Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Eternal Craving 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?

Lies. He’s been promised a new life as the hunter he once was. But Al soon learns that all the rules have changed. Now he must control his most basic urges—the need to kill, to feed, to mate. And the woman he wants looks at him with both heat and fear in her eyes. Jenna Maloy doesn’t buy the story that he’s come to Philadelphia to save souls. She seems to see through the layers of deception to the primitive heart of him. With her beside him, Al stalks the dark forces that crouch in the city’s night shadows. But the real battle rages in his heart. Love is a formidable opponent. How can he ask her to stay with him after she’s seen the savagery of his beast? He only knows that if she turns from him he’ll be cursed with an Eternal Craving.

Eleven Gods of the Night…
The only creatures more deadly are the ones they’ve been summoned to destroy.

Where to Buy



Dinosaur shapeshifters may seem rather improbable as the heros in a paranormal romance series, but these work. Mostly. No monster porn here -- the sexy times only happen in their human forms -- so if that's your thing, then look elsewhere. It also isn't your typical shapeshifter romance though, for there is an entirely different backstory to why these men are what they are, one that is mostly a mystery though a few hints are given here and there. This book is the second in the series, and while I remember being somewhat impressed by the first book (at least to the extent that it was better than I'd thought it would be), this one was fairly underwhelming.

(Note: This post was written on October 17, 2015, but backdated to when I actually read the book.)



The characters here seemed rather more stereotypical than I recall from the first book. Jenna has some depth to her character, but clings a bit too much to her own view of things for too long. Al seems rather more brutish and ruled by his animal instincts than I recall Ty being in the first book, though to be fair it's been a long time since I read the first one and have forgotten much of it. It's also been a few months now since I've read this one, and sadly have already forgotten much of it and much of what I thought about the characters. Which, I suppose, says a lot in and of itself about them since they are apparently rather forgettable in a short time.

The main thing that stands out for me about this series, and the thing that intrigues me the most about it, is the mysterious back story regarding the Eleven. We were given just enough vague hints in book one to stir my curiosity, and are given quite a few more in this one. It's made quite clear in this book that it all revolves around Finn, who is their leader and the mastermind behind all of what they are doing. We're never told just who or what Finn is really, but it's clear that he's a being of immense power, and is almost certainly a deity of some sort. The concept of 12/21/2012, the date of the Mayan Apocalypse, being potentially the End of All Things is rather dated now, and many aspects of the story related to them trying to save the world before then are rather too trope-ish and cheesy, but I still found myself intrigued by the larger story surrounding them all. Unfortunately, since the series was never finished we aren't likely to ever find out the full story there.

All in all, you probably won't be missing much if you give this book and series a miss. If only because it is an unfinished series. Still, there are certainly worse books out there, and there are enough intriguing bits to make it not entirely an un-worthwhile read. Your mileage may vary though.

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