I’ve written before about how vampire books are not necessarily a top favorite in the romantasy space for me, due to coming-of-age in the Twilight era, but I do so love an author that comes along and reminds me that there are still new takes in the vampire romance space. Not every plot line has been done to death. The Eternal Obsession duology by Maggie Sunseri is the perfect example of a vampire romance with something new to say.
Scarlett is a gorgeous and exceptionally charming girl from a small human village in a world plagued by vampires. She uses her ability to charm to improve her tips at the local tavern, saving up so she can get away from her toxic older sister and her boring life with her best friend Jaxon.
What Scarlett doesn’t know is that from the time she was a little girl, singing all alone in the woods, a very powerful vampire has been watching her from the shadows, obsessing over her in secret.
When Scarlett’s sister is kidnapped to be sold into slavery by the born vampires, Scarlett ends up following her into the vampire territory, working at a club run by the turned vampires to seek information, which brings her straight into the path of Rune, the most powerful turned vampire of all, who has been obsessing over her for her entire life. The result is a tortured love story filled with tension, trauma, spice, and tenderness in a tenuous but beautiful balance. This series utterly ensnared me.
The world-building in this duology is exceptional. There is magic and witches and vampires and shifters galore, but it never feels overwhelming or confusing, which is impressive for a magical system with a little bit of everything. I especially loved the firebirds and shadowbirds, flying creatures that the vampires use for travel.
The Eternal Obsession series was a really phenomenal exploration of trauma. There was a real understanding of it, even though (hopefully?) none of the readers have ever been through this particular brand of paranormal trauma, it still is incredibly relatable and beautiful.
I was especially touched by the impact reading has on the traumatized character. Parts of Scarlett’s healing process were a little triggering. Parts of it made me cry. But even in the landscape of a vampire romance it was so raw and real, and that is no easy feat. The journey the main character goes on with her trauma and her healing is so cathartic.
For seasoned readers, it is clear within the first few chapters that this book is going to be kinkier than your usual fantasy romance, which was immediately intriguing. There are clear BDSM themes running through the relationships in this book and are stated as such, which is a first for me in terms of romantasy. It was a delightful change of pace that I hope more romatasy authors embrace.
If you often find yourself reading sweeping romantasies, or books like Ali Hazelwood’s Bride, and love them, but wish for more spice, this series just might be for you.
Spice: 4
Writing: 4.5
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