MIDNIGHT delivers that and more!

Demi is not the conventional heroine I’m used to seeing in this series.  She’s a young human college girl who ends up in Sang many years ago and is now a Bludman.  She was turned by Criminy to save her life and given a job with his caravan.  Trained to be a contortionist.  But, again, she’s young.  A bit immature and bratty, and she wants to see what else is out there in this world.  She has dreams of being a cabaret star, seeing her name on billboards and having much success.  So she enlists her contortionist partner Cherie and off they head for Paris.

They’re attacked and Cherie is taken and she quickly realizes that what she aspired to be, thinking she was untouchable because she’s a Bludman, is not the way she had imagined.

This book is a story of growth for Demi.  I really enjoyed seeing that because, quite frankly, I was getting pissy at the beginning with her rebellious attitude.  She makes mistake after mistake, but she learns from them (mostly) and comes out on the other side with her spirit intact and the future she envisioned.

Then there’s the hero.  Part thief, part nomad, and all kinds of sexy.  I love a man that’s a bit of a rogue in the real sense of the word and there’s the bonus of his sexy accent.  Vale is protective and loyal to a fault.  Going against what she should do for his people, he stays in Paris to watch out over Demi and help her find Cherie.  I would’ve liked to see him make his move and swoop in before he did, but the pacing of their romance was great and always full of sparks.

This was an action packed episode!  I loved the cabaret theme, the Moulin Rouge feel, and the parallels that Demi found between the human world and Sang and the things she could introduce there that weren’t known yet (like can-can and the Phantom of the Opera).  Another thing I always enjoy in this series is that the “final battles” are never rushed.  Ms. Dawson does an amazing job at dealing with the enemy in a way that, even though sometimes doesn’t have to drag on for 10 pages, it leaves you completely satisfied of the resolution.

I can’t say enough how much I enjoy this series and every aspect of this world that we get to see.  Looking forward to much more!

*ARC provided by publisher

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 [about-author author=”Delilah S. Dawson”]