Book Review: Eternal Demon by Laura Wright

Title: Eternal Demon
Series: Mark of the Vampire, Book 5
Author: Laura Wright
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Sensuality Rating: Steamy
Source: review copy from publisher
Published: May 7, 2013 by Signet Eclipse

When Erion’s son is kidnapped by the evil vampire Cruen, Erion vows to stop at nothing to find his hideaway—including intercepting the traveling party of Cruen’s beautiful bride-to-be. But instead of a vulnerable caravan, Erion is met by a feral band of female demons that includes Hellen, the bride—a creature of dark magic and darker passion.

Though the safety of his son is foremost, Erion can’t deny his unexpected connection to Hellen—inflaming a manic desire as primal as it is irresistible. As their bond intensifies, they move toward an inevitable and terrifying battle. With time running out, Erion realizes he must not only find and rescue his son but protect Hellen from Cruen and the underworld forces waiting to destroy her for her betrayal.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: Excellent paranormal romance that redeems the series after book four’s dud.

The Set Up: Erion is a mutore, a vampire and shifter hybrid, and is on a quest to rescue his son from Cruen, his evil vampire nemesis. Erion learns Cruen is taking a bride, Hellen, so he kidnaps her to force a prisoner exchange. What Erion doesn’t expect is for fiery Hellen to capture his heart and complicate his quest.

Why I Read this Book: Series fan here. I didn’t like book four’s romance but the series’ plotlines were good and kept me interested in the series.

What I Liked: This is *exactly* the romance I needed to reconnect with the series. Book four’s romance left such a bad taste that I needed a stellar romance to continue the series. In Erion and Hellen I got that romance. Erion and Hellen start as enemies as he kidnaps her but they slowly begin trusting each other and this offers stellar emotional and sexual intensity. This is one of those romances were I could actually see what draws Erion and Hellen to each other and thought they became stronger people as a couple than they ever could apart. They offer each other the support, comfort and trust each needs to heal from past wounds and be the strong people they need to be. Yes, the ending was a tad over of the top on Hellen’s part as she makes a decision for them without Erion’s input but even this offered good angst and then stellar resolution not just for Erion and Hellen but Erion’s son as well.

I have to mention how awesome of leads both Erion and Hellen are. Erion’s is one of the classic damaged heroes but he’s not selfish in his pain like too many heroes are in my opinion. Hellen is a very untraditional heroine. What she does to one of Erion’s guards who tries to molest her had me simultaneously laughing and raising my fist in triumph. Such good characters here!

What I Also Liked: The paranormal world of vampires, mutore, and demons is so well imagined and kept my attention big time. I flew through this book. Erion and his friends/brothers are in a series’ quest to destroy Cruen, the evil vampire. In book four Cruen kidnaps Erion’s son (who doesn’t know he’s Erion’s progeny and therefore a mutore, but readers know) and this book’s plot focuses on Erion rescuing his son. This offers a great, fast-action plot but also plenty of emotional intensity as Erion learns what it means to be a father and how this intersects with Hellen’s demon family is just part of the adventure.

I should also say that this book has less of the Roman brothers than the other books but still enough for my taste. The Romans were great heroes and I like revisiting them but the mutore have captured my interest so I’m pleased to spend more time with them and can’t wait for all their stories.

What I Didn’t Like: Are you lost in this review? If you’re not a series reader you may be and I’m sorry for you since all the books, except book four, have ranged from good to excellent. I don’t think a new reader could jump in here and know what’s going on so don’t even try. But series readers will love this installment as I did.

IMO: This book righted the series for me with its stellar romance and strong plot.

J9’s Rating: