Dreams of a Dark Warrior Book Review *Kresley Cole*

Beware... spoiler alert!

Let me get it out of the way and say that Dreams of a Dark Warrior (book #9) was amazing. Although I did enjoy Demon from the Dark a smidgen more, this is another fabulous addition to Kresley Cole’s very addicting Immortals After Dark series. Many of her fans have been waiting for the match-up between Regin the Radiant, the glowing, loud-mouth, “rocks out with her cock out” Valkyrie, and her soul mate, Aidan the Fierce, the berserker who’s reincarnated time and again to find Regin, but it never ends happily for them. Aidan always ends up dead, and Regin spends another few hundred years waiting for the next reincarnation of Aidan to start the whole cycle again. Regin feels both she and Aidan are cursed, never to be together and to suffer alone.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior starts with how Regin and Aidan first met. Regin was only twelve at the time, searching for her beloved, missing sister Lucia. Aidan quickly realizes that Regin is his mate and will wait for her to grow up so he can claim her. But these two lovers can’t consummate their relationship. Since Regin is an immortal and Aidan isn’t, he must try to earn his immortality called Ohalla by winning two hundred battles in Woden’s name. Woden is a god and Regin is one of his daughters. Unfortunately Aidan jumps the gun because he can’t control his passion for Regin and the curse between these two unfortunate lovers is engaged.

Now in present day, Regin is waiting for the next Aidan reincarnation. But this time she’ll deny him to keep him alive and stop from doing two things with him that always leads to his death once they’re acted upon. But Regin has much more to worry about, because a mortal by the name Declan Chase, who’s part of a secret Order against the creatures of the Lore, will capture Regin and her kind, doing unholy experiments and tortures on them, hoping to eradicate their existence. Declan is filled with hate and wants revenge because of how his family was killed by a group of evil immortals who tortured and left Declan for dead when he was only seventeen. He’s very much a loner who wears black, won’t let anyone see him naked and is addicted to drugs to numb his pain and urges he can’t control for something or someone. And when he comes in contact with Regin, his reasoning flies out the window.

Regin figures out who Declan is inside, and in order to save herself and those of the Lore he has captured, she must make him remember his past lives because if she doesn’t, all the immortals could be destroyed for the Accession has arrived in full force.

Dreams of a Dark Warrior is set during the events of Demon from the Dark, but from Regin and Declan’s point of view. When it was announced who Declan was in Demon from the Dark, that reveal was one of most shocking things in possibly the entire series. I wondered how in the world Kresley was going to pull off Regin and Aidan’s HEA. She has definitely accomplished that in Dark Warrior with many happy results. Even though this isn’t as steamy as her past books, don’t worry, there’s more than an abundance of passion, but more of an emphasis on the action and the incredible and witty dialogue between the characters I cannot get enough of. Again Kresley gives us great insight on why her characters act the way they do. Regin is not the spoiled brat I had though her to be, and Declan is not evil, just misinformed and unbelievably full of suffering and guilt.

There are many familiar faces, most importantly the capture of Lothaire, the most ancient of all vampires who’s as remote and amoral as they come. Kresley has a major twist regarding him based on who his mate may be. I really thought I knew who he’d be mated with. How wrong I was! His book is next, and let me tell you, if Kresley hooks him up with whom I’m thinking she has planned, mainly based on the interactions between him and a specific character, it’s going to be the craziest and most spectacular book in this entire series! And I have no doubt that Kresley can pull it off. I wish I could tell you who I think Lothaire will be with, but that’s a humdinger of a spoiler right there. All I can say it is full of crazy awesome sauce, and this will be confusing for those who haven’t read Dark Warrior, but I do believe the black king will capture the white queen.

It’s pretty much a given I’ll read anything Kresley Cole writes. Dreams of a Dark Warrior is another book full of win by her. *Bows down at the altar of Kresley Cole*. I’m already dying for the next book (or at least a blurb to finally know who Lothaire’s heroine is). Kudos to Kresley for another top notch book that has made me invoke my favorite phrase- “I want to have babies with it.” (Pocket)

Final Grade: A-

I think I want to have Kresley's babies as well.