CBR15 Book 29: "Both Feet in the Grave" by Jeaniene Frost

Page count: 348 pages

Rating: 3.5 stars

15-word review: Bones tells his side of the story of how he reunited with his Red Reaper. 

Jeaniene Frost's retelling of her successful paranormal fantasy series from the point of view of Bones the vampire continues. This book is a take on the events of One Foot in the Grave. It's been four long years since Kat Crawfield left him to protect him, not really understanding that if he'd managed to stay alive for two hundred years before meeting her, some secret government paranormal division wasn't going to pose much of a threat to him either. Even with all of his resources and skills as a hunter, it's almost a lucky break that makes it possible for Bones to reunite with his half-vampire love - at the wedding of a human Bones befriended in a bar, in fact. Completely taken by surprise during the ceremony, Kat can't hide her overwhelmed reaction to seeing Bones again, and while she tries to cover it afterward, Bones can tell she still loves him.

Of course, in the years since they last saw each other, Kat has become even more of a bad-ass, and now leads a whole team of skilled vampire hunters. One of the vampires they've pissed off with their operation is Ian, Bones' sire, who is now very interested in adding the Red Reaper to his exclusive collection. He also has Kat's father, the vampire who got her mother pregnant, working for him, and plans to use him as a trap to lure Kat into his power. Bones has no intention of letting that happen, and will only let Kat keep working with her government spooks if he gets to work alongside her to make sure she is safe. Since he has some interesting blackmail material on Kat's boss, he doesn't really have that much trouble convincing them to let him join "the gang". 

Now Bones needs to call in all of his allies and use all his cunning to outsmart Ian, so the devious Master vampire doesn't gain control of Kat forever.

This was another fun book by Jeaniene Frost, but I suspect one of the reasons I liked it less than the previous one is because the source material she's retelling isn't as entertaining. The first book sets up the world and the dynamic between Kat and Bones, a lot of this book is bogged down in Bones trying to locate Kat, then convincing her that they are meant to be together and then all the power play stuff with Ian. I don't regret the time I spent reading the book, and I will probably keep getting them if Frost decides to keep doing them (I often find Bones a more engaging narrator than Kat). But I'm not going to add them to my pre-order list or anything.

Judging a book by its cover: Really not a huge fan of the cover art for these books. I think it's a different dude portraying Bones on this one, and he just looks wrong to me. Wasn't wild about the last guy either, but it's not like I'm buying these books for the covers. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read

CBR14 Book 14: "The Other Side of the Grave" by Jeaniene Frost

Page count: 424 pages

Audio book length: 13 hrs 13 mins

Rating: 4 stars

Back in 2007, Jeaniene Frost published the first volume in her paranormal fantasy series Night Huntress, Halfway to the Grave, about half-vampire Catherine "Cat" Crawfield (the unlikely offspring of a vampire and a human), who hunts vampires because her mother has raised her to hate them, and since Cat has never really felt loved or accepted by her mother or grandparents, hopes that her crusade to end as many undead as possible will earn her family's affection. Cat runs into English master vampire Crispin "Bones" Russell one day, and once he discovers her unique nature, not to mention starts falling head over heels for the hot-headed young vampire slayer, decides to train her to become much better at her chosen extra-curricular activity, mainly so she doesn't get herself killed the next time she runs into a really strong vampire. That the training forces her to spend lots and lots of time with him, well, that's also a bonus.

The series, where Cat and Bones inevitably fall in passionate love with one another, ended up being seven books long, not to mention there being a bunch of novellas, not to mention spin-off books where Bones' vampire friends found HEAs of their own eventually. Now Frost (whose books I think I initially picked up because she's BFF with Ilona Andrews) has decided to pull an E.L. James, or Stephenie Meyer, or what will you, and rewrite her first book in the series from Bones' POV. Selfish cash-grab? Maybe, but I found myself really enjoying the book, and wanting to revisit the series once more (I read the first books in the series back in 2009). Since I own at least the first few of the books in paperback, I found myself curious and compared a lot of the scenes. Frost writes that it's obvious that people remember things in different ways, so some scenes are pretty much word-for-word recreations, while a lot of the book covers all the stuff Bones did when Cat wasn't around. 

As I said, I found myself amused by the book. Frost has updated a lot of the technology and references in the book to make it seem like it was set now (apparently Bones had a beeper in the first book, that's just objectively hilarious). After reading about a third, I got the audiobook version because I wanted to be able to listen to it when I was taking walks, and doing chores, and the narrator is mostly very good. I very much disagree with his accent and intonation for Bones (he sounds too thuggish), but all in all, it was a really fun listen, and at a time when I can barely find entertainment that holds my attention, the fact that I wanted to keep listening was absolutely a plus. Not sure Frost needs to write the rest of the series from Bones' POV though.

Judging a book by its cover: While this book has a pretty bad cover (that is just NOT how Bones looks in my mind's eye), it's a million times better than the eyesores that were the early covers of the Night Huntress series. Seriously, paranormal fantasy covers back in the day were SO ugly, you guys. Like so very very bad. The fact that the cover model portraying Cat on the first book looked to be in her mid-thirties (Cat is 22) didn't help. So I guess I shouldn't complain too much about this cover. 

Crossposted on Cannonball Read. 

#CBR5 Book 128. "Dark Currents" by Jaqueline Carey

Page count: 368 pages
Rating: 4 stars

Daisy Johanssen grew up in the town of Pemkowet in the Midwest. Her mother lives in a trailer and works as a seamstress, her father is an incubus accidentally summoned during an ill-advised Ouija board session when her mother was a teenager. Of course, you'd think being half-demon would make Daisy unusual in town, but there's all manner of supernatural beings in Pemkowet, and tourists travel from all over the country to see fairies and trolls and naiads and the like. Hel, the Norse goddess of the underworld keeps the supernatural element in check, and Daisy is her agent in the mortal world, as well as acting as supernatural liaison with the local police department.

When a young, wealthy college kid drowns and everything suggests supernatural involvement, the tourist trade could be seriously affected. The local police are under a lot of pressure, and Hel isn't all that happy with the situation either. Daisy has to work the case with Cody Fairfax, trying to hide the massive crush on him she's nurtured since high school. She also has to keep a lid on her volatile temper, as giving into the temptations from her demonic dad could set in motion Armageddon.

I'm a HUGE fan of Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy series (I especially adore the Phèdre trilogy and the final Imriel book), and while I wasn't as enthused about her attempt at young adult literature, Santa Olivia, I've long been curious about her foray into paranormal fantasy. I just hadn't got round to checking it out. So when Vaginal Fantasy Hangout selected the book as their main read for October, it seemed like the perfect time to give it a try. This was the first book I read for this autumn's 24 hour Read-a-thon, and it was a good choice to begin with - the book is an entertaining and moderately action packed read, with an interesting premise and a cool heroine.

Daisy has obviously never had any direct contact with her dear old Dad, but has a close relationship with her mother, who raised her and helped to make her the helpful and brave young woman she's become. Frequently paranormal heroines have horrible or even villainous parents, so it's nice to get an example of a healthy, supportive and functional mother/daughter relationship. The various female relationships in the book are very well done, actually. There's Daisy's "crazy aunt" of a sort, Lurline, and her best friend, Jen, who she has a major falling out with over the course of the book because they're both interested in Officer Fairfax (and I was so happy when this wasn't dragged out for too long and turned into major, bitchy backstabbing drama).

So yes, there are romantic complications in the book. Cody the werewolf keeps his supernatural identity secret, and is determined that he can never be with a non-werewolf, yet that doesn't stop Daisy and her friend from fancying him. Thrown into the mix there is also Stefan, the intriguing new leader of the local biker gang (who are all ghouls), who clearly wants to get to know Daisy better, and over the course of the book, she also runs into Sinclair Palmer, a handsome Jamaican guy who wants to run a supernatural bus tour in town. Yet considering the steamy nature of Carey's first three fantasy trilogies, even though there are three different love interests introduced, those who like a strong romantic subplot will be disappointed - you don't even get kissing in this book.

You do get promising world building, an interesting premise for a series and a decent gallery of characters. The writing style of this book is much more sparse than the lush, poetic style of the Kushiel books, but there is a lot of humour as well as the mystery that needs to be solved, plus some decent action set pieces. I will absolutely be checking out more books in the series, because I liked "hanging out" with Daisy (and I want to see which of the supernatural hunks she eventually ends up with).

CBR3 Book 26: "This Side of the Grave" by Jeaniene Frost

Publisher:  Avon
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: April 2nd, 2011
Date finished: April 6th, 2011

This is the fifth book in the Night Huntress series, and as a result, this review may and probably does contain spoilers for some of the previous books in the series. The book will make little sense on its own, and is not a great starting-point. If you want to pick up the series from the beginning, Halfway to the Grave would be the place to start.

Cat and Bones have solved the mystery of her nightmares, and cemented their relationship in the eyes of their friends and the vampire community. Unfortunately they can't take any time off, as Appyllon, a powerful ghoul leader, is spreading crazy rumours about Cat's supposed powers, and trying to provoke a supernatural inter-species war. Vampires are disappearing without a trace, ghouls are getting more and more paranoid. In addition, Cat discovers that her uncle is dying, and her mother has a new career choice in mind.

I must admit that, with the exception of Jeaniene Frost's loose spin-offs of the Night Huntress series, I've mainly been reading her books hoping they'd get better. My main problem has always been that Cat has annoyed the heck out of me, because she never seemed satisfied with what she had. In this book, Cat has grown more comfortable with herself and stopped acting like an idiot towards Bones and accepted several other aspects of her life, and I actually really enjoyed this one. As it's the fifth book in the series (with several supporting characters having been properly fleshed out in their own books), Frost is now writing about a number of firmly established and likable characters, and I'm very glad that the next book in the series will be published as soon as August. I hope she manages to keep it as entertaining as this one was.