One Knight Stand

Midnight Empire: The Tower #4

by Annabel Chase

I’ve spent a lifetime hiding my identity just to survive. I’ve concealed my true nature from our vampire overlords, including the one who’s captured my heart, and I’ve kept my friends at arm’s length to protect us both.

And now I stand to lose them all because of it.

With the final ancient stone up for grabs, I face my toughest challenge yet—seek help from friends and enemies alike, or go it alone like I always have.

A battle looms for control of the stones—a battle that might finally force me to embrace the full extent of my magic.

Magic so powerful that it just might kill me.

But if it comes down to a choice between my survival or the realm’s, I know which one I’ll choose.

The fate of the world depends on it.


One Knight Stand is the exciting conclusion to the Midnight Empire: The Tower series, but stories set in this world continue in Endless Knight, Midnight Empire: The Restoration so don't miss it!

Other books in the world include:

Midnight Empire: The Tower

Wild Knight, Book 1

Three Dog Knight, Book 2

Deadly Knight, Book 3

One Knight Stand, Book 4

Midnight Empire: The Restoration

Endless Knight, Book 1

Red Rook, Book 2

Glass King, Book 3

Midnight Empire: New Dawn

Golden Hood, Book 1

Twilight Rebel, Book 2

Midnight Burns, Book 3

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Magic, Romance, Paranormal Romance

240 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 31, 2022

About the author

Annabel Chase is the author of urban fantasy and cozy mystery novels. She would love to live in a magical town where she can shop at Ready-to-Were for the the perfect outfit, flirt with hot angels and vampires, and cook gourmet meals without exerting any effort. Visit her on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Annabel-Chas... or on her website at www.annabelchase.com.

Reviews

[Christy Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great series ender!

This book was simply amazing!!! The only reason it is not 5 stars is that I feel it needed more to the ending. Don't get me wrong this ending was great, but I feel a little let down from the family side of things. I don't want to go into too many details as I don't want to spoil it, but I do feel London deserved more. Still a good read though!

[Miss W Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Night Stand is the 4th and FINAL book in the Midnight Empire: The Tower Urban Fantasy Series.

Oh MY ACTION!!!!! You definitely want to read the first 3 books in the series!

The writing is excellent, and the world building is next level.

I love our kick butt heroine, London. In this exciting conclusion she has some important decisions to make.

The battles are EPIC and the action left me breathless.

I loved this urban fantasy so much and I will be thinking about London for a long time.

[Angela (Angel's Book Nook) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final book in the Midnight Empire: The Tower series and it concludes the series wrapping up the overall ARC that we see throughout. It's another action packed adventure.

[Elena Rodríguez · Rating 3 out of 5]

J’avais besoin de lire en français mais le problème était que la plupart des livres dans mon fichier étaient en anglais, ou ceux que je trouvais comptaient plus de 700 pages ou bien étaient très denses.
Merci, mais à ce moment-là je préférais lire plutôt des romans extrêmement simples. Heureusement, j’ai trouvé ces livres traduits.

À vrai dire, je pensais que ces romans étaient mal écrits d’un point de vue linguistique. Je me suis énormément trompée. Même si l’argument était assez simple ainsi que les personnages étaient trop stéréotypés, l’écriture était meilleure que ce que je pensais. J’ai lu les quatre livres et je veux lire la suite

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

One Knight Stand is the end of this part of the series. It grows on you and the FMC is kickar$e. Vampires are in control of the world and creatures wreck havoc on the world. If you are not a vampire you are food to them unless you are magical which only gives you a slight step up.

Our heroine has a soft heart for those in need but cross her and you are done. She is trying to save the world one magical brick at a time.

If you like paranormal reads and mouthy heroines you will enjoy this.

[Daphnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending

I truly enjoyed this series from book 1 and it ended on a high note. I wish we'd gotten more of a future glimpse of Callan and London but I was still happy with the HEA. Looking forward to more books in this world.

[Clarabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce dernier tome est franchement épique !

Il met aussi à l’honneur les Chevaliers de Boadicée qui sont les copines de London. Je rappelle, l’équipe est exclusivement féminine. Ce sont des sorcières qui n’ont pas froid aux yeux et qui ont un talent fou. En bref, c’est du girl power comme on aime. Amitié, solidarité et efficacité. Et c’est génial qu’elles occupent le devant de la scène pour le dénouement de la série.

London a aussi beaucoup évolué livre après livre. Elle a notamment appris la confiance et a accepté de nouer des alliances dans un but commun. Et elle ose enfin dire le fond de sa pensée, évoquer ses sentiments et lâcher prise. Elle est en paix avec son passé, trouve sa place dans le moment présent et nourrit beaucoup d’espoir pour l’avenir.

Sa relation avec Callan… c’est tout ce que j’aime. Deux personnalités indépendantes, mais qui ne masquent pas leur tendresse. Ils prennent aussi du temps pour construire ce truc entre eux. C’est pas du tout sexy, juste dans les paroles. Et c’est plein d’humour. Moi, je valide ! J’aurais bien signé pour d’autres épisodes et connaître la suite des aventures. 🤗

[Sudasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty ok end to the series.

In the last book and we finally see London and Callan consummate their relationship. I think the biggest letdown for me overall was that this series had the longest slow-burn ever...and I get it, the plot wasn't necessarily about a romance, but if one is introduced I want to see it done well.

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, that was rather anticlimactic. All that waiting for a big battle and it was over with a bang (literally). A few surprises along the way and finally Callan and London are together. Liked getting to see the other Knights of Bodicia doing something instead of being the "badass women knights" role they've occupied in the background of the last few books. I can see where there is potential for spinoffs of this series with the other Knights and further adventures. On the whole I enjoyed the entire series.

[Shantal (VERIFED BOOK LOVER) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tried to be epic but failed, could have used 2 more books in the series to really set up the world-building and create overall tension for the reader's enjoyment.

The author did not spend enough time creating the lead-up to any romantic tension which made everything very subpar. We also did not find out enough about the hero, his thoughts, and why he did what he did. It would have been nice to have gotten a peek inside of his head to really understand his choices. We were mostly told what his issues were but never shown. For the reader to become invested in a plotline, to take the loveline seriously, and to even feel a real connection with the characters, they have to feel involved not just given one sentence to say what happened.

We were also constantly told how powerful the hero was, how crazy but that never came out even once. He spent more time in the background doing nothing while the heroine fought all the big battles. Yes, I know this is a series primarily about the hero but the supporting characters are also important to really give the story that extra something.

How everything unraveled with her father, his father, the discovery of the previous queen not being dead, her brother and sister, all of that was just a point blank mess. It wasn't good at all and did not add anything to the final parts of this series. The climax and finale were unsatisfactory and did not leave me feeling that everything came together adequately enough. The resolution with the hero was quite dull. We were told through a conversation with the heroine that he decided to go rule his Kingdom since his father was now dead but not of much else. The heroine went along with everything with not even a real fuss. It was all a bit too unrealistic for the fantasy world that was created.

Safe to say I didn't quite enjoy this one how I thought I was going to and that sucks!

2 stars.

[Elora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the story was interesting I was disappointed that in every book there was quite a lot of repetition and hearing the heroine always saying about how dangerous it is was she is was a way too much . Additionally, the books would benefit from better proofreading as in certain instances there were several grammatical mistakes.
Lastly, given that most of the characters were in their 30ties they were very immature…
But I did appreciate the string heroine… she sometimes seemed very unfeeling and even though she was very clever (which made people around her look either quite stupid or naive) her mental age seemed much lower

[C. Erani Kole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’d watch this

Story: 4
Patience level: 2.5
Romance: 3.5

So this is how my mind is working right now. I think it set an awesome expectation in the first book with the pace and reveal of things. And then it just kept doing it. There were no slow downs or lingering in moments (that I recall). My patience level was left to be admired in this book, mainly because I felt like things were rushed or brushed over. Case in point:

- someone betrays them and she doesn’t bat an eye. She talks big inwardly but then chooses the namaste route. Every time. Unless someone severely pisses her off. You’d think betrayal would warrant a banishment or something but nope! So boo.

- a huge truth is revealed and it kinda just gets a “oh my” and then they move on, like it wasn’t important enough.

- her tales of a big thing being revealed to her chosen family literally lasts three lines or less and then they move on.

Stuff like that made it really fast for me to the point of it being rushed. I think it should’ve changed pace or the story shouldn’t have been so detailed. Less details and fares would’ve matched this pace more.

If you’re looking for sexy times don’t hold your breath, BUT I think Chase did an amazing job at the flirty stuff and subtle sexual tension. Sometimes I got flushed and my mind ran away with me lol so yay

Overall okay. I didn’t rush to finish this book but the story itself set me off to wanna find other books similar. I didn’t always have the mindset of “eternal night” but I can guarantee that would be an amazing show to watch haha

[Lesly Sarabia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, esta última parte estuvo algo cursi, no lo voy a negar pero me gustó mucho cómo resultaron las cosas para London.
Me hizo falta interacción entre London y la familia real, eso es de lo único de lo que sí me quejo, la autora me dio muy poco de ellos y de verdad quería ver cómo se desarrollaba la relación entre London y los Lewis.
También me hizo falta romance, pero ese siempre me hace falta desafortunadamente, sin embargo, las pocas escenas de Callan y London me encantaron, ambos fueron personajes geniales. Amo mucho a Callan, no sale tanto y aún así sus pocas apariciones hicieron que cayera por él.
Y pues bueno, el libro se lee en cosa de nada y las cosas se revuelven rápidamente, les digo que este final estuvo cursi pero no se preocupen, nada grave, creo que a cómo iba la historia no sorprende mucho este desenlace.
Fue una buena lectura.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consider this review for the whole series.
I liked this book, and the whole series in general. I don't have anything specific to comment about. The plot was nice, well thought out. The action was good. Characters were good. Romance was okay too.
Overall, a pleasant read.

[Victoria Gillette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ready for 2nd set

I really enjoyed the 1st set of midnight empire. This 4th book more or less left you wondering what was going to happen next. I'm happy that Callan and London finally got together.

[Twainy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The thrilling conclusion to this 4 book series.

London is a Dhampir. We finally find out who her father is. She has serious magic & cannot use it under penalty of death. So she has hidden the magic from those that fear it until …. She needs to save the realm!!

This has been a fun short series! The ending was great.

[Janice Mahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Series finale

Really enjoyed this series! The final book wrapped things up nicely. Also a neat plot twist that I did not see coming. Highly recommended!

[TrixieB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Murderous lesbian vampire. Yup. I'm all in.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how Chase neatly wrapped up this series but I wish there were more books because I want more time with the characters in their new roles.

[Mender · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. I finished this series last night and already can't remember what happened in it. Which is probably on me, getting old. But a lot of the stuff in it was pretty light on emotional stakes - I wasn't committed to her journey or her joy.

The ending with the battle seemed contrived, and the epilogue even more so. It's a very, very packaged happy ending. I don't mind, because at least it lets me write the series out of my head definitively. But I think she's planning on writing a sequel, so at least a couple of lingering questions would probably have been a good thing.

As a whole the series is fine. There are a lot of things that don't make a heap of sense, but at least it doesn't gratuitously kill people. I'd say it fits pretty well in the mills-and-boon if they wrote fantasy category.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a sucker for a happy ending. However, I am super annoyed that we kind of just skipped over some of what I think are important parts to the story? Like I felt there should have been more between her detonating like a star bomb and waking up in the castle. I get we heard it all from other people in off comments but I think it would have been better and more impactful to the reader to have it first person.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder* · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending is too cut off and abrupt, but a good conclusion to the series.

[Lel'S Is · Rating 1 out of 5]

WTF??!!!

[AMG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supernaturals/Enemies to Lovers/very PG

SYNOPSIS (of 4 Book Series): This series is set in a world where, due to supervolcanos erupting, the world is shrouded in eternal darkness. As a result, the world has been taken over by vampire factions who rule different parts of the world and all supernaturals are under them and in their control. The FC is a Knight of Boudica which is a group of all female knights who fight against evil and monsters for money and are licensed to use magic to do so. The FC is also a dhampir which is a hybrid vampire/witch. Dhampirs are forbidden and killed immediately as they are deemed too powerful and a threat to the vampires. The FC must therefore hide what she is. The story arc revolves around the MC who is a royal vampire and the FC who must track down certain magical stones that others are also seeking and which could lead to the world being destroyed etc. Each book covers the discovery of a different stone and is a self contained story with the larger story arc and romance covering all 4 books. Book 4 is the final book in this series and ends with a climactic battle and HEA.

The books are well written and, on the whole, well edited although there are a few minor editing issues with the later books. The FC is likeable with a quirky sense of humour and very kick ass. The world build is good and solid as are the supporting characters with real relationship building which gives the whole story a real depth.

What I would flag is that this series is very PG. By that I mean that it is not just a slow burn but that the FC/MC do little more than share a few kisses, their is no sex, no swearing and a very „A Team“ approach to fights where nobody gets killed except actual monsters. This is despite the behaviour of some of the bad guys. So if you are looking for a sexy, hot romance or a dark, gritty story, this is really not the series for you. I very much enjoyed the series but did feel that it could have done with a bit more violence and heat. The world that the author describes and the behaviour of the vampires is reprehensible and yet everything is resolved with a nice neat bow at the end and no one actually admits that how the vampires behave is not acceptable and that some of them should have been punished. Not all individuals are redeemable which means that I felt some of the ending was not true to the characters that had been created.

Having said all this, if you are looking for an engaging, exciting, swashbuckling romp with a happy, feel good ending then this series is definitely worth your time. Just remember, this if very PG and is probably suitable for 12 year olds!

[Chantelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoilers

This book was much like the last wherein I was disappointed with how it turned out. I'm glad the MMC and MFC resolved their issues in the beginning of the book but with this being the last in the series I'm disappointed.
Let's start with the romance. There could have been more of it spread throughout the series instead of some sexual interest that lead immediately to comfortable lovers. I mean he walks in on her in the bath and she's talking business like it's something they've done for years. You can't even give this a rating on the pepper chart. If it's to be rated on a spice scale it's considered a glass of milk. There was some flirting and a kiss or two and one vague, nondescript love scene that ended like this:
Callan dipped his head and kissed me. “From the moment I met you, you’ve done nothing but exceed my expectations.”
“Ditto.”
How romantic *insert sarcasm here*

I also wasn't a fan of the flip flopping personalities. London tells Callan not to kill his brother because he'd regret it later and that Maeron is just misguided
“If my brother lays a single manicured nail on you, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
“Don’t.”
He inclined his head. “Don’t?”
“Think about twelve-year-old you.”
“Maeron is far from twelve, London. He’s an adult.”
“I know, but inside him is an angry little boy. He lost his mother at a young age. I think he feels as lost now as he did then and the end result is bad decision-making.”
But then a few chapters later the roles are reversed
“I opted to wait. My brother is misguided, but I promise you he isn’t evil.”
“You can promise all you like, but that’s not been my experience.”
Pick a path and stick with it, or at least have something happen in-between these convos to show why both characters have changed how they think about him. It's confusing and a little infuriating.

The reveal to the king that London was not only
his daughter but an illegal species was also fairly underwhelming. They had brief conversations, she got a hug from her sister and then that was it. It was made out to be a huge deal and within a few pages all was forgotten and the law was appealed.

There was no conclusion in regards to the sun returning, no epilogue to see how things were going, characters that we didn't get a HEA for, just a lot of missing elements that would have made the ending satisfying.

[BloodyKelpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn London is in a really bad situation being a prisoner in a enchanted tower that has even a guardian dragon hahaha the dragon isn’t the problem obviously because our girl has a way with animals, the real problem is that she can’t access her magic… and Callan? Well … he is mourning a broken ego and probably doesn’t know the shit situation London for herself into, yeah the great Turtle aka Yoda hahaha told her no one can’t live and survive alone… and London keeps her secrets so buried that she didn’t saw how that affected the people who cares about her aka Callan.

A firm hand shook me awake. “Time to try again, London.” I groaned. “No. No more.” “There’s always more, my sweet. More to learn. More to master. If you think life is hard now, wait until you’re older.” I opened my eyes and fixed them on her. Although I’d been raised in a world of darkness, as far as I was concerned, the sun rose and set on Rhea Hayes.

London is so fucking lucky her mother was such a incredible woman, and taught her so much.

I offered to drive to let the others nap in the back, but they weren’t keen. “I’ve seen you drive,” Kami said. I gave her a pointed look. “Callan let me drive.” “Because it was part of his mating ritual. I slept with you for years. I don’t have that incentive.” “You slept next to me,” I corrected her.

Oh man hahaha Kami is even more funny than London hahaha “mating ritual” hahaha damn I’m laughing like a lunatic here. Man I like queen Britannia hahaha the woman is absolutely nuts and sooo arrogant but fucking hell she is STRONG and surprise, surprise she has a sense of humor .

I CANT BELIEVE!!! FOUR BOOK of super intense chemistry and dirty innuendos !!! The sex scene is… “we can’t say where the dhampir ended and the vampire started” are you kidding me ? The sex scene sucked and not in a good way but overall the book was really good, I loved the characters and how human the author made them, even the more bloodthirsty vampire we could understand what made them do certain things, really well made but for Asmodeus sake !! We could have had at least a sex scene with you know … details ?

[Mike Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

spectacular urban fantasy adventure series

This is an entertaining urban fantasy adventure series. An awesome cast of characters in a unique and entertaining storyline. London Hayes lives in Brittania which is a city that used to be called London in the United Kingdom. Many years ago 10 super volcanoes around the world irrupt it and nearly wiped out humanity. The world lost its access to sunlight as ash and dust filled the atmosphere. Much of the worlds plants and animals were dying and because of the darkness vampires came out of the shadows and out of the super volcanoes came many ancient monsters they were thought to be myth and legend but we’re just hiding inside the earth. Now for the most part vampires rule and humans live in servitude and as volunteer food suppliers to vampires. Also coming out into the open magical people such as witches and wizards shifters and a few other supernatural beings. Although the vampires outlaw magic for the most part they use witches and wizards to produce some magic that allows food to grow animals to survive to feed the humans in the population because without them the vampires would not be able to survive. Life is nothing like it used to be as there are monsters and creatures that show up and the tech population centers. In the different areas where the populations exist in the vampires rule there are nights to protect the people and help the people and fight the monsters and demons etc. This is an entertaining urban fantasy adventure that has a lot of things going on but one main group of characters that we follow the adventures of. Read on and enjoy the adventure.

[Leanne Crabtree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I jumped straight into this after finishing book 3 because it did end on a bit of a cliffhanger.

This starts with London stuck in the tower with her magic subdued while the King tries to get her to help him find the remaining stone. She manages to escape with a little help and heads back to London to enlist the help of her Knight friends in finding the stone that has been narrowed down to three locations across the country. If they don't get their hands on the stone first then war is coming.

So this is the conclusion of the series and I did enjoy reading this group's story. They've been on a few wild adventures in their jobs and hunts for stones but I will tell you now, I was here more for the romance. I read books for the romance and the brewing connection between London and Callan from the very first book pulled me in hook, line and sinker. It was that forbidden element of her being a half-breed dhampir and him being of noble blood that had me coming back again and again.

I did like the fact that in this one all the people that London had helped over the previous books came and stood by her in the final battle. It was a nice ending to the series, even if the battle was over quite quickly.

I will be keeping my eyes out for more books by this author in the future.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie. I’m disappointed. Not in the book or the characters! I adored them. London is AMAZING. So is Callan. Both are so WARM and GOOD. And that’s so hard to find in paranormal fiction! I also LOVED that they’re in their 30s and not teens… but that they’re also not ‘old.’

No. What I’m disappointed in is that it’s over. I wanted to see how Callan’s announcement goes. How it’s received. How London fits in to her new title and role and how things progress and play out. But obviously there’s no tension or conflict in seeing all of that. So I’m sure it wouldn’t sell as a stand-alone. (But I would buy it!) And I’m assuming this author likes to keep things succinct. Which is why we don’t get a pages (or chapter) long epilogue. But, man!! I just want more of these two!!

I also loved how much of this felt like a quest that London was on, as well as a journey of self-discovery and mystery. It was so well done! I’m diving right in to the next series and praying it’s much the same!

Addendum: I’ve only given 4 stars instead of 5 because I would have liked a bit more depth to the romance overall. It wasn’t quite surface level - and it definitely wasn’t insta-love or baseless - but I just would’ve liked a bit more of it and maybe a little more…tension? Yearning for one another.

[Kathie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I waited to finish all 4 books to write a review.

What I liked: Strong female characters without making them $itches, the author didn't resort to using foul language to show emotion or for shock value, and a great slow burn romance that didn't turn either of the love interests into simpering idiots, decent editing, and humor.

What I didn't like:
The main female character, London, was a Mary Sue. I mean, she could do everything. She was a one-woman army with super powers. That kind of relegated the secondary characters to nothing more than her cheering squad. Mores the pity, because the other female characters were outstanding in their areas.

Next, came the heavy-handed preaching spurred on by the "woke" movement. It turned a great story into a ridiculous sermon that ended with an impossible Utopian dream so far fetched that it ruined the series and made it a cliche. Speaking of cliches, there are several that get repeated throughout the series because they are currently trending in today's world which, at least for me, lessened their original impact.

Finally, when I read a book, I want to be entertained and to escape today's hotbed of politics and maneuverings.