By six books in readers should be familiar with the Night World M.O. by now. In the stifling, anachronistic world of vampires, witches and shape shifters old powers are rising and the monsters are finding new ties to the world of the mortals.
Soulmate takes a slightly different path and ups the power level. Theirry has been a shadowy elder whispered about in previous books. But instead of being the fear-inducing first vampire ever made he’s the originator of Circle Daybreak, the mysterious third circle of witches that embraces tolerance and unity between the races. It all comes from a promise he made to his own soulmate, a very long time ago.
Hannah, meanwhile, is a sixteen year old girl overwhelmed by terrifying premonitions of her own death. Who is sending her these messages? She is. Her unconscious mind is trying to warn her away from a dark stranger that she feels madly attracted to, but who is destined to kill her. Of course, it’s Theirry.
Soulmate really proves that the Night World books are more dark fantasy or romance than horror. While Hannah’s letter writing is really creepy, it’s played down more than it would have been in a harder horror book.
Allowing the plot of this book to embrace centuries really shows readers the scope of a vampire’s life. Also this is the first book to cover the beginnings and some of the unique myths and stories of the Night World. (Plus the characters from the previous books have cameos, which is always nice.)
At book six there’s almost this element of burn out on the story and setting (especially given the brief length of the books). Soulmate shakes things up a bit, with another great heroine and a new challenge. Theirry knows who is soulmate is, he just has to find her and get her to trust him before an old, vengeful enemy finds and kills her.
The big bad’s motivations are rather petty and juvenile after a millennia of fighting. But the book serves its purpose, showing readers that there are far more ancient things still roaming the Night World and the series so far has been preparing its characters to take them on.