Eternal Kiss Of Darkness By Jeaniene Frost

  Eternal Kiss Of Darkness
  Jeaniene Frost
  Paperback 384 pgs
  Avon













Amazon's blurb -

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 her 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. (added by author)
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This was a really good book.  Having "met" Mencheres in the Night Huntress series, I really didn't think one way or the other about him.  Now that he's been fleshed out by Ms. Frost, I found him a great character.  He is so lonely and desolate after living for over 3000 yrs, and you just feel he's tired.  Kira comes to his aid and he is quite astonished that this mortal woman has courage, spunk, and risks herself to help him.  He battles with himself since he doesn't want to involve her in his life, yet his feelings for her start to flourish.


Of course there is an evil protagonist, his Uncle, Radjedef.  He is one of the Law Guardians, you should know, every vampire tale has a judicial system they follow and this is theirs.  Using his position of power, Radjedef is out to get Mencheres once and for all, feeling slighted all those hundreds of years ago before they were even vampires.  Wow, that is a reeeeeally long time to hold a darn grudge, ya know!


Needless to say, Mencheres does not want Kira caught in the cross-fire of this mess and he tries to keep her away.  His "grandchild" Bones wants to help and all Mencheres wants is for Bones to take care of the flock.  Here is were we see that there is a heart in him.  His worry for his followers is evident.  We also meet  Vlad again, as he assists Mencheres as best as he can.  You find out just how powerful Mencheres really is.  He is the Grand Pooba of all vamps being so darn ancient and that becomes quite evident as the story progresses.


There's a part where he allows himself to sink to the bottom of the pool and just has silence.  What thoughts must go through such an ancient mind must be staggering and he does this to escape.


There is plenty of suspense, a bit of a twist that I really didn't expect at all, a nice introduction to Kira, and it all getts tied up in a pretty bow.  Fast easy reading, a bit of suspense, just what I like. Jeaniene Frost does not disappoint!  I can't wait for #5 in the Night Huntress series and I sure hope she gives Ian his due in a book of his own.


I'll give this book 3 1/2 cannolis