Lothaire: Immortals After Dark, Book 12

Lothaire, by Kresley ColeThe two main characters:Lothaire… a single-minded, arrogant, merciless millennia-old vampire whose endgame is the acquisition of a vampire queen, two thrones, and lots of bloody revenge. He is somewhat mad and has a lot to learn!Ellie Ann Peirce: a beautiful young Appalachian trailer-dwelling hillbilly whose body is a vessel for, Saroya, a cursed ex-goddess of death and destruction, whom Lothaire believes he must free and marry in order to attain his goals. Ellie’s soul is meant to be destroyed.Saroya and Lothaire have great contempt for Ellie, who was on death row for 5 years because Saroya, while in possession of Ellie’s body, murdered 5 deacons who had tried to exorcise Ellie of the demon goddess. Ellie worked toward a degree in psychology while in jail. She is as sharp as a tack!The book has all the death, destruction and grisly mayhem of books of this genre. But the story is written in an endlessly amusing manner and all the characters have lots of personality, especially Lothaire, who never runs out of snide comments about Ellie’s background, and Ellie herself, who is a clever and brave survivor.I laughed my way through this book.

I was really appalled by this book. When your partner is saying specifically and explicitly, "No" you don't keep going. And she keeps saying No, and he keeps going. There's a trope where the hero rapes the heroine and suddenly she's in love with him. This books spells it out. Explicitly. He also turns her into a vampire AGAINST HER WILL. The result? Her own mother wants to know why she doesn't "appreciate" him for giving her jewels and making it so she won't die... several other females echo this concept. This is a dark book, with lots of imagery of torture and abuse (the hero also admits several times he tortured the heroine). The main conflict in the plot is also really quickly whisked away through no action of their parts. The story doesn't hold on its own, and the consent issues are REALLY a big problem. This. Is. Not. A. Good. Book. I bought it b/c of external reviews that it was wonderful. No, it's not.

This book had been sitting on my “to read” shelf forever, from my days when I read paranormal romance, so I thought it was about time for Lothaire, the Enemy of Old. I am a huge fan of Cole’s historical romances (yes, she wrote them) and I have read all in the Immortals After Dark series through this one.In millennia past, before Lothaire was frozen as a vampire, his mother was brutally slain by mortals, sacrificing herself to save him. Since then, he has wanted only two things: vengeance and his Bride. He’s had much of his vengeance, gaining a reputation as the most feared and most powerful vampire in the Lore. Now he wants his Bride.An oracle tells him Ellie Peirce is the one. Appalachian poor, she is young and from a family that has seen only hard times. But they love her. When the evil goddess, Saroya, possesses Ellie’s body, she fights back. Lothaire sees Ellie but thinks Saroya is his Bride. He doesn’t even consider the one could be a mortal hillbilly.Ellie would rather die than continue to allow Saroya to kill indiscriminately using her body so she plots her own death. Lothaire finds Ellie’s body sexually attractive and thinks to slack his lust on her while waiting for Saroya to “rise”. He can’t actually have sex with her until he makes his Bride immortal and for that he needs a key another possesses. Much of the story involves Lothaire’s criticism of Ellie and his obsession with finding the key.While this would not be my favorite in the series, not even my favorite vampire story, it’s well told, if a bit overlong, and the dialog is witty as always. My favorite part is the last quarter when Ellie comes to the home of the Valkyries and the “girls” dish out some of their charm. If you like the series, this one will entertain. My favorite one is the first: A Hunger Like No Other.

"Lothaire the Enemy of Old had returned for her. Just as he'd promised."FINAL DECISION: Dark and macabre at times, this book fits one of the evil characters in the IAD universe. Lothaire's mate is exactly not the woman he expected and that makes this so good.THE STORY: Lothaire the Enemy of Old is an ancient ruthless vampire. The bastard son to the former king of the Horde, Lothaire has sworn to take over the Horde and also the kingdom from his mother's family. Elizabeth "Ellie" Peirce is a mortal on death row and is possessed by what she terms a "demon". Soroya an an ancient evil vampire ex-goddess and Lothaire believes that she is his mate. He intends on finding a way to exorcise Ellie and claim Soroya as his own. The complication is that the longer Lothaire is in the presence of Ellie and Saroya, the more he begins to fear that his mate might now be who he thinks it is.OPINION: I love the struggle that Lothaire has in determining his mate. He treats Ellie terribly and one might expect that it is she who is his mate. Ellie is certainly not evil, but she isn't a sweet, innocent miss either. Even better, she doesn't really change Lothaire much -- readers of the series can be assured that Lothaire doesn't turn into Mr. Nice Guy, but rather controls his darkest impulses.The story is very dramatic with sneaky and intriguing dilemmas and clever, dark solutions. Lothaire and Ellie have a very dark and dangerous journey to their happiness.Lothaire's mysterious past is revealed which once again adds understanding but not excuse to Lothaire's behavior. There are big things here that effect all of the Lore.WORTH MENTIONING: Lothaire rips out his own heart and sends it to Ellie. Weirdest courtship yet.CONNECTED BOOKS: LOTHAIRE is the twelfth book in the Immortals After Dark series. It can be read as a standalone. It is better to read it as part of the series, however, because there is an overarching story and intricate relationships that are not really understandable to new readers.STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

If Lothaire was real, he would have invented the phrase "treat them mean, keep them keen". I know some people are uncomfortable with just how evil Lothaire really is, but I saw it as an obstacle to overcome. Lothaire is evil and that's a trait that not going to be simply broken just because he met his "bride".Lothaire is an ass, and he is meant to be an ass, that's is the obstacle of the book. The true antagonist of the book is Lothaire's darkside, the evil in him, not Doroda or some ancient vampire goddess, it is him. You are meant to hate that side of him and want to smack him on the head when he acts like a cruel, selfish idiot, that side of him is more dangerous to Ellie than any immortal evil out there. And as he is main antagonist, don't expect that side to be defeated early on in the book. Expect to get angry.You're meant to be upset when Ellie is, cheer when Ellie cheers and get angry at Lothaire when she gets angry at him.And judging by the negative reviews, Cole did her job and did it well, any less would be an insult.I enjoyed reading his story arc and character's growth. This was a beautiful, sexy raunchy book, and I enjoyed that the hero is also the villian, and you're willing him to see the truth and open his eyes as well as his heart.

It fees like I have been waiting to read this book for years. And looking back that would be because it has been years since my eyes first fell upon this cover.. This is the book that made me want to read this entire series. I have loved every book in this series and the closer I got to Lothaires story the more I put it off because I had wanted to love it so much that I was worried he may not live up to my expectations.One of the things I love about this series is it doesn't matter how long I take between books it always feels like sitting down to a conversation with an old friend. But then considering we've been seeing Lothaire in almost every book since the beginning I guess he is an old friend.. A cranky old friend. A friend who you dont want to piss off. Unless of course your Ellie. That girl has balls! Seriously big balls. I mean, I know she has resigned herself to her death but she stands up to Lothaire and pushes back at him. Every single time. And lives. I loved that about her.Lothaire is pretty much how we seem him throughout the series, always scheming for his own goals. And this book is no different. Only this time he has to consider the safety of his bride whilst he tries to put the finishing touches on his plans. And throughout all of this he still maintains that bad ass image of his. Well.... mostly.This book was every bit as good as the books that came before it. Well worth the wait. And definitely lived up to my expectations.

This is a tricky review to write. There is much to like about this instalment of the series, and yet I felt disappointed in the book as a whole. There was a lot of anticipation for Lothaire's story as he had been such a feature of the series thus far, and I fear many of us have been sorely disappointed.The good:* I found the history of the Lore and the introduction of the Dacians quite interesting* Lothaire and Ellie are well-matched characters* There were yet more sneak previews of exciting things to come in future stories* Some of the fiesty exchanges between Ellie and Lothiare were fun* It's always nice to see Nix and Thad is developing into a good characterThe bad:* The romance was more limited than in previous books* Not nearly enough from the usual suspects of the Lore, I missed them!* The relationships with Lothaire's family were poorly developed* There's no real depth to the plot and I didn't feel that it moved things along in the overall series plotline enoughAll in all, I would still say you should read it if you have read all the others. You'll still enjoy it, but I found that it's not one that I'll be revisiting like I did with many of the others. Let's hope the next book will be back on form.

I love Lothaire. The book had me simultaneously captivated and frustrated. It's one of those plots that keeps you on the edge - unable to decide whether you like the plot or not. About halfway through especially it really kicks off and has your 'toes curling' for more. The intense vampire is possibly one of the best Loreans in the series so far and his unique character traits and language is fantastic. He more than makes up for his otherwise plain human mate who, like the plot, improves as the book unfolds. Overall? Very satisfied.My only OCD complaint is this book is printed in a different size and style from the others so it ruins my perfectly organised collection! Sigh. :PGood time for delivery and delivered in perfect condition.

Well this is the book I have been waiting for since the Immortals After Dark series started and I wasn't disappointed. I can see it's had varying reviews and can honestly see all points raised but for me I loved it. This book definitely doesn't hold back on the love scenes either and they were shall we say very very steamy. Although I finished reading the book the day after it was released I unfortunately haven't had time to do the review and as such I don't think there is all that much more I can add to the other well written reviews already posted but I'll try.Lothaire aka The Enemy of Old or 'Leo' as becomes his name from Ellie in this story is stunning. Although not the most romantic of characters and lets face it you wouldn't really want him to be as it would totally ruin the character already set up by the author in all the previous books in the series he is definitely the leading man. I loved the way we finally get to see all of the other sides of the previous encounters with Lothaire from his point of view (and his reasons behind some of his decisions) and Kresley I think also paints the picture as to why he is like he is and even manages to make his situation more sympathetic. The whole book is set around Lothaire and his various plans and schemes but the main one being how to make his bride immortal as there are no female vampires left and as luck would have it fate has gone and set him up with a human of all things much to his disgust! The twist is that Ellie the human in question is currently possessed by Saroya a goddess of vampires who has been cursed to never hold her immortal body again and be dependant on possessing others bodies but is Saroya or Ellie Lothaire's true bride?I loved this book and the series just keeps getting better and better in my opinion, the only negative that the books can't come fast enough for me to read them! For anyone interested in a fantastic series then Immortals After Dark is definitely for you. Bring on the next book as fast as you can please Kresley!