Review: Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Title: Born at Midnight (Born at Midnight #1)
Author: C.C. Hunter
Published: March 29th 2011
Add It: Goodreads
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | Combined Edition TBD

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever. Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.” Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.
Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either. Or does she? They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason. As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas. Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past. Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart.
Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…

Buying the combined edition of the first two books couldn't have worked out better for me. Not only was it a cheap deal via The Book Depository, it was also a pretty kick-a book with enjoyable characters and an awesome world of supernatural beings.

"Our heats want the good to win. We're still afraid, we still make mistakes, but if we listen to what our hearts want, we will find the right way."

The story. The book kicks off with Kylee's dad moving out of their house. We learn that she's a daddy's girl and has recently lost her beloved grandmother. Her mom is described as an ice queen with the personality of a stick. She sends Kylee off to a camp that supposedly deals with troubled teens after her daughter gets caught in a raid at a party where there are drugs and alcohol in possession of teenagers. When she reaches the camp, she realizes it's full of freaks who claim to have supernatural blood in them. Kylee has a tough time navigating between this new world, her family drama, two hot guys and an ex-boyfriend, and searching for herself. Oh, and enter criminal activity among these weird creatures. Sounds like summer is about to be great for our heroine.

My thoughts. I had no idea this'd be so much fun. I have enjoyed very few werewolf books. This one wasn't only wolves though--we have vampires, faeries, wtches and even ghostwhisperers. Everyone kept talking about this awesome cast of characters, fun plot and two very, very great love interest (#teamLucas). Now I know what they were talking about! I enjoyed Kylee's relationship with camp's head Holiday and her roommates Della and Miranda. Kylee's sarcasm and snarky attitude were hilarious and she does everything with her heart in the right place. I liked how she didn't back down from a challenge and took selfless actions in order to provide the safety of her friends. We also get to some development of the side characters which was nice. My favorite relationship was Burnett and Holiday. I have a feeling we'll see more of them in the future. Their chemistry was sizzling and fun!

I liked most of what was going on in this book, but what I didn't enjoy was Kylee's constant 'omg, he's so hot and i want to kiss him' thoughts regarding Derek and Lucas. Also, I bet it's hard to accept one's supernatural roots, but she was more excited about having a tumour than being supernatural. Are you for real? I'd pick being supernatural any day of the week instead of a tumor. If one were to have a tumour, one's brain wouldn't have the pattern of a natural human being. She was unique and none of the other supernaturals couldn't read her pattern nor her mind and that caused a lot of fuss over her inheritance which I think will be revealed as the series progresses as we don't get a clear answer about her supernatural being.

I'm glad I gave this series a try since it turned out to be fun, exciting, surprising and original. I had no idea what I was missing out on. Kylee as a heroine is somewhat frustrating at times with her head between the three guys who want her bad, but you know what? It was still a hilarious adventure and overall Kylee is a strong, selfless main character and I wouldn't mind reading the rest of the series asap. Luckily, thanks to that combined edition, I already own book #2 and now I'm just going to have to wait to pick it out of those paper slips I did to pick my next read randomly. Oh, and it's likely one of those books that is better when you re-read it. I hope you guys liked it or give it a chance when you're in need of a fun, sassy paranormal read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Meet the author

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads