Review: Eternal Beast

Reviewed by Jen
 

I had high hopes for this book. The romance between Gray and Dillon has been teasing me for ages.  Both main characters have a great tortured history, so I expected angst, passion, and a whopping dose of sexual tension.  What I got was... a bit of disappointment.

As the story begins, Dillon is stuck in her beast form of a jaguar.  She thinks the only way she will be able to return to her vampire form is to kill the senator behind the beating that prompted her change. Instead, Gray ends up killing him and she is furious.  The thing is, though, she quickly discovers another way to alter her form... with Gray's touch.  She reaches out to him to help her, and for me, this is where the story went downhill.

I understand that Dillon has been the one to shut Gray down in the past, but that did not excuse the way he lorded his control over her.  He tried to force her to be submissive to him in order for him to give her what she needed.  It was unsettling to see this woman with a history of abuse have to kowtow to a man who supposedly has feelings for her.  Why? Because he is trying to get even? Make a point?  Granted, he didn't know what happened to her, but he had an idea.  And when he pulled out a leash and collar, I was ready to throw rotten tomatoes at him.

Not that Dillon was much better.  Even knowing about her baggage, she was difficult to like.  She was single-mindedly focused on herself, just like Gray was obsessed with his mission to save the Impures.  Neither seemed remotely capable of making the other a priority.  Most of the time, they weren't even nice to each other.  Basically, I found that didn't like either one of them, which made it really hard to root for their romance.

On top of that, the sex scenes didn't do it for me.  Gray's attempts at talking dirty were just over the top and not at all sexy.

"The other fingers are getting lonely, D," he groaned, his voice rabid and raw.  "They want to be together. They want to fuck you too. They want inside your silky wet pussy so badly. Can they all come to the party baby?"
...
When all five of his fingers entered her, Gray cursed. "The way your cunt took me in, inch by inch of drenched heat. Fuck and the way it's suckling my fingers."
...
"God baby, you're so beautiful. So wet, so tight. The way your pussy sucks me in." He cursed, moaned. "Oh shit. I knew you would feel like this. The perfect fit, your candy walls fisting around me."  

I think you get the idea.  If a guy talked to me like that in bed... ok, never mind. Suffice it to say, this did not do it for me.

I am still interested in the world.  Specifically, I am very intrigued by Dillon's brothers. Erion, in particular, was a real scene stealer.  The story that served as the backdrop for the romance was pretty cool and I like that series may be turning toward the mutore brothers.  I really liked the last book, so between that, and the big cliffhanger epilogue, I will be back for Eternal Demon.  This one, however, was a miss for me.

I should note that most of the reviews for this book have been very positive.  I know I am in the minority.

Rating: C+

Click to purchase: Amazon

Eternal Beast

by Laura Wright

Release Date: August 7, 2012

Publisher: Signet