Review: A dark, sexy vampire romance filled with hot tension and gooey romance. A recommended read for fans of vampires.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 17, 2013
Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales.Quick & Dirty: A dark, sexy vampire romance filled with hot tension and gooey romance. A recommended read for fans of vampires.Opening Sentence: "Whoever you are, you'd best have a damn good reason to continue breathing," Kenric rumbled.The Review:Fans who love the feel of an old-school vampire romance story may want to check out Undying Destiny. This novel had a lot of the elements of an older style vampire story while still feeling like a modern day tale. For me, it brought back memories of when I used to read nothing but vampire stories. It definitely makes me want to throw in a few of these stories every now and again as I review. (I do want to note that this novel was previously published as A Desire to Die For by a different publishing company a few years ago.)Kenric is a three hundred year old vampire. He has spent most of his years building an "Enclave" of good vampires to help the human race. Lately, his team has been fighting a lot of "DEADs" (death euphoria addicted vampires). These vampire addicts are a menace that could only be created by Kenric's sire - Marguerite, a woman Kenric has been able to avoid most of his undead life. She has created an army that Kenric and his men must fight off while gathering enough power of her own. Marguerite is hoping to become the most powerful vampire and she needs Kenric as her mate to do that. Marguerite has recently harnessed a new power that allows her to invade Kenric's dreams where she hopes to entice him to come back to her. Dreams that allow Kenric some power to overcome her mental war but not enough to destroy her.Emily Ross comes across Kenric after a fight with DEAD's that leave him weak, bleeding and passed out. As a nurse, she takes him to a hospital in order to save his life. What she doesn't expect is to be kidnapped and used to help erase evidence of him ever being in the hospital. The last thing Emily wants to do is fall for a demanding, hot vampire.Emily and Kenric's passion for each other is fierce, hot and quick. It doesn't take long for it to develop. They both have tortured pasts (literally) that they have to work through and present events aren't helping at all when Marguerite sees Emily's face in Kenric's mind. Marguerite has already killed one of Kenric's past lovers and he doesn't want Emily to meet that same fate.Kenric starts off the novel as one really tough bada$$ but once he meets Emily he turns into a big pile of romantic goo. He is still tough at times during other parts of the novel but when it has to do with Emily he is just pudding. He was just a little over the top romantic for me but I know others won't have a problem with that. Emily has a lot of insecurities following her. She hides all her problems with a serious mask or comedy. I enjoyed her comic relief and her fight for independence, which is what made me like Emily. She didn't want Kenric to solve all her problems for her but that is what he did.I know there is only so much you can do with vampires that hasn't been done before so there are some similarities to other vampires in the genre but Jessica Lee does make these vampires her own. The DEAD's are a different twist and I definitely have some questions about the origins of these vampires. The only thing I had a problem with was that female vampires are inherently weaker than their male counterpoints.  I only say this because it is made a point at a couple different times in the storyline. The only thing that gives them more power is by mating with a male and absorbing their powers so that they are powerful together.Undying Destiny has multiple third person point of views, jumping to many of the different characters as the novel goes along. There is a lot going on in this novel to set up this world, which includes quite a bit of action but there is some intriguing parts as you learn about the vampire history. Also, there is a bit of a cliffhanger ending - hint don't read the synopsis for the next novel before you've read this one.In the end, if you are a fan of vampires and vampire romance, I would recommend reading Undying Destiny. The tension is hot, the romance is heavy and I would definitely like to see this world expanded. I will stay tuned for the next novel in this series (once published as Dark Desires at Midnight although I'm sure this one will also see a name change). No word on when it will be rereleased.FTC Advisory: Entangled Edge provided me with a copy of Undying Destiny. No goody bags, sponsorships, "material connections," or bribes were exchanged for my review.