Those who can, do. Those who can't be bothered, snark about those who did.

Because my NaNoWriMo novel has reached a point where I would rather pluck out my eyelashes than write another word about those poor characters (born without personalities! so tragic!), I think my time is better served criticizing an ackshual published author (Kresley Cole)'s akshual published work (Demon from the Dark).

Have ya read this one yet?

Now, I love the Immortals After Dark series as much as (more than!) the next gal, and this was no exception. The Lore is fascinating, the writing is great, and I totally dig the humor and the way she writes her female characters' friendships and sisterhood. But, can I just say that after 10 IAD books I'm starting to lose the plot a little bit? Literally.

Part of the problem is that I am a Bear of Little Brain, I admit this. But the other trouble is that there are now 10 books about 10 different couples, all somehow related to one another, sometimes in multiple ways. Reading this latest book was like being plunked down into someone else's family reunion. I found myself thinking "Wait, who are you again?" more than once...Which is off-putting, I'm sure you'll agree, since romance-novel-reading is generally the antithesis of conscious thought. If I wanted to actually THINK about shit, I'd be off interacting with the 3-dimensional people in my life. Amen.

More than that, there are 9 books of back-story preceding this book. I vaguely remember that there was some mention of a big war coming. And that's about all I remember. So, while I don't usually like it when an author goes into too much detail in re-telling what happened in the earlier books, I also think she could've gone just a skosh more review than she did. It was hard to put this one in context.

Now, all that picky-picky stuff aside, the book was good. I liked the female protagonist, I enjoyed the trust/loyalty relationship-challenge, and I thought that everyone (with the exception of the little girl, who was way too perky and unaffected after just losing her mother) had very believable, in-character reactions to their situations. Plus, holy sex scenes. The heat from my blushing cheeks could have warmed the whole house.

I'd say this one's definitely worth the read (especially since it's probably already on your TBR pile, if you haven't gotten to it already), if for no other reason than because this sets up Book 11 (Dreams of a Dark Warrior - due in February 2011), and the plot for Book 11 looks AMAZING! See?

From #1 New York Times bestseller Kresley Cole comes this gripping tale of a battle-maddenend warrior driven by revenge and the Valkyrie temptress who haunts his dreams.

He vowed he'd come for her. . .

Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives—only an endless yearning.

She awaits his return. . .

When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals, unaware that he belongs to their world.

To sate a desire more powerful than death. . .

Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan's torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?

Oooooh! Intriiiiiguing.

Grade: B+ (Worth the read, but don't pay full price)