Eternal »

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the acclaimed author of TANTALIZE and several other books for young readers. A member of the faculty at the Vermont College MFA program in writing for children and young adults, she lives in Austin, Texas, with her husband, author Greg Leitich Smith.

With diabolical wit, the author of TANATALIZE revisits a deliciously dark world where vampires vie with angels and girls just want to have fangs.

At last, Miranda is the life of the party: all she had to do was die. Elevated and adopted by none other than the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul, Miranda goes from high-school theater wannabe to glamorous royal fiend overnight. Meanwhile, her reckless and adoring guardian angel, Zachary, demoted to human guise as the princess s personal assistant, has his work cut out for him trying to save his girl s soul and plan the Master s fast-approaching Death Day gala. In alternating points of view, Miranda and Zachary navigate a cut-throat eternal aristocracy as they play out a dangerous and darkly hilarious love story for the ages.


From the Compact Disc edition.

Publishers Weekly

Smith's latest revisits the dark alternate world of Tantalize (2007) with a new set of characters. Despite the efforts of Zachary, her guardian angel, Dallas teenager Miranda joins the ranks of the undead as an "eternal" (vampire), courtesy of the current Dracula, their aristocratic ruler. A year passes, and as Dracula's pursuit of power begins to affect his sanity, Miranda struggles to acclimate to her new regal life in Dracula's castle (in Chicago). Meanwhile, Zachary has been cast from heaven for revealing his angelic nature while trying to save Miranda, so he poses as a human-and Miranda's personal assistant-trying to save her. Smith balances the story's bloody details with frequent touches of humor (when Zachary is taken aback by Miranda's enormous SUV, she replies, "We're eternals.... We are evil. We are not fuel efficient"). The confessional style, alternating between Miranda and Zachary's points of view, is intriguing as a diary-readers should be hooked by this fully formed world, up through the action-packed finale. Ages 14-up. (Feb.)

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