One Grave at a Time Review

One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost 

5 Stars

Synopsis:

Having narrowly averted an (under)world war, Cat Crawfield wants nothing more than a little downtime with her vampire husband, Bones. Unfortunately, her gift from New Orleans' voodoo queen just keeps on giving-leading to a personal favor that sends them into battle once again, this time against a villainous spirit. (from Shelfari)

Review:

This is a great continuation of the series.  Cat has definitely matured and is confident in her own skin.  While there were some slow moments, this book is full of action and had my emotions going all over the place.  I love a book that can make me laugh, cry and want to yell. It makes it seem more real to me.  The villain is probably the most disgusting and despicable yet. I definitely got the heebie-jeebies.  

My one complaint is that I feel like some of the characters were pushed to the side during the story, even though they had important roles in this installation.  I found myself forgetting they were even part of the story. So I would have liked to have seen more cohesiveness there.  There are lots of questions that I'm hoping will be answered in the 7th book.  

--monica

Halfway to the Grave Review

Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

4 Stars

Synopsis:

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother's life. Then she's captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unholy partnership. In exchange for finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her battle reflexes are as sharp as his fangs. She's amazed she doesn't end up as his dinner—are there actually good vampires? Pretty soon Bones will have her convinced that being half-dead doesn't have to be all bad. But before she can enjoy her newfound status as kick-ass demon hunter, Cat and Bones are pursued by a group of killers. Now Cat will have to choose a side . . . and Bones is turning out to be as tempting as any man with a heartbeat.

Review:

This is one of the times that I enjoyed the plot more than the main character, but kept reading and liked the book.  I’m a character driven reader, so this rarely happens (well, I actually never not finish a book, but I won’t enjoy any of it).  For about 3/4 of the book I struggled with Cat.  At 22, she seemed more like 17.  She was whiny, immature, overconfident, and a bit ignorant.  I really started to warm up to her, however, in the final chapters.  Now that I’ve had time to really think about the book, I wonder if this was Frost’s intention.  Introduce an immature Cat and develop her into a stronger, mature woman.  I can appreciate that. 

There were times I felt for Cat.  She loves her mother so much, but her mother is not very understanding and quick to judge.  I did not like her mom, to say the least.  Cat had to make some huge decisions by the end of the book and my heart broke for her!  But she acted like an adult and did what was necessary.  

One of my favorite parts is the romance.  I immediately loved Bones.  From the moment Cat saw him, I knew he was sticking around.  He, thus far, is my favorite character in the series.  I loved watching the relationship between Bones and Cat develop.

As I said, I struggled a bit at first and wasn’t sure I would want to continue the series.  But by the end, I was really looking forward to book 2. 

--monica