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Forbidden Love #1

Out of the Dark

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Angel Knight never knew anything was missing from his life. Not until one fateful night when he met her. She was fiery, beautiful, and he knew he had to make her his.

Breanna Hunt lived a normal life until rock star Angel Knight walked into her life. But he made her a job offer that she just couldn't refuse, but could she keep herself safe from his charms?

Angel does everything he could to make Breanna accept him as her mate, but with a rouge vampire starts killing people associated with Angel it isn't easy. When the killer sets their sights on Brea, all bets are off.

232 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 26, 2010

122 people are currently reading
921 people want to read

About the author

Danielle James

84 books224 followers
I live in KY with my family. While I hold a "real job" my first love will always be writing.
I enjoy lots of different kinds of books, and many different authors. Some of my favorites are, but not limited to, Sandra Hill, Lori Foster, Kelly Armstrong, Stephen King, James Patterson, J.R. Ward and Emma Holly. But I think I would read just about anything with a good plot.

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171 (22%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
16 reviews
March 26, 2016
Irritating beyond words

I didn't mind the writing style, per say but the characters infuriated me. At first, I questioned my reaction to the story and character dynamics. I gave it a week then re read it. Dear lord I was even more frustrated the second time. Let me explain what caused me to feel this way. First, there is Brea, a woman who is opinionated, set involved, and quite frankly cruel. She' s supposed to be this sweet young southern girl but comes off as a prejudice little manipulator. I am hoping that the author intended for Brea to be a strong independent woman but somehow got her wires crossed. So, Brea lives in a world where werewolves and vampires are out in the open but she not too comfortable with it. In fact, she's not too fond of either one. She makes this little snarky comments about them-- to demonstrate the depth of her intolerance for anyone different than herself. I didn't find that trait very likable but our girl was just starting. In the very beginning she announced to anyone who would listen that she would never go to bed with a guy she didn't intend spending the rest of her life with. That sentiment was a HUGE deal as evidenced by the fact that she calls her friends sluts for sleeping around. Okay, got it. Brea doesn't like anyone different from herself and she didn't sleep around-- check. So, she meets Angel and his merry band of vampire rockers and the big guys smells her and she goes ballistic, dispute the fact that vampires don't feed off the unwilling. She runs away in a huff lime a grown up girl and Angel discovers she is his life mate. There is no accounting for taste. The author tells me Brea is a wonderful girl but so far she is unlikable in the extreme. She seems immature and stupid. For example, when Angel came by her work to tell her he was sorry for offending her and asked her out, she lied and said she was going out with friends. She wasn't mature enough to tell him she wasn't comfortable going out with him alone. Nope couldn't do that. Then she doesn't question him when he asks her to plan an important event for him-- she's a waitress not a caterer. I guess she thinks she's just that good. Sooo she calls in her posse to have her back when she goes out with Angel, then gets tipsy and sucks face with him--right, far less invasive than smelling someone. Then when the guy is thrown off, Brea deserts him when he gets attacked by fans. That's when when she decides this party planning gig is strictly business. What! Wait, she was doing the face sucking not him. Way to send mixed messages. And she is just getting started. She knows she is attracted to him and plays this game where she thinks getting oral sex from him doesn't count as sex. Why, she is still a virgin. Gag. Then she discovers the party is to celebrate Angel's birthday and she needs to find him a gift. What to do, what to do? Of course, why not give the guy your virginiy--what else are you going to give the man who has everything? I was really to toss the book well before this point but it only got worse from this enormously stupid decision. See, she wasn't in love with him and only saw him as a scratch to an itch. And Angel wasn't exactly an alpha male but after the big deal Brea made about not giving it up until it was forever and ever, well I can understand why he did the mate binding thing. When he realized she was not on board he planned to try to win her over but no pressure. So when he turned up the next day with the tat, he kept his mouth shut but her friend was the one with the big mouth. She spilled the beans. Brea with all the understanding and maturity went crazy and accused him of manipulating her. Seriously? I wanted someone to smack some sense into her. Imagine my surprise when everyone blamed him as well. Great friends you have there Angel. She led him on several times and yet he is the bad guy! So, the heifer leaves him to his own devices with such outraged indignation tat it made me gag. She even whined about donating blood. Are you kidding me? Sigh this means he'll die unless he feeds from her but she just doesn't care. That's what happens to bad men who try to manipulate good little girls. Gag, gag, gag. She was in the wrong. I'm not saying Angel wasn't culpable. He should have run for the hills when he met her. And Her don't touch me rule just made me have an even lower opinion of her and his martyred behavior irritated me. Someone should have told her she was acting like a bitch--- not an independent self sufficient woman. I cannot recommend this book or author because of my distaste for the characters in this book. The world is already an intolerant place. No need to encourage more. Just an aside, I was brought up in the South but I was taught kindness as well as strength. There is a reason Southern women are called steel magnolias. Brea is an affront to those women. She is vicious and vacuous.


Profile Image for Lois.
15 reviews2 followers
March 13, 2014
I love to discover new to me established series so I don't have to wait for the next book. Out of the Dark, the first in the Forbidden Love series, was a great discovery for me.

Ms. James created an intriguing story world where vampires and werewolves and other supernatural beings live openly among humans. She made the vampire world her own by not following the traditional steak to the heart, vamp turns to dust same ole, same ole which I found refreshing.

I fell in love with the characters, Angel Knight is a rock star, vampire, and California clan leader and he's 6' 6" of sex on a stick! Brea is a feisty redhead that doesn't have a problem putting a vampire in his place. The supporting characters also had a good storyline in this book with a budding romance between Brea's best friend and Angel's head of security. We were introduced to Angel's "family" comprised of his band members and a few trusted humans, I cannot wait to read their stories too! So I am off to read the next in the series Into The Light.

I highly recommend Out of the Dark and give it 5 stars for a great storyline, well written characters, a good mix of romance, humor, and suspense.
Profile Image for Deborah.
3,854 reviews498 followers
January 16, 2015
Even though this is the first book in this series it wasn't available at the time I read 'Into the Light' which is the second book, although I didn't realise it at the time it wasn't until I'd got several pages in and started checking around, I contacted Danielle who kindly sent me a copy, I wouldn't normally read books out of order but once I'd started 'Into the Light' I couldn't put it down anyway 'Out of the Dark' is a great book with really good characters and humour it also has a good story and I can't wait for more in this series, I've read three books by this author and have enjoyed all of them.
Angel Knight is not only a world famous rock star he's also the leader of his clan of vampires as well as being most women's dream in this the first of the series he meets his mate Breanna and to keep her close and get to know her better he offers her a job planning a party for the other clan leaders in his home, while Angel and just about everyone else knows Brea is Angels mate no one bothers to tell Brea.
On top of the romance there's a string of mysterious murders made to look like Angel is the killer, Angel forms an alliance with Detective Corbin to try and find the killer.
I really enjoyed this book and I loved the whole world Danie has created, the characters are fabulous I love all of them including Detective Corbin, I have a bit of a soft spot for him.

I received ARC copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.
Profile Image for Jerri.
40 reviews4 followers
December 4, 2013
WOW...I started out of the dark late last night and that was the wrong thing to do...lol I stayed up most of the night because I just couldn't put it down do as soon as my eye popped open this am I had to open it right back up. Angel I could see him in my mind as one sexy ass vampire and brea was his perfect fit. I loved this love story it was hot and funny. This book was well written and kept me on pins and needles the whole time and believe me that is hard to do with me. When I cant put a book down and Im turning pages just as fast as my eyes can read you've hooked me. Im very excited to get to the next book in this series Into the Light I see it maybe another sleepless night. This book is a must read I did see that in some of the reviews there were some editing problems I know for a fact that has been fixed. something happened while loading the book that was at fault for the problems is what I was told. So go and download Out of the dark while it is free....You want regret it....
Profile Image for Lisa Miller.
97 reviews16 followers
June 14, 2013

Out Of The Dark is a wonderful story and I am so very glad that I read it. I loved this story so much, I could not stop reading it!! It is almost 5am and I just finished it. It really needs some editing in the first few chapters, and that will usually make me stop reading a book. But there was no stopping this one!! Angel and Brea are perfect together and I loved that they didn't fall into bed together within the first five minutes of meeting each other. Their story flowed smoothly with lots of love, humor, tears, excitment, dread, worry and hope. The sex was steamy without being overkill. The supporting characters were so easy to love, I hope they each get their own story! Will recommend that all of my friends read it, and will definately buy other work from this author!! Loved it!!
Profile Image for Tracy.
447 reviews27 followers
April 12, 2014
Rockstars and Vampires---two of my favorite things. So to find a book about a Rockstar that is a Vampire....Jackpot!! (And Angel Knight is his name). He is rich, famous, sexy, smart, kind and just happens to be the Clan Leader to his group of Vampires. I look forward to each book in this series because this one was a wonderful surprise. It was exciting and beautiful. Breanna is quite the character as well and the two of them together are magic. I loved Keelie and Brandon as well and of course Angel's Vampire clan were amazing as well. Even loved Phoenix...I hope we see him again in future books.

This story contained mystery, excitement and of course love. Thank you Ms James for this great read. I can't wait to devour more of your books. :)
Profile Image for Suze Prescot.
Author 13 books31 followers
February 8, 2023
Vampire, rock star, leader

Brea moves to L.A. but is not comfortable with the werewolves and vampires who frequent the restaurant where she works. When rock star, Angel Knight comes in with a group of friends, he sees her as a potential mate and engineers a way to spend more time with her. Misunderstandings and murder feature in this story.
Profile Image for Hayley.
187 reviews20 followers
June 27, 2014
I picked this up as a freebie and wasn't sure how it would go from the description, but I really liked it!

The characters were pretty interesting and all quite believable, although I found Brea a little too daft and innocent sometimes, and Angel could be way too over-possessive. In particular I really liked Keelie, Ricco, and Sebastian.

The plot, in general, was really interesting. The sex scenes were more realistic than most paranormal romances, leaving some room for believably if you took out the vampire bits. Rather predictable in terms of the romance and rather obvious where it was going to go, but I liked the mystery/detective plot, and the spin on who the bad guy was. Then ending, however, felt really really rushed. After the main kidnapping/rescue climax, I thought it could easily have ended there (), and the plot could easily have continued into a second book. Looking at how the series actually seems to flow, I can see why this did not happen, but I still felt that the last three chapters were way too much and added on as too much of an afterthought.

If it wasn't for that, it would have been an easy 5 starts. Down to 4.5/5.
Profile Image for Candy.
150 reviews5 followers
August 24, 2014
Oh! How I loved this!

My Audible Audiobook Review:

Wow! I was shocked... I didn't think I would just fall in love with this book. It was awesome. I felt so connected to Angel...well not connected...But I totally like him. I got angry with Brea when she ran away from Angel. How could she... he needed her to live!!!! What a selfish little twit!

I really felt like Angel should have mind warped her or something...but darn that thing about free will with his mate... Sheeez! Anyway...what an enjoyable story from beginning to end. I loved it... even all the angsty moments...

Worth a credit, buy or sale... I can't wait for book 2.

Narration was pretty good too.
Profile Image for Ember Shane.
Author 3 books94 followers
June 21, 2014
It's been way too long since I've read a full-out adult romance, and Out of the Dark was just the thing to satisfy! I simply adored Angel. He is the perfect combination of masculinity and tenderness, freedom and protection. Definitely the kind of vampire you would love to meet. The supporting characters were also great. I loved Keelie and Brandon and all the Knight family. The pacing was amazing. I generally do not tear through a book within a day or two, but this is one I found difficult to put down. I can't wait to get started on the next in the series!
Profile Image for Jessica Leonard.
240 reviews16 followers
December 20, 2013
A time where Vampires and Werewolves live freely in our world. Our knowledge of them is limited but, none the less, we accept them. Except for Brea, whose first encounter when she moved to LA was not a kind one.

That's until Brea met Angel Knight.

Danielle James paints a visual masterpiece with her characters. It will feel like there is a movie playing in your head with each turn of the page. And who can resist a stubborn red head and a sexy vamp? or two?
Profile Image for Marika.
4,865 reviews101 followers
April 27, 2014
I loved this book! It's a great story and I fell in love with all the characters, especially Angel and Brea. Angel is a vampire and a rock star, he is generous and kind and has a big heart. Brea has a strong will and she doesn't put up with anything less than she deserves. It's so good reading about the two of them, when they meet and how everything evolves.
It has everything you need and more..friendship and love, action and fight.
I will read the whole series, now I'm hooked.
99 reviews2 followers
June 7, 2014
~!~ What a well-written paranormal romance ~!~

~!~ What a well-written paranormal romance ~!~

If a sexy, rock star, alpha male vampire romance book sounds like your cup of tea, then you should definitely read this story. I promise that you will not be disappointed! What more does a great paranormal romance need? Oh yeah, it needs an HEA ending...and this most definitely has that!
Profile Image for Melanie Buffington.
8 reviews1 follower
August 3, 2015
WOW I loved this book. I loved Angel. I will admit Brea did frustrate me a little with her stubbornness but I don't think the story would have been as good without it. The timeline was believable and there was great character development. I did love all the characters and look forward to reading more from this author.
Profile Image for Jo Smith.
695 reviews4 followers
November 18, 2013
Not your every day rock star romance, this comes with a super paranormal twist. Great characterisation of main characters. The twists were unexpected & well thought through. Loved the family feel that truly came across. A super afternoon read, although the editing has been poorly done & most sentences during first 1/3 of book have A at the start. Was off putting to say the least.
Profile Image for Andi Downs.
1,469 reviews13 followers
January 4, 2015
Loved it & all of the series, have all on my android device to enjoy at any time. Well written, you are drawn to all the characters, feeling their emotions & the bonding through the series of books. Thoroughly recommend to all who love this genre - paranormal, romance, adventure & heartache at times.
Profile Image for Sheila.
103 reviews2 followers
September 8, 2014
Out of the Dark

Loved this book it combined two of my favorite things, vampires and rock stars! I enjoy reading about strong and independent female leads and Brea definitely fits that description. it was nice to read a book where vampires and humans live together out in the world.
Profile Image for Dena.
4,476 reviews12 followers
June 9, 2014
This is different, impressive and intriguing. The emotion from this story makes me want to read it a hundred times. I like Angel and Brea they made this story and I was glad to know them. I think Brea was judge mental and harsh. Sometimes we have to prove our point but I think it is better to look at the big picture instead of going by emotion. The best decisions are made by logic.
Profile Image for Jh Port.
68 reviews15 followers
November 29, 2013
Just finished this book and what a nice, easy read it was.

Well thought out and well put together. With nothing messy, no choppy parts this story simply flowed and played out nicely.

Very much enjoyed this one and I particularly liked the paranormal edge to it.
9 reviews1 follower
September 21, 2013
This book was great filled with such passion and "forbidden love " so glad they got their happily ever after!
Profile Image for Shani.
315 reviews31 followers
June 24, 2014
I had such a blast reading this book. Hot vampires and rockstars how could you go wrong? The love story was fun to see develop and heartwarming. Great quick read!
Profile Image for Hbeebti.
2,039 reviews50 followers
January 7, 2015
This started off good but slowly Brea just got on my last nerve and I began to skim. Not a bad vampire book but it would have been better with a different heroine.
Profile Image for Jessie.
426 reviews9 followers
April 8, 2015
This book was unexpected. The author did a nice job creating a story that was both entertaining and captivating. The end of the book was a bit cliche but overall the book was good.
Profile Image for Crissy.
2,815 reviews5 followers
October 19, 2014
Out of the Dark was a great read. Angel Knight is not only a rock star but head of the vampire clan. Brea works as a waitress and her Angel wants her to do a job for him. He's wanted Brea since the moment he meets her and once he has made his bond with her, she isn't as willing to accept it as he was. He has bonded to her but she is not bonded to him yet and she's determined to make things hard but when Angel gives up literally, she realizes she's what he needs. I would like to have more of Angels "music" life in the book but with the revenge plot and fighting for leader position going on it will have you hooked from beginning to end. I absolutely love that this book has its HEA and that you don't need to read the next book in the series to get the ending. This is the first book I have read from this author and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great paranormal read. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
Profile Image for Carolyn Bennett.
Author 3 books77 followers
October 26, 2013
you will know no other love as pure as when a vampire chooses his mate. He will live for her and die for her. And for rock star/vampire Angel, its a fiesty red head named Brea. The problem, can he convince her to accept him as her mate. This book is filled with everything you want: a beautiful if sometimes heartbreaking love story, a human female with a werewolf as a best friend, a group of sexy male vampires and a danger that threatens to tear it all apart. There were some formatting errors in the beginning that others have commented on but these are obviously issues with Kindle and it clears up after a couple chapters. Don't let that interfere with you absolutely loving this book. I can't wait to read book 2.
Profile Image for Joy.
605 reviews9 followers
August 12, 2013

Angel is a rock star, Clan leader and a vampire. One look at Brea and his mating instincts take over but someone is out to displace him as Clan leader. A killer is making his move and Brea quickly becomes the target.

Vamp is not really my thing though I’ve read a couple here and there but despite the usual fanfare of vampire novels, you know, drop dead gorgeous, fast as lighting, blood suckers, murder and mayhem etc…I enjoyed it.

I liked Angel and how he treated Brea, he didn't go all vodoo vampire magic to seduce and force her to his will and that's a nice touch from the few I've read.
74 reviews
December 23, 2019
The best vampire series

This is my second time reading this series. I absolutely love it. This book introduces us to all the characters. Beyond that, this is the love story of Brea, a human. And Angel, the rockstar clan leader for all vampires in his region. Their story has love, revenge, misunderstanding, and the fear of the unknown to the coming together of humans and the paranormal. Can’t wait to start the next book of the series.
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