Red Kiss

....out pops this lovely gem of a story. Created in a richly textured world--both with real and super-real people and creatures. This story takes us down new roads. The Olympic Gods are around and a pretty delectible version of Ares is created. The use of a dagger, causing a bloody prick that leads to essential telepahty is fresh and not at all in the vampire style. Especially I enjoyed how the couples were balanced more like a team without one beng so much stronger--metaphysically or physically--than the other. Great new series and this author as always a dependable auto-buy.

After following Deidre Knight's Parallel series, which is awesome, her books are a definite pre-order and must-read for me. "Red Kiss", book 2 of her Spartan series has everything I love in a good book - great characters, engrossing plot, humor, emotion, romance, passion, and good sex. The Spartan series' cast of characters is varied and fascinating, and Knight does a great job of setting up future possible pairings and conflicts, and makes you wish she would write MUCH faster. I can't wait for book 3!!

After reading Red Fire I was absolutely hooked on Deidre Knight's Gods of Midnight series. The world she has created with the sexy and intriguing Immortal Spartans, Gods, Demons, and Demon Hunters captured my attention immediately. I couldn't wait for Red Kiss to become available. I had it pre-ordered and when it came, I couldn't put it down! River's story was absolutely captivating, and the challenges he and Emma face together keep you on the edge of your seat in action and romance! In the midst of it all she gives us sneek peeks into the hearts and minds of other interesting characters of the story, and makes us desperate to read her future novels so we can see how their lives will play out. Deidre is an amazing author. Read the books, you will be so glad you did!

Posted 06/22/09: After reading RED FIRE, I was wishing the months away so I could snuggle up with RED KISS and connect with River and Emma's story, and I am thrilled to say this book engaged me page after page until the end!!! I have been thinking what I love best about Deidre Knight's writing and it is the fact that she values relationships and the sanctity of two becoming as one - no matter what difficulties they face along the way. Her compassionate understanding of a hero and heroine and their challenges shows me the caring person she is. Deidre can delve into the human psyche and heal along the way. Her words are like music to my soul. Bravo for RED KISS, well done, Deidre!!! River was such a tortured soul right from the beginning and Emma embraced him with a beautiful heart. Tortured heroes are my favorite because I want them to find their way in love. It makes for great story tension. I am looking forward to the next Spartan Warrior's story and have enjoyed the world you have created for them in this day and age. Am thrilled I don't have to mourn the end of the story because the GODS OF MIDNIGHT series continues. All of your heroes and heroines, past, present and future, have a place in my heart.

Deidre Knight continues her steamy saga of Immortal Spartans with Red Kiss, the second installment in the Gods of Midnight series. When River's Spartan brothers fell at Thermopylae, River was the only non-warrior to follow the fallen warriors into death and to the banks of the River Styx. When the war God, Ares, turned the Spartans into immortal warriors sworn to protect humanity from demons, River was dipped into the magical waters and transformed into a weapon shifter. Damned to serve his brothers in battle by assuming the from of their weapon of choice, River's existence is one of lonely and sometimes grudging servitude. When the Spartans battled in revolt against an increasingly corrupt Ares, River was cast into the river in the form of a dagger. Now, at the beginning of Red Kiss, River is stranded in this form, with his soul and identity slowly seeping away. The violent nature of his weapon form threatens to consume all that was once good in him. Unless he is soon found and commanded into his human form by a mortal, he will lose his ability to return to his human form. Months pass before River manages to make psychic contact with the mortal demon hearer, Emma Lowery. When Emma hears River calling out for help, she faces a lifelong fear of the water to rescue him. At River's urging, she uses him in blade form to draw blood from herself. From her blood sacrifice, River draws the energy he needs to shift back to human form. In the process a soul connection is forged between Emma and River, but River's psychic calls for help have broadcast his location to the demons Ares has sent forth to reclaim him. While Emma's blood gift imbues River with the power to help her escape the immediate danger, the energy is fleeting. He cannot maintain his human form without more blood sacrifice on her part. But the evil that pursues River has no intention of letting Emma go. Without River's protection, she will surely die. While River is captivated by the lovely Emma, every time he shifts from weapon to human form, he loses control of his emotions and sexual yearnings. Horrified that the episodes he calls berserkers might cause him to harm Emma, he warns her to steer clear of him. Instead of making love to Emma, as his heart yearns to do, he vows to to protect her from an evil he fears she can never comprehend. But evil has its sites set on more than just River. They want Emma, too. Even if River overcomes his dangerous side so he can be with the woman he loves, the demons will continue pursue him--and her-until they are both destroyed. Will River turn his back on love so Emma might remain safe, or will he and Emma combine their gifts to conquer the evil may soon destroy everything they hold dear? As with Knight's Midnight Warriors Series, the Gods of Midnight promises to become stronger with each new installment. With the series world building done, Red Kiss is a faster, sexier read, liberally infused with the heat and sass its sultry Savannah settin