In the early days of 2020, Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series brought me back to one of my first loves (VAMPIRES!) and combined it with one of my other first loves (#ROMANCE!), ushering in my *extremely* belated introduction to paranormal romance. I’ve now listened to some of the books in the series more times than I can count. Eternal Kiss of Darkness, the one I should probably most be disturbed by the number of times I’ve listened to it, is the second of two Night Huntress World novels, which bring supporting characters from the Night Huntress series out in front for their own HEAs. In this installment, Mencheres and Kira meet cute bloody when she stumbles upon him and a few members of a rival undead faction in a not-so-abandoned warehouse. Mencheres attempts to send Kira away for her own safety, but a would-be fatal wound and a display of inhuman power later, and he has no choice but to take her with him when he flees the scene to avoid being discovered by more humans.
Kira is shocked to run across a bunch of creatures that aren’t supposed to exist. Mencheres is surprised by Kira in more ways than one. He’s also caught off guard by the machinations of his nemesis, Radjedef. Their bad blood goes back about 4000 years, give or take a few decades, but with Mencheres still reeling from recent events in the main series, Radjedef sees an opportunity and he takes it. Mencheres’s old enemy gives him a run for his money.
So does Kira.
Eternal Kiss solidified Mencheres as one of my favorite characters in the series, overall, and as my favorite of Frost’s heroes at the time. And Kira is maybe my favorite of Frost’s heroines. Their chemistry is almost immediate, and while Kira “[isn’t] about to indulge in a smutty case of Stockholm Syndrome,” sparks fly when circumstances change, and I think Frost pulls it off in a way that feels true to both characters. There are some interesting things going on here concerning power, consent, vulnerability, and different kinds of strength (recurring themes for Frost), and it’s fun to watch Mencheres surrender to the inevitable.
Story:
Narrator:
(Because nothing will ever make up for Bones’s voice.)