Tess Jennings, who has been gifted with the ability to see ghosts, struggles to help the Grand Master of the Animus, Alexander, cross over. She might even have discovered who murdered him, but she has no way to prove it.
Adding to her pile of failures, Tess must accept a harsh reality—she has officially run out of time. The closer she gets to an answer to save her ghost lover, Kipp McGowen, the more she’s realizing she’s been searching for an answer she didn’t want to find.
Tess will have to make difficult choices, and her decisions will lead to consequences she cannot predict. Will Kipp finally take a living breath again, or will Tess take her last and join him in the Netherworld forever?
Stacey Kennedy is a USA Today bestselling author who writes contemporary romances full of heat, heart, and happily ever afters. With over 50 titles published, her books have hit Amazon, B&N, and Apple Books bestseller lists.
Stacey lives with her husband and two children in southwestern Ontario—in a city that’s just as charming as any of the small towns she creates. Most days, you’ll find her enjoying the outdoors with her family or venturing into the forest with her horse, Priya. Stacey’s just as happy curled up indoors, where she writes surrounded by her lazy dogs. She believes that sexy books about hot cowboys or alpha heroes can fix any bad day. But wine and chocolate help too.
Stacey absolutely loves to hear from her readers. You can reach her at stacey@staceykennedy.com.
My Review: The final book in this series. As I was reading the book, I honestly didn't think it was going to happen, but I was wrong....I cried. Finally, the happy ending we've been waiting for through the four books in this series....and it was good. Everything I hoped for and even a bit more. *sigh* I love Kipp....he's even better alive.
This was the final installment in the book and as such, I knew what was coming. Honestly, that made this book such a hard read...simply because I wanted "that" moment that I knew was coming. We did finally get there, but it was a journey filled with a lot of introspection by Tess about her abilities, fate, and how exactly she got to this point.
At the beginning of the series, Tess hated her ability...to the point where she flat out ignored the ghosts around her...until Kipp. He wouldn't allow her to ignore him. This book delved in to how exactly she got that gift and what happened to her family at the same time. Poor girl...I can't imagine facing such extreme loss AND having to deal with a new ability like this at the same time. She didn't necessarily handle it well, but she did the best she could without anyone there to guide her.
This book was a lot about family...the one she lost, the one she gained with Kipp and the cops, and her new one...the Animus, who can help to support her with her gift. It brought the entire series full-circle and those ending chapters were AMAZING. I had a hard time staying patient through the first 75% of the book, but the last 25% made all of that waiting worth it. The book ended the series perfectly. I'm going to miss these characters. It was definitely a series that I thoroughly enjoyed. I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I could easily sum this review up in one simple sentence. It finally happened. That is why I’ve read the Frostbite series. It is why you should read the series. Stacey has done an amazing job of not only building an insane amount of anticipation for the happily every after that readers have been wanting Tess and Kipp to find, but she has maintained it through each book in this series all while raising it more in each book. She has kept mystery and conflict fresh.
Tess never wanted to communicate with the dead. Her goal in life was never to be a law enforcement official who has a passion for solving crimes. Her curse or ability has taken her down this path. She now finds herself dealing with people who are using her ability to serve their own agenda. All Tess wants is to help Kipp with his dilemma. The closer she gets to that solution the further away the resolution becomes. Tess deserves so much more than the little breadcrumbs she gets.
Eternally Devoted was the perfect conclusion to the Frostbite series. Tess has a new level of her acceptance with her ability, when given a choice about how to precede with it in her life she makes some shocking decisions. She has really grown as a character. Of course with any story told in first person point of view I feel like I missed out on Kipp some. I would love to know how he felt about certain aspects from his perspective.
The Frostbite series should be read in order. I feel that readers would miss out on some important events if they tried to read these books without starting at the beginning.
Guys, guys .... Guuuuuys! You know when a book holds so much suspense and is playing with your emotions that you have to cheat and go to the end of the book to find out what happens, because if it isn't the ending you want you're going to throw the biggest tantrum and not read the rest? Yeeaaaah
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!
Guuuuuys! Thank fuck! Like literally. The sex, amazing! The romance, amazing! The crime solving, fucking spectacular! It was everything I wanted in a novel. Sex, electric heart stopping romance and a brain teaser trying to work out who killed who and what happened to Kip and if Tess was going to get a happy ending (yeah I meant it like that too).
I am so happy they can finally touch. Tess is lucky! The way I would not even have waited to touch him. All those weeks and months of sexually fraternising with a spirit that wasn't even dead. I'd be about to burst!
Can we have another book. I want to know about their life now that they aren't trying to find out what happened to him. With more ghosts but being able to touch. I do not however, wish to know about children. Can't a couple get married and have none?!
Basically a great book. Best series for September. You have to read them all! Trust me! I skipped to the end of Book 4 after reading Book 1 to satisfy my curiosity and the need that things go "my way", but went back and read all books and it was really worth it. Helps you solve the mystery in Book 4 (I only skipped cuz I needed to know what happened to Tess and Kip - I even googled I was that desperate).
I am sad but not because the book was sad I am sad because it is official I have finally read the last book and I do not believe there will be more because I see no more drama for Tess to get another story.... maybe there might be but I do not have high hopes for a 5th book. I love Stacey's books she is a wonderful author
Fami!y.....first and foremost. Add love of all and there you have it! Kip and Tess finally came together! The bad/good guy was found. Cliffhanger to the end, but was well worth it.
I sooo didn't see that coming.. had my feeling but then was totally run off in the other direction. Well freaking done Stacey! The ending omg I felt it in my soul and was left in tears thank you. ❤
My Rating: 3.5 stars: Liked it - recommend (B+) Originally posted at That's What I'm Talking About
NOTE: Eternally Devoted is the fourth and final book of the Frostbite series. This review will inevitably contain spoilers from the first three books, each of which have twists that may be more enjoyable without knowing what will happen. I highly suggest if you haven’t picked it up already, start reading this series with the first book, Supernaturally Kissed.
I am a huge fan of Tess and Kipp, the star players in Ms. Kennedy’s wonderful Frostbite series, and so I write this review for Eternally Devoted, the final book in the series, filled with mixed emotions. On the one hand, I am overjoyed that Kipp and Tess finally have their day in the sun, but at the same time I am sad to say good-bye to this series.
Eternally Devoted picks up the story of Tess and gang immediately from moment of the cliff-hangerish ending of the third book, Mystically Bound. Tess and her friends have traveled to White Castle, LA, in attempts to help a magical group known as the Animus discover who killed their Grand Master, Alexander. In exchange, their new leader, Wayde, has agreed teach Tess how to help her ghost-of-a-boyfriend, Kipp, reenter his body and wake again. At the end of the last book and beginning of the current story, Tess has just been told that the man they know as “Wayde Hagen is, in fact, dead.” This sends the whole group searching for the man calling himself Wayde in hopes he can answer the dozen questions that have surfaced - like “Did you kill Alexander, Wayde?”
By in large, I enjoyed the story, and I was extremely satisfied with the series ending. Once again, Ms. Kennedy added a few key twists to the plot line that added suspense and excitement. One such twist I had figured out in the previous book (but didn’t know the reason ‘why’ behind it until it was explained), and another twist was a marvelous surprise that I didn’t see coming until literally the page before the reveal. Ms. Kennedy does a superb job leaving little clues for the reader to collect along the way, in hopes of piecing them all together before the clock runs out.
Tess and Kipp spent a lot of time apart in this one, but the moments they had together were insanely intense, sometimes sweet and other times sexy. There is just something about this pair that had me hooked since the beginning. I have enjoyed their journey with all the ups and downs they had to get through in order to arrive at their conclusion.
Since this is the final book of the series, there is a lot of introspection and explaining of why Tess can communicate with ghosts and in general, what was going on around Tess and Kipp. Although for the most part I thoroughly liked the reasons behind the happenings, I felt at times that there was a lot of “telling” and explaining, rather than action and “showing.” There were times that I felt like skipping ahead so I could get back to the primary storyline and more action.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers, so I’ll carefully say that I loved the ending of this book. To witness the conclusion that I’ve been waiting to see since day one was worth the wait. Not only that, but Tess has really grown into a wonderful woman. I admire that she had to go through so much and loved seeing her learn to stand up for herself. In addition, I completely enjoyed seeing Tess go from a pretty lonely woman to one with an amazing extended family of close friends.
In the end, Eternally Devoted is a great treat for fans of the Frostbite series. However, I don’t feel it would be enjoyable as a stand alone book, and at the very least, one should read Mystically Bound first. Overall I enjoyed the wrap-up and conclusion of the series. Although I felt that there was a lot of explaining rather than doing, I LOVED how it all turned out.
Instead of boy meets girl, or vampire meets girl, or whatever might float your paranormal boat, in Supernaturally Kissed we have Tess and Kipp, girl meets ghost. She tries to ignore him--then she tries to help him cross over.
But Kipp isn't just any ghost. He's a Memphis cop. Ghosts can't cross until they resolve whatever is keeping them here, and Kipp needs to solve his last case. So Tess helps. And in the process of helping Kipp, the former bad boy cop and good girl clerk fall in love.
Talk about star-crossed lovers!
Kipp refuses to cross when the case is over. Tess has become his new piece of unfinished business in the world of the living. Or so they both think.
The road from that first unfinished case to Eternally Devoted has been fraught with danger. Tess has discovered that her involvement with the supernatural is much more than just the ability to see ghosts. She can help the police, she can help the ghosts.
It can also be dangerous.
And Tess and Kipp have a real chance at happiness. In the real world.
But before that can happen, she has to solve a murder of the leader of the Animus, a secret supernatural community. Maybe she'll be able to return Kipp to his body, if she provides the right answers.
And maybe they'll both be trapped in the Netherworld.
The Animus are so secretive she can't tell which are her friends, and which are her enemies. But if Tess doesn't find out soon, all of her friends could end up dead protecting her.
And Kipp might be lost forever.
Escape Rating A-: The series as a whole is awesome. You really, really want Tess and Kipp to find their happy ending. Tess has worked incredibly hard for it.
One of the amazing things in the series is that Tess is the one rescuing Kipp. He's a ghost for the entire series and can't act in the real world. She has to do the heavy lifting.
I did figure out who the "bad actors" were very early on in Mystically Bound. One of the motives was murkier than was apparent, but both of the "who" parts were pretty easy to determine. Tess was more forgiving than human nature would warrant, in my opinion. YMMV.
But, they do get their HEA. I won't spoil the how, where and why. It's earned, and all the loose ends are wrapped up. Thank goodness. I don't think my heart could have taken another one of Stacey's positively diabolical cliffhangers.
I just read the last page of Tess and Kipp's story and I sit here with this huge silly grin on my face. I'm pretty sure I made the sated 'ah' sound too. I can't even work myself up to feeling bittersweet about the ending of a most favored series because Stacey Kennedy seems to know how to bring one safely through in a manner that leaves me so content that I can't spare a second for regret.
Upon reflection, I see these books as more of one book in four volumes because of how directly connected they are and how tight they hug to each other and not just the one before it. I bring this up to say that this is a series that abso-must be read in order. There will be series spoilers in this review so be aware of this if you continue reading.
This story takes off right where Mystically Bound leaves things. Where Mystically Bound was a transitional book, Eternally Devoted is the clincher. Things are coming together and making sense finally even if the answers aren't what people want to hear. The book has two different paces where the first half is a frenzied search for answers and the last half slows to gently flow with what finally having the answers mean.
The group in White Castle trying to solve Alexander's murder along with Tess trying to find the spell to help Kipp has just been warned by Max that Wayne is an imposter. This announcement leads to further investigation into Wayne which reveals the fact that he has a home in Baton Rouge. Off they all go to hunt down a presumed murderer and the Lux book of spells. And indeed, great revelations are made, but in a way that's just the beginning of a long agony-filled denouement. None of it's easygoing particularly for Tess who is faced with taking a gamble on what will help Kipp and making a momentous decision about her own life that may separate her from Kipp forever.
Okay, now I'm starting to get that bittersweet feeling of something good coming to an end. I look back on the solid, gripping plot, on the characters that drew me in and kept me in suspense and sympathy for them from the beginning, on the way my emotions were engaged and on the cliffhangers that caused me to think bad thoughts about authors who end their stories that way. Yes, I will even miss the cliffhangers and the anticipation of what was coming with each new installment. However, the taste of bitterness is mild because of the outstanding wrap up to the series in the latter half of this book- yowsers I just knew how good it would be and it was. It was filled with tears, laughter, smoldering sensual heat, and deep-seated contentment with a future bright with promise even for those who were saddened.
So in the end, I cannot shoo you off to get this book/series fast enough. Fans of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance should probably 'shoo' to check these out the fastest.
I want to thank Stacey Kennedy for the gift of my copy which I have exchanged with her for my honest review thoughts on the book.
If you have read the first three books, you know what the ending has to be.
If you haven’t read the first three books, STOP IMMEDIATELY and go read them. This series is awesome and should not be missed.
OK, here it comes [drum roll]
*SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER*
PSYCH! I’m not saying a word. Damn I’m cruel.:)
Figure it out – it ain’t too hard.
I loved this series and will miss it greatly.
I was floored when you find out how Tess got her powers. It was an amazing scene.
The last third of the book made me forget to breath – it had the same effect on Tess.
And the ending? Well, let’s just say it made me think of puppy dogs, butterflies and ice cream cones. Ah…
Here are my only three critiques and they are very minor and I’m just nitpicky:
***SPOILERS*** (for real this time)
If you wake out of a coma, you do not jump up, rip your breathing tube out, and get on a plane to Louisiana. Especially after a months long coma. Trust me, I’ve done it (well only for a day and I did rip the respirator out – that really HURT!). There’s a lot of physical therapy involved. But for the plot it probably wouldn’t work so well.
After a months long coma, even though it’s been a really long time, you probably won’t really be up for sex – at least on the first day.
When you wake from a months long coma, you do not have rock hard abs and chiseled pecs (especially if you’re a guy). You haven’t exercised. You will probably be thin with little definition. But then the sex part (see above) won’t be nearly as fun.
I really liked all 4 books a lot. I see that Ms. Kennedy has a werewolf series coming soon. Coolness!
Our Review, by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:
if you've followed my reviews for the previous installments of the series you know I'm a huge fan...
Stacey has somehow created this amazing mixed-genre series that 's not just a paranormal romance or urban fantasy, it's not just a romantic suspense, it's not just a mystery romance or a ghost story.... it's all of the above and then some,, and each and every book will leave you wanting more.
Eternally Devoted was the perfect end to this incredible saga, and while I am desperately going to miss the series, having had 4 books to laugh and cry with these amazing characters, gasp and get anxious at the incredible intrigue, be surprised continuously by the brilliant mystery, and get goosebumps over the wonderful romance has been an honor.
Every book of the series has been compelling, but there was something about this book that spoke to me; it was almost as if I could FEEL the heart ad soul that Stacey poured into it. It was obviously a labor of love, and I am thrilled that she shared it with us!
LITERAL ADDICTION gives Eternally Devoted 5 Skulls and highly recommends this series to anyone and everyone.
Eternally Devoted is book 4 and the last in the Frostbite series. The immediate conflict here started in Mystically Bound (Frostbite #3), but this is also our last chance to see if there can be a happy ending for Tess and Kipp. Sometimes the last book in a series does not much but wrap up story lines and they can feel rushed or drawn out. You will find none of those weak things here. This last book moves fast and brings all the entertainment we've come to love in the first three books in this series. Tess also faces her biggest challenge yet in Eternally Devoted and a choice that could change the course of her life. It's huge. You have to read this one to experience it. I've come to really enjoy all the characters in the Frostbite series and there are several that I'd love to see get their own book or series. Besides Tess, the character I love the most is Kipp. He's total swoon material, especially after that ending. Happy reader here. Don't miss out on this series or this final read. The Frostbite series is a must read and are all five-star worthy. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.
OMG I just finished last night. I am sooo Happy & yet soooo sad at the same time. With this being the final installment of this series I was apprehensive to pick up my ereader & start the first page. I wanted my favorite characters to get their happily ever after soooo bad. But I didn't want their stories to end. I love love LOVE this series with a passion. And when I finally started reading it I slowly made my way through each chapter. By the end I was Totally in tears (DANG YOU, But Love you dearly Stacey Kennedy) and I loved it. Stacey, my dear, you scared me to death, surprised me, & Made me cry soooo many times through this series. You did a wonderful job writing this final piece of the puzzle that was Tess & Kipps Magical journey to each other. I refuse to give any details away but I honestly give a 5 star rating & recommend this to any & all PNR lovers out there. It was Exciting, Scary at times & Heart Breaking. My hats off you to Stacey & Big Hugs from a HUGE FAN of yours.
If anyone who loves Paranormal Romace with Ghosts are out there, I highly reccommend this series. When you start with Supernaturally Kissed (Frostbite, #1) you WILL be hooked.
All wrapped up with a pretty big bow! We jump right in where the previous story Mystically Bound left off, standing in the barn in the dark. Then it starts moving and then all the questions get answered.
1. What really happened to Tess and her family? 2. How did Tess get her powers and why? 3. Can Tess help Kipp? 4. Will Tess & Kipp ever have a life together? 5. Can Tess solve Alexander’s murder? 6. Can Tess help Alexander pass into the light? 7. Where is Wayde? 8. Who is Wayde? 9. Can and will Nettie help them? 10. Will they all live?
The questions go on but Ms Kennedy answers them with such pizzazz. Tess & Kipp’s love is so strong, wonderful and passionate. Tess is a very loving, compassionate, and loyal person. Kipp is strong physically, emotionally and mentally. He also has a great sense of humor. The two of them together make a powerfully romantic couple. Their story is fast paced, funny, scary at times, and full of love and passion.
Thank you, Ms. Kennedy. I loved this series!
If you haven’t read the Frostbite Series, you should start with Supernaturally Kissed. They are definitely worth the time.
Ladies, break out the tissues as you're going to need it. This is the fourth and last book in the Frostbite series, and it does not disappoint. I just love Tess and Kipp; they've come so far since book 1. Kipp....(sigh)....Kipp. Let's just say that the way the series ended was without a doubt sinfully hot. I didn't want it to end. The intensity and passion oozing out of Kipp when he's looking at Tess, almost touching, feeling their breaths on each other - let's just say if Kipp was looking at me, I probably would have melted right into his hands. As sad as it is for this terrific series to end, the author is deserving of high-kudos and high-fives for ending the series on a high note; unlike some authors who don't know when to end a series. Bravo Ms. Kennedy. This, along with a terrific story and great cast of characters, is why "Eternally Devoted" is deserving of the five stars I gave.
For all those who love reading paranormal-romance, I highly recommend the Frostbite series.
I loved this conclusion to the story! It was the perfect ending for Tess and Kipp. To be honest I thought it ended well for all the characters really. I loved when Tess remembered her first time in the netherworld when her family crossed over, it was so healing for her to remember. It was great to finally hear from Nettie as well and when Kipp turned up to surprise her in the flesh! It was so emotional and had me grinning like a fool! Perfect just perfect! This last installment was well worth the wait and to see Kipp in the flesh interacting with those around him was just heartwarming and to see the intensity he got in his eyes regarding Tess was hot! It was great to see them get their happy ending and the life together that they worked so hard for! Really satisfying conclusion!
Awwww what a great ending. You know, these 4 books could have been one book or just 2 but OK. I loved that Tess has changed towards the ending and how wonderful she is with Kipp. They are a great couple. There was a moment I found really really unbelievable (ever been in a hospital for a while? Yes? And did you feel fit after lying there for a while???). But it lead to hot hot scenes so I can forgive this. And loved the epilogue.