Review of Eternal Seduction by Jennifer Turner

Jennifer Turner
Eternal Seduction
CreateSpace, 2008

Series:
First book in A Darkness Within series. Other books are not yet released.

Backblurb:
After living on the streets of New York for over a decade, Logan admits her perceptions might be a little skewed. But twisted or not, there's a satisfying irony in watching a well dressed vampire stand in the middle of a ghetto alley, windblown trash scraping circles near his feet. What she finds even more intriguing, is waiting for him to decide if he's going to kill her. Kerestyan hasn't made up his mind. As the Lord of New York, he can't let a drug addict, whose memories are packed with knowledge of vampires, run free in his city. It's not the first time he's been in this situation with a human, it's just the first time he's come face to face with one who doesn't seem to care. And that's what makes the decision so difficult. What horrors could you witness before you went numb? How long would it take before you felt that way? What could make you care again? Logan's answers are simple: the worst humanity has to offer, almost thirty, and something she never expected.

Genre & Keywords:
M/F, Paranormal, Vampires, Magic, Addiction, New York

Why I read it:
The author sent me a copy for review

Storyline:
Street waif Logan meets the vampire Lord of New York, Kerestyan, while she shouldn’t have because she’s not supposed to know about vampires. He’s intrigued by her and takes her under his wings. An entirely new world unfolds for Logan as Kerestyan and his family train her to be a full-fledged member of this world. Meanwhile she and Kerestyan are smexin’ it up, first out of pure lust but later, when feelings become part of the sexy time, it gets more complicated.

My opinion in short:
I loved this book. The main characters fascinated me from the first to the last page and so did the secondary characters. The world that Ms Turner has built is compelling, intriguing, rather complex but not overwhelmingly so and it’s adding a new dimension to my (not very extended) paranormal reading experience. Kerestyan is uber sexy and as desirable as romance heroes can be. Logan is an amazing heroine and exactly how I like my heroines. My only niggle was that this book encompassed a lot of information typical for a first installment of a new series. Somewhere in the middle of the story I got a wee bit bored, not too much though, with all the world-building that was going on. Especially since this took place while Logan and Kerestyan were apart. And I started longing for the moment they would get to see each other again. Aside from that I just gulped it all down like an eager alcoholic, needing my fix of this delicious world. I know the author has more installments in this series to come, in fact she already has written a few more books but is dealing now to get them published, which is taking some time. I hardly can wait for the next book to be finally released.

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 2.5 out of 3 flames
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What’s more to know about this book:
• Characters
Really, there’s not a thing I didn’t like about Logan and Kerestyan and their character development. Both are pure of heart, good persons, but with flaws. And that makes them interesting, Logan perhaps a little bit more than Kerestyan. But I utterly fell for him too. He’s sexy, devoted, caring, bad-ass, in control, powerful and sweet all in one. I loved that he knew what he wanted, had no doubts about his feelings and instinctively did the right things to win Logan’s stony heart. And Logan is such an atypical heroine with a great attitude and sense of humor; I couldn’t find one thing that irritated me about her. Her banters with Kerestyan’s brother Odin were hilarious.
• POV
The point of view is alternating between Logan and Kerestyan in third person. I liked that it was not switching back and forth from paragraph to paragraph but that the POV stayed with one of them for a longer time (a whole chapter).
• Plot
The opening of the book is strong, in mid-action, and we’re getting a very good idea of what kind of (unusual) heroine we’re dealing with. Additionally, we don’t have to wait long before the hero and heroine meet. From there on the plot stays suspenseful and well-paced. The world-building is done gradually with the exception of a moment in the middle of the story when a lot of information is been released on Logan (and the reader) during her training. I became a little bit impatient there because I wanted Kerestyan back in the picture with her.
The story is not really plot driven, but more character driven, which works wonderfully with such fabulous characters as this story has (including the secondary characters).
• Smexing
M/F. The sex scenes are very, very steamy. The chemistry between Logan and Kerestyan is sizzling and gets only better as their relationship progresses. The sexy moments develop from hot sex scenes to still scorching love scenes, eventually with a bite. And, wow, talk about turning into a beast in the bedroom!
• Writing style
Ms Turner’s writing is precise, to the point, polished and has very entertaining dialogues. The humor and sharp-wittedness in this book are a delight. Here’s Logan on one of the first pages of the book:

Great. She was being stereotyped by a vampire. She made a mental note to return the favor at the first available opportunity before shooting him a sideways glare.

Favorite quote:
When Kerestyan asks Logan:

“What happened to make you see the world the way you do?”
Silence stung the air as she lowered her eyes to the floor. She stared down at the tiles for a few moments before she turned to give him her profile, a breathtaking masterpiece of haunted distance. “There’s a moment when you realize all your worst fears have come true. When the fat girl stuffing her face in the corner finally recognizes food gives her the comfort she can’t find in anyone else. When the gorgeous man with the body of a God realizes he changes women like shoes because he’s scared one won’t find enough reason to stay. When you see the world for what it really is, see it for all the horrors the news can’t or won’t report. There’s a moment when you realize and accept that you are the worthless piece of shit your father always said you were, because even a diseased crack‐head wouldn’t kill their own sister. It was a moment, Kerestyan, a defining moment…an epiphany of imperfection.”

Linking:
Jennifer Turner’s website | weblog | on Twitter | on Goodreads
Buy Eternal Seduction in print or in Kindle format
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