Eternal Kiss of Darkness
Grade : C+

This is my first Jeaniene Frost novel and it’s one of the hardest to grade that I've come across in some time. Truth is while I enjoyed it for the most part, it took too long for me to actually become invested in the story and two weeks is an awfully long time to spend reading one book. Distractions, mainly in the form of other books, kept luring me away and I succumbed to temptation.

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Though Kira Graceling wanted to be a cop, fate intervened so she became a private investigator instead. When she hears sounds of a fight in a warehouse, her sense of justice takes hold and she investigates. What she finds alters her world and throws her into a world comprised of humans, ghouls, and vampires. With her appearance, she unwittingly saves a master vampire, Mencheres, who in turn saves her from the ghouls by healing her with his blood. He thinks he can easily erase her memory of him and the events that took place, but Kira proves a challenge.

Relentlessly pursued by a Law Guardian who is his mortal enemy, Mencheres visions of the future have disappeared and been replaced by an ever-encroaching darkness. Not only that, but he can’t even seem to wipe the mind of a human clean. However, he’s not completely averse to having her around for a little longer. He asks Kira to promise not to reveal his in plans order to take her back to her world and disappear from her life. Naturally things don’t always work out as planned, and fate brings them together again and forces them into hiding so Mencheres can continue to wage his war against his age old enemy.

Frost writes characters that are easy to like. Kira could be the girl next door – she’s down to earth, fierce, and determined to protect those she cares about. Mencheres, on the other hand, is dark, otherworldly, powerful, and incredibly sexy. To say he’s tortured is quite the understatement. The fact that they’re opposites allows each character to complement the other. Though I liked the characters and thought they worked well together, they simply lacked chemistry. I couldn’t see why Kira was compelled to try to find Mencheres or why he seeks her out repeatedly after only a week together with little interaction.

I also find Frost’s Night Huntress world one that seems to fall more in line with what I think of as traditional vampire. Like other writers’ vampires, they drink blood from humans, sleep during the day, move at night, and exude sensuality (I completely buy the ceiling sex), but Frost’s are just more so because I can picture it more vividly.

Though there are many positives within the story, the simple truth is that it was hard for me to delve into the story with my full, undivided attention. I liked it, but would take breaks to read other books, which is never a good sign. The story itself wasn’t compelling enough to keep me glued to the pages and lags, especially in the middle. Also, it felt like there were loose ends left dangling especially when it came to Kira’s human existence. Also a glimpse into their immediate future, which would have brought some closure, wasn’t provided.

Though I found Eternal Kiss of Darkness somewhat disappointing, I fully plan to introduce myself to Jeaniene Frost’s Cat and Bones and learn much more about the Night Huntress world. In fact, I look forward to it.

Reviewed by Heather Brooks
Grade : C+
Book Type: Vampire Romance

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : September 10, 2010

Publication Date: 2010/08

Review Tags: Night Huntress Series

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Heather Brooks

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