My Rating: 4 Stars. Enjoyed - strongly recommend (A-)

Danika MacConn lost her life-long mate while he was serving the Order... a band of warriors who protect Breeds (vampires) and humans alike from the darker side of their kind. Danika left the Order's Boston compound to live a quiet life with her Breed infant son in her native land. While reconnecting with her mate's family, she overhears a dangerous Breed criminal planning to use humans for illegal and horrific purposes, and Dani cannot let it go. (Note: you do not need to have read the series to read this story, back knowledge of the characters is not necessary.)

I have to admit, I was a little upset with Danika when she purposefully walked into a known criminal's place of business after refusing to ask for outside help in bringing this criminal down. As a mother, my first thoughts were "NO! you idiot, do you want to orphan your poor child? Don't be so stupid woman!" I got over that quickly, especially since it brings her into contact with Brannoc, and Dani realizes his true identity is a close childhood friend.

The fact that the pair were would-be lovers from long ago allows for an immediate and fiery passion to ignite. Their romance is not hampered by the shorter length of the story, and is enhanced when both acknowledge it is okay to move on after a mate dies. I could have done without the "I love you's" but in the end it didn't detract from their story.

There is a lot of action packed into this short story, which creates a "cannot set this book down" situation. I like that the storyline is self-contained, and there are no unanswered questions when the story is over.

For those fans of the wonderful Midnight Breed series, A Taste of Midnight is the perfect Christmas gift from Ms. Adrian. Not only does she give us a steamy taste of her Midnight Breeds, but she also includes an excerpt from Chase's book, Darker After Midnight. I highly recommend this enjoyable novella-length story for all paranormal romance readers - if you haven't tried this series, here is your chance to see what you've been missing. The story is a perfect capsule of the series flavor and Ms. Adrian's talent and writing style.