Eternal Kiss of Darkness: The Night Huntress World Series, Book 2

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)

From start to finish. If you love to see a gorgeous vampire broken down by a beautiful woman, this book is for you. Mencheres and Kira’s love story is breathtaking.

This is the second book in Jeaniene Frost's `Night Huntress World' spin-off series.I was not a huge fan of the first book in this spin-off series, `First Drop of Crimson'. But I do admit that Spade was never of interest to me, so I was sceptical from the get-go. By contrast, I did have strong suspicions that I would enjoy this second book about grandsire vampire, Mencheres.Mencheres has always fascinated me, right from his first appearance in `Halfway to the Grave'. I find Mencheres very appealing; he's tall, dark and exotic and his physical descriptions tick all of my `yeah, baby!' boxes. I have also been fascinated by Mencheres since the 3rd `Night Huntress' book introduced his villainous wife, Patra, and hinted that their ruined marriage left Mencheres with deep emotional scars. Then there's the fact that Mencheres is over 4,500-years-old, and was originally an Egyptian pharaoh. Not to mention the fact that Mencheres is sire/grandsire to most of the male characters in the `Night Huntress' world. Since he stepped onto the series' stage Mencheres has just pushed all the right buttons for me, and I was *desperate* for his story.... and Jeaniene Frost did not disappoint.When the book begins, Mencheres is ready to die. By his own admission he is `older than dirt'; he was once a pharaoh and he has his own pyramid in Giza. Mencheres has seen and experienced it all, and after the events in `At Graves End' that saw his wife go on a murderous rampage resulting in her death - he wants to end it all. But Mencheres is harbouring some serious dark guilt over Patra's death and his actions over the last couple thousand years... because he doesn't just want to die, he wants to be murdered. Mencheres wants to surrender himself to death-by-ghoul, or perhaps even let his old nemesis, Radjedef, finally have his vengeance.It is during one of these intended suicide attacks that a female Private Investigator called Kira Graceling intervenes. Kira, without knowing anything about Mencheres' wealth and power, steps in and tries to save him from a horde of ghouls. When Kira is mortally wounded in the process of rescuing him, Mencheres saves her by giving her his blood. But then the potency of his blood means he cannot erase Kira's memories, and he is forced to keep her captive until the immunity wavers...I really liked this spin-off book. My biggest complaint about the first spin-off, `First Drop of Crimson', was lack of chemistry between the protagonists. Frost makes up for Spade & Denise's lacklustre romance by turning up the heat between Kira and Mencheres. Woah! For one thing, Mencheres hasn't had sex since being married to Patra for 900 years - let's just say he has a lot of catching up to do.Mencheres is very drawn to Kira, and not necessarily just by her beauty. He is more enchanted by her strength, loyalty and bravery - and you really get the impression that they have a deep, profound bond. Of course, there is a physical attraction there too. And when Kira and Mencheres do finally hook-up Jeaniene Frost delivers more of her trademark smut... a particular scene in a bathtub erotically illustrates the benefits of vampire's lack of oxygen.I really liked Kira. She's a 31-year-old P.I. divorcee whose ex-husband was an abusive crooked cop. She is also the primary care-giver for her younger sister who has cystic fibrosis and the primary bank-teller for her dead-beat, drug-addict younger brother. There's a lot of history that leans a little toward `woe is me' characterization... But it works - mostly because Kira is ballsy and stubborn in the face of adversity. Above all else I loved the way Kira treated Mencheres - amongst other `Night Huntress' characters Mencheres is a father-figure, mentor and aloof vampire head-honcho. But Kira treats him like a man. She is also very aware of the scars his wife left behind, and Kira is actually quite gentle with Mencheres and his feelings.I had high hopes for a deeper exploration into Mencheres as a character... and I got what I wanted! In `Eternal' he does display his cold, calculating master vampire side, but with Kira he lets his guard down and reveals just how damaged and desperate for love he is. And I loved all of Frost's descriptions of his ropey muscles, washboard abs and skinny-dipping. He is just my kinda fella!I had a few niggling, miniscule complaints. The first was that I wanted a little more exploration into Mencheres and Patra's marriage. A lot of it was revealed in `At Grave's End', but I thought that Patra was such an interesting part of Mencheres' past that I wanted *more* about them in this book. There were a few times in `Eternal' when Mencheres makes comments which hint that he really, genuinely loved (and possibly still loves) Patra... and I just wanted to delve deeper into those feelings.The second complaint is to do with no guest appearance by Ian! Ian is Bones and Spades' sire, he was turned vampire directly by Mencheres. Because Ian is Menchere's direct-descendant it felt like there was definitely a place for him in this story. But he's a no-show, which is a real shame. Ian is one of the funniest characters in the series, but recent appearances in `First Drop' and even his roles in the recent `Night Huntress' books hint that he has a lot to offer in the way of angst and back-story. I don't think these Night Huntress World books would be complete without an Ian instalment.Likewise, I either want a spin-off book for Vlad or a spin-off series. Vlad does appear in `Eternal', and he's another very complex secondary character who is a scene-stealer. I am desperate for his story and have my fingers crossed that he gets a series!I really loved `Eternal Kiss of Darkness'. Honestly, a book all about Mencheres was always going to please me... but Jeaniene Frost delivered the goods ten-fold!

Mencheres has always been an enigma. Distant and powerful. Not giving away his emotions until now.Mencheres is ready to die, but fate has other ideas. On the night that he is attacked by rogue guouls, he is rescued by a human who is oblivious to the paranormal. She nearly dies, but he saves her by healing her with his blood. He has an enemy who is jealous and greedy for the power that he possesses. Kira is an investigator and is the one trying to save him. He is unable to use his power of persuasion on her. She is immune. His long time enemy is brutal in his attempts to claim his powers. He is manipulative and uses everything in his power to discredit Mencheres. Kira is drawn to him as much as he is drawn to her. When they meet again, trouble starts in the vampire world. There are rumours that could bring him death. Kira is kidnapped with blackmailing in mind.Mencheres is an interesting character . Kira is strongwilled and they make quite the pair. There is no lack of action and back stabbing. Interesting read.

​Eternal Kiss... is an almost offensively mediocre book. Everything from the predictable story beats, the paint-by-numbers romance, and the barely sketched conflicts never quite reaching even the most basic degrees of engagement. Even the Bones and Cat cameo (which is usually something I find endearing, even if I don't like the property or series) was insufferable. I could write essentially the same thing for the last spin-off book I've read of this author (First Drop of Crimson). I think these books veer much closer to Paranormal Romance than I'd like. Honestly, even her main series seems to be in a constant struggle between that genre and Urban Fantasy. But hey, there's a sex scene on the ceiling and underwater, so ... there's that.

This is the second spin-off in Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress World series. I always find it really helpful to have a reading order when I start a series, so just in case you've bought this book on it's own, whilst it can be read as a standalone, it's much more satisfying if read in order. The series including the Night Huntress books is:HALFWAY TO THE GRAVEONE FOOT IN THE GRAVEAT GRAVE'S ENDDESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVEFIRST DROP OF CRIMSONETERNAL KISS OF DARKNESSTHIS SIDE OF THE GRAVEONE GRAVE AT A TIMEThis book is about Mencheres, a 4000 year old Master Vampire who we have previously seen as the Grandsire of Bones in the Night Huntress series. He's had a bit of a supporting role in the previous books and to be honest has come across a bit ruthless and severe in those books so I was a bit surprised that JF was dedicating a whole book to him. I'm so pleased that she proved my doubts wrong though, I really enjoyed learning more about him as a character.In typical JF style, there is a lovely, gutsy heroine; this time it's Kira who is a private investigator and stumbles across Mencheres being attacked by a group of ghouls (although she, being human, doesn't know that the paranormal world exists). She steps in to save Mencheres and the story starts....I would class this as a bit more of a paranormal romance than the usual urban fantasy tag that I give JF's Cat & Bones series, but that shouldn't really take anything away from the story. It's about Mencheres losing his interest in life after he feels that he's no longer useful to his people - he's pretty damn old, and has lost his way a bit. Enter Kira, who is a feisty, sweet woman and starts to help Mencheres find his lust for life again (literally!). I found some of it a bit unbelievable, but I know you should suspend belief when reading paranormal! What JF does best is plot and characters, and it was good to see the family of characters that we have come to know and love (or hate) in her books, whilst being able to learn about new ones.There's humour, compassion, a good dose of suspense and a fair dollop of sex in this book. Just the thing needed for a nice bit of escapism.I'm really looking forward to reading Vlad's stories and I'm also hoping we have an Ian book in the future.

Scorching! It's generally quite difficult for me to pick a favourite male character from Jeaniene Frost's books. I love Bones' calm insouciance followed by flashes of white hot rage, and always the simmering sensuality. Vlad is - the impaling addiction notwithstanding - simply a very dangerous and very hot - figuratively and literally - piece of work. He's just the right side of vicious, where he remains attractive despite the danger. Because the only people he tortures deserve it - well, most of the time.And here we have Mencheres. Oooo - the quiet ones are the worst, it's true what your mother tells you. Mencheres - calm, unflappable, stoic, completely in control - but underneath that.... oh my!Frost has a magnificent way of blending hormones with plot, because as sizzling as this is, there is still a story there, and you don't have to dig to find it. The plot drives the romance, not the other way around, making for an all-round story that just drags you from one page to the next.More! Definitely more Ian, but in any event - more!

I have read the first four books in the Cat and Bones series and have continued with Jeaniene Frost's reading order and am pleased I have. This is the 2nd book in this Night Huntress World series and I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to reading about Mencheres. I never felt much love towards him as a character but this book has totally changed that. I often struggle with spin off stories but to be honest I feel that Mencheres story, as with that of Spades in "First Drop of Crimson", has given me further insight into Ms Frosts Night Huntress World. Her story telling is so enjoyable, her world building is totally engaging and her books are so easy to read. Check out her website and make sure you read her books in order. Best enjoyed that way. Totally recommend.