Against his will, Noctorno Hawthorne, an undercover vice cop, finds himself embroiled in magic, mayhem and parallel universes. Too late, he meets an amazing woman only to find she’s destined for his identical twin in another world. And things aren’t going real great there.Noc is recruited to help save that world.What he doesn’t know is his destined love resides there.Franka Drakkar wears a mask. … there.
Franka Drakkar wears a mask. A mask she never takes off to protect herself in a world of malice, intrigue and danger.
When Franka meets Noc and he discovers her secrets, convinced she carries a midnight soul, having shielded herself from forming bonds with anyone, she struggles with accepting his tenderness and care.
When Noc meets Franka, over wine and whiskey, her mask slips and Noc knows it’s her—only her—and he has to find a way to get her to come home with him.
And then make her want to stay.
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Who knew that I’d actually love Franka Drakkar more than I did…and I did love her cattyness and evil!!!!
And Noc…can you get more masculine than him???? He reminded me of Tack so much!
Now this book is funny, a hoot! What with Frankas surprise at everything that is our world….the toilet, the bath….superb! And also lines like ‘Valentine: I felt a disturbance in the force.’!!!
I bet the author had so much fun writing this!
This series is just fabulous. I cant believe that this is the end *dissolves in big fat tears*
I struggle to decide what rating to give this book. In so many ways I really enjoyed the story, but in as many ways parts of it also annoyed me to no end. It made me jump between three, two, four stars back and forth throughout the entire book.
As in all the books I’ve read by Kristin Ashley (that being this series) I have always had an issue with the dialogue. That being that the characters from our world acts and talk so stereotypically modern that they come across as imitating popular cheerleaders in a tween movie (hopefully you know the kind I mean). Fortunately Midnight soul being mostly out of Franka’s POV it was a bit less obvious in this book, especially since it started in the other world as well. And what a start it had. Digging deeper into Franka and what made her who she was, the big twist and her and Noc’s interactions. Though Noc needed to be toned down a bit when it came to said issue about dialogues, it’s safe to say that their different mannerisms and way of speaking built for very interesting interactions between the two and promised a great romance as well as fun bickering to enjoy moving forward. That sadly could not be said for the rest of the characters.
I don’t really know how to explain it better than saying the story was overly crowded. Every main character from the series took a part in it, as well as some new ones. While I liked on some level seeing said characters again and the strong romance between the couples they also made the story feel a bit all over the place (especially the ending to the book). It didn’t really serve a purpose having them all there following Franka like a support group or guard dogs. As a matter of fact it felt out of character and unrealistic how all of them were so involved in Franka’s life. I mean, I get Frey and Finnie as well as Kristian and Noc. The rest though didn’t really have a connection to the woman so there was no reason for them being there. It was actually kind of a relief to be rid of them when we traveled to our world, only then having to deal with Franka, Noc, Josette and even Valentine from time to time.
What was odd for me though when it came to Valentine was how the book tried to give her her own kind of story in this one but then continuously dropped it and went back to Franka and Noc. Unlike the other characters crowding the book, Valentine actually served a purpose in the story so it felt natural that she took place in it. But then building up to something with her and hinting at heartbreak and just dropping it and moving on did not. Especially when the story was a bit of a slow poke in Franka and Noc’s day to day life. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved the romance between them from start to finish, but the book at times needed something else, a clear conflict or plan since a romance can’t hold an entire story up by itself. It needed something to fall back on when the romance didn’t take center stage and had it been allowed Valentine and her heartbreak could have been that.
Later on we got Other world Circe and this world Lahn (or rather Dax) as a conflict which did pick the story up a bit, but it also brought new issues on the table for me. One being admittedly a small issue, but one that is sadly too common in these kinds of books. That is the unrealism that every this world character just happens to be Americans. Sure, be as patriotic as you like when you create a story miss Author, but at least have a reason for why it makes sense. The other world characters were from all over the place in that world, so why not do the same with the this world characters? Dax Lahn would have been the last and perfect opportunity for that. However, I digress since this is not necessarily impacting my opinion on the actual story (still worth calling it out though I believe).
My other issue when it came to Circe and Dax was how the author seemed to use them and this book as an opportunity to overcompensate for the Lahn of the other world and the primitive ways of his people from book two. This became extra obvious in the end of the book with the whole wedding and slave business. That as well was so out of character and out of that culture that it felt forced and unrealistic to me. I get wanting to end the book and the series on a high and good note, but make it too high and it just loses its realism altogether. I can’t complain too much though since I loved the ending despite the overcompensation and it being all over the place.
As a book in whole I give it three stars since it had a lot of promise and a near perfect romance when it came to Noc and Franka. If the focus had been more on them and not so many other characters, as well as if the book had had a more clearcut plan and not jumped into so many places it might held a better pace and kept me fully invested without or despite my annoyances. It is however a satisfying conclusion to the series.
Audiobook edit: the audiobook was pretty awesome.
While I am a huge fan of Kristen Ashley, and did enjoy reading this, I was a bit disappointed. All the action pretty much concluded in the previous novel. This was more of an epilogue to the series where a favorite character, Noc, gets his happily ever after. However, how Kristen Ashley made Franka, who I hated, into an awesome romance novel heroine was nothing short of brilliant.
4.7 stars
I was a little worried going into this story because of the reviews. I’m glad I didn’t pay attention to them because this was one of my favorites of the series. Ironically, everyone else’s favorite (#2) was my least favorite. This just goes to show that the beauty of a book varies depending on the person.
I loved seeing how Franka and Josette adapted to the modern world. I had to chuckle quite a few times. Ii adored Noc and Franka together. I did get frustrated at the end with Noc and his “issue” but got over that wuickly.
The only reason that this didn’t score higher was because I wanted to see what happens with Valentine. I felt it hinted at things through the whole book but never went anywhere.
That being said, I’m glad this was my first series/time reading this author. It was truly sublime and I look forward to reading more in the future.
Just beyond WOW! Kristen Ashely took a bit to get us Midnight Soul, but it was worth every minute of the wait. I never thought there was a way Franka could be redeemed. The woman was a raving BITCH! I was amazed to find the real Franka and what all was hiding under the nasty façade. I’ve loved Noc since his introduction and he came off even better than I’d believed he could be. He saw through Franka’s masks and called her on her crap over and over. He gave her time, space and his love to help her heal. Franka became Frannie to me. I laughed at her attempts to bring Circe and this world’s Lahn together, learning to adapt to our world and her amazement at indoor plumbing. I adored getting to see the other members of the series bringing her into their circle of friendship. She was sweet, kind and generous. Her devotion to her brother and Josette are only surpassed by her love for Noc. The ending was divine. This was a gift for all the fans of the Fantasyland series, wrapped in sparkly paper and tied with a magical bow. Thank you, Kristen. BRAVO!!!
Read this book (Series) more then once. Love it. Wish I can find more of this kind.