Midnight's Daughter (Dorina Basarab)

by Karen Chance

Book Overview

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Karen chance has written a paranormal--with bite. Dorina Basarab is a dhampir--half-human, half-vampire. Unlike most dhampirs, though, Dory has managed... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451412621
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

boring

Boring beyond words

Action packed Urban Fantasy

Midnight’s Daughter is the first full novel in the Dorina Basarab series and picks up right after the prequel novella Buying Trouble where Claire has disappeared. You don’t have to read Buying Trouble first. If you do, you’ll know more about where Claire has been hiding out than Dory. Dory, a dhampir (half human half vamp), has been searching for her roommate Claire for a month and has starting hearing some crazy rumors about where she might be. But before Dory can track down where the rumors originated she’s tapped for a job by Mircea, her father and chief negotiator for the North American vampire Senate. Her insane uncle, the Dracula!, has escaped his prison and is loose on the world. Dory has to find him and stop him before he murders the whole family. While Dory normally prefers to work alone, Mircea has insisted Louis-Cesare, a fencing champion on loan from the European Senate, accompany her. Dory and LC are at odds from the beginning about who’s in charge. And who is the strongest. While they fight for dominance they also fight their growing attraction. And boy does it get hot fast! I absolutely love this story and series. Dory is a major ass-kicking character. She loves a good fight. And because she’s half vamp she can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. She also enjoys using many fun magical weapons to take down rogue vamps and anyone trying to kill her. When you’re 500 years old survival first, bank account second. We also get to see a different side of Mircea than he shows Cassie in the Cassandra Palmer series (the timelines for the two series intertwine). Will the real Mircea please stand up! I also love all the different fae and demons we meet. And not just the pretty light fey but trolls and duergar and so many more. Ms Chance keeps the action moving. There is never a dull moment. But there are also a lot of hilarious moments and you will lol.

Brilliant Introduction to Dory

Midnight's Daughter is the first novel in the Dorina Basarab series. The whole series fits into the Cassandra Chance world, so if you're a fan of one, I strongly urge you to read the other. Both series bounce around each other in the timeline, so it's really quite fun to read them all. Dorina, better known as Dory (seriously, don't call her Dorina), is a dhampir. As in, half-human and half-vampire. She's tough, sassy, and really isn't in the mood to put up with anyone's messes. I'll confess that I don't normally like it when series use dhampirs. But there are some notable exceptions. Dory and Blade being the most notable ones. Karen Chance did an excellent job portraying dhampirs. And better yet (in my mind), she gives them consequences. They aren't just magical beings that have all the benefits of vampires, while none of their faults. It keeps them from feeling overpowered, in my opinion. And honestly it makes them more interesting as well. I love Dory's series, and not just because she provides a totally different perspective for what is happening in Cassie's events. Dory comes with baggage, both the good and the bad. But it never slows her down, if anything it inspires her to fight even harder. Because of that, her plots tend to be full of sass, determination, and amazing fight scenes. Who could ask for more? I'd suggest reading Cassie Palmer one through three before picking up this book. Actually, you should probably read everything in publishing order. As I said, the two series intertwine a lot. Some people actually consider them to really be of the same series. So timing matters. I'd also suggest reading the short story Buying Trouble before this. It isn't required, but it'll explain some of the secondary characters and what they've been doing (it is relevant, I promise). Midnight's Daughter is a really fun read, and for a lot of reasons. It's emotional, chaotic, and full of sass and fights. This is Dory's first debut, and man did she make an impression! Dory has a complicated past, and an even more complicated family. Midnight's Daughter doesn't waste any time throwing Dory (and thus, us) into the thick of things. I love both the Cassie and Dory series, but for different reasons. In Dory's case, I know I can always count on her to get into some sort of crazy (and highly entertaining) fight. And this novel really does set the standard when that is concerned. The introduction to this novel, and thus the main plot itself, was really well done. In my opinion this is one of my favorite intros, which I feel like is saying something. It was tense, fascinating, and gave me a great impression of Dory right off the bat. I love how this plot ties together with so much of what else is happening in the world. There's the war, of course. And there's Claire's plot as well (I mentioned above to be sure to read Buying Trouble, and this is the reason why). Sometimes the ties are so subtle that you really have to look for them, which I adore. Then there are all of the other moments from Cassie's series. It's so intricate and well done. This might sound a bit strange, but I honestly think that the house in this novel may be one of my favorite characters of all time. Yep. That sounded exactly as strange as I thought it would. Having a house capable of interactions and decision making (at least by all appearances) is not only potentially useful (or annoying, depending on how you want to look at it...and what the house is doing), but rather humorous. It added some lighthearted moments before things started getting intense again, which I think was really needed. I love how the two plots running through this series so far – the hunt for Dracula, and Dory's quest to find Claire – end up becoming more related than expected. It also gave us more reasons to care about what was happening. Karen Chance did a wonderful job of making the supernatural feel human in this novel. And by that I really mean that she made them run the gambit –

Great read

NOT SPOILER FREE. SPOILER FILLED. The beginning has a strange feeling. In novellas, two characters (love interests) are quickly forced together by the plot, and then brought together physically by their evolving feelings. The beginning of Midnight's Daughter is like a novella. Dory and LC are brought together to chase down Dracula, Dory's uncle. They dislike each other, and yet very quickly they reach a flirty, i-don't-like-you-but-i-like-kissing-you stage. Personally, I didn't understand that. LC quite clearly hates Dory for *what she is*. If his dislike stemmed from her personality, that's different. It was like if Malfoy made out with Hermione, or something. Then D ditches LC to look for weapons. If shes going to kill Dracula she needs more than what she has (at that point just her body and an insufferable partner). From then on the book feels grounded and real. Chance has a gift with building believable charismatic secondary characters. They shine throughout this novel (looking at you, Olga). They aren't your typical Urban Fantasy characters, either. Sure, the main ones are half and full vamps. There's also trolls, mages, a vamp-incubus (nice seeing Casanova again), and fae are both antagonists and friends. The beginning put me off a little, and if it puts you off too, please go back and give it another chance. Its a truly enjoyable read.

Sharp Urban Fantasy

I ordered this book because I enjoyed the author's Cassandra Palmer series. Though at times that series strained my patience with constant time traveling, it was still a fresh urban fantasy with new twists on vampires, fey and whatnot. Midnight's Daughter is the first in a spin-off of that series starring a new protagonist, the half vampire (dhampir) daughter of the master vampire, Mircea. Dhampirs are natural enemies of vampires, and subject to homicidal rages that they don't remember. Cool. I was happily surprised to find I like this series much better. Dorina Basarab is a more independent heroine who is aware of her own power and limitations; unlike Cassie, she isn't in near constant need of rescuing, and winning battles isn't out of sheer luck. Dory has lived on her own for over 500 years. Mircea shows up to ask his estranged daughter for a favor - help recapture Uncle Dracula. She only grudgingly agrees after he offers to use his influence to help locate Dory's best friend and room mate, Claire, who has gone missing. Dory helped capture Drac last time he escaped, and he is the only thing that truly terrifies her. A huge bonus for me was the inclusion of master vampire Louis-Cesare in the plot as a main character. He first appeared in Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1)and I liked him immediately. I'm not even sure why - possibly because even then there seemed to be a vulnerability about him. Mircea has ordered them to work together on this. Naturally, they are attracted to each other and the sexual tension is high. But both of them are emotionally damaged, and get on each other's last nerve. It's a battle of wills from the start, with lots of sexy and funny confrontations. The dialog is sharp, and no holds barred. The author doesn't do a disservice to the characters either by having them become devoted lovers at the end. They have a tentative understanding, even friendship, that could become more (and I REALLY hope it does) in later books. Readers get more history on Mircea and his family than in the other series, and the world-building is continued; the Fey figure prominently in the plot. The book is fast paced and action packed with a lot of combat. There is more blood and mayhem than the Cassie series, but it worked well for this new protagonist. There were a few things that I didn't care for - the author frequently invokes memory flashbacks that entailed several pages of italicized text. Once or twice that's fine, but it happened a few too many times here and wasn't really necessary. The second problem was that the ending felt rushed. [slight SPOILER] Claire was missing the entire book, with many scattered clues as to what may have happened to her, and she just shows up at the end "here I am" and proceeds to tell Dory, in the middle of a battle, where she's been? Despite these small flaws, I enjoyed the book a lot and can't wait to read the next one. Highly recommended - but new readers should start wi

Enjoyable spin-off of the Cassandra Palmer series

If you have read and enjoyed the Cassandra Palmer series (Touch the Dark (Cassandra Palmer, Book 1), Claimed by Shadow (Cassandra Palmer, Book 2), Embrace the Night (Cassandra Palmer Series, Book 3)), you'll probably enjoy this spin-off. There are appearances by several of the characters from the Cassandra Palmer series which I thought was a huge plus. It was intriguing getting to see a different side of the war and a different side of the characters because the POV is a different individual. I read the story from On the Prowl before reading this book and it was probably for the best. In the story from On the Prowl, you are introduced to Claire and Heidar... Claire is Dorina's roommate in Midnight's Daughter. You can probably pick up Midnight's Daughter without reading the other books first, but you'll miss some of the backstory that makes the world that Karen Chance has created some well-imagined. Looking forward to the next book in this new series!

Another great read

I absolutely adore Dory. It was a little bit of a surprise, because I was kind of annoyed that the author was starting another series before finishing the Casandra Palmer one, but I'm so glad she did! The book is wonderful and Dory is an awesome protagonist. She's insane, but spunky, and funny and just all around fantastic. I also loved Louis-Casare in this book. I enjoyed his character in the Cassandra Palmer books and was happy when i found out he'd be in this series also. We learn a lot more about him in this, plus more about Mircea, the Fey and the whole fun world Chance has created. Lots of action, lots of comedy, lots of drama. What's not to love? A fun fast read. I only hope there will be a sequel--soon.

Urban Fantasy and Humor

I loved the short story in ON THE PROWL and I am really glad she has written a novel based on the short story. I liked the Mircea tie in and the humor in the novel. The story of Claire and Heidar is in the short story in ON THE PROWL called, Buying Trouble. If you liked this book get the anthology it is worth it. Dorina Basarab is the daughter of Mircea from the series by Karen Chance about Cassandra Palmer. She is a dhampir, half-human half-vampiire. Claire is her roommate and she is missing. Dorina is searching for her when her father, Mircea, calls on her to find his brother Vlad, who is totally evil, and has escaped the prison she and Mircea placed him in many years ago. Her relationship with her father is not comfortable, she blames him for the death of many and not protecting her. Although she has put down many vampires, she is terrified of her Uncle Vlad. But he is somehow connected to Claire's disappearance and he must be stopped, this time for good. Louis-Cesare is the only made child of her Uncle Rabu. Uncle Rabu is a reclusive genius vampire, working for the Senate. Mircea has recruited Louis-Cesare because he is part of their family, although Dorina has never met him before. He has no use for her and doesn't like her lack of respect for her father. He has his own secrets and torments. As they search for Dracula, they drink fairy wine and their memories get mixed up. The wine also causes memories that have been hidden from Dorina to come back to her. Louis is determined to protect Rabu, and they both know that he and Mircea are the targets that Vlad will come after. The story of the three brothers is revealed during the rest of the novel. The connection to Fairy is intriguing and adds much to the rest of the tale. Giving us the ending of the romance between Claire and Heidar is wonderful, with many unexpected results and revelations. The adventure and dangers are many and the story is excellent. We know we will hear more from this new character. I loved it.

Midnight's the Right Time

For fans of the Cassie Palmer series, this newest walk on the dark side in Cassie's world is a welcome addition. For readers who have never met Cassie, you are not left in the dark. You can easily pick up this book & fall into the wicked fun & adventure in this world of vampires, and other creepy crawlies. Dory is a strong, layered character, and fans of paranormal romance & adventure will delight in the escapades & the banter in this book. And hey, if you like this, go back & pick up the first three books in the Cassie Palmer series. For those of us who took a chance on Chance back int he beginning, this is just one more keeper for the book shelf, and a taste of wichedness to come when book four in the Cassie series comes out in April 2009.