Hotter After Midnight review

Hotter After Midnight by Cynthia Eden is the first in her Midnight trilogy and was published in 2008 by Brava.

Hotter After Midnight is part paranormal romance and part romantic suspense - a "killer" combination that will keep you guessing until the very end! Dr. Emily Drake is a psychologist who specializes in treating Others - nonhuman species such as vampires, demons, and shifters. She is approached to help with a murder investigation and thrown together with Detective Colin Gyth, a shifter who keeps his Otherness a secret - well, from everyone except Emily who can immediately tell when someone is Other.

The attraction between Emily and Colin is red-hot and I loved both characters. Eden does a great job of depicting the tension between the two as well as the dance they must do to investigate while keeping the Others secret from the humans that surround them. The secondary characters also had a good depth that you don't always find and left me wanting to read more about them.

Very often with mystery or suspense plots, I know the whodunnit well before the end of the story but Eden kept me in the dark right up until she chose to reveal the killer's identity.

If you are looking for a good paranormal romance or romantic suspense with paranormal elements, I'd recommend Hotter After Midnight. I'll definitely be following up with the second book in the trilogy, Midnight Sins.

Synopsis

A Seductive Nighttime World. . . 
Dr. Emily Drake's psychotherapy patients tend to be a little unusual. Instead of midlife crises and mother fixations, Emily treats vampires with blood phobias and sex-demons looking for meaningful relationships. But healing these powerful beings requires an important rule: Never trust a shifter. Especially not one like Detective Colin Gyth, whose gold-flecked eyes and predatory air make Emily realize how much she longs to lose control. . .

A Dark And Dangerous Hunger. . .
Colin can't believe the doctor he has to work with on the Night Butcher murder case is the one person who could expose his true identity as a wolf shifter. Smart and sexy, Emily brings out the alpha male in Colin, unleashing a wild desire that takes them both over the edge. . . But in the shadows, the Night Butcher waits, eager to spill Emily's blood and taste her terror. And he'll use any means to destroy her, including the one person she has grown to trust. . .