A maddenend warrior driven by revenge and the Valkyrie temptress who haunts his dreams.
He Vowed He’d Come For Her…
Murdered before he could wed Regin the Radiant, warlord Aidan the Fierce seeks his beloved through eternity, reborn again and again into new identities, yet with no memory of his past lives.
She Awaits His Return…
When Regin encounters Declan Chase, a brutal Celtic soldier, she recognizes her proud warlord reincarnated. But Declan takes her captive, intending retribution against all immortals—unaware that he belongs to their world.
To Sate A Desire More Powerful Than Death…
Yet every reincarnation comes with a price, for Aidan is doomed to die when he remembers his past. To save herself from Declan’s torments, will Regin rekindle memories of the passion they once shared—even if it means once again losing the only man she could ever love?
Book 1: The Warlord Wants Forever
Book 2: A Hunger Like No Other
Book 3: No Rest for the Wicked
Book 4: Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night
Book 5: Dark Needs at Night’s Edge
Book 6: Dark Desires After Dusk
Book 7: Kiss of a Demon King
Book 8: Untouchable
Book 9: Pleasure of a Dark Prince
Book 10: Demon from the Dark
Dreams of a Dark Warrior picks up immediately upon the end of Pleasure of a Dark Prince (book 9) and takes place concurrently with Demon from the Dark (book 10). Never is it more evident than here that Kresley Cole likes to work with anti-heroes.
Most would even call Declan Chase a villain. After all he captures, tortures, eviserates, and uses mates against Loreans. Many of whom we’ve come to love throughout the last ten books.
In Demon from the Dark we watched him dispassionately use a child, threatening to murder her, eviserate her, to gain Carrow’s willing cooperation. But nothing is more horrific than what he does to Regin.
We know, even if Declan doesn’t, that Regin is his one fated mate. That he’s Aidan the Fierce, reincarnated again and again to come back for his love. It’s this that makes every encounter between them, every vile thing that comes from his lips, so unbearably awful to witness.
Kresley Cole made a good choice, I think, to weave in Aidan’s past re-incarnations. Some of them through stories that Regin told to Declan, others through dream-memories. It adds to the depth of Declan. More things we know that he’s only beginning to understand.
Regin the Radiant has felt for decades that Aidan’s reincarnation is coming for her again, and she’s devastated by this – avoiding it at all costs. Because each time he returns, each time she begins to fall for him anew, he dies. Regin knows her heart can’t take another turn at this. But when she realizes that her captor, her torturer, is none other than Aidan-returned, she knows she or he is doomed.
Despite the fact that they have a very rocky start to their relationship, I ended up rooting for them. Declan’s got a very real reason to feel the way he does. I think one of things that I love most about these anti-heroes getting their HEAs is that they do some horrible things, but you can almost always at least sympathize with the why.
The other thing that I’ve begun to think makes me happy when I finish these books is the fact that nothing is ever forgiven easily. Despite the fact that Regin knows this is Aidan, her loving Viking, she doesn’t just ignore all the horrible things that Declan is doing to her and her friends. She fights him, challenges him, calls him on his bullshit and doesn’t let him simply skate by.
Starting this book, I didn’t expect – at all – to enjoy Declan and Regin’s story. I thought I would hate him forever. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be one of my favorites in the entire series. There’s something so incredibly sweet about two characters coming back from so far, finding each other, beating all the worst odds.
I’ve said it many times before, but the timeline and world that Kresley Cole has built continues to be top-notch. I mentioned that this takes place concurrently with much of Demon from the Dark. I enjoyed seeing further into some of the moments that we saw there. Learning that things aren’t always what we first assume.
And beginning to learn that some characters may have more depth and story to know than we’d previously assumed as well. Lothaire for example. He’s long been hopping back and forth, gathering debts, helping anyone at his whim. Hurting them at his whim, too. As he often says: “If you’re not with me…”
I loved these further hints into Lothaire, and cannot wait for his book next. And then, after that, it’ll be ALL NEW to me. Lothaire is the last book I’ve ever read in this series. It’s been so long I don’t remember anything from it. Beyond that, I’ve got lots of goodies coming up to experience for the first time – including Lanthe and Thronos’ book. Cannot wait.
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