A review by booksabrewin
Forever: The World of Nightwalkers by Jacquelyn Frank

4.0

I received a physical copy of this book from the publishers via the blog host's request in exchange for an honest review and participation in the blog tour.

I got through the first book without too many issues with the four spirits, two bodies dilemma. I have to say, I was a little weary going into the second book, especially with the synopsis talking about having to kill the woman that the original host was in love with in order for her to host the queen counterpart spirit to his king. That just has drama written all over it. Not to mention, I couldn't even imagine how exactly he would come to ask her for such a thing. "Hey baby, you're kind of hot, will you die and host the spirit of my alterego's queen? Pretty please?" I absolutely had to find out more about this story.

Jackson died and came back with a Bodywalker king living contentedly inside him. He was moderately okay with that. What he wasn't okay with was the fact that he would have to give up on his infatuation with the precinct psychiatrist in order to commit his heart and body to Menes' queen whenever she were to appear. He was struggling with the need to get closer to her while also knowing it cannot be anything permanent. He wouldn't ask her to host Hatshepsut's spirit. He would not disrupt her life in such a way. But what his head and his heart are telling him to do, not to mention the commentary from Menes who finds Marissa to be the perfect host for his queen, are completely different.

Marissa has always had a thing for the strong K-9 officer at her work. She couldn't explain why she was having such a hard time resisting him, but resist she must. She is his psychiatrist after he lost his K-9 partner in a tragic event and cannot cross that patient-doctor line. She must keep things professional. A tactic she has learned to use in many an uncomfortable emotional situation. But when faced with the otherworldly power of the spirit inside Jackson and what that spirit is capable of doing, she must wonder if what is professionally ethical is really what is keeping her away from him. Jackson is a frightening man all by himself to Marissa, add to that one royal alpha male and it makes for a very potent combination that makes Marissa question whether distance from Jackson is truly what she wants.

With the reappearance of Menes, the Bodywalker king, the Templars are quick to attempt to send him back to the Ether before his queen can join him, even if that means awakening an evil the likes of which the world has never known.

This book in the series focused a lot more on how Bodywalker sex can be odd. Ultimately the host is not just having sex with the other host, but also the Bodywalker... if sex is between two Bodywalkers, that is a whole lot of different personalities all mixed in there. What happens if one likes it one way and the other another? I couldn't see how any of that could be any more confusing. And I struggled even more with this book that the last, however, the connection between Marissa and Jackson seemed more real (if that's even possible in this sort of situation) than the one between Ram and Docia. I found myself falling in love with Jackson's quick wit as well as Menes's sexual innuendos. I started to (kinda, sorta) grasp how the Bodywalker and the host kind of compliment each other. I found the insight into the Templars that was given to show them in a new light. Not all of them are bloodthirsty zealots bent on world destruction.

Forever is the perfect middle story. It fluffs out the details of the Bodywalker race and couples that with yet another steamy romance.