REVIEW by Jena: Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World #2) by Jeaniene Frost (@jeaniene_frost)

An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness . . .

And now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears—this fearless, beautiful . . . human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose either the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.

*hangs head in shame and whispers* I did it again….I read another romance novel….

I read First Drop of Crimson (Night Huntress World #1) on accident.  Well, not on accident.  I picked it out pinning it for Urban Fantasy.  What I got was a romance novel (not exactly a bodice ripper) based in an urban fantasy setting.  And I loved it.  It was a great story line with twists and turns and great characters with depth and….well, yes, there was some sex.  Most of the UF I read has a sex scene or two in it so I wouldn’t have been stunned except that, in true bodice ripper romance novel fashion, the sex scene was long, hot and DETAILED.  Detailed enough that the book literally made me blush. 

Well, I looked into the next book in the series.  Like I said, I totally loved the book, even with the graphic pervy moments.  Come to find out, there was only one more book in the series so far, Eternal Kiss of Darkness.  It took me a little while to decide to purchase it because even though it takes place in the same world, each book is not involving the same characters.  Some of the characters make guest appearances.  The main characters of book one, Spade and Denise, aren’t even in book two.  Book two stars Mencheres and Kira.  Mencheres was a part of the supporting cast in book one, along with Bones and Cat who are both supporting cast in this book.

So with that painful explanation out of the way…   (confused yet???)

It was great!  I went into this book with a very skeptical outlook.  I knew the author had the magic stuff it takes to write a good story but I didn’t know how it would feel not carrying the story line on with the same two main characters.  I loved Spade and Denise.  As it turns out, I loved Mencheres and Kira WAY MORE.  Mencheres is a raging bad ass and Kira takes no shit.  The cool thing about the almost soap-opera-esque way in which each book in the series is written is that they are very much standalone.  Anyone could pick this book up and enjoy it without having ever picked up anything else in the series.  You don’t need to have read First Drop of Crimson to appreciate Mencheres or Bones as characters in Eternal Kiss of Darkness. 

The story itself is incredible.  Very well woven.  VERY dark.  The story line is tight with no potholes that I found.  The plot is very fast paced but everything moves along quite organically.  Nothing feels faked or forced.  Jeaniene Frost has a wonderful ability to drop important pieces (or sometimes BOMBS) into the story building up to a greater big picture reveal.  You’re going to fall over when you realize who exactly Mencheres is!!

And yes, there’s sex.  There’s some almost-but-not-quite sex.  There’s some as-defined-by-Congress sex.  There’s some hanging-upside-down-from-a-chandelier-making-noises-only-heard-in-the-Amazon sex.  Ok, there was no chandelier involved.  I exaggerated that.  Throughout the entire book, there were only like 3 or 4 graphic scenes but they are……………………..G-R-A-P-H-I-C.  Not for children.  Not even for teenagers.  And in the name of all that is holy, do NOT let your grandma pick up this book!  She could have a heart attack and die…..or she’ll think you’re a freak and disown you.   

I actually listened to this book as an audio book.  On that front, the narrator is good.  She’s got a very young sounding voice but she’s a wonderful vocal actor.  I believe she’s the same narrator that also did First Drop of Crimson.  She’s got a great ability to give each character their own voice which makes it so much more interesting to listen to.  Oh!  And the cover for the audio book is different than the cover of the book itself (pictured at the beginning of this review).  The audio book version is a WAY better cover!  This is what it looks like:

Very well written and works well as a series piece or a standalone novel.  Overall, I give Eternal Kiss of Darkness 5 stars!

Right now, the eBook edition is Eternal Kiss of Darkness is a special edition.  To celebrate the upcoming release of Jeaniene’s new book Once Burned, the ebook has been re-released with a sneak peek of Once Burned at the end!!  Check out the official trailer for it!!!

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