Eternal Hunger

When I started to read this book I noticed that the reviews seemed to be all over the place, so I was curious how I would feel about it. As it turns out, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I liked it a lot. This book kept me up into the wee hours of the morning so I could finish it.

The vampire world that Wright created was a little different than most. Not completely different but I didn't feel like I was reading the same old, same old again. Fans of the Demonica series by Larissa Ione may notice a few similarities. It is NOT like Demonica, but there are some character/story details that are very similar.

If I had to pick on one thing that was a bit annoying -- and this is one of my book pet peeves -- is the use of foreign show more words (in this case "vampire" language) without any real explanation of what they mean. Some of the words are used enough that you finally figure it out but there are quite a few others that are not used as often. A simple glossary at the back of the book would have been very helpful.

Okay, I lied...there is one more thing that annoyed me. It was made quite clear in the story more than once that Alexander's head was "almost shaved" so why does the cover model have a full head of hair? Not the author's fault but another example of a publisher who doesn't "get it". Readers notice these things!

Even with my nitpicks, I still give this book a 5-star rating because they are minor annoyances and I still thoroughly enjoyed the story. The book ends with unresolved story threads that will likely continue into the next book but will focus on one of the other brothers if the cliffhanger ending is any indication. I will definitely be picking up the next book in this series. show less

I just finished Eternal Hunger and thought it was a good read, but not one of my favorites. I think this is a solid start to a new series, and I like some of the secondary characters who will hopefully be getting their own books. It reminded me a bit of J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series, only thankfully not as graphic. It was hard for me to get into this book - I almost set it down a few times until I hit about chapter three, when the characters and action really take off. There was a fair amount of narrative in the first chapter - necessary to introduce the world-building, but I found it a bit confusing and dull. I would like to have seen more flashbacks for the main characters, especially since their personal childhood show more histories are mentioned so often. (Also, the almost Amish-compound aspect to vampire culture was both a little weird and strangely interesting.) Overall, I enjoyed this book and I plan to look for any sequels. show less

Review posted here: http://offbeatvagabond.blogspot.com/2012/05/book-review-eternal-hunger-mark-of.h...

Wow, what a story this was. I have been hearing about this series for a while and since I am nuts for sexy vampires, I gave it a go. I love finding books that do something a little different with vampire mythology and this was no exception. Wright and her sexy vamps are going to fit nicely on my bookshelf.

I am a huge fan of Alexander. I was thrown off by him at first because I thought he was possessed or something. The guy was scary as hell. But he grows on you quickly. Him and his brothers have been through a lot and they are very close. Alex is the oldest and he does his best to protect them from a life they fought tooth and nail to show more escape. I love these sort of family stories, ever since starting the Black Dagger Brotherhood, I have been on the hunt for them. And this was a great one. The woman that saved Alex, Sara, is a doctor who is very determined and curious. She really fights for what she wants and that is clear when she spends her life trying to save her brother Gray who has mentally checked out.

I love Alex's brothers Nicholas and Lucian. Nicholas has his head on straight and is the peacemaker out of the three. I love that Wright gave us a little glimpse into his past and it is very bleak and destructive. I am bouncing up and down for his book. Already added in my library queue. Then there's Lucian. Oh Lucian. He is the bad seed out of the three. He is mean, wild and unpredictable. But he was also likable. He has a very dark sense of humor and I can't wait for more from him either.

I was very invested in this story. I love the idea of PureBlood and Impure vampires. Pureblood vampires are born and are privileged. Impure are the ones that were turned and are treated like servants. One Impure named Ethan didn't like that. He is an Impure with the power of a PureBlood from a superior vamp. He wants to create an army of Impures to take out the PureBlood vampires. He is kidnapping both kinds of vamps and humans alike and having them impregnated. I love where this story went and how badass it was. Man, I love a good gun fight. I am dying for more. Someone is betraying the PureBloods and I want to know who.

As much as I love the plot however, it did take me a bit to get into it. The book has its information overload moments and things were a bit confusing at first. I just wish things were explained a little quicker because you do feel left in the dark a few times. Also, the language for some of the sex scenes might throw you off, they did for me. I already had the discussion on how I am not a fan of the "C" word, but luckily, the story was rich and intriguing enough for me to look past that.

Besides that, this was a great read. It was very sexy and suspenseful. I loved the ending, quite a bit comes to light that put a smile on my face while others leave your mouth hanging open. The characters are so incredible. I want more of Dillon, her and Sara definitely have a dynamic that is pretty interesting. Also Gray and Bronwyn who may give Lucian a run for his money. Overall, don't miss out on this one. This is a series worth devouring. show less

A friend of mine recommended this to me swearing that I would devour it, she talked about it for a week straight and every time I saw her it was “Did you read it? Did you?” Finally I gave into her suggestion and downloaded the book to my kindle.

I will admit I was a little hesitant because this is another vampire book and as I am sure you know, vamp books are everywhere right now. All of my worries were for naught though because this book was amazing! It is not an entirely new take on vamps, but it is different enough that my interest was peaked immediately.

As the book begins, you are thrown into the lives of three brothers who have broken away from the main population of vamps and live on their own. The vocab woven into the story at show more the beginning will be perplexing at first, but in time it all makes sense. I did pick up on some context clues and was able to decipher a little, but other words I had to wait until it was spelled out. Which is fine for me, I don’t mind that type of format. Actually quite the opposite, I think it is fun to be drowning a little at the beginning of a story and be forced to tread water until the secrets unfold and I can swim through. The mystery just adds to the intrigue of the book and leaves me wanting more every time.

Eternal Hunger follows the story of Alexander, the “prisoner” of the brothers. He is definitely rough around the edges, but so fun to watch struggle when it comes to his feelings about Sara. The bad boys never really give in easily do they? Sara and Alexander definitely have some issues to work though, like her being a human for example. I had fingers crossed the whole book that they were going to figure out a way to be together and the ending took me completely off guard. It was brilliant! I felt like the answer was staring me in the face the whole book and I get to the end and I said “oh, that’s it!” Don’t you just love when that happens? At the end you are also left with a slight cliffhanger, but I use that word cautiously because I think it is a great setup for the next book rather than a cliffhanger. When you read it, you will see what I mean.

On another note, this is an adult book, you can probably tell that from the cover and summary, but a little word of caution. The vamp brothers in this book, are not clean, well spoken, gentlemen type and they are definitely not worried about your virtue. They are rough and their thoughts are dirty. As a result the language can get a bit intense at points. I kept in mind that the characters would think that way so it made sense, but it did catch me off guard at first. On the flip side though, the book is pretty freaking hot! It is really hard to resist the brothers no matter how tough they are.

Eternal Hunger is a tantalizing read that left me aching for the next book. The brothers, while crass at times, are highly addictive. The next book focuses on Nicholas, who is labeled “the lover” of the group and I am sure that will prove to be an interesting to read. Do I really have to wait until April for it to come out though? *pouts* Oh well, I am sure it will be worth it :) Haven’t read this series yet? I highly suggest your check it out, totally worth it! show less

I was deeply impressed with Laura Wright’s new series, "Mark of The Vampire", and its debut novel, "Eternal Hunger". The concepts in this series have some old flavors to them, which all vampire/paranormal romance readers crave and some unique elements that will mark this world as unique. Our central characters are the Roman brothers who have the unfortunate genetics of being sons of what is known as a “Breeding Male”. If they are lucky, when they are “morphed” or become of the correct age to show the markings of what can only be described as a “fully matured or middle aged vampire”, those markings will have also their mates mark. This should happen at say, the ripe old age of 300 or so. If they are not so lucky, they will show more only have an empty mark or a circle and they will be these over-sexed animals that basically will be caged by their kind to protect the population, or service the females, whatever future you can imagine. So being a “Son of a Breeding Male” is sort of a pariah for an individual and the Romans have a history to match such a moniker. Through adversity and separation, the brothers have found each other and have made a life of unity.

"Eternal Hunger" introduces to the 1st Roman brother, Alexander, and the struggle he goes through as he battles himself, his past, The Order (the ruling vampire cabinet), and his desire for Sara Donohue. It seems The Order decides to morpho poor Alex 100 years early just to use him to get at a pesky insurgent to their tightly controlled society. Threatening to do the same to his other brothers unless he gets them results, Alex finds that he must pull his family back into the vampire world they tried very desperately to separate themselves from in the past. At the same time, he becomes unexplainable drawn to a human, a woman, Dr. Sara Donohue, who shows him kindness, when he has seen so little in his life. Sara possesses her own past that haunts her as represented with her brother Gray.

The themes of the book seem to be the impossible. Alex fights the impossible to posses a mate in Sara. Sara who seems to be perfect for him, but its an impossible match since she is human. Sara is fighting to fix her brother Gray and faces this impossible feat or the impossible solution. The Roman brothers’ fate at the hands of The Order becomes an impossible task when the morpho Alex. I really enjoyed this book and my heart got into the struggles taking place in its internal machinations. It set up many key elements for the future novels, such as the society the vampires lived in, their language, key characters for future novels and development, and of course the delicious story arc that transverses each book. I liked the villain in this book and the knowing there was more to come. The plot ebbed and flowed some, but I would say the dialogue and characters had a refreshing feel that kept me interested to the end. show less

I did enjoy this book. I was surprised since I am generally burnt out on paranormal romance books but it is clear that Ms. Wright can create an interesting story. Here, the two main characters Alexander and Sarah cross paths when Alexander shows up on her doorstep (literally). He has just gone into premature Morpho (turning into a mate seeking, blood ravaged, and sun-avoiding vampire) and uses Sarah’s shadowed porch for protection from the sun. Is it just a coincidence that he ends up at Sarah’s doorstop or fate? You’ll have to find out on your own.
There is much more to the story than one vampire meeting one human female. It definitely confused me at the beginning but once I caught on to the names being used, it was a bit easier. show more

What I liked about the book-
• The three brothers. Ms. Wright quickly establishes three very different characters but it was clear the brothers loved and cared for each other.
• The story. The story was complex and different from every other vampire story out there.
• The sex scenes. Wow, I can see Ms. Wright has some experience writing sex scenes because they are smoking!

What I didn’t like about the story-
• The story. Yeah, I know. I have that in the “like” category above. Nevertheless, while the story is complex, it was also confusing. There was the Impure, the Pure, the Morpho, and the not Morpho yet, there is the Order and the little vampire communities. It was a lot to remember and I am not sure how many people wanting a PR will invest that much time into learning the background.
• The cover. Dear Publishers, please get rid of these cheesy half naked man covers UNLESS 1) the man on the cover looks like at least one of the characters in the book (he does not), 2) the man on the cover fairly represents the species in the book (they are vampires, I don’t think a fence is going to hold him back) and 3) the man on the cover is wearing realistic attire (what is up with this waist high jeans with a belt of all things. You would think he would at least be wearing sexy hip hugging jeans that show off a six-pack. A belt, really? Come on, he is a vampire, he can use magic to hold up his pants!) show less

Finding a cure for a bad memory had been Sarah Donohue’s life work. Causing the fire that had killed her father and left her brother, Gray, physically and emotionally damaged gave her the incentive to become a doctor. Now if she could get him to cooperate she may be able to help him finally forget. Being an outcast from birth had left Alexander Roman and his brothers with a strong desire to escape the control of the vampires credenti (community). Even after spending a hundred years away from the Order, some of the habits still remained, but when something new started to happen to Alexander, they didn’t know where to turn for answers. He had ended up on a door step just as the sun was rising and even though it had never bothered him show more before, he found himself in the middle of morpho (his change). Finding a man on her door step in need, Sara felt the pull to help, finding a man inside her home, she felt the need for help. One man was an ex-patient that had become a stalker and the other turned out to be a vampire.

Book 1 ….. Could get at least a trilogy out of this series, the set up is with the three brothers, Alexander, Nicholas & Lucian. I had mixed feelings about this one, several aspects are reminiscent of Christine Feehan’s Carpathians series with the one true mate thing. Not real fond of some of the terms though, I mean come on - morpho? I understand that this is the first book of a series and it has to do the set up for the series as well as it’s own book, but there were a lot of characters and multiple stories and a ton of information and history in this first book. Took some time to get used to the writers style also. It is written like people talk and think, with lots of distractions, tangents and partially formulated thoughts. Once I did get used to it, I enjoyed most of the characters. Liked the brothers and Dillon, struggled with how Sara was taking the news about vampires and her sudden attraction to one, until the last 20 pages when some big questions were answered. Frustrated waiting so long for the explanation, but in the end it was overall enjoyable enough to have me looking for the next of the series (Eternal Kiss) in 2011. show less