My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Jessica Lee's best work to date!
I'm a fan of Jessica's books so I started Undying Desire expecting to enjoy the characters and story line. What absolutely blew me away was the deep emotional reaction that I had to the characters and their situation. This is NOT your typical erotic/paranormal romance. The characters are flawed, conflicted, emotionally raw and very, very real.
Eve is a female dominant. As a vampire, she has lived a long life, but her unique mixture of human and vampire genes makes her a prize hunted by many. Her mother taught her early to protect her self and trust no one lest she be manipulated and betrayed. She hates her father for abandoning her as a child and is internally conflicted about her own self worth. At first I had a hard time believing her character was a true sexual dominant because of this, but then I pulled back a step and separated her internal dialog from the external persona that she portrayed. It was a "light-bulb" moment for me because when I recognized that the duality enhanced her strength, I then understood that immersing herself into the scene and focusing on caring for her sub, was how she calmed herself doubts and regained her mental equilibrium. She wasn't hiding her insecurities under a mask of strength; her dominance meets her own needs as well as her submissive's. She's not bad or broken, she's complex!
Guerin is a warrior, second in command to one of the oldest vampires alive. He is the picture of strength, perseverance, intelligence and tenacity. He made a promise to himself, years ago, to never give his heart or his submission to a Mistress again. While his soul craves the release of letting go, his mind is tormented by memories of the past. His trust was once abused, and he fears he will lose himself forever should he submit again.
Undying desire offers two of the most complexly written characters I have ever read, combines them with an intricately developed story line and continues to build on the story line presented in earlier books. It made me gasp, brought me to tears, shocked me, touched me and just when I thought it couldn't get any better, I would turn the page and another WHOA moment would catch me by surprise. You can read this as a stand alone book but is awesome as the latest addition to the Enclave family of stories!
A copy of Undying Desire was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
(Honestly, I feel like I owe JESSICA for the privilege of reading this book!)
View all my reviews
Wow, Carly! I'm so blown away and honored. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such a lovely and honest review. It means the world to me. :)
ReplyDelete