Title: Chasing Midnight
Series: Dark of Night, Book 2
Author: Ranae Glass
Published: April 21st, 2015
Publisher: Crimson Tree Publishing
Genre: NA Paranormal Romance
Content Warning: Violence and adult language
Recommended Age: 18+
Synopsis: Isabel Stone’s life is far from normal. She’s a girl with problems—vampire problems to be specific and, now, she also has one ticked-off specter on her hands. Approached by a childhood friend and medium, Isabel agrees to look into the murder of a local girl, only to wind up inhabited by the solitary witness—a centuries-old ghost who is all too happy to piggyback along in Isabel’s body, and she’s not leaving until the culprit is behind bars.
With the help of her partner, Shane, and her crazy family, Isabel struggles to get to the truth, unmask a killer, and deal with her growing feelings for not one, but two, of the sexy, undead men vying for her heart. Just when things are finally falling into place, a huge revelation takes her out of the frying pan… and straight into the fire.
About the Author:
Ranae Glass writes New Adult Paranormal Romance. A Southern girl at heart, Ranae loves feeding people, gardening, and sweet tea. She hails from Oklahoma and lives with her family out West where she spins tales of vampires, werewolves, and other things that go bump in the night. You won’t find any ‘vegetarian’ monsters here, her books are best served bloody and are not for the faint of heart. Ranae is the author of the Dark of Night novels from Crimson Tree Publishing.
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My Thoughts:
A couple of weeks ago I shared with you all my thoughts on Chasing Daybreak, the first novel in this series. I said in my review that while I enjoyed the novel immensely, there were numerous things I would have liked to have seen done differently. I had, in my mind, a few things that I wanted to see out of the next installment in this series, but didn't really know what to think. I never expected to fall in love with this series as much as I did through this second installment.
If I was concerned about the future of this series, I can definitely say with 100% certainty that I am not anymore! Chasing Midnight was everything I was looking for and so much more!
Chasing Midnight takes the reader on a second journey into the life is Isabel Stone's crazy, thrilling life as a PI. With her former, now-vampire, lover as her second in command, Isabel must crack her toughest case yet!
The paranormal aspect of this novel was spot-on. In addition to the 'out of the coffin' vampires and werewolves we saw in book one, this book introduces us to psychics, a bit of magic, and ghosts. The afterlife and possession are huge factors that tie into the plot of Chasing Midnight and I don't think I've ever seen an author execute them as well as Glass! Oftentimes ghosts are the joke of the supernatural community, they are seldom taken seriously. It seems that ghosts are among the hardest entities to write because they are just... well... a little boring. Glass took that into consideration and wrote an awesome spin on the trope. By humanizing our ghostly characters, Glass was able to weave a fulfilling storyline that should leave all paranormal fans proud!
The character development in CM was probably my favorite part. Anyone who read my review of book one will remember that Shane was my favorite character. I was so excited to see that he had a much larger role in book two. We learn a whole lot about his backstory and really get into his mind on multiple occasions as this novel is told in dual POV from his perspective as well. I really enjoyed that! When it came to Isabel, I was really impressed with how Glass enhanced her character. While I took issues with Isabel's character in book one, all of my negative thoughts were erased after reading this one! Glass really knocked it out of the park. Move over Sookie Stackhouse, you've got company, Isabel Stone is here to stay!
The plot of this novel is non-stopped awesome that really left me hooked until the very last page! While this novel doesn't have as much of a mystery, the reader is constantly left with 'how will our characters solve this new dilemma' feelings, which are great! I'm not huge on the suspense so it was fun to know the endgame, but not how it would happen, that was a fun twist on the genre for me. This novel also really does a great job of setting up the story for the second half of the series. Glass has confirmed at least four novels in this series, here's to hoping for a few more after that! Am I right?
When it comes to the setting, Glass really went above and beyond for this one. South Carolina makes for the best book settings. Look at the Beautiful Creatures series, right!? Amazing. So much darkness and mystery, and the southern vibes are incredible. I couldn't be more thrilled with that setting if I tried! I cannot wait to see how Glass expands on that in the future.
The last thing I want to touch on is how emotional this novel was. I was really blown away by Glass' ability to write such an emotionally gripping story in terms of romance, heartbreak, family ties, and friendship while still adhering to a strictly paranormal novel-esque feel. It was incredible. Huge praises to Glass for that.
For all you paranormal readers looking for the next big thing, don't miss this series, you won't regret it! Go ahead and clear off that spot on your bookshelf, you're going to want this series for yourself!
As you can see, I was blown away by how much I enjoyed this second installment in the Dark of Night series. It should come as no surprise that I am granting Chasing Midnight a well-deserved 5-star review! I wouldn't have changed a thing! Ranae Glass has quickly become one of my top names in the NA Paranormal genre and I cannot wait to see what she has up her sleeve next!
*****
Check out my review of Chasing Daybreak by clicking the cover below!
Alright readers, that's all I have for you on the topic of Chasing Midnight by Ranae Glass! As you can see, I loved this novel and am already begging for more! If you are a fan of this series, I highly recommend you check out my tour stop for this novel and see my exclusive interview with Ranae Glass! It was great! Huge thanks to the team at Crimson Tree Publishing for supplying me with a copy in exchange for my honest review. Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
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