Forever — is composed of Nows —
‘Tis not a different time —
Except for Infiniteness — Emily Dickinson
Here are two souls, one the embodiment of sin, the other the embodiment of salvation, that wage an eternal and epic battle between good and evil, between love and hate; traveling through time, across the millennial planes of human existence, to arrive in the place where they began forever, reborn time and time again to participate in an infinite dance of life and death.
This is the fate of Jayden and Kareem, who begin as Jesse and Saul more than a thousand years before the common era, to die and be reborn some two thousand years later as Imad and Christophe, only to die again and to be resurrected once more in the modern era as the vampire and the avenging angel whose destiny it is to slay his lover infinitely, and act as the shield between the vampire and the humans he wants nothing more than to enslave.
This is the story of two men whose bond is irrevocable and painful and spiritual and primal. It is the story of the balance between passion and horror and the horror of the passion they feel for each other, tormented by their love yet consumed by their need for it and for each other.
This is a gorgeous story of contrast that Kendall McKenna has written, one I can’t recommend enough if you’re looking for something that falls outside the definition of everything you might think of as romantic yet is undeniably just that. There are no happy endings for Jayden and Kareem. How could there possibly be when theirs is an endless pursuit of the unattainable? But, in their infinite beginnings and preordained endings, there is the satisfaction of knowing that there is no true end to them or to their love for each other.
I thought this story was practically perfect in every single way, atmospheric and simmering with the sexual tension between the sinner and the saint, who was not in any way infallible or immune to the temptation of the darkness in spite of the side of the balance he fights for. I loved the loyalty and faithfulness to duty and the sacrifices each man made to honor their roles in the script of their existence, and that they themselves fought for the balance between them, the balance between their love for each other and the loathing for what each was sworn to uphold.
You can buy Nights in Canaan here:
I ahve this on my TBR list :D
I think you might really like this one, bunny! It’s short, out of necessity–I mean, this is an infinity where these two men are cursed to repeat their lives over and over and over again for all eternity. That doesn’t mean, though, that I wouldn’t have loved to have seen some things expanded a bit, just out of my own sense of love for the plotline. :-D
I try to have such a thick skin about reviews, but I just spent the weekend feeling sorry for myself because so many people don’t seem to ‘get’ the larger theme of this story. This review literally made me tear up. I am totally linking to this from my webpage. It hits on nearly all of what I was trying to say with this story.
And an Emily Dickinson quote to kick it all off. Perfect.
Oh, Kendall!!!! I loooooooved this story so very, very much.
I’ve been on a kick lately where I’ve been purposely seeking out books that are different from the norm, and Nights in Canaan couldn’t have fit that kick more perfectly at all. It’s such an awesome and moving story.
Thanks so much for stopping by. :-D
It is a fantastic read. Quality writing does not need length. And Nights in Canaan is quality.
I so agree, Kazza! In spite of me not wanting to leave the world and these characters, the repetitiveness of their purpose would’ve made a repetitive story, which definitely wouldn’t have worked. And I have to say that if Kendall had pulled out a deus ex machina at the end just to give Jayden and Kareem a happy ending, I’d have hated it!
It’s perfect just the way it is. :)