Catching Midnight

This is a new direction for this author and I loved this first foray into the "upyr" world. This story is less heavily erotic and more emotionally touching than some of her other books. I highly recomend it to anyone who wants to read about "real" characters falling in love. Neither the hero nor heroine are perfect or dominant to each other. Just a really good romance story.

I'll admit, I was a bit reluctant to "delve" into this type of romance (since it's not my norm) - - but "Catching Midnight" will make you change your genre. Ms. Holly, known for her HOT, erotic reads, brings us a new dimension - -and does very well! I'll admit, if you are like me, and have never read a "vampire-type" romance, this may catch you by surprise. ...Give it a chapter and you'll be completely delighted. The story line is solid, the characters believable and I can't wait to see what happens in subsequent books!Well done!

I knew Ms. Holly to be an exceptional erotica author but I never expected she is a chameleon - slipping from historical romances like Beyond Seduction to paranormal territories with assured ease. It is a even greater revelation that she delivers one of the most provocative paranormal romance to date and is consistently imaginative. And how boldly daring of Ms. Holly to exploit on the ancient upyr who are rumoured demons and feeds on blood for sustenance. Young ingenue Gillian escapes to Scottish woods in 1349 to avoid pestilence and finds herself steeped in the rivalry between elders Auriclus and Nim Wei. She chooses to follow Auriclus and 21 years later she decides it's time to leave the pack and seek her destiny in the human world. She shape-shifts to a nestling who later gets picked up by falconer Aimery Fitz Clare, brother to baron of Bridesmere and is touched by his kindness and is inexorably in love. It is instantly a top-notch romance, surreal and heart-wrenchingly poignant when Gillian is afraid to unleash the monster in her and the charged symmetry revealed when Aimery is tortured by his "butchery" in battlefield. It is a mythic journey of how Gillian shapes her fate and a gothic struggle of good against evil with Nim Wei's destructive traits. It climaxes in a gathering of elders to save Aimery's life and a denouement of Gillian's identity. No less can we expect Ms. Holly's tale to be exquisitely erotic with smoldering passion that rages with promises and commitments. In its sexual undertones, it conveys complexed characterization through the resentment between Aimery and his brother Edward, a doomed infatuation for Aimery in Edward's wife Claris, Gillian's love towards Edward's child Robin and Brother Kenelm's redemption. It is of how Gillian triumphs over her abandonment and finds her destiny. It is ultimately a story of hope as we see love at its most liberating - and emotionally shattering.

I knew Ms. Holly to be an exceptional erotica author but I never expected she is a chameleon - slipping from historical romances like Beyond Seduction to paranormal territories with assured ease. It is an even greater revelation that she delivers one of the most provocative paranormal romance to date and is consistently imaginative. And how boldly daring of Ms. Holly to exploit on the ancient upyr who are rumoured demons and feeds on blood for sustenance. Young ingenue Gillian escapes to Scottish woods in 1349 to avoid pestilence and finds herself steeped in the rivalry between elders Auriclus and Nim Wei. She chooses to follow Auriclus and 21 years later she decides it's time to leave the pack and seek her destiny in the human world. She shape-shifts to a nestling who later gets picked up by falconer Aimery Fitz Clare, brother to baron of Bridesmere and is touched by his kindness and is inexorably in love.It is instantly a top-notch romance, surreal and heart-wrenchingly poignant when Gillian is afraid to unleash the monster in her and the charged symmetry revealed when Aimery is tortured by his "butchery" in battlefield. It is a mythic journey of how Gillian shapes her fate and a gothic struggle of good against evil with Nim Wei's destructive traits. It climaxes in a gathering of elders to save Aimery's life and a denouement of Gillian's identity. No less can we expect Ms. Holly's tale to be exquisitely erotic with smoldering passion that rages with promises and commitments. In its sexual undertones, it conveys complexed characterization through the resentment between Aimery and his brother Edward, a doomed infatuation for Aimery in Edward's wife Claris, Gillian's love towards Edward's child Robin and Brother Kenelm's redemption. It is of how Gillian triumphs over her abandonment and finds her destiny. Catching Midnight is ultimately a story of hope as we see love at its most liberating - and emotionally shattering.

In the year 1349, she was 10 years old - hardly a lifetime to know what it was like to be human when Gillian was turned into a upyr. Brought by her sire, Auriclus, to the woods where her body had shape-shifted to her perfect age, he left her to "live well and free" with others of her breed, the children of midnight, shapeshifting immortals who could run as both wolves and men. After some years spent with the pack of upyr's that were now her only family, she wanted knowledge of humans, her heart yearned for the world beyond.After assuming the guise of a peregrine falcon, hoping to escape her immortal keepers, she inadvertently falls into the hands of Aimery Fitz Clare, a human, second son to a noble house, and a master falconer. Instinctively recognizing Aimery's kindness she is content to stay with him and let him unknowingly guide her back to a human world. It is with Aimery that she discovers more and more the knowledge she needs to be content - to discover that she has a heart and it has been captured by her love of Aimery. For Gilllian and Aimery, to embrace this forbidden romance, they must first survive the perils of her jealous brethren baring their fangs, and his obsessively unbalanced sister-in-law, before they can soar together in a perfect and glorious love.Catching Midnight is a powerfully seductive romance. The raw emotions and the sizzling sex are skillfully woven into a very tender and touching love story. Numerous secondary characters are intertwined within to give you a thrilling page-turner of treacherous betrayals, envy, greed and mentally unbalanced obsessions. The paranormal world of upyr's was a new realm of which I had no prior knowledge, thatI found extremely interesting. I really liked this book and I most definitely recommend it - the pages flew and the sensuality will make your toes curl!