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 to maintain her sanity. Now Dory’s vampire father has come to her for help— again. Her Uncle Dracula (yes, the Dracula), cruelest among vampires, has escaped his prison. And her father wants Dory to … prison. And her father wants Dory to work with gorgeous master vampire Louis-Cesare to put him back there.
Although Dory prefers to work alone, Dracula is the only thing that truly scares her—and when she has to face him, she’ll take all the help she can get…
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When it comes to spin-offs, just because the original series is excellent doesn’t necessarily mean the spin-off will be, but Karen Chance’s Dorina Basarab series is proof that lightning CAN strike twice…and sometimes, the spinoff is even better than the original.
Chance’s Cassie Palmer series follows the adventures of a modern Oracle as she navigates political intrigue, war between dark mages, fae, and the vampires, and a steamy relationship with Dracula’s brother Mircea. In this spinoff series, our heroine is Dorina “Dory” Basarab, Mircea’s half-vampire dhampir daughter, who is 500 years old and one of my all-time favorite urban fantasy characters. Half human, half vampire, and all sharp edges, Dory is a bounty hunter who has a complicated and rather fraught relationship with her master vampire father.
In this first book in the series, Dory’s looking for her missing roommate. She’s recruited by her father Mircea to team up with Louis-Cesare, an annoying–and gorgeous–vampire who is a sword-fighting expert, to hunt down Mircea’s brother Vlad (aka Dracula), who has escaped from his prison. If she helps catch Drac, Mircea will help her find her missing roommate, so Dory reluctantly agrees to the mission, despite the fact the last time she encountered Drac, he nearly killed her.
Chance’s fantastic world-building is front-and-center in both the Cassie Palmer and Dorina Basarab series. I highly recommend both, but I have to admit that the Dory books are my favorite. In one of the first scenes, we find Dory sitting atop a pile of corpses, a drink in her hand–and I was hooked.
Perfect for bingeing over and over. If you love your urban fantasy full of vampires, fae, trolls, magic, leather, and steamy scenes, grab Midnight’s Daughter and jump into Dory’s crazy, bloody, tequila-soaked world.
If you’re into snarky dialogue, a twisted supernatural underworld, and sexy vampires, this is your series.
Set in the same world and following the same time line as the Cassie Palmer books, this is from the point of view of Mircea’s daughter, Dorina. Probably the most fun if the books are read following the timeline, but I read the Cassie series before starting these and it is fine.
Love Karen Chance’s writing style and humor.
love this series…. i can’t get enough of Karen Chance books…
Dorina Basarab is half human and half vampire, she is the daughter of Mireca Basarab, Dracula’s older brother. Dorina hunts vampires and much of the story revolves around her doing so while she tracks down her friend and roommate that has been missing for a month.
I loved getting to know the family tree of Dracula, I never thought about it before and this book gives the history of his two brothers, Radu and Mireca explaining the the rift that was between them and what led to it. This book definitely portrays Dracula differently than other series he’s been in lately.
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.
Another fun book! It’s the first in Dorinas stories, but 4th in Cassandra’s world. I love the sarcasm, action and fast paced story. I enjoyed the story between Louis Cesare and Dory. We get to learn more about Mircea, and the relationship between him and Dory. I originally read this later down the series. It flows so much better reading the timeline through Cassies world. Another MUST READS!
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.
Audiobook review: I so enjoyed hearing more about the world Ms. Chance created with the Cassie Palmer series but from different events with some similar characters in the Dorina Basarab series! The story is action packed and some outstanding items that I always wondered about are answered. I really like Dori’s complex character and her toughness. The narrator did a great job with speed of reading, different voices for characters, and appropriate tone and pitch for each scene.
I was exited to learn that there was a new series based on the Cassie Palmer series world. As usual with this author, the action starts immediately and the book continues to be fast paced. Dorina is a damphir and the daughter of a high ranking senate member. Damphir are not accepted in the vampire world, they are feared. She is trying to locate her missing roommate when her father approaches her for help with a family matter. They do not have a good relationship but, she ends up agreeing anyway. He even sends another high ranking senate member from the European court with her. They immediately start fighting and sparks fly. To capture the renegade she has to overcome debilitating fears from a time long ago. All the while falling in lust with a vampire. A big no no.
I highly recommend the Cassie Palmer series and the Dorina Basarab series. I have reread them both many times.