The Midnight Breed Series Companion (Volume 1)

Part human, part otherworldly, the Breed has lived among humankind in secret for thousands of years. . . and now fans of the popular, best-selling Midnight Breed Series can delve deeper than ever before into this hidden, seductive race of vampires and the dark, thrilling universe they inhabit.

A book that’s been years in the making, the Midnight Breed Series Companion includes insider info on all of the novels, author notes on the creation of the story world and how the eleven-book (and counting!) series has evolved since its beginning as a contracted trilogy, a complete character guide, series trivia, questions from readers and more.

This special series companion also includes “A Touch of Midnight”—an all-new, never before published, original novella featuring Gideon and Savannah, which finally reveals the story of how this reader favorite couple met and fell in love, and answers many questions that fans have been curious about since the series began!

Read an excerpt

Boston University.
October, 1974

Savannah Dupree turned the silver urn in her gloved hands, studying its intricate engravings through the bruise-colored tarnish that dulled the 200-year-old work of art. The floral motif tooled into the polished silver was indicative of the Rococo style of the early and mid-1700s, yet the design was conservative, much less ornate than most of the examples shown in the reference materials lying open on the study lab table in front of her.

Removing one of the soft white cotton curator’s gloves meant to protect the urn from skin oils during handling, Savannah reached for one of the books. She flipped through several pages of photographed art objects, drinking vessels, serving dishes and snuff boxes from Italy, England and France, comparing their more elaborate styles to that of the urn she was trying to catalogue. She and the three other freshman Art History students seated in the university’s archive room with her had been hand-picked by Professor Keaton to earn extra credit in his class by helping to log and analyze a recent estate donation of Colonial furnishings and artifacts.

She wasn’t blind to the fact that the single professor had selected only female students for his after-hours extra credit project. Savannah’s roommate, Rachel, had been ecstatic to have been chosen. Then again, the girl had been campaigning for Keaton’s attention since the first week of class. And she’d definitely gotten noticed. Savannah glanced toward the professor’s office next door, where the dark-haired man now stood at the window, talking on the phone, yet staring with blatant interest at pretty, red-haired Rachel in her tight, low-cut sweater and micro-miniskirt.

“Isn’t he a fox?” she whispered to Savannah, a row of thin metal bangle bracelets clinking musically as Rachel reached up to hook her loose hair behind her ear. “He could be Burt Reynolds’ brother, don’t you think?”

Savannah frowned, skeptical. She glanced over at the lean man with the shoulder-length hair and overgrown moustache, and the mushroom-brown corduroy suit and open-necked satin shirt. A zodiac sign pendant glinted from within a thick nest of exposed chest hair. Fashionable or not, the look didn’t do a thing for Savannah. “Sorry, Rach. I’m not seeing it. Unless Burt Reynolds has a brother in the porno business. Plus, he’s too old for you. He must be close to forty, for crying out loud.”

“Shut up! I think he’s cute.” Rachel giggled, crossing her arms under her breasts and tossing her head in a move that had Professor Keaton leaning closer to the glass, practically on the verge of drooling. “I’m gonna go see if he wants to check my work. Maybe he’ll ask me to stay after school and clean his erasers or something.”

“Mm-hmm. Or something,” Savannah drawled through her smile, shaking her head as Rachel waggled her brows then sauntered toward the professor’s office. Having come to Boston University on a full academic scholarship and the highest SAT scores across twenty-two parishes in south central Louisiana, Savannah didn’t really need help bolstering her grades. She’d accepted the extra credit assignment only out of her insatiable love for history and learning.

She looked at the urn again, then retrieved another catalogue of London silver from the Colonial period and compared the piece to the ones documented on the pages. Doubting her initial analysis now, she picked up her pencil and erased what she’d first written in her notebook. The urn wasn’t English in origin. American, she corrected. Likely crafted in New York or Philadelphia, if she were forced to guess. Or did the simplicity of the Rococo design lean more toward the work of a Boston artisan?

Savannah huffed out a sigh, frustrated by how tedious and inexact the work was proving to be. There was a better way, after all.

She knew of a far more efficient, accurate way to resolve the origins–all the hidden secrets–of these old treasures. But she couldn’t very well start fondling everything with her bare hands. Not with Professor Keaton in his office a few feet away. Not with her other two classmates gathered at the table with her, working on their own items from the collection. She wouldn’t dare use the peculiar skill she’d been born with.

No, she left that part of her back home in Acadiana. She wasn’t about to let anyone up here in Boston think of her as some voodoo freak show. She was different enough among the predominantly white student body. She didn’t want anyone knowing how truly strange she was. Aside from her only living kin–her older sister, Amelie–no one knew about Savannah’s extrasensory gift, and that’s how she intended to keep it.

Much as she loved Amelie, Savannah had been happy to leave the bayou behind and try to make her own path in life. A normal life. One that wasn’t rooted in the swamps with a Cajun mother who’d been more than a shade eccentric, for all Savannah could recall of her, and a father who’d been a drifter, absent for all of his daughter’s life, little better than a rumor, according to Amelie.

If not for Amelie, who’d practically raised her, Savannah would have belonged to no one. She still felt somehow out of place in the world, lost and searching, apart from everyone else around her. For as long as she could remember, she’d felt…different.

Which was probably why she was striving so hard to make her life normal.

She’d hoped moving away to attend college right out of high school would give her some sense of purpose. A feeling of belonging and direction. She’d taken the maximum load of classes and filled her evenings and weekends with a part-time job at the Boston Public Library.

Oh, shit.

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The Midnight Breed Series

In June of 2012, GraveTells hosted a Meet the Breed week-long event to celebrate the sexy warriors and brave breedmates of the Midnight Breed series.  Check it out here and learn more about each individual warrior, as he was represented a fantastic blogger!

Kiss of Midnight #1	Kiss of Crimson #2	Midnight Awakening #3	Midnight Rising #4
Veil of Midnight #4	Ashes of Midnight #5	Shades of Midnight#6	Taken By Midnight #8
Deeper Than Midnight #9	A Taste of Midnight Novella	Darker After Midnight #10 Read our review!	Edge of Dawn #11 Read our review!

About the author

As a child, Lara Adrian used to sleep with the covers up around her neck, afraid she might become the midnight prey of deadly vampires. Later on, under the influence of Bram Stoker and Anne Rice, she had to wonder if her fear wasn’t actually something else: a secret desire to walk in a darker world, to live a dangerous and sensual dream with a man of seductive, preternatural power. It is that twining of fear and desire that fuels Lara’s own fantasies today, and the idea that she explores in her New York Times bestselling Midnight Breed series of vampire romance novels from Bantam Dell Books.

With an ancestry stretching back to the Mayflower and the court of King Henry VIII, Lara Adrian lives with her husband in New England, surrounded by centuries-old graveyards, hip urban comforts, and the endless inspiration of the broody Atlantic Ocean.

Connect With Lara: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Giveaway (US/Int)

Lara is giving away a signed print copy of the Companion and 2 sets of Midnight Breed series swag to commenters on her Indie Week editorial post about how self-publishing saved the day and her Midnight Breed Companion!  To enter to win, check it out here!

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