The sun is Briar Hale’s enemy. All her life she’s been in the shadows, sheltered and protected, warned and smothered.Not anymore. Briar is ready to take control of her life, and step out into the sunlight for the first time. A newly enrolled graduate student at Boston College, she’s determined to discover why her body betrays her.And she knows just the scientist to help her. Professor Hudson Nors … to help her.
Professor Hudson Nors has secrets of his own—secrets he’s kept for eternity, and which he never wants to see the light of day. No matter how wonderful Briar smells, and how important she feels, Hudson decides the best thing he can do for her is stay away.
Suddenly, Briar, with her strange condition and boundless curiosity, turns the world Hudson’s spent centuries perfecting, upside down.
But this pale, fragile girl has a spine of steel, and if Hudson won’t help her, she’ll find someone who will.
By a luck, or fate, Briar meets Hudson’s brothers, Marcus, Valen, and Sylvain. Like Hudson, they can sense this human girl means something important to all of them. But what could four, vampire brothers possibly have to offer a human?
Unwittingly, Briar brings together these immortal brothers, and teaches them, eternity is too short to give up on hope.
Briar is the first book in the Midnight’s Crown series. A slow-burn reverse harem romance
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I loved this Slow Burn Reverse Harem beginning to the amazing Midnight’s Crown trilogy. What an incredibly unique take on vampire romance!
I am part of the original Twilight Fandom, and I have a thing for Vampires. So sue me!
Anywho, I was quite taken by this Reverse Harem spin on the genre. Ripley Prosperina whose other RH books I’ve read really did her thing with this one!
Move over J. R. Ward, Ripley Prosperina has created a quartet of Vampires that I love almost as much as your Black Dagger Brotherhood. Hudson, Valen, Sylvain and Marcus, Oh My Effing God!
Listen, I guess I need to write a real review of this book, because, really that is the purpose of this venue. Right?
Okay, so Briar Hale is allergic to sunlight, or so she thinks. Her diagnosed condition is EPP (and I won’t even try to remember the medical term here). Whenever she allows any ultraviolet rays to touch her skin she blisters and burns. I’m talking serious second and third degree burns. In fact she’d probably die within a few minutes were she to remain exposed. She moves to Boston to attend Boston College for her Master’s Degree where she attends a symposium for one Dr. Hudson Nors who is the foremost authority on her condition.
An accident reaching for a fallen glove causes her to be burned and Dr. Nors and his friend, Marcus come to her rescue. Unbeknownst to Briar they share a bond of brotherhood that she learns about later. One by one, she meets the four brothers and early on doesn’t know about their connection until she gets lost in the city and decides to take a detour through a wooded area. When she is saved by Sylvain, one of the quartet, from a fate I don’t want to describe here, she befriends them each in turn, despite her rocky start with Dr. Nors (the reclusive and anti-social genius).
Soon, Briar learns why Dr. Nors has been notoriously antisocial, and why Marcus, Sylvain, and Valen can’t seem to stay away from her. As they each seek her out, she develops a caring for each of them she’s never known, since her condition has kept her from having even rudimentary friendships. Despite her early accident and brush with death, she’s determined to stay in Boston and finish the education she’s desired.
The brothers become convinced she is fated to be theirs, but she isn’t privy to their feelings until a sinister and deadly threat from their past learns of their connection and his hellbound on removing the sickly girl from the equation. The story ramps up from there. While Briar’s story is the first and contains all the world-building, it doesn’t detract from the story at all. And, because I knew this was a trilogy, I wasn’t befuddled or unhappy by the way this first story ended.
You will be drawn in as I was by how well Ms. Prosperina drew these characters and Briar’s reaction to each of the brothers. Their back stories as are fascinating as the current conflict they find themselves in and I believe you will be as taken as I was by these Reverse-Harem Vampires.
This was so so cool!! I read this a few years ago and decided it was time for a re-read. WORTH IT. I love all the characters. The FMC is so brave especially with her “skin condition.” The guys are legit hilarious and so cave man it’s awesome. A total different take on vampirism – A must read RH.
I couldn’t find my original review for this book so I writing another one. I’ve read it a few times now and enjoying a book several times is what proves to me that it is five star worthy. I feel like I really know these vampires and Briar. The story is solid and tight and filled with enough science to make me feel smart. Ha! I feel compassion for Briar and the impossible life she’s led and the courage it must take to don her protective outfit and go into the sun in search of an education and the answers she so desperately needs. It’s easy to get swept up in the whirlwind of vamp attention from Hudson, Marcus, Valen and Sylvain. The guys have interesting histories, making them rich characters on their own, but fit so well as a family. I loved that the vampirism has a basis in science but there some magic to keep it exciting! The setting around BC and Harvard and Marcus’s home are all so vivid I have a great visual in my minds eye for everything happening. The villain is amazing and I can’t wait to see him get his!
I don’t know really how to review this. I like many aspects about it. Like the heroine being a huge science nerd even though there are a couple words I can’t pronounce out loud. But there were also things I didn’t like. I guess we pro con this.
Pros:
The men.
Heroine likes science.
The easy banter.
Cons:
Briar accepted the men way to easily.
Though Briar has had this condition all her life she still tends to get burned in the sun way to many times.
The story was slow paced and didn’t wow me or really hook me in.
I do plan on reading the second book but I don’t know if I will finish the series.
First in series, first read by this author.
Briar suffers from epp. A condition which basically means she is allergic to sunlight. Breaking away from her family in a bid for normalacy she has moved to Boston to continue as an undergraduate at a university. Throughout the course of her first day exploring and sitting in on the elusive Specialist in the field of epp.. she meets Hudson, Marcus, Caleb and Sylvian.
They have met up with Hudson to have a twice yearly injection that means they can go out in the sun… because they are vampires. After living seperate from each other for many years they find themselves banding together to protect briar. Briar is more than human… and might not have epp…she is a ‘born’ vampire/human…for someone who felt so alone and isolated she now finds herself surrounded and cared for and protected by four vampires, brothers in arms.. and it’s just starting to get interesting because the brothers sire/creator Asher… wants his sons back and he wants briar too!
Fantastic and gripping with some real heart stoppingingly beautiful moments. Cannot wait for the next book in this series