Review: Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost
Reviewed by Zelda Gillian
Rating: 
(4 Books)
“A Hot Romance That Left Me Hungry for More!”
The Plot: In this, the second Night Huntress World novel, Bones’ grandsire Mencheres has reached the end of his life. After 4,500 years of living, 900 years of celibacy, the murder of his evil wife, Patra, and a desolate darkness overwhelming his visions of the future, what on earth could be left for him? That is, until Kira, a private investigator stumbles upon his attempted suicide and hurtles herself into the hertofore unknown to her world of vampires and ghouls. Now, Mencheres must not only ensure the protection of his line of vampires under Bones and his wife, Cat, as they battle Mencheres’ Uncle Radjedev and the Vampire Law Guardians, but he also must reconcile the strange emotions he finds himself feeling for this human female. What ensues is a whirlwind romance that will change both of their lives forever.
Zelda’s Take: Jeaniene Frost has uncovered another heart-throb in Mencheres, the ancient pharaoh-turned-vampire-master. Mencheres could possibly be the ideal male specimen: dark, handsome, wealthy, powerful, sensitive, caring, considerate… oh, and well-hung. ;) Despite some of the less-than-savory attitudes built around Mencheres in previous Night Huntress novels, I found myself instantly drawn to him in this book. From the very start he treats Kira like a piece of gold. He could really do no wrong… except, of course, that whole wanting to kill himself thing.
Kira herself is a great addition to the Night Huntress world. She is tough and independent, resilient and fiercely loyal. I like how she is unafraid of Mencheres and quickly accepting of the new paranormal world to which she’s been introduced. I also like that once she falls for Mencheres, she falls hard, and is willing to support him to the death. She continually puts others’ needs before her own – her sister’s, her brother’s, Mencheres’, helpless runaways, etc. with little expectation for anything in return. One of the most striking scenes in the book is when she’s been kidnapped and starved, she breaks her own hands and feet in order to free herself from her shackles and then passes up “food” in order to avoid hurting or killing innocent bystanders. Kira is a stronger woman than I, for sure.
Mencheres’ and Kira’s relationship is hot, too, as evidenced by my first ever ceiling sex scene. Really. On the ceiling. One wonders how on earth this couple is going to keep things exciting long-term if they start out with sex on the ceiling. Bungee jumping sex? Sex on top of a speeding bullet train? Who knows. Regardless, it was certainly one of those moments where I really mourned the fact that I’ll never meet someone who can levitate.
While I really loved this book, it was unfortunately a wicked-fast read. They meet. They fall in love. They have sex. They get chased by evil Law Guardians. They tour Chichen Itza. They battle on top of the Bank of America building in Atlanta. They live happily ever after. Wham bam. And it’s over. I would have loved for it to have dragged a bit in places, perhaps to build up Mencheres’ and Kira’s relationship more, explain more of the history of Mencheres and Radje, flesh out some of the Vlad scenes or expand upon why Bones and Cat are so reluctant to warm up to Kira. When it was over, I was happy and in love with Mencheres and Kira, but I wanted more!
As it is, I’ll have to wait until Spring 2011 for the next installment in the Night Huntress books. Until then, I’ll just have to settle for dreaming about vampire bites, glowing green eyes and British accents…
Zelda Gillian is a wife, a mother and a lover, likes strong espresso, stiff corsets and never strays far from her Kindle.
