Night Walker by Lisa Kessler

Title: Night Walker
Series: The Night Series #1
Author: Lisa Kessler
Copyright 2011 by Lisa Kessler
Entangled Publishing
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Synopsis:

He gave up his soul for a second chance to love her...

Two and a half centuries ago, Calisto Terana lost everything when a zealous priest murdered the woman he loved. Now, desperate for another chance to love her, he wants redemption for the mistake that cost her life.

She's haunted by dreams of her own death...

After catching her fiance with another woman, Kate Bradley returns to San Diego to clear her head. The last thing she needs is romance, but after meeting Calisto she's drawn to him in ways she doesn't understand.

They've waited in the shadows for centuries...

Calisto has no doubt Kate is the reincarnation of his lost love, but the Fraternidad Del Fuego Santo has a new watcher with dark ambitions of his own. As old enemies reemerge and a new threat arises, the betrayal that enslaved Calisto to the night might destroy the only woman he's ever loved again.

I don't remember where I first saw this book, but it is definitely one of those OMG-the-cover-is-amazing-I-need-to-read-this-right-now books. I am completely ecstatic that I did. Calisto left me dreaming sweet dreams all night long and Kate was an amazing protagonist. She was a little bit broken, but not so much that she was afraid to love again.

• Kate Bradley is the leading lady in Night Walker. She walked in on her professor fiance kissing a grad student. Ugh! Then he wanted to talk about it...what more is there to say? I was proud of Kate because she left him and didn't give him a chance to play the "it won't happen again" line. She is beautiful and a talented piano player. However, she knows her limitations and realizes she will never be great. She is happy teaching choir in a middle school.
• Tom is the cheating no-good-for-anything fiance.
• Edie, one of Kate's best friends, still lives in San Diego and attempts to help her move on with her life. She is supportive of Kate's decisions and proves to be an invaluable part of Kate's life.
• Lori, the third part of this trio of friends, she is a tad bit overprotective and mildly judgmental which annoys Kate.
• Calisto Terana is a philanthropist with secrets, very old secrets. He has been cursed to only walk during the night. After centuries he has finally found the reincarnated soul of his true love, Tala. Now that he has found her, he intends on making her his again...this time forever. Tall, dark, and handsome with an accent. I'm already on board.
• Bettina, or Betty, is the Director of Foundation Arts...Calisto's foundation. She has her sights set on Calisto and is not fond of Kate.

The story begins right as Kate is leaving Tom and goes back to San Diego to take care of her parents' estate. She had put this task off for too long and with the recent break-up, she needs some space. I was immediately drawn into the story, but became completely enraptured with Calipso as soon as he and Kate met. The book flips back and forth between the present and the past. Sometimes this method can cause the flow of the book to go awry; however,  I did not feel any of this confusion with Night Walker. Lisa does an amazing job crafting Calisto's world. The conflict between religion and true love is always something to ponder. I love internal battles because I believe we all engage in them more that we will ever realize. I also love a book that make you go...hmmm?


Lisa tells Calisto's and Kate's story using third person omniscient. The story shifts between Kate's and Calisto's points of view, pulling you into each of their experiences. Calisto's strong emotions for Kate brought me to tears on more than one occasion. Night Walker contained the perfect balance of romance and action and fantasy.


I think one of my favorite things about this book was the level of maturity of the characters. I read a lot of YA and while I deeply enjoy a good love triangle, I also love to divulge in the confidence of adult romance. Even though Kate had been hurt, she didn't really question her feelings for Calisto...she just went with it. Don't get me wrong...this wouldn't have been such a captivating novel if there was an absence of complications. Wow...the complications in this romance were near debilitating, but our two lovers fought until the very end.


Okay, so I could go on and on and on, but I will stop there. This book is amazing and I cannot wait for the next installment of the Night Series.


Favorite Quotes:

• He watched her mouth, waiting to hear her voice again. He ached to touch her. It was the sweetest torture he'd ever known to see her alive once more, and not be able to hold her in his arms, to kiss her soft lips. Fire licked at his heart, awakening passion he had long ago forgotten.

•  Calisto was lost. Lost in her arms, in her kiss, lost completely in loving her. The rapid pounding of her heartbeat and the feel of her body pressed tightly to his brought his hunger to life. But it wasn't a hunger for blood.