Home for the Holidays (Night Huntress 6.5) by Jeaniene Frost in the anthology The Bite Before Christmas

Like promised, today you get 2 reviews instead of one. First you got a new author for me, now i got back to my classic with a novella from Jeaniene Frost, one of my favorite authors, and even better a novella set in the Night Huntress series. We never get enough of Cat and Bones^^.

So without waiting here is my opinion on "Home for the Holidays", published as part of the anthology " The Bite Before Christmas"

Happy Reading!

Publisher: William Morrow

Publication: 2011

Genre: paranormal romance, holiday romance
Violence: strong
Language: normal
sex: mild
Public: 18+

Source: bought

Short description from goodreads :

 This holiday season, join two of today's most popular paranormal authors for a special look into their worlds, where creatures are always stirring and no one sleeps through the night. . . . The Bite Before Christmas.
(…)
Home for the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost Cat and Bones are looking forward to a normal holiday--at least as "normal" as it gets for the combustible vampire couple and their otherworldly friends and family. But their yuletide plans are shattered when a stranger shows up and reveals long-buried family secrets that threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer . . . and lives.

My opinion:

          It’s always a great pleasure to read a book or a novella from the Night Huntress series. I really love Jeaniene Frost’s writing style and the ambiance of the story so when I hear about this novella I couldn’t miss it.

Cat is planning a birthday party for Bones with the guests staying longer so they spend the holidays all together like a family. That should be simple but with Cat and Bones it’s never as it seems and soon unwanted surprise transforms the happy time in a near war state. Bones doesn’t like himself and even worse he excludes Cat from his line.  In all this havoc Cat can only count on her friend ghost Fabian, and his girlfriend, Denise and a surprising useful Ian.

I loved to see more about the powers sources in this world, we got little details about demons in Denise’s story yes but here we delve deeper and the paranormal world Cat is discovering is even more complex that what she expected. However what I enjoyed the most was Ian. Until now I accepted the fact he was loyal to Bones at least in a measure but I couldn’t stand him. He was too selfish, arrogant and a real pervert but in this novella I saw him under a new light. He is more knowledgeable than it seems and he can act when needed.  He also has his own form of honor and I liked how he bickered with Cat but was also able to listen and comfort when it was needed. He really loves Bones and he has proven his loyalty. He was also kind with Denise.

Now I must admit that he also made me curious about the reason he got his tattoo and I hope the author will tell us more about that one day. I mean it will help to see how he matured too since it was long ago ( I hope for him^^).

It was funny to see how the girls teamed together to get their vampire mate back, I wouldn’t want to be on their bad side. And of course, love is stronger than evil even if it’s via the vampire’s territoriality^^.

A good novella perfect for the season and all year long for all the fans. I recommend it but preferably for the fans of the series, it can be read as a stand alone yes so if you don’t know this universes it could give you a taste of it but  you will appreciate even more as an addition to the series^^.

Score:  4/5

Disclaimer: All opinions are my own and no compensation was received in exchange for this review

Challenges:

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading

To join in, copy and paste these rules and the above banner into your Fanged Mania post and add your link to this week’s Fanged Mania post at Elisabeth Wheatley’s Blog. Fanged Mania is a Friday meme counting down to the release of Fanged Princess and displaying all things vampire and awesome. Fanged Mania posts can be a review of a vampire book, a quote from the latest Vampire Diaries episode, a showcase of a cool vampire book’s cover, or whatever you like so long as it is vampire related. Don’t forget, participants will be entered in the drawing to win a fanged-abulous prize pack!

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Hello to all,

                   I know i've wrote a lot in French this month and i didn't want my English Readers to feel left out, i wasn't well at all and when i'm ill it's more easy for me to write in my native language. But today i'm so happy that i didn't want to make you wait longer. ^^;; I'm sure i could have wrote this better and i will try to do better anyway here it's the review of First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost.

It's the first book from the Night Huntress world ( published also in French in 2011 by Milady) so it's kind of a spin off but for me it's really part of the Night Huntress serie. The events if this book take place after book 4 Destined for an Early Grave and before Eternal kiss of Darkness.

Enjoy!

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Spin off from the Night Huntress Serie/ Night huntress world’s novel
Editor: Avon ( published 2010)
Langage:mild
Sex: mild
Violence: mild
How i got this book: bought

Summary/ description from bookdepository.com  :

       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.

Story:

       Denise is traumatized by the event taking place at the new eve when she lost her husband because of that she decided to break contact with Cat and Bones and the vampires’ world. After all these months she is starting to have less episodes even if she can’t forget. When several members of her family died from heart attack in a short time, she want to think it’s just bad luck…until her cousin is attacked in front of her by a man who resist pepper spray and silver. For the police, it’s a heart attack and nobody saw anything. Now she know she is confronted to something paranormal but when she wants to call her friend Cat  to help her, she doesn’t have her actual number. The only one she has it’s the one from a Vampire friend of Cat: Spade.

Spade has been attracted to Denise since the first time he lays his eyes on her, but Crispin was clear: she is off the limit. He has only two kind of use for human women: feeding and casual sex and Cat’s friend is too good for that. However, when Denise calls him he fells he has an obligation to check her story. A demon against Denise, that’s a big problem and the said demon branded her and threatened her: either she deliver him one of her ancestor that made a pact with him or all family members die. Together, they decide to find the man to save her without endangering Cat and Bones so in disguise of a couple they search the vampire world. Not as easy at it seems when anger make her transform or when her blood is an illegal drug so that everything must be kept a secret.

Style:

          Jeaniene Frost give to her readers a Spin off that is a part of the Night Huntress even indirectly. Without the knowledge from the 4 first books of the serie, it would be perhaps difficult to understand all the implications in the story. For her fans, that’s a parfait parenthesis while waiting for the night Huntress serie, we find Ian, Mencheres, Cat and Bones and Fabian.  Romance, psychological aspect of the past traumatisms and action, all is there.

My opinion:

     A good read but I won’t recommend it to the ones who haven’t read the books1-4 of the Night Huntress serie. It’s A spin off yes but not as independent as some other quite moiré like a long novella^^;; ( a 4.5 if we want). We discover the past of Spade that we learned about before but only in glimpses and see the consequences of the new Eve events.  I enjoyed it yes but not as much as I hoped, the humour that is included in the night huntress serie is missing and it’s also darker. And there are some things that’s bother me…how can Spade be happy when theoricaly Denise is illegal and must be put to death. Also it said that marriage is only recognize/ legal when between vampires but Bones used that to save Cat and she was still an hybrid at the time so it shouldn’t have worked…so just some contradictions nothing too serious but some fans could ask themselves some questions.

Score : 4/5

Challenges:

This book enter in the Romance and Me Challenge

Ce livre s'intègre dans le challenge de Natasia

Book read for the 2012 TBR reading Challenge

book read for Tales from the Crypt Vampire Challenge.