Customer Reviews

Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2)

5 star:		(60)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kira Graceling understood that life as a private investigator sometimes meant she'd have to walk through her neighborhood during hours most often noted for muggings and assaults, so hearing the evil laughter and the low moans of pain as she made her way from the Green Line to her apartment through Chicago's mostly abandoned warehouse district didn't so much surprise her as set her on alert. Calling in the altercation doesn't do enough to ease her conscience, however, so pulling her gun from her backpack, Kira charges into the warehouse to save whomever it was who sounded like he desperately needed being saved.

Mencheres, set upon by ghouls and suffering intense torture at their silver-bladed hands couldn't believe his eyes when the human woman stepped out of the shadows and demanded his tormentors freeze. At over four thousand years old, he had no recollection of anyone, human or not, coming to his aid in such a manner. Despite the fact that her appearance ruined his carefully laid plans, he could not allow the human to be killed for her courage and spirit. In saving her life, however, he's brought Kira to the attention of an ancient rival intent on both Mencheres' power and his life. As Mencheres spends more time with Kira, his past and millennia of guilt and morbid responsibility war with a growing enchantment with the one person through all ages who has ever wanted him not for what he can offer, but for who he is. Only Mencheres can stop a crooked Guardian's plans for domination. Only since Kira has he truly wanted to. Will he succeed, or will the approaching darkness, the only vision he sees now, claim him first?

If you're unfamiliar with Jeanine Frost and her urban fantasy Night Huntress series and crossover paranormal romance Night Huntress World series, well...I'm sorry to hear that. You've missed a lot of excellent storytelling. In this second book in the NHW, the mighty and both respected and feared Mencheres is given a lot more room for development, though I have to admit, I was a little leery when I first heard he'd be getting his own book so soon into the crossover series. I've respected Mencheres since he was first introduced, but he's so darn forbidding and powerful and...other...that I couldn't imagine how Frost would pull off developing his character into a sympathetic and interesting lead character.

Forgive me for my doubts. I should have known better. Eternal Kiss of Darkness was fantastic, full of action, danger, and intense emotion, and it was one of the best paranormal romance books I've read in quite some time exactly because Frost managed to explore Mencheres and add depth to his character without losing any of the sheer power of his personality, his skills, his magics, anything. She also managed to deftly and subtly explain so much of what intrinsically makes him different...better...more...than other vampires and also added an absolutely sexy vulnerability to the least vulnerable vampire of them all.

Let's not forget, either, Frost gave us Kira Graceling, a woman who is smart, strong, independent, courageous, and a truly good person. Kira is one of my favorite paranormal romance heroines in recent memory and she fit so very well with Mencheres that I feel almost indebted to Frost for the brilliant pairing. Ironically, it almost makes perfect sense that only a truly modern and independent woman could be the perfect match for the stoic, imposing, and ancient Mencheres. She's a woman who suffers no fools and who calls it like she sees it, and I delighted in reading about her setting Mencheres on his ear more than once. I thoroughly, totally enjoyed the development and evolution of their relationship.

The threat to the couple was well defined and the plot was tight and sharp, offering up conflict hand-in-hand with the romance, so from a technical and emotional standpoint, I found this book to be superior to the first book in this crossover series, First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Book 1). I enjoyed that one, don't get me wrong, but I wasn't as satisfied by some aspects as I was with this book. This one, however, satisfied on just about every level.

In fact, I only had the smallest of issues that aren't even criticisms, really, just things I wish had developed a little differently due to personal preference. As much as I loved Kira - and I did...a lot - I'm not entirely convinced that she would have so quickly acted so composed when first finding out about the harsh reality of those things that go bump in the night, and I would have enjoyed seeing a bit more of her internal development as her feelings were growing for Mencheres. The scene in which she shares her feelings, however, was priceless and I wouldn't change that for anything. There were several scenes that were so exquisitely and uniquely Mencheres/Kira moments that I was both amused and enchanted by them both. I do wish the very last scene of the book had been slightly different (details withheld to prevent spoilers). An epilogue or something would've just put the cherry on the sundae and added a feeling of comprehensive completion to the arc of the romantic development that I think was lacking as it was written.

Following a standard set in First Drop of Crimson, several characters we're fond of from the Night Huntress series are included: Cat and Bones, and in this installment, Vlad - who is one of my favorite secondary characters in both series. I was just as impressed in this book as I was in the first with Frost's ability to take beloved characters we've met and know in a completely different milieu and keep their character definition, action, and dialogue consistent - in fact, further developing them in intriguing ways that I believe will benefit both series.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness is a strong, powerful paranormal romance from a master of both suspenseful and romantic plotting ripe with creativity and originality. It satisfied my jones for excellent storytelling all the way around. I can't wait for the next one any more than I can the next in the Night Huntress series, This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 5), due to be released in March, 2011. Excellent read; excellent series. Both of them. 4.5 Stars.

Originally reviewed for One Good Book Deserves Another.

Night Huntress World Series:
First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Book 1)
Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2)

Night Huntress Series:
Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1)
One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2)
At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Book 3)
Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Book 4)
To be released 3/2011: This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 5)

This book actually turned out even better than I thought it would. Cat and Bone's story obviously dominates the main series, but the story of Mencheres had to be told. I wasn't sure if it would be as good since the main character, Denise, for First Drop of Crimson was rather weak. Kira turned out to be made of tougher stuff and made a great heroine. She is perfect for Mencheres. Kira is not as violent as Cat, but she is perfectly capable of standing up for herself and sacrificing for others.

The action in the book keeps up a good tempo. The love scenes aren't as wild as Cat and Bones, but they do work well for this couple. The amount of power Mencheres has is much more prominent in this book than ever seen before which I thought was important. The story line also explains a lot more of his history which should be helpful as the main series continues. Anyone who has enjoyed the series up to this point should really appreciate this latest installment.

Plot Summary: Mencheres is one of the most ancient and powerful vampires in existence, and he is feared and respected, but never loved. He was alive to see the Great Pyramids built, and now he wants to thwart his ancient enemy and seek death. Before he can carry out his plan, a little complication name Kiera Graceling pops up at an inopportune moment, and he finds that she's immune to his mesmerizing power. When he finally returns Kiera to her normal sphere, she finds that she misses him, and vice versa. While tracking Mencheres down, Kiera stumbles into a bad situation that turns deadly for Mencheres when he's framed for a crime. Hunted by his race's own Enforcers, Mencheres and Kiera must clear his name, because suddenly he's found a new reason to live again.

(NIGHT HUNTRESS WORLD: BOOK 2)

Early on, Eternal Kiss of Darkness didn't look promising. Jeaniene Frost is one of my favorite paranormal romance writers, but there I was, 30 pages into this novel, and I was becoming bored and cranky.

There's Mencheres, a character who resembles a wooden, cigar-store totem, and he's looking forward to sweet death after 4500 years of living. Okay, I can understand that. The only thing keeping him alive is this woman who is immune to his mesmerizing powers because he saved her life with some of his blood. Their conversations resembled the game 20 Questions, and Mencheres keeps marveling that he enjoys talking to her so much. If that's his idea of good conversation, I can see why he longs for death. There's was nothing sparkling about their dialog, and so I couldn't buy into his burgeoning interest in Kira. This is literally as good as it gets the whole way through:


"So, Mencheres the Egyptian vampire, are you really old, or are you as young as you look?"

He gave her a sideways look as he began walking back toward the house, feeling the oddest pang as he contemplated their age difference. "I'm older than dirt," he answered dryly.

"A vampire with a sense of humor. I really didn't know that existed," she quipped with equal dryness.


What's more, this line about being "older than dirt" keeps coming back several times, but instead of relishing this inside joke, I just kept mourning that this was the best line in the whole book. By the end, I had banished my inner snark monster and I treated it like a summer blockbuster movie; it was satisfying when the action picked up, but it was fairly empty entertainment for a romance. I didn't feel any sparks between Mencheres and Kiera, try though I might, and so my favorite parts included the more lively characters like Vlad, Bones, and Cat.

I will definitely hang around to hear Vlad's story, because I think he's one of Ms. Frost's most brilliant creations (the other being Bones), but the magic was missing with Mencheres.

I've really enjoyed the Night Huntress books (Cat & Bones) but was sorely disappointed with the first Night Huntress World spin-off book First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Book 1). It left me feeling flat and disappointed. So it was with some trepidation that I picked up book 2 in the Spin-off Series. Mencheres was never a favorite (let alone a well liked) character for me, so it was yet another reason I wasn't really excited about this book. The beginning of the book was slightly boring to me, but it quickly picked up and turned into a great adventure and unique storyline. The hero and heroine, Mencheres and Kira, were well done and fleshed out unlike Spade and Denise from First Drop of Crimson.

What I really enjoyed:
1. Mencheres--Believe it or not, I actually started to like the guy! I first met him in One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2) through Cat's eyes. Then seeing how he acted throughout the series, I liked him less and less. Mencheres doesn't apologize for his past behavior. In fact, he boldly tells Kira all his sins. But, do we REALLY know the reasons why he did such horrific things? He's no boy scout, but he has honor. Mencheres is logical, loyal, dependable, caring, and passionate.
2. Kira--She's not Cat and she's not Denise (thank you!) She had dreams of becoming a cop. She went to college and the Police Academy. Due to issues in her past, her dream never came true so she works as a Private Investigator trying to make a difference in somebody's life. She's honest, caring, loyal, and capable. Her sense of justice won't allow her to walk away from things. It also makes her not shut up when she should.
3. Natural flow to the romance--Mencheres and Kira are thrown together when she storms a warehouse with a gun when she hears sounds of someone being beaten and tortured. Nothing felt contrived or forced (*cough* Spade & Denise *cough*). After the initial shock of things, they both recognize the other is attractive but it's not this "lust at first sight" type thing. She doesn't suffer from or give into Stockholm syndrome. They aren't forced to pretend they are lovers. They meet, spend a week in the same house, go their separate ways, and both try to do things for the other or find the other, then come back together. And even then, they don't just jump in the sack together. They seem to understand the difference between lust and love and the difference that it could make in their developing relationship.
4. The Enemy--This isn't your run of the mill bad guy. This is the let-me-stop-at-your-house-for-tea-even-though-I-hate-you-and-want-to-destroy-you kinda bad guy. This guy has a very personal connection with Mencheres and is highly motivated. Instead of seeing him from afar, we get a nice up close and personal view. I loved it.
5. Mencheres' past--We know he is "older than dirt" but never knew much about him other than was pertained to Cat & Bones. He really does have a very interesting past. We learn how old he is, who created him and why, about his time with Patra, his relationship with Bones and Vlad, his powers, and more.
6. Emotions-- After the death of his horrible wife, Mencheres only sees darkness in his visions. He's tired of the fighting and the coldness in the world and wants it all to end. He's dealing with a lot of emotions. Not only that, but he also was locked into a doomed marriage and separated from his devious wife for over 900 years. He's got some pent-up feelings that finally get a release. Kira also goes through some life changing events and is dealing with it well. It was great to walk through those events with her and see first hand what it's like.
7. Cat & Bones--Oh yeah! they get some great page time with this installment. What's even better? They acted like themselves unlike in First Drop of Crimson. Some will criticize Cat for her initial treatment of Kira, but let's face it: Cat was almost killed by Mencheres' last lady. She has reason to wonder if his judgement is sound. Of course I wish they got more page time, but I completely understood the reasoning behind it. And I absolutely LOVED who came to work closely with Mencheres.....now THAT's a beloved character.

What I wish were different:
1. Beginning Pacing--The first few chapters were very slow for me. It wasn't anything major. It just took me a while to really feel the push forward. Others I've talked to have put the book down in the first 1/3 of the book. I say give it a chance. Push through because it's worth it.
2. Abrupt ending--The book just kinda came to a screeching halt. You kinda know what happens after, but a page or two of sappyness or round up would have been nice. Maybe the answers will be in the next book, but I like my endings all nice and tidy and wrapped with a bow. Again, very minor annoyance and easily imagined away.

All in all, I really enjoyed this installment in the Hight Huntress World and what it has done to forward the development of the characters and the series as a whole. If you have never read a Jeaniene Frost book, you could easily start here.

In Order:
Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1)
One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2)
At Grave's End (Night Huntress, Book 3)
Destined for an Early Grave (Night Huntress, Book 4)
First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World, Book 1)
Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2)
This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 5)

Spoiler alert:


I will say that the female love interest wasn't nearly as annoying as Cat or Denise and that was a good thing. However, I was troubled by how clueless and flat out stupid the vampires were in this book. The Obvious seem to escape them at every turn, almost leaving the only two people with a mediocre amount of common sense being Mencheres and Kira.

I don't know, maybe it's how romances are made... that's probably why I try to steer clear of the romance genre, but Mencheres being so taken by Kira simply because she utilized her critical thinking skills and appeared to give a damn about another human being in the world, seemed so pathetic. I couldn't help but think after 4500 years, he really needed to get out more. I know a whole lot of people with common sense, that's really the only thing that seeming made Kira stand out. To claim he'd never ever met a woman like her, and that's why he was so smitten. I really wished it was more to it than that.

But at least his reason for falling so madly in love with Kira in about a week's time, was more believable than Kira's unconditional love for Mencheres. She was willing to die for the man and the two had only just met less than two weeks before.

So maybe that's just fine in the romance world, I don't know. To me, I don't like "love at first sights" too much.

Moving on.

It also annoyed me that it was mentioned that Mencheres was bisexual, but you don't see that in his personality or actions. You hear how he's searched for the perfect woman, not the perfect mate which could be either male or female. Seems to me it was thrown in for the sake of showing "diversity".

I enjoyed the villain in Denise and Spades book more, at least he offered a sense of urgency. Raja was more of a nuisance than anything else. I mean, really, he was truly an idiot if it took him 4500 years to come up with such a flawed plot to get revenge on Mencheres. The story dragged because of it, too. Bones also comes off as a moron, as does Cat when it seems only Kira and Mencheres can see through Raja's plot.

Also, I was extremely irritated by how much brooding was in this novel. I swear, Mencheres bemoaning his doomed fate was almost too much for me to bear. He kept talking about how his visions are never wrong and he's going to die and fate can't be altered and blah, blah, blah. Hello, plot hole here. If "fate" can be altered and your visions are never wrong, then why on god's green earth did he feel the need to intervene in the relationship between Gregor and Cat. If Cat was fated to be with Bones, then he shouldn't have locked Gregor away and erased Cat's memories. Apparently, your visions needs a little help reaching their goals, I see.

I'm also disappointed that more wasn't elaborated on about Ian or Spade. I would have liked to have known what attracted him to Ian and so on. I guess one could argue that he turned Ian simply so that Ian could turn Bones, but I was hoping there was something more to it than that. But considering how Ian's treated like the red-headed stepchild, that might be it. Still one can hope.

I was also disappointed that neither of them made an appearance in this book, but I was forewarned they wouldn't be there, but still, would have been nice to see.

What's saves this book from being a 2 star was the logical thinking of some of the characters. The action was nice when it was there and not so predictable. And as always, I love good vampire turning/bite scenes.

I'm still going to read the next JF book, but she doesn't have the "umph" other authors I love have, but she's still better than most out there writing today. I do hope Ian gets his own book at some point.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness is a stand-alone book about a millenias-old vampire, Mencheres. Mencheres is first met in the Kat and Bones series and is introduced as Bones' grandsire. Consequently, Kat and Bones figure into this book, too.

Mencheres is longing for death. His visions have gone dark and he sees nothing but blackness. He believes this signals his demise and he decides that he will choose how he leaves this life before it is chosen for him. He courts the attention of a gang of young ghouls and lures them into an empty warehouse, in a way committing suicide in the fashion of a famous predecessor. His plan is foiled by Kira Graceling, a young private investigator, who hears the sounds of torture coming from the warehouse as she passes by. She grabs onto her courage and enters the warehouse to save the victim, not realizing that there are supernatural creatures in the world. Needless to say, the ghouls are really "happy" to see her, too. Kira's appearance sets in place a series of events that unravels Mencheres' death plans.

Kira brings something into Mencheres' life that causes him to welcome death less. But, death is stalking him in several forms and he is convinced his lack of visions signal the end of his life. His uncle wants him dead so that the uncle can inherit the powers that were gifted to Mencheres rather than to the uncle. The uncle sits on a powerful board of vampires known as the Law Guardians, a group that, under the uncle's influence, hunts Mencheres to kill him for using blood magic which is forbidden to vampires. The Law Guardians use the services of Enforcers, very powerful and old vampires, as a vampire police force who are set on Mencheres to capture him.

Kira is a snappy, sassy, spunky heroine with a smart mouth and a heart of gold. She quickly falls under the spell that is Mencheres, but has no idea how he feels about her. As she loses her fear of Mencheres, her eyes are opened to frightening paranormal things.

This book is much better than the first book in the Night Huntress World series. It has tension; it is well written, well plotted; and the characters are fleshed out. It is an imaginative and very rewarding read.

Love the book!
The story was absolutely riveting. I read the book in a day, and then re-read it again! The Master vampire Mencheres, which I just knew had to have an interesting story-line, since he was portrayed as such a bad-guy, had his chance to shine in this book. I fell in love with his character, and Kira's too, and definitely wanted the story never to end. His relationship with Kira and his powers as well as his life-line (haveing been a former Pharoah), is something I would like to read more about. This book is definitely a winner. I kind of hope there are books on Ian and Vlad later on in the series. It would be kind of interesting to see those characters evolved as well.

Kira tries to help Mencheres and she gets involved in the middle of myth creatures and a dark world. Mencheres feels drown to her and do everything in his power to keep her safe despite his orders by a Law Guardian to kill her, and then with the help of his allies and her he overcomes his doubts about his powers and his fate.

After the fourth book in the Night huntress series I didn't like Mencheres very much and I didn't know anything about Kira so I didn't have great expectations for the second book in the Night huntress world with Mencheres as the lead but I was pleasantly surprised. I LOVE Mencheres he's so much than a cold rough master vampire and I like Kira very much. Mencheres has really compelling reasons for his actions about Cat and even about his ex-wife's lover and he's so sweet, caring, honest and selfless. Kira is nothing close to Denisse (poor Spade!) she's strong, brave, intelligent, compassionate, loving and ready to stand up for herself. The chemistry is really good although the love scenes weren't remotely close to Cat and Bone's. I love Menchere's ally but I was sad he wasn't Bones, I mean Bones was in the book but when he appeared with Cat, they disappointed me, I understand Mencheres' reasons for not wanting Bones involved, but I didn't understand Bones' for the way he acted and what he was asking of Mencheres when he wouldn't do something like that himself and that Cat treated somebody as a fool not my cup of tea, yes they redeemed themselves later but I was still heartbreak for that behavior in my favorite characters, I admit I was expecting blind loyalty regardless of Mencheres' past behavior after all that's how supposedly the world of masters, lines and sires are, meanwhile the ally was exactly that and I expect a book for him in this series and a worthy heroine for him, I can't tell you who he is because it's an important surprise in the book. And the book is a page turner.

Now my only complain and why I couldn't give the book the five stars completely was the déjà vu moment, I don't know about you but I'm tired of vampires who read people's mind but for some reason they can't read the lover's one, after three chapters I was wondering why (if you can smell attitudes and still know how a person feels) to use that.

If you like the Night huntress series you would love this book, and if you haven't read First Drop of Crimson you don't need to, you will still love it.

Night Huntress World series:
1. First Drop of Crimson
2. Eternal Kiss of Darkness

After setting up Mencheres as this mysterious figure, I thought this book would really delve into who he is and what he's about. Instead, we get almost no back story, no delving, and have to deal with his semi-depression for most of the book. And his draw to Kira was inexplicable, his "history" with Radje forced, and the story altogether needed a whole series of its own to properly flesh out. And after 900 years of celibacy...you'd think you'd get a peak into Mencheres' mind after he finally broke that record.

An Ancient Egyptian vampire named Mencheres has grown weary of life. After losing his visions of the future, he has been convinced his time on this earth must be coming to an end, as all he can see is darkness in store for him. The last thing he expects however is Kira, a private detective, who at risk to her own life tries to save him from an assault. What she didn't know was the vampire didn't really need her help; or does he? Kira may be the one thing that could truly save him, but at what cost? Another ancient covets Mencheres' powers and will do anything to see his ultimate destruction. Mencheres must tread carefully to prevent the ancient from gaining his powers even if it means giving up his heart's desire.

Contrary to Cat's (from The Night Huntress series) view of Mencheres being only a methodical manipulator, in this book he is shown in a whole new light. We see real emotion and regret for the things he has done. Regardless of the good intentions and reasons for his actions in the past he still feels tremendous guilt and that guilt is crippling him. In all the times we have seen him in previous novels he is very careful to hide his feelings behind a impenetrable emotional mask. I really enjoyed seeing behind the mask and the real emotions proving there is more to him than meets the eye.

Kira, unlike Mencheres, proves to be very strong without hiding her emotions away. Her moral fiber is amazing as is her devotion to uphold her mentor's motto to "save one life." Even with everything that is thrown at her in such a short time she holds steady. I do not think any other character could be more perfect for Mencheres. The heat between the two is smoldering and will not disappoint.

While Kira and Mencheres are the main focus of the book some of my favorite characters from The Night huntress series make appearances. Many unanswered questions from prior books are also revealed. This book will only suck you further into The Night Huntress World and its characters. Eternal Kiss of Darkness is truly a must read.