A Large City – Present Day

Dr. Emily Drake is just doing her usual, talking with a newly-turned vampire about his revulsion to fresh blood (he'll learn), when a big police officer comes knocking on her door. Not just any policeman, but a shifter, a human who can change into animal form. Emily can tell what he is by the hazy, shining light she sees around shifters, and among the Other of all different types. Others consist of demons, charmers, witches, shifters, all kinds of other worldly people. Emily is not one of them, but she has the ability to see and sense them, read their minds, and is currently a psychologist nicknamed Monster Doctor. Now, Detective Colin Gyth has been ordered by his boss to bring Emily to a murder scene, and what his boss wants, his boss gets.

Colin isn't sure how Emily fits in with this gruesome murder, but as a shifter in the normal world, he tries mightily to keep his secret identity just that...a secret. So-called normal people are afraid of anything they aren't acquainted with, and shifters are usually the most dangerous of the paranormal creatures. But Emily is definitely HOT, and as Colin works with her, he feels even more of a connection. But while investigating the case, they meet demons, are attacked, and Emily's knowledge of the creature that tore open these people's throats in death is dangerous to her.

Colin's hidden shifter, the killer looking to continue his blood lust, and Emily's psychic connection to everyone, along with her ability to touch the mind of others, are at the heart of HOTTER THAN MIDNIGHT. The killer has to be a demon because of his unusual strength, but no one knows why a rampage is going on, and the public is scared. But Emily's history may play a part in the mystery, and Colin's shifter side haunts him and his desire to make Emily his...can she come to love someone like him?

Cynthia Eden has taken the paranormal genre and brought it back down to the normal world in HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Normal people that are really other creatures people the story, and Emily is our guide. Emily has a sad, yet triumphant history that you will enjoy getting acquainted with and is sort of the go-between for the real world and the paranormal. Told from Emily's and Colin's points of view, we learn how Emily feels knowing about the Others, and how Colin feels being different, and the whole history of his unusual life.

A plethora of characters, each more interesting than the last, create just the right touches of mystery and suspense. Colin's partner, Todd Brooks, is not an Other, and they must take care not to let him find out more than he can handle. Natalhia Smith is the Chief Medical Examiner, finding clues about the murdered people that are hard to explain and even harder to believe. Nioll is a strong demon, owner of Paradise Found, a popular demon bar, who knows more than he'll admit. News reporter Darla Mitchell and cameraman Jake Connelley are interested in taking the case to its conclusion, even if it means investigating Emily. And Danny MacNeal is the police officer in charge of the Night Butcher case who is aware there are secrets of the Other that need to be hidden.

HOTTER THAN MIDNIGHT is an addictive, action-packed story that will have you turning the pages, anxious to learn about Colin and his secrets, and whether or not Emily is the woman for him. Hot, intense romance make this a fantastically fabulous read, and you will fall in love with the Other that inhabit our world...that we never know exist.

Carolyn Crisher