This Side of the Grave – Jeaniene Frost

February 24, 2011 in Reviews

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • Jeaniene Frost’s Website
  • List Price: $7.99 US
  • Publisher: Avon (February 22, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061783188
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061783180

Buy This Side of the Grave at:

Danger waits on both sides of the grave. 

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they’ve triumphed over the latest battle, Cat’s new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance…

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing.  A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous “ally”–the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war. …to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

This was my most anticipated read of February & I was disappointed but This Side of the Grave. I’m sure to be one of the few who wasn’t a fan of the latest installment of the Cat & Bones series. This time around, Cat & Bones are trying to find out who is causing the disappearance of vampires, vampires who are turning up dead. More focus was given to Cat & Bones relationship, which I was fine with.

Of course there are a few hot sex scenes, one of which I felt was totally unnecessary. If you are trying to find the person who wants you dead, you do not leave your post to come sleep with your wife, but hey that’s just me. Yes, I get you’re worried one of you might die but seriously? Leaving & flying back to have sex. No. No. No. For me, the candle wax scene was a bit over the top. Sorry, candle wax on a mans junk, hell no.

What I took biggest issue with was the fact that (at least to me) this book had more focus on Cat & Bones relationship issues, well mainly Cat’s. But when it came time for the big showdown, it was very wham bam it’s over. You know right from the start who the big bad is, the lead up is almost all of the book, but when we get to the showdown it all happens really fast & the lead up felt like nothing.

The best part of This Side of the Grave was the emotions & they were flying. Something big goes down with someone Cat knows & it’s extremly emotional…that said…..another thing happens that ruined all that emotion for me.

I really wasn’t a fan of the plot, I felt like more could have been done with Marie the Ghoul Queen to make it a little bit more interesting. Of course I love Vlad, so it was great to have him back though I wish he would get a spin-off series, ASAP. The ending was a bit ridiculous for me, but of course I can’t tell you what all that is about because it would ruin it for you. But when I read it, I rolled my eyes. Like really? REALLY? ARGH!

An okay addition to the series, but nothing that’s going to take you by surprise…well maybe the candle wax.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness – Jeaniene Frost

July 27, 2010 in Reviews

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • Jeaniene Frost’s Website
  • Publisher: Avon (July 27, 2010)
  • List Price: $7.99 US/$9.99 CDN
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061783161
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061783166

Buy Eternal Kiss of Darkness at:

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she’s only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he’d seen it all. Then Kira appears – this fearless, beautiful….human who braved death to rescue him. Though her burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose either the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness is the second book in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress World Series.

Mencheres is a Master Vampire, who has just had to kill his wife due to her insanity. No one has ever really liked him for who he is, only for his money & his status. Kira is a PI, who one night while walking home hears moaning from an abandon warehouse, for some reason she goes in to “save” Mencheres having no idea he is a vampire. After saving him, Kira finds out what he is & when Mencheres cannot remove her memories of the event, he has to keep her around until he decides what to do next.

For me Eternal Kiss of Darkness was an okay read, I didn’t blow through it fast like a Cat & Bones novel but it was a better read then the first book in the Night Huntress Series. It felt a bit like the same old, same old you read in lots of PR books: Woman meets Vampire, Woman is leery of Vampire, Woman finds out she likes Vampire but doesn’t want to admit it. I wasn’t too fond of Kira, sometimes she was a little too uppity for me, but I loved Mencheres & it was great to finally find out what had happened in his life before sharing his power with Bones. You get a really good vibe for him & understand a lot more of the world he has lived in. There are also a few appearance’s by Cat & Bones, which made the story even better for me…who doesn’t love Bones? Plus Vlad pays a visit!

Sex. Uh huh. I am going there. You see Mencheres hasn’t had sex in an uber long time & if you know Ms. Frost, you know she writes one helluva sex scene. Add lack of sex to that & whoa, we gots some hot vampire loving peoples. Ceiling Sex. Uh huh.

If you were disappointed in the first book of the series, Eternal Kiss of Darkness will make it all better. Steamy sex, action & a cool storyline makes for one good read.

First Drop of Crimson – Jeaniene Frost

February 8, 2010 in Reviews

  • Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
  • List Price: $7.99 US/$10.99 CDN
  • Publisher: Avon; Original edition (February 9, 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061583227
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061583223

Buy First Drop of Crimson at:

The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows—her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield—and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness—and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who lusts for a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human—even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the nightmare together . . .

Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.

First Drop of Crimson (the first book in the Night Huntress spin off series) focuses on Denise, Cat’s best-friend that we’ve only had small glimpses of in past novels. Denise has pulled herself away from all contact with vampires, even pulling away from Cat, after loosing her husband Randy in the last vampire war. Suddenly members of Denise’s family start dying of heart attacks, when Denise witnesses a family members last moments she realizes it’s not heart attacks that are killing them off, its a demon. One of her distant relatives reneged on a deal with a demon and he’s out to get her whole family. She must find this relative or risk loosing every single family member left and worse, he’s marked her.  Denise doesn’t want to get Cat or Bone’s involved and all she has left is asking Spade for help. Spade realizes, it’s going to be a lot harder than he expected when he tastes that first drop of crimson.

Readers of the Night Huntress series will not be disappointed with First Drop of Crimson, Ms. Frost keeps true to the series but adds new life! This book was action packed from beginning to the very end, with all sorts of twists and turns. Denise is still having panic attacks around vampires due to the vampire war, so you feel her struggle to get past it and grow stronger. There is appearances by old characters like Ian, Bones & Cat among others. So even if there isn’t a Cat & Bones book until 2011, you do get some time with them in First Drop.

If you haven’t ever read a Jeaniene Frost book, you can pick this one up without reading the previous novels. There’s just enough back story that you won’t feel lost if you start from First Drop and you’ll quickly pick up the storyline.

Fans of “Chapter 32″ from Jeaniene Frost’s novel One Foot In The Grave, will get a big laugh out of…Chapter 23. Seriously, chapter 23. I giggled when I saw what chapter I was reading. Well done Ms. Frost, even if it wasn’t intentional! The chemistry between Spade and Denise was intense, and let me tell you…hot hot hot! Cat & Bones have some competition!

Go out and grab a copy on February 9th, trust me. You won’t be able to put it down!

Book News

October 13, 2009 in Book News

First a big congratulations to Kimberly Frost, her new novel Barely Bewitched is a National Bestseller!

Literary Escapisim has a great interview with Linda Wisdom, author of the Hex Series along with a great contest.

Marta Acosta has told me that her next book Nancy’s Theory of Style will be out June 2010 & Casa Dracula will be making a return October 2010. Marta also has some contests on her blog.

Dakota Cassidy has been interviewed at Daily Dose, Fantasy & Romance, there is also a contest!

FDOCJeaniene Frost has posted the cover for First Drop of Crimson (February 2010) on her Myspace Blog.

First Drop of Crimson is the first spin off of the Night Huntress Series. From the back cover:

The night is not safe for mortals. Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows – her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield – and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s dark past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness – and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who craves a taste of her.

He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human – even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the demon nightmare together…Because once the first drop of crimson falls, they will both be lost.

You can read the first chapter on Myspace.

Upcoming 2009 Paranormal Romance Releases

June 17, 2009 in Upcoming Releases 2009

I have been at it all morning, updating my to be released list in Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy & Horror.

Hope this makes it easier on everyone to find out when their favorite author is releasing their next book. If you see that I have missed someone, let me know! Read the rest of this entry →