Saturday, September 29, 2012

Eternal Pleasure by Nina Bangs


The Eleven — an alliance of ultimate predators. Primal, lethal, irresistible.

The Prophecy — an ancient Mayan prediction that the world will end on 12-21-12.

The Prey — where can you hide from pure evil?

Kelly Maloy opens her car door to much more than a great looking stranger at the Houston airport. Terror, desire, and a horrible truth climb in with him. She's only supposed to drive Ty Endeka around the city for a few weeks. Too bad no one tells her that once day fades, she'll become part of a battle fought in the darkened streets with an enemy that isn't human. And the sensual man who feeds her fantasies hides a soul that gives new meaning to animal magnetism.

Eleven gods of the night...The only creatures more deadly are the ones they've been summoned to destroy.

Where to Buy




Get some crackers when you read this one, because there's plenty of cheese inside. It's the good sort of cheese though, the kind that makes a book laughably entertaining not simply groaningly bad. It may not fully qualify as being a "good book" but it's certainly a fun book to read so long as you're willing to tolerate all the eye-roll-worthy moments in it.



Kelly is just a regular woman, a music major trying to pay her way through college who jumped at what sounded like an easy job playing chauffeur for a few weeks for outstanding pay. She finds out almost immediately upon picking her charge up for the first time that the job is going to entail a lot more than just driving. Overall, she is a very believable character because she *is* appropriately terrified by the situations she finds herself mired in with Ty. She demonstrates on more than one occasion though that she has a backbone of steel, because even if she might want to, she never once tries to run away screaming but bucks up and deals with whatever it is she's been handed. She also usually refuses to stay back where she's safe and protected, and insists on jumping into the thick of things, though she also has enough sense to realize when she's bitten off more than she can chew and a strategic retreat would be her best option.

Ty is very cavemanish at the start, still ruled more by his primitive, bestial soul than by human logic or reason, and not particularly inclined to control his animal instincts more than is strictly necessary. He gradually learns to keep a leash on it, and learns to think and act more like a human as time goes on and his relationship with Kelly progresses, but there still is a part of him that refuses to be tamed and likely always will be. Despite some obvious character development like that, however, Ty in many ways remains somewhat two-dimensional throughout and it's difficult to see much more in him than the super-alpha-male through most of the book.

The whole premise behind the book and series is quite interesting I think, and it is kind of a pity that the author chose to approach it in such a cheesy, humorous style instead of going for a more serious tone. There are many scenes where she does take a more serious tone, which is welcome, but the net effect is that it seems like the author couldn't make up her mind whether she was writing something intended to be a parody of alpha-male type paranormal romances or if she was meaning her work to stand alongside them. I think a lot of potential in the story has gone unrealized because of this wavering tone. Still, the campy, almost parody-ish style does have it's own charm, and the book does well at holding your interest and keeping you involved with the story and interested to find out what will happen. The final showdown scene is handled a lot better than you might expect, though the ending of the book is quite frankly rather weird and leaves you with a total "what the heck?!?" kind of feeling.

This is a book well worth reading I think, just don't come into it expecting to be wowed and amazed. Expect, rather, to be amused and entertained, and perhaps even a little intrigued by the Eleven and their story. Much is hinted at in that regard, but very little is really revealed, thus sparking my interest at least in continuing the series to see what the real story is there. I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a fairly light, entertaining read.

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