Customer Reviews

Eternally (Book 1) (Silhouette Nocturne)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Kieran McIntyre is an immortal guardian who fights demons. The particular demon who is haunting Hollywood is one that Kieran had captured but allowed to escape in the late 1800s. I never guessed that this demon, given the time period and explanations of strange violations of women, once was Jack the Ripper because that is not an overused and trite explanation for one of the greatest unsolved mysteries.

Shockingly, in a never before heard of twist, Kieran may have met his Destined Mate in reporter Julie Carpenter. Kieran can read the thoughts of his Destined Mate and having sex with His destined mate makes him stronger, strong enough to catch the demon. Of course, Kieran doesn't explain this to Juliana because he can read her mind and knooooows she wants to mate with him.

Julie, the Destined Mate, is a reporter who doesn't do any reporting in this case, but does spend alot of time hidden in Kieran's home when she is not doing TSTL things like escaping. This book is set in Hollywood, but has nothing to do with the movie industry or with the setting. It has nothing to do with investigative reporting. It was nothing to do with Kieran's position as a reclusive philanthropist. I don't even know why the author bothered with time, place, setting, occupations and the like since none of that mattered. The conflict is one that could have been meaningful. Julie and Kieran must come to terms with her mortality and his immortality. The problem is that the conflict was too little too late and wasn't well balanced with the suspense plot which sometimes seemed to dominate the story and sometimes seemed an afterthought.

Of course, the requisite sequel baits are provided including an advisory Guardian from Spain and a house sitter cum bodyguard cum recently made Guardian former Navy SEAL. There seemed to be not one original idea in this book. It was hackneyed, done and redone. I was so bored that I could barely bring myself to turn the page and read the rest of the book. But wait, there was an original thread throughout the book. Kieran called Julie "woman" throughout the book. Woman, you want me. Woman, you drive me crazy. Woman, this book is a snoozer.

I had discovered an excerpt of this book in a Nocturne preview booklet and thought that this was going to be a good book. I could of been. I could not of been more disappointed. The first 20 pages or so started out with a bang, like this was going to be a winner, then it went south and kept on going south. Right after the hero and heroine meet they aren't together then at all because he does not want the responsibility. The author diverts the storyline to the hero's demon fighting and his feeble attempts to stop multiple murders. The hero is not even around to thwart his "new mates" friends attacker in her own house, because he just isn't around. If the two do get together after the initially brief encounter, it is briefly and both of them just quarrel continously. This hero and heronine need a counselor right from the start. When will some writers understand that you need a little conflict, but when the couple quarrel all of the time that is not a liitle conflict it just becomes stressful and tiresome. This is not a romance book, it is a quarrel book. I read to have a good time not to get a headache. Well, this book was a headache. 120 pages of this book was enough for me and now it is moving on to the garbage.

Guardian, immortal fighter of evil, Kiernan hunted a demon in the Hollywood Hills. To him, Destined Mates are legend. But when his hunt crosses the path of Julie Carpenter, he realizes there may be truth to the old stories, and he needs her. Because if he can't capture the demon then Julie is in danger, and the rest of the world with her.

This first book of the Guardians series introduces us to the world of the Guardians. We meet several other individuals who, I am sure, will have their stories told as well. Julie comes across as a strong willed heroine who isn't afraid when she probably should be, and Kiernan is a brooding, dark hero complete with a long, black coat.

If you feel like some of the aspects of this story have been told before, it's true. And there are aspects of this story that feel as if they've been pulled from other places, other mythololgies, but this reader found herself interested in Julie & Kiernan's story. The fact that the Guardian didn't drink blood, yet had immortality. And the fact that someone named "Michael" (angel anyone?) kept them from dying intrigued me enough to turn the pages. In the end, I found a good, satisfying read.

I have read a couple other Maureen Child books and was eagerly anticipating this one, however, it did not meet quite the expectations expected. It's as though this was Maureen's first book and it took her awhile to warm up as she has improved with time. I did find myself rushing to the next chapter and an ending I hoped for (not disappointed) but it seemed to lack something...perhaps depth or uniqueness. I would recommend this if this is the first Maureen Child book read because it only gets better from here.

There's a few hoky things in this book: I'm with some of the reviewers who saw more than a few resemblences to Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunters novels, and the "destined-to-be-lovers" plot is a bit overdone, but I love the writing on this. I love the contrast of Old World and New World in the hero and the heroine, and I loved the descriptions of Hollywood's shallow glitz and contrasting seedier sides, reflected in the hero and his demon prey whom he must defeat to protect his mate. I like how circumstance obliges the lovers to learn to trust in each other, because isn't that what love is about: trusting someone with your heart and letting yourself be vulnerable, even when it's easier and more comforting to guard your heart...?

Julie Carpenter starts out as a forlorn sort of character. Her boyfriend/love interest has recently emptied her bank account and left her after sleeping with her best friend, so, as a chick, I sympathize and watch her go for the ice cream while her roommates throw a wild party with complete understanding. And then my complete understanding takes a direct hit. When the hot-and-sultry Kieran MacIntyre shows up at the party, he's countless centuries old, yet confused by his "attraction" to Julie. And she's confused by her attraction to him.

I'm not big on romance novels. But this one promised "paranormal" romance and had a great opening line. So I threw caution to the wind and dove into the fast pace. And it certainly has a fast pace. Child doesn't take a long time dragging out details about the demon chasing Julie, etc. She gets to the point, makes the point clear, and dives into the next hit of action. What irritated me was Julie's constant denial of danger as those hits kept coming; she just couldn't listen to the man trying to help her. (Yet she didn't file charges when Kieran "detained" her at his mansion, if you catch my drift, so plausibility went out the window.) I couldn't stay in the story for the irritation with the immaturity of both characters. And when neither character actually acted the part of the hero...let me refrain from giving away spoilers here.

I want to make it clear that the novel was a quick, easy read with scenes that were clear and visible. Maureen Child did a great job of painting a picture wherever the characters went. She did a great job of giving them form and dialogue. I just didn't enjoy their dialogue because they seemed so bent on behaving irrationally. Folks who enjoy fast, easy romance will definitely enjoy this book, and I recommend it for a light afternoon's entertainment.

From Sandy Lender, "Some days, I just want the dragon to win."

This book is a loaner from my mother-in-law, thankfully. If I'd bought it, I'd be torqued. It's a complete rip-off of the Dark-hunter series by Sherilynn Kenyon. Even the name of the hero is ripped from the Dark-hunter books. Kieran seems awfully similar to Kyrian of Thrace, to me. Then you have the back-story - immortal guy fighting demons. I was absolutely disgusted when I got to the part where the author explained that the "Guardians" are served by mortals who know about them and are sworn to secrecy, and that this is often passed down through families. Thankfully, she didn't go so far as to call them Squires.

Anyway, I'll quit ranting. If the premise of this book interests you, go to the original and check out Sherilynn Kenyon and her Dark-hunters. I'd take a pass on this.

Kieran MacIntyire is a Guardian. He is hunting a demon that leads him to Julie Carpenter's door. Kieran believes that Julie may be his mate, but he refuses to accept it. For centuries he has lived and fought as a Guardian. A mate will only get in his way. Julie thinks Kieran might be crazy. Gorgeous, sexy and a great kisser yes, but crazy nonetheless.

When the demon kills Julie's friend then attempts to kill her as well, Kieran insists that Julie accept his protection. As their connection grows stronger, their bond puts Julie in danger. Kieran thinks he will have to let Julie go, but with a sacrifice of her own Julie may be able to save them both.

Eternally is fantastic! It's exciting, imaginative and sexy. The demon is creepy, Kieran is a dark, brooding warrior who oozes sex appeal and Julie is smart, strong and witty. Eternally grabbed me from the first line and held me captivated through its dramatic, thrilling and romantic final pages.

Nannette reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

First book in Guardian Series, the second is Nevermore. Good against evil is always a good place to start a book w/a little telepathy mixed in. The idea has been done B/4 & Ms. Child supplies us with sex appeal, courage and humor in both our main characters. An enjoyable, quick read.

I picked up Eternally despite my misgivings about the plot centering around a psychic bond. A couple people I know had said they really liked the book, so what the hell?

My gods, I should not have wasted my time.

The premise is interesting enough. Kieran McIntyre is a Guardian; the full details of such is not explained within the book, but, basically, he's an immortal demon-hunter. Hot on the demon trail, he crashes a party at Julie Carpenter's apartment. He warns her of imminent danger, but she writes him off as a crazy man and doesn't believe him.

The next morning, she wakes up to find one roommate dead and the other in critical condition.

Like I said, interesting enough premise. By this point, I wanted to find out what happened next. :)

Unfortunately, the story only went downhill from there. It turns out that there's a legend of "Destined Mates" for the Guardians... and Kieran feels that Julie is his. Oh, and he can telepathically communicate with her--and apparently, only a Mate could hear his projected telepathic thoughts.

Kieran's not happy with the idea of having a Mate. After all, he's done well enough for ages without one. But the more he thinks about it, the more it doesn't sound like such a bad idea. After all, if he has sex with Julie, thereby realising the bond, they will be both be able to telepathically communicate with each other. And the bond that they have will allow him to telepathically connect to the demons to better track them.

Yeah. You heard me right. A bond between the hero and the heroine will allow him to connect to the demons just by virtue of them having it. Even though neither of them have no connection with said demon!

I'm not seeing the logic here.

Kieran's still opposed to the idea... but if he has sex with Julie, he gets all these powers to help fight the Evil Demons! Yes, that's his primary motivation for pursuing the bond at all instead of sticking his head in the sand like a demented ostrich.

At this point, the book nearly hit the wall. But I kept reading, even though the supposed "hero" seems to be nothing more than your average arrogant jerk.

Add to that, he constantly refers to Julie as "woman." Like, constantly. You know how in some books, the characters always refer to each other by name in dialogue (even though I don't know anyone who talks like that in real life)? Yeah. Think that kind of frequency, only "Woman," this. "Woman" that.

I mean, really. What would you say to a guy who said things like, "Woman, you try my patience"? ALL. THE. TIME.

Cut about a hundred pages in which Kieran convinces Julie to come to his place for his protection, various incidents of mindless lust occur, Julie decides she's not "safe" at his place and escapes (usually this falls into TSTL territory, but I can't blame her; I'd have done the same thing), etcetera.

And then we get to the Big Fight. You know the one, about 3/4 of the way through most any romance novel.

In which Kieran tells Julie they're Mates and that the only reason he wants her is so he can increase his power for the hunt.

Um. WTF?

I think it was supposed to be a confession, fight, and makeup scene, but I must, er, confess that I didn't get that far. If the hero at this point is telling the heroine that all he wants is to **use** her, then he's not a hero. He's a chauvinistic, near abusive jerk.

I could not believe that Kieran loved Julie or wanted anything to do with her except use her. And, frankly, I don't enjoy case studies of domestic abuse.

The book went flying.

The sad thing is, this could have been a really good story. The heroine is sassy and sensible, and there's certainly enough conflict. Problem was the hero. If he actually had a heart, or had been portrayed in a more three dimensional fashion, this could've been awesome. Except the hero wasn't much better than some villains I've read. That doesn't make for a romance, sorry.

I want my $5.25 and three hours back.