Mad About Romance: Kresley Cole

July is mad about romance month here at the Daily Dose. We should have kicked this off three days ago but an unexpected migraine decided to pay court to me and nothing I did would dissuade this ardent lover's advances. So that being said, let's kick off Mad About Romance as we celebrate the Romance Writers of America's National Convention which kicks off at the end of the month in Orlando, Florida.

This is my first year to attend so I wanted to celebrate it up right. Today, I want to focus my mad about romance attention on paranormal romance author: Kresley Cole. Kresley Cole is nominated for a RITA this year for her Kiss of a Demon King and Untouchable. I just finished reading Kiss of a Demon King this morning and I have to say, I am in awe. I was worried that like so many authors I've read before that Cole's world of Lore kind and the approaching accession would lead to formulaic romances, yet that's so not the case.

Kiss of a Demon King

In Kiss of a Demon King, Rydstrom is the dethroned King of the rage demons. He wishes to return to his realm and reclaim his throne from the mad (and when Cole says mad, she means absolutely flaming nuts bonkers) sorcerer Omort. Omort's half-sister, Sabine, is the Queen of Illusions and an evil sorceress in her own right. But what makes a person evil? Cole tackles this with gusto that had me liking Sabine from the get go – was she self-interested? Absolutely. Was she selfish? Totally. Was she willing to commit a wrong just because she could? Yes, she was.

But this heroine who should have been so unlikeable was anything but. Sure, it was fun to see Rydstrom get the upper hand with her. Yet there were times when his behavior bordered on the abusive even when we, the reader, understood it. I think the best line in the entire book came near the end, so I won't spoil that for you.

Kiss of a Demon is one of the many novels in Kresley Cole's Immortals After Dark series and it contains a fun reference to Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld. I've not read all of the Immortals After Dark, but I can say that every time I think I've found my favorite heroine, another comes along to take her place. Currently from the books that I've read, I'd rank my heroines as:

• Sabine
• Lucia
• Mariketa
• Emmaline

Yes, that's only four of the nine available, so I can only assume that the heroine love I feel will change as I meet the rest. As for the heroes – well, what else do we do with a bunch of alpha type immortals? We love them too, but they are in a different order:

• Garreth
• Bowen
• Rydstrom
• Lachlain

I think I like Garreth so much more than the others because he endured so much to win Lucia, not only in effort, but in the time he spent and Bowen will always be close to my heart for the pain he went through.

Do you have a favorite Immortal after Dark? Who is your favorite heroine? What is your favorite tale? If you could only use one word to convince someone to read Cole, what would that word be?