Midnight's Crown

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 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. Contains mature themes.

Secrets can't hide in daylight . . . Hudson, Valen, Sylvain, and Marcus revealed their secret to Briar Hale, and she astonished them. The four vampires hadn't expected her to handle their revelation so easily, but Briar is a scientist and recognizes there are all manner of creatures in the world-some benign, some predatory, and some, like the brothers' maker, pure evil. Caught in Asher's sights, Briar fights not only to stay alive, but to stay sane. Asher is in her head, whispering doubts and bringing to light her vampires' hidden pasts. He shows her everything-every bloody, terrible, heart-wrenching moment. But she is stronger than Asher and the horrors stalking her vampires. Briar loves them, and she won't give them up, nor will she let them give up on each other. With war on the horizon, Briar, Hudson, Valen, Sylvain, and Marcus will have to fight Asher and the secrets threatening to rise up and destroy them. Contains mature themes.

Sacrifice . . . Transformation . . . It all comes down to the final battle . . . Forced to choose between her life and the lives of the vampires she loves, Briar made the ultimate sacrifice. For her, a world without Marcus, Hudson, Sylvain, and Valen was inconceivable. But her vampires didn't accept her decision, and at the last moment, transformed her from woman to immortal. Awakened to a new, utterly different life, the sun can finally shine on Briar Hale. With eternity in front of her, all she sees is love and hope. So when the creatures of darkness threaten everything she holds dear, Briar will not surrender. She's stronger now and she has a vampire inside her ready to go to war. Can Briar hold onto herself while protecting those she loves? Or will she give into her new power, and become her worst nightmare? Contains mature themes.