Midnight Temptation
Review by The Mad Bibliographer, submitted on 26-Feb-1995

Adapted from "Vampires in Print," _The Vampire's Crypt_ No. 11 (Spring 1995, slated for March 1995 publication)

Review by Cathy Krusberg

Nancy Gideon. _Midnight Temptation_. Pinnacle, 1994; $4.99/$5.99; ISBN 0-7860-0054-6. Vampire romance.

For seventeen years Louis Radouix, nee Luigi Rodmini, and his wife Arabella have raised their daughter Nicole as any loving parents would. But Nicole does not know what to make of the hunter-like feelings that stir within her, of the speed and stealth that enable her to catch a fox with her bare hands. When she sees Louis at a woman's neck, his mouth stained crimson, Nicole does what any enterprising seventeen-year-old would do on discovering that her father is a monster. She runs away from home--specifically to Paris, where turmoil continues in the aftermath of the 1830s Revolution. There she takes up with a little group in the Latin Quarter's population of artists, would-be revolutionaries, and fugitives from justice. Marchand LaValois is among the last but is, for all that, a kind enough man to take in a not-quite-child, a beauty with fire in her eyes, and claim (for appearance' sake) that she is his lover while in fact leaving her unmolested.

Other interested parties notice Nicole's presence in Paris. Despite Marchand's objections, Nicole soon moves from the Latin Quarter to Place Vendome, the home of a charming lady and gentleman ... who just happen to be Bianca du Maurier and Gerardo Pasquale. Bianca made Nicole's father a vampire and would like to make him her slave: What a wonderful plaything her adversary's innocent daughter will make! Gerardo is Bianca's companion and subordinate but in some ways still his own man: he gives lip service to Bianca's wishes but, behind her back, helps Nicole adapt to and understand her condition, showing her how to extend her fangs so she can take the blood her body demands. When Marchand tries to rescue Nicole from Bianca's clutches, he escapes with his life, but not unscathed. His neck shows Bianca's marks, a symbol of the power she can use against Luigi through his daughter's beloved.

For me, _Midnight Temptation_ was a vast improvement over its predecessor, _Midnight Kiss_. Maybe it was Gerardo's nurturing of little lost Nicole; maybe it was seeing him get in a few licks against Bianca at the end (very satisfying). Best of all, _Midnight Temptation_ seemed far less cliche-ridden than _Midnight Kiss_. I found Nicole's abrupt rejection of her blood-drinking father a bit hard to swallow, but Bianca's scheming and Gerardo's slipping behind her back to help his friends rang true for me. The post-revolutionary plotting, the fights and rescues, the power of love even over bloodlust: I liked it, and I'm looking forward to the third book of this trilogy, _Midnight Surrender_, due for May 1995 release.