Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

Night Huntress World, #2

PARANORMAL ROMANCE

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.

There was an appropriate modern word for his actions: “stalking.”

Continuing in the side stories that evolved from the Night Huntress series, Mencheres' book was frankly a let-down. The vampire has been "saved" by a courageous young women who can't resist the sounds of struggle from the warehouse. After he whisks her away to safety after some digging, the two eventually fall in love and bond.

Surprisingly Frost's writing style itself wasn't as up to par. I'm not sure if it's because of shifting points of view or trying something different, but it didn't have the same smooth and natural flow it usually does. Mencheres is awesome and I'm happy he wasn't drowning in angst, but it still felt awkward a bit to be in his head and how things so spelled out and told rather than shown. Kira is a good lead although nothing stands out about her. We do get a little Cat, Bones and Vlad. I hate the guardians of the law in the series. Akir was creepy.

While some of the backstory with Mencheres enemy is mildly interesting, the book is predictable with its focus of story. There's not much other than their romance, which makes only a small amount of sense. I'm guessing it's more a bit of timing. Surely Mancheres has ran into another intelligent, compassionate and creative woman throughout all the years he's been alive.

Ultimately a bit of a downer since Mancheres comes across less awesome than he could, Kira is only an average lead, and the story is focused mainly on their somewhat unrealistic romance, it's definitely not the best offering of the series offshoots.