Unbeatable in the ring, Rune exists in a brutal world of blood and bone and death. He's made his share of enemies both in and out of the arena, and his secrets run as deep and turbulent as his past. A dangerous loner who has survived by his fists and fangs, Rune has never allowed anyone to get too close to him...until Carys. But when the bodies buried in his past rise up to threaten his present, Rune must choose between betraying Carys's trust or putting her in the crosshairs of a battle neither of them can hope to win on their own.
Comment: This is the 13th installment in the Midnight Breed series by Lara Adrian. I've been losing interest in this series and I can't really explain why. When I first started reading this, every book was pre ordered and anticipated but since the first arc ended, it doesn't feel the same somehow even if so many things follow the same ideas. But the truth is the previous book in the series was read in 2014...
This book gives us Carys Chase, daughter of Sterling and Tavia, probably my favorite couple and book from the first arc.
Carys is both Breed and breedmate and she wants to have an independent life. She is dating, sort of, Rune, a fighter and someone coming from a different background. She knows her parents wouldn't easily accept him but they don't even try to make an effort.
When the Order need help, Carys finds herself understanding a bit more what it means to work for the good of everyone and somehow the chance to present Rune and trying to have a go at a solid relationship with him also seems to become possible.
The problem is that someone from Rune's past will interfere with all the sudden good things in Carys life...
Even after reading the book and having enjoyed for the most part, I still can't really pinpoint exactly what was about it that makes it seem weaker than some of the original ones but that's how I think of it. This second arc, which had everything to work out, just doesn't appeal to me as much. I love the character's interactions, especially when we see the ones already mated or that we know better. But the romances aren't as amazing as I would have imagined and the plot went to a interesting but not always appealing path.
It doesn't mean the stories don't have substance or structure but they don't feel the same. I guess part of it was the quick switch from one plot and then the 2nd arc had characters we saw as children or not even that already grown up and we didn't had the chance to see them develop their personalities in between. They now look like any other character in the series...
Anyway, Carys and Rune at least feel like that to me.
The romance is a strong component of this book. Like some other readers, I found their romance to be without any apparent substance, even more when we had such careless behavior from them in the previous books where they showed up. In this book they communicated more, we learned more about their pasts and dreams and their connection seemed to become stronger. I still don't think this feels they had to be together but at the end I was happier for them than before.
I think some of my issues come from the character's personalities, behavior and attitudes. The positive side of all this in the characters of the 1st arc don't seem to have been done the same way in this 2nd arc. The main characters just feel more....uncaring or unfocused on doing the right thing or being unique. It really bothers me how we have so many bad boys who only reform because they realize they are in love almost at the end of the book. Yes, this is a series' trademark almost but this younger characters also seem to be unconcerned about other things besides fighting or destroying their enemies. It feel like all the years after their parents conquered the right for them to be free or to at least have a better life (if only emotionally) meant nothing.
Ok, maybe I'm being too picky but Carys for instance reminds of this. She lives such an easy life and she only gets interested in things after a while. This feels like spoiled for me. I don't know but honesty I didn't feel much interest in her nor in her personality which seemed vain in the previous books and fast but not to last here because she is the heroine.
Rune has a lot more substance, he acts like any other guy in romances but I appreciated his path a lot more than hers.
The plot has its moments. It gets a bit tiring to keep having them fight enemies all the time but well, this is the whole premise of the books. I wish I could have more domestic scenes with everyone, proving the efforts of the 1st arc weren't just because.
The Atlantean plot line also has its moments although not too obvious yet. But the next book features an Atlantean hero so we should have more information on them and their lives.
This book wasn't the best ever but it worked out fine. I hope I won't take as long to get to the next one, though!
Grade: 6/10
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