Born At Midnight

The first book in the Shadow Falls series, Born at Midnight (2011), is a young adult, supernatural romance novel by American author C.C. Hunter. Narrated in the third person, and set at Shadow Falls, a camp for troubled teens, the story follows sixteen-year-old Kylie Galen on a journey of self-discovery as she learns she has supernatural powers. Kylie has been dumped by her boyfriend, her grandmother just died, and her parents are getting divorced. After being caught with the wrong crowd at a party one night, Kylie’s mother sends her to Shadow Falls to reform her attitude. Once there, Kylie quickly realizes the camp isn’t for troubled teenagers—it is a training ground for vampires, werewolves, witches, shapeshifters, and faeries. As Kylie reckons with her true identity, she becomes entangled in a passionate love triangle with two boys, Derek and Lucas. Born at Midnight won the 2013 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults Award.

Kylie Galen is a sixteen-year-old girl who never felt she belonged. As the novel opens, Kylie laments the recent death of her grandmother, notes that her boyfriend, Trey, just broke up with her for being prudish, and to make matters worse, her parents are getting a divorce. Kylie also admits to being stalked by a pale figure that nobody else seems to notice. Kylie refers to this entity as “Soldier Dude” because of the army fatigues it wears. When she attends a school party with a delinquent crowd, Kylie gets arrested and sent to the police station. As a result, Ms. Galen sends Kylie to Shadow Falls, a camp for troubled teenagers. Kylie feels out of place at first, but as she slowly learns more about her fellow campers, she realizes the camp isn’t for troubled teens, but rather a school for supernatural creatures such as vampires, werewolves, witches, faeries (faes) and shapeshifters. Kylie isn’t sure which group she belongs to, if any, and her time at Shadow Falls begins a journey of self-discovery.

The Fae camp leader, Holiday Brandon, senses a supernatural quality in Kylie but cannot specify it. As Kylie adjusts to her new surroundings, she befriends those around her. She meets Miranda Kane, a witch who suffers from dyslexia. She also meets Della Tsang, a vampire who feigned her own death so she could evade her parents and join a coven with her cousin, Chan Hon. Kylie also encounters the shapeshifter Perry Gomez, as well as the handsome half-Fae Derek Lakes. As time goes on, Kylie begins to believe in the supernatural, becoming more comfortable at Shadow Falls. Della’s vampiric cousin, Chan, appears, frightening Kylie, yet reinforcing her belief in the supernatural. Kylie meets Lucas Parker, a cute werewolf boy who’s known for killing cats, and whom she remembers as her childhood neighbor. Kylie despises Lucas at first, but cannot deny her physical attraction to him. As time goes on, Kylie becomes closer to Lucas. Soldier Dude continues to stalk her during her time at Shadow Falls.



As Kylie continues to figure out her true identity, discovering her supernatural abilities, she becomes closer to Derek. Trey shows up at camp, trying to win Kylie back, but Kylie turns him away. Kylie also fights the urge to become romantically involved with Derek, deciding to simply remain friends with him. Instead, Kylie is romantically attracted to Lucas, with whom she nearly shares a steamy kiss when they are left alone together. Just as they embrace, Trey and a few others interrupt their passionate exchange. Despite claiming to, Kylie knows she’ll never forget kissing Lucas. Torn between her romantic allegiance to Derek and Lucas, tensions rise for Kylie at Shadow Falls. When the camp is threatened to be shut down, Kylie questions whether she wants to return home and live a normal life or to continue pursuing the truth about her nature and helping her fellow campers who rely on Shadow Falls to live.

Kylie learns that a rash of animal killings at a nearby wildlife sanctuary threatens to close Shadow Falls. Blaming the campers at Shadow Falls for the deaths, authorities suspect Lucas is a prime suspect. This causes Lucas to flee, though he isn’t the only suspect in the case. In an attempt to save the camp from closing, Kylie comes up with a plan. She tells Derek to trespass on the wildlife sanctuary, using his Fae abilities to communicate with the enclosed animals. Derek sneaks into the park, but the gang is suddenly attacked by a vicious group of vampires known as the Blood Brothers. Kylie and the gang fend off the vampires until the authorities arrive. Following the encounter, Kylie learns the infighting was due to the racist sentiment among the Blood Brothers. Kylie and her friends defeat the Blood Brothers and prevent Shadow Falls from closing.

As the campers prepare for parent visiting day, Miranda informs everyone that Shadow Falls will be turned into a school. Kylie has an emotional reunion with her mother at the camp, learning why her mother has reacted negatively about Kylie’s father her whole life. The novel ends with Kylie’s mom telling her that Soldier Dude is the ghost of Kylie’s biological father, whose name is revealed to be Daniel Brighten. Daniel died before Kylie was born, a secret Kylie’s mom kept from her due to a promise she had made with Kylie’s stepfather. While Kylie is still unsure of her exact species, she learns her supernatural ability is the gift of seeing and communicating with ghosts. Through it all, Kylie has found a sense of belonging at Shadow Falls.



C.C. Hunter is the pseudonym for New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig. In addition to the Shadow Falls series, her work includes Weddings Can Be Murder, Gotcha, Shut Up and Kiss Me, Blame It on Texas, The Heart is Mine, and many others.