He’s hunting me, and there’s nowhere to run.East Berlin, 1963. I thought I understood the consequences of trying to flee to the West. Death. Imprisonment without trial. Instead I’m being hunted by the most dangerous man in the city, secret police officer Reinhardt Volker.Now I’m his prize, no longer a traitorous factory girl but his elegant and pampered secretary. He wants to possess me, body, … possess me, body, soul – and heart. I’ll do anything to get away from him, but first that means getting closer.
I want to feel only hatred for my captor but beneath his uniform I discover a man with a past as scarred as Berlin’s.
And if I don’t escape him soon it will be too late.
A full-length dark romance by Brianna Hale
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Fünf deutsche Stars! This book is sinfully sexy and darkly provocative.
“I am der Mitternachtsjäger, and you are my prey. I always catch my prey.”
Heiliger Himmel! Midnight Hunter is one of the best Dark Historical Romance I had the pleasure to read. This book took my breath away. I absolutely love everything about it. This is not the first time I’ve read something from Brianna Hale. Her writing is wickedly brilliant, dark and addictive.
Because of this book I want to learn German. From now on, I won’t see with the same eyes the Germany History, especially the time where this book takes place. I could feel the hardworking and research the author did in every page. I will remember Reinhardt and Ebony’s story every time I read or watch an historical documental about the Berliner Mauer or the Cold War.
Brianna delivers a dark historical romance full of sensual passion, control, lust, submission and political issues. As an internationalist I fell in love with the story. The historical context left me with an open mouth because once again I confirm that politics can affect relationships. The way we think and feel always make us vulnerable to reject loving someone with different likes. In this world politics and religion pull us apart, they divide us and don’t let us live freely.
The period of time in which the story develops is characterized by the division of a country that after the Second World War was devastated. The countries that won the war were the ones that divided the cake. They divided a great nation like Germany. They didn’t only divide a country; they divided a society. The political thoughts of that time were strongly nationalistic, to the extent of dividing families and friends in defence of that twisted nationalism.
I wonder why the author took the Cold War as scenery of her book. It fits perfectly to the plot. The story line is well developed and the characters are complex and strong. The heroine is a traitor and the hero is a military knight. Both are different but at the same time too similar.
“You are not frightened are you, Liebling? There is no need. You are not a lamb who walks into the lion’s lair to face the lion. You walk in at his side.”
This book is a mortal pleasure for any reader who craves a substantial story with dark touches. Midnight Hunter mixes the better of two subgenres: Historical and Dark Romance. Volker remind me of why I should find a German boyfriend. They say that German men are loyal and they love strongly. Who doesn’t want a strong, dominant and handsome military officer? Yes, you read well. This book contains a military knight who will protect you and will kill anyone who tries to hurt you.
“But I’m not powerless now. So you see, Liebling, if anyone hurts you, and I’m able to, I will kill them.”
Dear Lord! Brianna Hale had me at the edge of a heart attack! I had the most pleasurable experience by reading this masterpiece. This book will make a good movie. Midnight Hunter deserves trillion stars. I devoured it. This book will have a special place in my bookshelf. I urge to read this book. Fall in love with Reinhardt and Ebony’s story.
“You are my Valkyrie, and I want you strong. If you are strong then there’s nothing that can touch you.”
The impossible love between the lion and the gazelle
My heart is pounding even after I finished this read. It’s so powerfully arousing in its dark intent, and hopeful too, and a smart, emotional story that promises to be remembered.
The lion and the gazelle. The uniformed officer who hunts traitors at night in East Berlin. And he finds this defiant, innocent beauty he steals for himself. What a terrible dilemma! How can I like it so much, that this clever and tyrannical beast manipulates his little captive into needing him with her body and soul? Ah, but she also casts an allure on him. It was so exciting!
This story is beautifully written, and its magic resides in combining these characters that feel alive with their impossible personas as a couple and a twisted sensuality born out of oppression and longing and enmity.
I could feel how torn Evony is between the soldier, cruel and murderous, and the man, handsome and wounded and deliciously tempting. Can she get revenge on the monster or will she succumb to his strength even though she hates everything he stands for?
The plot also revolves around the political situation in Berlin during the 60s, with the Wall in place and all kinds of claustrophobic restrictions and laws. Shrouded in this climate, where fear breaths like a living entity, Reinhardt and Evony fight ceaselessly while they give in to opposing feelings. Lust, need, possessiveness. The guilty carnality of their union is slow and hot to come, which allows for a proper development of the plot and the personal growth of the characters. I loved the molten building of the physical nearness against all odds. I loved Evony’s strength of spirit, her inner struggle with her growing feelings for her enemy and protector, and his infinite patience, his immortal devotion towards her in the end.
She’s a prisoner and he’s her captor, but there’s so much going on at the same time. A poignant tale of forbidden love, espionage, drama, impossible choices and antagonistic views in life. Reindart and Evony are like Romeo and Juliet in war. Through blood, thrill and sacrifice they reach an epic finale.
I’m so glad that this story has been written and that it now exists in my mind forever. I’ve just discovered my new favourite author.
What a poignant and breathtaking tale! I’m not usually too interested in historical romances but written by Brianna Hale, I knew it would be a well documented one. And did I enjoy the immersion into the Est Berlin of the 60’s peculiar atmopshere!
When the Stasi Officer Oberstleutnant Reinhardt Volker, the most feared man in East Berlin decides to steal the young Evony Daumler, his little fugitive, he never fathomed how fierce and smart she would be!
The fast paced Midnight Hunter completely entralled me. Volker’s patience and dominance faced to the little spitfire that Evony incarnated screamed of sexiness. This worrying alpha showed a delicious relentnessness it felt so good to succumb to . An iron hand in a velvet glove that had me completely under his spell.
Lovers of captor/captive, enemies to lovers, age gap tropes will be conquered by the flawless storyline and the scorching hot anticipation. Throw in the mix the danger of living under the Party regime and you’re going to find yourself immersed into a powerful, sometimes sweet, and often bittersweet story. I also want to mention that the author never fell into the cliche stating that everything good comes from the west and that thr key of happiness necessarily resides on the other side of the wall.
Different but good.
This was a different kind of read for me. Ordinarily, I shy away from anything that has any sort of ‘historical’ feel to it, but this one was just calling my name and I couldn’t resist.
I’m really glad I didn’t. It was nothing and everything I was expecting, all at once.
Volker was a different kind of hero, and yet still managed to be a confident sort of alpha male that we can all appreciate.
And Evony. The things she was going through, her reactions were just so spot on for what you’d imagine someone in her situation to be like. I really enjoyed this.
He’s hunting me, and there’s nowhere to run.
I was absolutely blown away by this book. Hale throws the readers into a suspenseful, historical, enemies-to-lovers (or is it enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers… enemies?) tale that left me gasping for air. It was dark. It was mysterious. It was erotic. Brianna, I’m going to need more like this – A LOT more.
Circa 1963, many civilians are trying to cross the wall from East Berlin to West Berlin. The police are searching out those that seek to leave, but one officer is feared more than the others – Reinhardt Volker. It is said that he is the Midnight Hunter and that he doesn’t play fair. Evony, our protagonist, is captured by Volker after a chaotic scene. That is when she becomes his.
I am der Mitternachtsjäger, and you are my prey. I always catch my prey.
This book made me have heart palpitations – no joke! My heart raced when our protagonist was running from our hero. Or is he a antihero? DUN-DUN-DUNNNN! My heart fluttered when they shared some heated moments. My heart skipped beats when Evony took risks to seek freedom from her captor. Between the heart attacks and stolen breaths, I am surprised I made it through this book.
Unfortunately I can’t go into any further detail because I risk spoiling everyone, but please know that I highly recommend this book. It is enriched with German history, angst, and thrilling suspense. There were so many twisty-turns that I literally didn’t know what to believe or how to feel. My emotions were amplified and all over the grid. I may or may not have shed a few tears. |clears throat| But seriously guys, this is a must read.
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Midnight Hunter is one of those rare books that doesn’t tell you what to think; instead, it prompts, invites, and even forces you to think for yourself. This is a story that dives straight to the core of right and wrong, of good and evil, of what’s redeemable and what can never be saved. It’s impossible to read Midnight Hunter without putting yourself in the narrative and wondering where your own limits would be drawn and what course you would take. It’s a challenging story, but it’s also an incredibly rewarding one. This book will lay you on the line and make you take a good hard look at yourself and the world around you.
It’s also masterfully told and crafted with a depth and richness that brings the time and place of the setting alive. Brianna Hale clearly devoted herself to research and doing justice to the people she portrays. I felt the complexity and anguish of the era in a way I never have before. I was also hooked by the characters themselves, by the way they saw one another and what they brought out in each other. Evony and Volker’s emotions were as a complex as the time they lived in, and watching their relationship unfold was an intense experience that had me devouring this book in almost one sitting straight.
I’d highly recommend Midnight Hunter to romance readers who want more from the genre than just a feel-good escape. While I’m all for escapism, I also appreciate romance that provokes my thoughts both as a reader and a person, and this story did exactly that.
Sadly, I didn’t feel this one. Nothing to do with the story, setting, or characters. There wasn’t that spark that I needed to love this one. It’s definitely me, not the book, written well and definitely researched. The author sheds light on dark and makes you step into many shoes.
A dark time in German history, this suspenseful story is forbidden and at times, absolutely delicious. It’s light compared to other dark romances I’ve read, but nonetheless, uncomfortable for romance readers, I’m sure. I did love the anti-hero. He was obsessively silent at times, but then these beautiful dark things would pour out of him. And the heroine was strong, resilient, and annoying at times. LOL
“On these cold, unfriendly streets I found a flower, and I plucked it. I will have this one pleasure, this girl whose final surrender was that of a queen in battle.”
All in all, I’d still recommend this one for dark romance readers. The last part of the book will keep you on edge. I didn’t get all the feels, but I think it’s my state of mind right now.
Midnight Hunter is a historical romance about a Stasi enforce in East German, Reinhardt and a would-be escapee to the West, Envoy. This is a very hard subject for any author to take on and I applaud Hale for her effort. She did amazing research and captivated myself, as well as I am sure other readers, with her attention to detail about the time period while not losing us to the point of the love story between the officer and his prisoner. It was well-paced and had my attention from start to finish.
These two characters do not have a typical relationship, I would even go about saying it was borderline unhealthy. They figuratively battled their love for one another till the bitter end. They were unable to resist the pull toward one another, just as East and West Germany eventually had to pull the Wall down and become one once again.
If we look past the obvious issues that anyone would have with these characters we can see the main message that for me was conveyed in this story, in the end Reinhardt was just a man in love with a woman Envoy. End of story. It doesn’t matter what he did or who he was at that very moment. If it didn’t matter to her, it doesn’t matter to me. These are two people that go to insurmountable odds to be together, they even fight their own personal beliefs.
Hale does an amazing job of looking deeper and helping us all see that sometimes it is what is inside that matters. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is looking for a better understanding of the phrase “its what is on the inside that counts.”
*** I received this ARC from the author at no cost ***
{I received this as an ARC in Exchange for an Honest Review}
This book is SO AMAZING!!! I am so in love!! This is such an amazing Historical Romance! I loved the history aspect of this story it was so good and so interesting!! This story is truly wonderful. I was hooked from the first line!!
“He’s coming for me, and there’s nowhere to run”
I didn’t want to put it done! I read it until I fell asleep then as soon as I woke up I was reading this book!!! It was so so so wonderful!!! This took a turn I was not expecting and I Freaking love it!!! I have so much highlighted in this book! it is pure GOLD!!
Evony is such a strong character! She never backs down from what she believes in! I Love her! Volker is so dreamy!! He is this big bad (General I’m pretty sure that what he is) who always takes down traitors. Then he catches Evony and he doesn’t want to let her go. They way he is with her is so wonderful!! I love him!!
“Such a gentlemanly monster.”
Volker and Evony are such a special couple!! I love the slow burn factor!! She doesn’t just fall for him instantly and forget everything he has done and who he is. No she fights him and ends up fighting her feelings for him but she slowly falls for him in the end. This book is really HOT! Oh my gosh that first kiss was everything!! I have never been more excited for a first kiss. This story is so wonderful!! He calls her Darling in German and I freaking love it so much!!
“Here is my remarkable man, just as vital, handsome and strong as I’d always hoped he’d be, but presented in the shape of my enemy.”
I Loved every minute of this one of a kind truly amazing story!! I honestly don’t know what to do with myself now that this is over!! “Midnight Hunter” was such an adventure and so wonderful! I Love it so much!! Seriously Guys you HAVE GOT TO READ THIS!! Its so Good!!!
“You are not a lamb who walks into the lion’s liar to face the lion. You walk in at his side.
“On these cold, unfriendly streets I found a flower, and I plucked it. I will have this one pleasure, this girl whose final surrender was that of a queen in battle.”
I love historical romance especially ones that are about forbidden romances. I haven’t read any books that are set in Germany when the Berlin wall was up, so this was a very interesting read to me. I wanted to see how Evony could fall in love with the ‘enemy’. Secret police officer Reinhardt Volker is an anti-hero and the author did a great job in getting me to dislike him in the beginning. He did some very horrible things, which he didn’t regret doing. Evony hated him before and after he kidnapped her. He saw something in her and he wouldn’t let her go for anything.
“Do we deserve our happy ending, a Stasi officer and his captor who’s not only forgiven him but fallen in love with him?”
I loved seeing how Evony was fighting with herself, because she was attracted to him but he was also the enemy. I thought the development in her feelings was very organic and it didn’t come across as fake. I loved seeing how she piece by piece surrendered herself to Volker, but she also knew what she was doing shouldn’t feel so good. There was also enough suspense in this story, that had me on the edge of my seat. It also had a dark edge to the story with explicit sex scenes (which were very HOT). This story has increased my interested in romance books that take place after the WW2 in Germany, specifically when the Berlin wall was still up.
Actual rating 4.5 stars
Evony is an East German. She wants to escape from her life on the eastern side of the wall. But she has one problem. She has caught the eye of der Mittenachtsjager (midnight hunter).
Volker ran after her as she tried to escape. But he caught her and he’s never going to let go.
This story is a new favorite of mine. We are taken back to East Germany under the rule of the USSR. The infamous Berlin Wall has been erected. I love stories such as this. In Germany and around or after WWII. This has taken place twenty years after but still piques my interest.
I came across this when a friend was reading it. I added it to my kindle. After seeing her review and her liking it I knew I needed to give it a good old college try. Boy was I not disappointed.
I know few German words so for the author to throw those in and use the German language every now and then made this little language nut jump for joy. German is one of the languages I am slowly learning right now and this book added in new words for me. YAY!
Anywho back to the story, I loved the hero and heroine together. She didn’t submit right away like some books have women do. Volker is 6’5″ of perfect alpha male. He is add to my list. The chemistry between these two is amazing. And that ending was wrapped up really nice. I didn’t want this to end but at the same time I was wanting to see what the end was going to be like. But one thing I would liked was the love connection developed a little better. It at many times felt a bit insta.
Also this didn’t feel like a dark romance. I don’t know what it is but it just doesn’t feel like that kind of romance.
I am going to give Hale’s other books a try. I noticed they are the DDlg type. I’m very skeptical. The only time I tried that did not end well and I DNF the book. Let’s hope Hale has a better way of writing the story.