New Book Alert: The Road Ahead Love is Eternal by Stacy Keenan; The One Where They All Became Vampires

 New Book Alert: The Road Ahead Love is Eternal by Stacy Keenan; The One Where They All Became Vampires

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: In The Road Between , the previous volume of Stacy Keenan's Love is Eternal movie monster memorabilia designer, Abby Wickes meets and falls in love with luthier, Nathaniel Davenport. Nathan is handsome and mysterious and is of course revealed to be a vampire. The duo's romance hits a huge snag when Abby is attacked by a fellow vampire and becomes one herself.

Surprisingly, despite the dark fantasy horror turn that the Road Between takes towards the end, the emphasis of the book is on romantic comedy as though Stacy and Nathan were the traditional meet cute couple with intimate conflicts. One of them just so happens to be a vampire.

While Keenan ups the dark fantasy horror aspects in this volume by giving us more information on vampire lore (or her interpretation of vampire lore) and new frightening characters, humor and characterization is still very present. This is especially prevalent when Abby and Nathan host a Christmas and New Years gathering of Nathan's old friends (and I do mean "old friends"). Abby clicks with Nathan's four friends, Lachlann, Ailith, Karsten, and Ava and becomes accepted into their circle. With six friends and three couples, the gathering seems overall like an extended supernatural episode of Friends ("Could we be any more Goth and vampiric?"). The emphasis in this novel is on friendship and forming an extended family of true companions.

Just like its predecessor, The Road Ahead plays with the idea of combining dark fantasy in an almost comedy situation such as when Ava and Ailith chat with Abby about the men in their lives after Abby and Nathan get engaged. They give sexual advice and what to expect for the future when a couple could stay together literally until the end of time.

 

There are some interesting revelations about the sextets's lives as vampires and how they adjusted to the changing times. Lachlann remembers his time taking part in the American Revolutionary War and he and Ailith take a trip to Ft. Ticonderoga to honor his fallen comrades. Karsten also shares war stories about his time as a Goth warrior against the Roman Empire. 

The vampire characters also talk about how they adjust to the changing times particularly in their careers. Ava started out making dresses for noblewomen. In the 21st century, she has transformed into a fashion blogger. Nathan still is a luthier and his violins are often specially made for orchestras and musicians. He is also a dedicated musician himself as he reveals when he takes part in a performance of The Nutcracker. Abby wonders how her future as a graphic designer and memorabilia maker will change over the coming centuries.

The darker aspects are also increased in this volume as well. Abby, Nathan, and their friends find themselves fighting the revenants, an undead army created by evil vampires. Later, another creature is revealed. I won't go into many details but let's just say it is familiar to anyone who has ever seen many European cathedrals and castles or were fans of a certain Disney animated dark series from the '90's.

There are also hints that Abby's family has previous involvement with vampires and her Aunt Sarah (who has been out of town since the previous volume) may know more about her niece's condition than she is letting on.

The Road Ahead expands upon the characterization and the dark fantasy and does what a good second volume does. It improves the series and entices the Reader to read the next one.