Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, #2) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Aug 05, 2010 ൠSinful rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, uf, adventure, pnr-series, full-novel, vampires, contemporary, series, suspense, spin-off-series

"Don't worry. I think Mount Everest is gorgeous, too, but that doesn't mean I have any intention of trying to climb it." Kira to Mencheres.

I love the Night Huntress World books as much as Cat and Bone's books Night Huntress. This one is about how Mencheres, a 4,500 year old egyptian pharoh vampire/cananite meets Kira, a contemporary PI. Together they heal each other in true HEA form! Cat, Bones and Vlad all make appearances. Ian, Spade.... are absent in this one.

Mencheres was an ok character in ...more

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Jun 14, 2010 Rachel-RN rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2013

I enjoyed this one much better than First Drop of Crimson. I liked Kira, she's smart, resourceful, and speaks her mind. I enjoyed learning more about Mencheres. Overall, a good fit in this series. It was nice to read about other characters from the series (even though my favorites are still Cat and Bones). ...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Wenj rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2010

As an avid lover of Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series, including her new spin off series Night Huntress World, I was a little disappointed at first blush when it came to Eternal Kiss of Darkness. It seemed to lack the traits that I’ve come to expect from Frost’s work-a certain amount of sass and sarcasm as well as full throttle action and steamy romance. However, though it started more slowly for me then her previous books, it finished with her usual flair and became yet another wonderful i As an avid lover of Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series, including her new spin off series Night Huntress World, I was a little disappointed at first blush when it came to Eternal Kiss of Darkness. It seemed to lack the traits that I’ve come to expect from Frost’s work-a certain amount of sass and sarcasm as well as full throttle action and steamy romance. However, though it started more slowly for me then her previous books, it finished with her usual flair and became yet another wonderful installment in her series.

Mencheres has always been something of a secondary character in the Night Huntress series though he's always been quite interesting. Previously we were given only short glimpses at him and his powers, but have always been well aware of his Master status within the vampire world. So, because of this you can understand my reaction when in the first chapter he is allowing himself to be captured and tortured by Ghouls. It is only after Kira, a good samaritan and human, risks her life rescuing him that he lashes out against his captors killing them almost instantly, but not before Kira is mortally wounded. Feeling a debt to the woman, he heals her but is unable to mesmerize her and remove the memories of what transpired so he is forced to take her with him.

It is from there that my problems with the novel stem. As we first begin to get to know Mencheres, he is apathic to say the least. He is world weary and with his visions of the future gone leaving only a looming darkness in its stead, he takes it to mean that his time to leave this Earth nearing. He has appointed Bones the co-ruler of his line and imparted a great deal of his powers over to him in his effort to tidy up his affairs. But, with the appearance of Kira into his life we find that he is also charming, generous and still quite powerful with an uncanny control of both himself and his powers. In other words, there is nothing old about him. In actuality I would say that he greatly values life (human and vampire), but because of his recent history he is weighed down and in depsperate need of a beacon in the looming darkness to give him a reason to carry on. In sad fact, we come to see that instead of the comforts of friends he distrusts the motivations of those around him, feeling that anyone who wants to get close to him is only interested in his power, wealth and protection and not actually in him. It’s these insecurities that truly grated on my nerves as he pines for Kira, opting to stalk her rather then get close to her and give her a chance to like the man that he is. Which honestly, from where I sit isn't bad at all.

Kira is likewise maddening, however. She is instantly attracted to Mencheres, but due to her captivity she feels she can’t trust that feeling. Instead she believes it might be a reaction of Stockholm syndrome, a syndrome where the captive falls in love with her captor. But, after Mencheres lets her go free with only a promise from her to not tell the human world about his kind, she comes to realize that she truly does want him in her life. In fact, that she may love the vampire. Needless to say, almost recklessly she goes looking into any supernatural lead she can find searching out Mencheres or someone that can lead her to him. But, instead she finds a human girl that has been missing for several years being held by a vampire as his property. Foolishly she tries to extricate the woman, but is captured and tortured by the vampire until spilling Mencheres’s name.

It isn’t until this point that the pace begins to finally pick up and we become steeped in the action of a centuries old fued and the romance between Kira and Mencheres as they finally begin to accept that they have feelings for each other. Mencheres also begins to opening up, revealing why it is he feels that he is not deserving of her love, or anyones for that matter. It is at this point that I truly began to feel true affection for the character and the dark complexity of his nature. While fiercely loyal he also feels a great sense of responsibility for actions that are not within his control, for instance his having to kill Kira for violating vampire laws and his choice to bring her back as a vampire.

Truly the characterization of this novel is much deeper then in previous ones. Instead of playing on what we expect to see (i.e. the wit and instant action) we are alternately led on a journey with these characters. To me, after realizing this, the action of the novel became secondary to the evolution of these characters and from there I enjoyed the book immensely. Not to mention the secondary characters involved-the villain Radjedef with his centuries old animosity and Vlad Tepish…yep, that’s right, even Dracula himself makes an appearance...and his strength and loyalty towards Mencheres.

The world this series takes place in is likewise well built. The mythos of the vampire and ghoul culture is nicely explained and explored as is the varying histories of the characters. The only thing I would have liked to have seen a bit more of in this particular novel was the Egyptian lore tying back to Mencheres. While we do get a few tidbits about the Egytpian gods, the magics and a brief look at his stint as a Pharoah in the 4th Dynasty I was still left a little lacking about his past.

Overall, this novel was a great read with interesting and strong characters, even if they did start off a little lost. The journey back to finding their strength was wonderful to watch unfold as was the romance that sparked between Mencheres and Kira. This is definitely another wonderful installment into the Night Huntress World that I suggest you shouldn't miss.
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Aug 03, 2010 Sharon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I have a new vampire crush . Jeaniene Frost has done it again. She is the master of setting up a relationship between characters that has you panting and cheering along with them . I wasn't all that impressed with Mencheres in the Night Huntress books, but this book sheds him in a whole new light. A must read for anyone who loves a great PNR. Oh, and Vlad make an appearance in this book, can't wait for his own book;) ...more

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Aug 17, 2010 Lili rated it it was amazing

Very nice story... creepy bad guys, a hot vamp and a witty girl.
The plot was interesting, the writing is easy to follow... I don't know why there's not another book on this series. ...more

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