Book Review: From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Review: From Dead to Worse
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 8
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 359
Release Date: 6 May 2008

The supernatural community in Bon Temps, Louisiana is reeling from two hard blows: the natural disaster of Hurricane Katrina, and the manmade horror of the explosion at the vampire summit in the up-north city of Rhodes. Sookie Stackhouse is safe but dazed, but too many vampires – some friends, some not – were killed or injured, and her were-tiger boyfriend Quinn is among the missing.

It’s clear that things are changing, whether the weres and vamps like it or not. And Sookie, Friend to the Pack and blood-bonded to the leader of the local vampire community, is caught up in those changes. She’s about to find herself facing danger and death and, not for the first time, betrayal by someone she loves. And when the fur has finished flying and the cold blood has stopped flowing, Sookie’s world will be forever altered…

My Thoughts: 

Although I loved Sookie and I loved Quinn…they never really had a chance.

Sookie is back home and trying to comprehend all the events that have taken place since the vampire summit including the devastation of hurricane Katrina.

I loved the addition of Amelia living in Sookie’s house in From Dead to Worse. She brought to the table someone who is ditzy, intelligent and really likeable. Amelia also lightened the mood in Sookie’s household, which I feel would have been a lot worse with Quinn’s absence and the aftermath of the summit to content with. It was very clever on Harris part to introduce Amelia in the way that she did.

At this point in the story I’m wondering if we’re not seeing a little biasness from team dead in general on Harris’ part. The vampires can get away with doing absolutely everything to Sookie, from lying to cheating to nearly killing her. And yet they’re still at the top of her to do list. The were’s barely have to cough too loudly and they’re out her door with no explanation.

Let’s look at this pattern over the course of the series:

Sam never got a look in because he was Sookie’s boss and then he moved too quickly for her when he kissed her. (Dead Until Dark)

Alcide was perfection in a male and yet Sookie never wanted him, even though she did because she was too wrapped up in Bill who had disappeared on her and cheated on her. Then after Sookie shot his ex in the head she decided that it was too awkward to be around him anymore even though she still uses him when she needs to and runs to his beck and call, every time. Yep, that level of ambiguity is extremely healthy.

Quinn’s only mistake? Loving his mother and being captured by a pack of nasty vampires who held him hostage. Hmmm, when Bill was held hostage and didn’t contact Sookie what did Sookie do? She went looking for him of course, but as soon as a were does it he’s out the door with nary a bat of the eyelid.

Now Sookie and Quinn’s relationship may have been a little awkward in the beginning and he was a little annoying with his “babe” and baldness – I’m sorry but I like my men with hair – but in All Together Dead their relationship was starting to blossom really beautifully and it was looking like it could work even though Quinn was really busy with his business.

I love Sookie, and I love how strong she has become and how confident she has become over the course of this series, but I really wish everyone got a fair go with her because she could have possibly had some happiness by now instead of so much sadness.

Others in this series:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
Dead and GoneDead in the Family
Dead Reckoning

Book Review: All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

Review: All Together Dead
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 7
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 323
Release Date: 1 May 2007

Sookie Stackhouse would really like time to get over being betrayed by Bill, her long-time vampire lover, and get used to her new relationship with sexy shapeshifter Quinn – but instead, she finds herself attending a vampire summit, the destination of choice for every undead power player around. She’s being used as a sort-of human Geiger counter for Sophie-Anne Leclerq, vampire queen of Louisiana.

But Sophie-Anne’s power base has been severely weakened by Hurricane Katrina, and she’s to be put on trial for murdering her king. Sookie knows the queen is innocent, but others have their doubts. And there are some vamps who would like to finish what nature started. With secret alliances and backroom deals the order of the day – and night – Sookie must decide which side she’ll stand with, and quickly, for her choice may mean the difference between survival and all-out catastrophe…

My Thoughts:

This series continues to get more and more engrossing.

Sookie is attending the vampire summit after being employed by the queen to accompany her as her portable lie detector. Sookie discovers a plot to start a war between the vampires and the Fellowship of the Sun.

Sookie is still Sookie and she is completely loveable, yet in this book I started to really see her growth since the first in the series. One can really see how far Sookie has come since her bartending vampire free days of the first novel and yet it’s still the same Sookie. She hasn’t become obnoxious or arrogant because according to the vampires she is special, she is still Sookie, but with nicer clothes and a nicer house as the old one gradually gets destroyed by fire and Amelia.

I think what I am loving most about this series at the moment is that Sookie is the heroine, but she doesn't act like one. She just gets on with it and performs feats that are human, like going to an archery range to try and suss out whether or not someone else had been there previously. There are no amazing feats of power or intellect, she is just normal and it makes me relate so much more to her than I do to other heroines who are magical and ninja like and completely kick-ass.

Sookie isn’t a wimp, but she isn’t a hero either and that is what makes me love her.

All Together Dead took a deeper look into vampire politics and workings and it was really interesting. I was a little disappointed that Eric wasn’t in this book as much as I was used to him being there, but it really didn’t detract from the story because there wasn’t really a need for him, bar his priestly duties.

Despite the fact that Sookie was attending a vampire summit surrounded by werewolves, aliens and of course, vampires, who were all staying in a pyramid whilst the proceeding took, place I still found the entire story very this world. Some novels carry you off into for example a New York that has something extra, but these novels are all out in the open, and I think it’s because the vampires are out in the open that keeps this series grounded rather than fantastical.

I love this series so much, and I am starting From Dead to Worse as soon as possible.

Others in this series:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and GoneDead in the Family
Dead Reckoning

Book Review: Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

Review: Definitely Dead
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 6
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 324
Release Date: 28 April 2006

Sookie Stackhouse doesn’t have that many relations, so she really hated to lose one – but of all people to go, she didn’t expect it to be her cousin Hadley, a consort of New Orleans’ vampire queen – after all, Hadley was technically already dead.

But Hadley is gone, beyond recall, and she’s left Sookie an inheritance, one that comes with a bit of a risk – not least because someone doesn’t want Sookie digging too deep into Hadley’s possessions…or her past. Sookie’s life is once again on the line, and this time the suspects range from rogue weres to her first love, the vampire Bill. Sookie’s got a lot to do if she’s going to keep herself alive…

My Thoughts:

Definitely Dead probably had the worst start of this series so far, but it turned out okay in the end.

Sookie has been called to New Orleans to clean out her dead cousin Hadley’s apartment. After arriving there, meeting a witch who is a bit of a ditz and finding a werewolf/vampire obomination in Hadley’s old apartment, she finds out the real reason the queen is so interested in some of Hadley’s possessions.

Sookie is a consistent character, which is why I like her. She hasn’t turned into some superwoman, she is still a barmaid who can read minds and knows her place when it comes to the paranormal. I do feel though that she is starting to judge others a little harshly, considering she lives in the proverbial glass house.

I felt that her treatment of Quinn, especially after he had saved her life – twice in one day – after he couldn’t shift fully back and was left with his tiger tail was a bit mean. If I had someone as sexy, powerful, warm, and gentlemanly as Quinn, I wouldn’t discriminate because of a measly tail, Sookie can’t really talk with her weirdness. I would probably prefer Quinn to just sleep as a tiger myself – but that might be because I am a tiger person.

Quinn for all his attributes – I mainly like him because he is a tiger – doesn’t really seem to fit in with Sookie’s life, and I can’t yet decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing. As much as I would want to be with Quinn – tiger thing – I couldn’t feel much chemistry between him and Sookie during the course of this book. The physical was there definitely, but take for example Eric in his amnesia days, there was so much more gentleness and love. With Quinn its more like a possession, Sookie is his woman and probably the excessive use of the word “babe” just grated on my nerves when it came to him.

The start of Definitely Dead was absolutely horrible. I don’t read .5’s in any of my series, not even Cat and Bones of whom I am in love. So when a significant event like Hadley’s cousin dying, Sookie meeting a whole bunch of new characters and Bill somehow being involved in that process happening in a novella and including significant details pertaining to the premise of the story I was extremely confused for the first couple of chapters.

One thing I am starting to find with this series though, is that the stories are starting to run together which is ok from a reading perspective, but horrible from a reviewing perspective. About two days after putting this book down, I could remember what happened, I could remember key elements and funny parts, but then they started to get confused with things that had happened in previous books. The events run chronologically for the most part, but its hard to pick out certain occurances and pinpoint exactly when they happened in the story.

Others in this series:
Dead Until Dark
Living Dead in Dallas
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and GoneDead in the Family
Dead Reckoning

Book Review: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs

Review: Blood Bound
Series: Mercy Thompson – Book 2
Author: Patricia Briggs
No of Pages: 292
Release Date: 30 January 2007

Under the rule of science, there are no witch burnings allowed, no water trials or public lynchings. In return, the average law-abiding, solid citizen has little to worry about from the things that go bump in the night. Sometimes I wish I was an average citizen...

Mechanic Mercy Thompson has friends in low places – and in dark ones. And now she owes one of them a favour. Since she can shapeshift at will, she agrees to act as some extra muscle when her vampire friend Stefan goes to deliver a message to another of his kind.

But this new vampire is hardly ordinary – and neither is the demon inside of him...

My Thoughts:

Mrs. Briggs you have won me over with this novel.

Blood Bound picks up about 6 months after Moon Called finished and opens up on Mercy receiving an early morning phone call. Stefan the vampire needs her to come with him on an errand to check out a rogue vampire who may have some extra powers, supplied by a demon. Mercy has to be in coyote form though, so she can hear without being seen.

Blood Bound was very fast paced and now that the ground work was laid with the characters and Tri-City area set down in the first book, we had a lot more time for action in this one. Maybe it was the added element of vampires that did it for me or maybe it was just that this series is turning into something awesome, but I literally couldn’t put it down. Which is saying something since Moon Called put me to sleep.

Mercy has turned into a very intriguing character. She can fight when she needs to but she knows when to keep her mouth shut and just listen to what is going on around her. She has a nice attitude when it comes to everyone but Adam. I love their tension and I love her beat up old car that she deliberately leaves in the way of his perfect view.

Blood Bound wasn’t just character driven though. It was also an interesting mystery driven by who this rogue was and what he wanted. Where he would strike next and who would be in trouble. It kept me on the edge of my seat, just waiting for the next twist to arise. Briggs brought in so many different characters to help with the telling of Blood Bound, witnesses, families, leads but she didn’t bog us down with any of their back story or repetitive problems. We got on with the mystery, unravelling the whodunit which is what kept me so on edge.

I will admit that I was hesitant about reading Blood Bound. After the train-wreck that was Moon Called and the mildly redeeming qualities of Cry Wolf it took me a while to step back into the world of Mercedes Thompson. But boy am I glad that I did.

Unfortunately one can’t skip Moon Called because there is too much detail about the characters and the world but don’t let that stop you from diving into Blood Bound because this is where the series truly comes alive.

Also in this series:
Moon Called
Iron Bound
Bone Crossed
Silver Borne
River Marked

Book Review: Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Review: Living Dead in Dallas
Series: Sookie Stackhouse – Book 2
Author: Charlaine Harris
No of Pages: 279
Release Date: 1 April 2004

Cocktail Waitress Sookie Stackhouse is having a streak of bad luck. First her co-worker is killed, and no-one seems to care. Then she comes face-to-face with a beastly creature which gives her a painful and poisonous lashing. Enter the vampires, who graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn’t enjoy it).

The point is: they saved her life. So when one of the blood-suckers asks for a favour, she obliges – and soon Sookie’s in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She’s supposed to interview certain humans involved, but she makes one condition: the vampires must promise to behave, and let the humans go unharmed. But that’s easier said than done, and all it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly...

My Thoughts:

Back into the world of Sookie Stackhouse, and it’s only just heating up.

Sookie Stackhouse is called to Dallas for her newest assignment as Area 5 Telepath. She must help to find a missing vampire who disappeared from a bar a week earlier. With the threat of the Fellowship of the Sun looming, Sookie must work quickly to find out the information she needs.

I really, really like Sookie. She is human, and understands that but she still has the guts to stand up to anyone who tries to mess with her, including very old vampires. Sookie is getting used to her new role as Telepath even though she misses her day job of waitressing and can’t wait to get back home. After hiding her powers for so long, she still isn’t used to using them but Sookie is learning quickly and with constant practise is becoming quite powerful.

I am over Bill. Sookie freely admits that she’s not in love with him, or even sure she loves him. It’s easy to see why. Bill is never there, insults her relentlessly, and is just plain arrogant at times. He blames it on not being human anymore but that is starting to just sound like a cop out for I-can’t-be-bothered-treating-you-right.

Eric is still Eric. Witty, handsome, and there for Sookie when she needs help. Eric will continue to grow on me as he plans to on Sookie, only I shall welcome the “fungus” as she calls it.

One thing about re-reading these books after watching True Blood is that in True Blood, with the vast changes in characters and the diminished focus on Sookie I loved the other characters going into Living Dead in Dallas. So when Lafayette dies on the first page, I got sad, even though he is a nobody in the books. I still got sad.

I can’t wait to get back into Club Dead and back into Sookie's world. Team Eric all the way.

Others in this series:
Dead Until Dark
Club Dead
Dead to the World
Dead as a Doornail
Definitely Dead
All Together Dead
From Dead to Worse
Dead and GoneDead in the Family

Book Review: Stray by Rachel Vincent

Review: Stray
Series: Shifter Series – Book 1
Author: Rachel Vincent
No of Pages: 618
Release Date: 1 June 2010

I look like an all-American grad student. But I am a werecat, a shape-shifter, and I live in two worlds.

Despite reservations from my family and my Pride, I escaped the pressure to continue my species and carved out a normal life for myself. Until the night a Stray attacked.

I’d been warned about Strays – werecats without a Pride, constantly on the lookout for someone like me: attractive, female and fertile. I fought him off, but then learned two of my fellow tabbies had disappeared.

This brush with danger was all my Pride needed to summon me back... for my own protection. Yeah, right. But I'm no meek kitty. I'll take on whatever and whoever--I have to in order to find my friends. Watch out, Strays--'cause I got claws, and I'm not afraid to use them...

My Thoughts:

I can’t believe I didn’t read this earlier, it was absolutely fantastic.

I will be honest and say that the sheer size of Stray did deter me from it for a couple of months. But once I started I couldn’t stop.

Faythe is not only a tom-boy and extremely stubborn. She is resourceful and smart and can absolutely kick butt when she needs to. She is trying to lead a normal life away from her Pride by going to college and having a normal boyfriend.

Inevitably she gets called home, because someone is hunting down tabbies (females) and she could very well be next on the list.

Even after being put under 24 hour surveillance Faythe is kidnapped by a psychotic jungle stray, one of the most dangerous breeds of cat known to them. She is held against her will in a prison with only a sobbing teenager, an empty coffee can and the stench of blood to keep her company.

Faythe could become one of my favourite female characters with the way she is going. She is smart mouthed and not afraid to pick a fight with someone bigger than her...and win. No matter what kind of situation she was put in, she never lost hope and always tried to find a way to escape, whether that be her prison or her bedroom. She could be a complete girl at times as well though which brought her character flawlessly together.

Vincent also did very well in fleshing out the other characters even though we were told the story through Faythe's eyes, we got a good insight into her father, brothers, ex-lover Marc and close friend Jace.

I will be honest and say that I don’t like Marc; I am definitely on team Jace for this one. Marc is too intense for my taste, which is understandable because of his job as an enforcer (which is like were-cat FBI) and background as a mistreated stray. Although it’s understandable, I still don’t like his possessiveness and short temper with other males. What I do like however is Faythe’s strength to stand up to him.

I really liked Jace; he was definitely my kind of guy, funny, laid back yet serious when needed. His role as close family friend and brother like relationship with Faythe maturing after she comes home is really sweet and well paced, too bad Marc kept getting in the way.

Vincent had an odd style that noticeably changed throughout Stray. In the first ten chapters there were too many words, too many embellished sentences and too many unneeded statements memorably the three sentences needed to describe how Ethan (Faythe’s brother) pulled himself off the bed using the end post.

Yet after the initial greetings and falling back into rhythm at Faythe’s home, the style changed to exceptionally good writing and gut wrenching emotion. Stray literally pulls you in after those initial chapters and literally will not let go.

The only other thing that got on my nerves was the ending. It ended just like that, no tying off loose ends or wrapping anything up. It just stopped.

Aside from the minor flaws Stray is absolutely incredible. It has strong characters and an even stronger plot. I can’t wait to get my hands on the next in this series as soon as possible.

Others in this series:
Rogue
Pride
Prey
Shift
Alpha

Also reviewed by:
Sarah's Book Reviews

Book Review: Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler

Review: Tempest Rising
Series: Jane True – Book 1
Author: Nicole Peeler
No of Pages: 344
Release Date: 1 November 2009

Living in a small town in Rockabill, Maine. Jane True always knew she didn’t quite fit in with so-called normal society.

During her nightly, clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean, a grisly find leads Jane to startling revelations about her heritage: she is only half-human.

Now, Jane must enter a world filled with supernatural creatures that are terrifying, beautiful, and deadly – all of which perfectly describe her new “friend,” Ryu, a gorgeous and powerful vampire.

It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: a dog can heal with a lick; spirits bag your groceries; and whatever you do, never – ever – rub the genie’s lamp.

My Thoughts:

Many have compared Jane True to Sookie Stackhouse; it even says it on the back of the book. Tempest Rising is in a complete league of its own and although Sookie is good, she is nothing like Jane.

Tempest Rising was an awesome rollercoaster ride that took us through the pains and perils of Jane True a rather odd young woman who has a passion for swimming in the middle of storms.

During one of the nightly swims she encounters a dead body floating in her sea and pulls him out, entangling her in the world of supes and magic as she becomes part of the investigation trying to track the dead man’s murderer. The investigator is none other than Ryu (pronounced Roo), a handsome vampire detective who is head of the case.

There are many things I love about Tempest Rising, the first is the characters. Jane is strong, although she doesn’t feel it, she has been through the pain of a whole town hating her and wrongly accusing her of killing the love of her life, Jason. She has been so traumatised by this that she now believes it too, although she could have done nothing to save him.

Jane isn’t dumb and when she knows that she is in danger, she doesn’t blindly plough on; she stops and asks for help or just stays within reach of someone who can help her, which I didn’t see as weak for a second, because she can hold her own.

Jane is also exceptionally funny, I think we can safely say that she is borderline certifiably insane. This is understandable once again from the past; she talks to herself, not out loud, but in her head and the conversations are absolutely hilarious. Her virtue and her libido are constantly quarrelling over what she does with Ryu, old weak Jane pipes up every now and again when new strong, alive Jane moves in for her time to shine, down-to-earth Jane sighs irritably when girly vain Jane pops her head out to drool at some pretty shoes.

I also loved Ryu; he is someone that personally I wouldn’t go for, why? He’s short. Taller than Jane but only five foot nine, and I loved it, he was definitely very good looking, but the fact that he wasn’t some six foot six hulking, brick out house of a man made him that much more real, because he too was unique.

I loved the style of Tempest Rising as well, the sex was there, and was detailed every once in a while, but it wasn’t constantly being thrown in our faces and many a time was glossed over with only some very provocative insinuation. The characters were just about flawless in their reality, in their actions and in their words. The relationship between Jane and Ryu was again, so real. They weren’t professing their love for one another, and Jane freely admitted she was in lust, and considering Ryu’s profession and the fact that he lived in Boston didn’t expect anything more than a fling.

The smattering of such different characters was absolutely intriguing, we didn’t just have standard Vampires, Were-wolves and shape shifters, we had goblins, gnomes, kelpies, fire elementals and elves that would probably kill you for calling them elves. The mythology and folk lore packed into this tale was absolutely stunning and seamlessly put together.

Peelers writing was real, and it’s what kept me going back for more and the detail was subtle and just enough to keep it colourful and still quickly paced.

I absolutely can’t wait for the next Jane True novel, Tracking the Tempest, and if you didn’t know it, you would never ever pick Tempest Rising as a debut novel, it was that good.

Also in this series:
Tracking the Tempest
Tempest's Legacy
Eye of the Tempest
Tempest's Fury

Book Review: They Call Me Death by Missy Jane

Review: They Call Me Death
Series: Shape Shifter - Book 1
Author: Missy Jane
No. of Pages: 208
Release Date: 1st December 2009

Humans are no longer at the top of the food chain…

My name is Alexia Williams. In my world, North America is divided between north and south—but not the way it’s taught in the history books.

After losing my family to the shifters, I joined the Combined Human States Army. Now I find myself on the front lines, defending the wall between my species and theirs. My mission is simple: keep the animals on their side by whatever means necessary—and I’m good at it. I don’t talk to them. I don’t sympathize with them. I sure as hell don’t admire them…until one saves my life.

Andor isn’t like any shifter I’ve ever met. He’s a three-hundred-year-old golden eagle asking for help finding missing shifters who may be in my lands. I just have to decide between helping the animals or ignoring signs that my fellow humans aren’t what I thought they were.

But how can I help a species I hate and fear? Even if Andor makes me feel alive again?

In the land of the shifters…they call me Death.

My Thoughts:


They Call Me Death is a fabulous debut book.

We look through the eyes of Alexia Williams at a world overrun by shifters. After watching her husband and son killed by shifters she has become one of the top fighters for the human defence force. Defending the wall daily and killing any shifters that cause trouble. Alexia is portrayed as a strong woman, but really she has put a lid on all of her emotions. She doesn't feel and doesn't care about the various life-threatening situations she puts herself through.

Then, along comes Andor, the shape-shifting Golden Eagle. Andor is smart, sexy and strong. He protects Alexia after puting her life in danger by contacting her. Andor changes everything. Alexia starts to feel again, but is confused because she's dealing with a creature that is the reason her family is dead.

Watching Alexia struggle with her emotions about Andor and trying to keep him from reading the thoughts about her true feelings from her mind is quite entertaining.

The development of the characters was very well done, giving each character a unique voice. The build-up of the relationships was evenly paced and very believable. Although there were feelings from the start Alexia stuck with her gut about Shifters and wouldn't give into her emotions, the romance had time to mature and become something special, not just a quick jump in the sack.

I encourage anyone who likes shape-shifters to read it because it is a new take on the genre, the detail put into Andor shifting into an eagle and the feelings attached to his animal side are incredible. When Alexia touched the feathers, I almost felt like I did too.

The only bad thing about this book are the time jumps, they are unexpected and oddly done. We can jump hours or days from one sentence to the next which involved a bit of re-reading on my part to understand what was going on. Other than that, for a debut author the style was if a little simple, very well done.

They Call Me Death is fast-paced and once we get more into the story, completely unputdownable. Things move along quickly without skipping important details which keep us enthralled from start to finish.

Warning: This book does contain explicit language and sexual material aswell as a mild beastiality reference.

Book Review: First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

Review: First Drop of Crimson

Series: Night Huntress World – Book 1
Author: Jeaniene Frost
No. Of Pages: 371
Release Date: 9th February 2010

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 shape shifter 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.

My Thoughts:

Mrs. Frost, you have done it again.

I knocked this book over in a day; it was of the same quality as the Cat and Bones books.

I always loved Spade, ever since his first appearance in Halfway to the Grave he has been a character that I have wanted to see more of. Spade was a Baron before he was turned so he still has those gentlemanly qualities that we wish would crop up in everyday life. Even something as small as him helping people out of the car would make me sigh.

Denise is a strong woman; she was never one of those characters that made an impact for me though, just a person in the background. In FDOC though she absolutely shined, I know that is the point, but still the character that was portrayed was not what I was expecting at all. Denise was strong minded, strong willed and stubborn. This to me is a beautiful combination.

The banter between the two had some laugh out loud moments, which was also something I wasn’t expecting. Denise was a character I think that so far I am most like in how she talks, and also with the constant worry of the cost to other people. The moments when she was trying to calculate in her head whether her entire house would cover the expense to Spade on their journey was very funny.

As for the storyline, it was another huge surprise. Usually I can tell what’s going to happen during most of the novels I pick up. FDOC was a complete rollercoaster ride for the entire book. Everything was exciting, new and completely unexpected. After reading the Cat and Bones books you think to yourself “yes, this will probably continue on with their war and their story” but it is completely different. I love that Frost has incorporated such a closeness between the characters yet such a separation because they can go for two years without seeing each other and still be best friends.

The demon storyline was very interesting as I have only covered demons recently in one other book. I love the vampires, but for a vampire series with a focus on a demon, just because they feel like it, is refreshing.
Cat and Bones showed up late in this novel. It was almost wrong in a way not to be reading from Cats point of view when she showed up, just because I love her so much. But that awkwardness (and my stupidity) only lasted about two sentences before I was grinning because I got to hear Bone’s voice in my head again.

The romance in FDOC was different to Cat and Bones story, because Spade and Denise had both suffered a loss. I was so grateful to Frost for how she addressed the issue and didn’t wipe out the previous feelings with undeniable love and mind controlling lust. The characters accepted the past for what it was and also came to terms with the fact that they weren’t replacing their loved ones or forgetting them but that the new love was love as well and it is possible to love again. It is inspiring, especially for me.

I think that, if I had to choose, the only thing that I don't like about this book is the cover. Even when I first saw it months ago, that is not how I see Spade or Denise in my head. It looks trashier than what this book is. FDOC is tender and very caring, but that cover portrays Spade as dirty and Denise as easy, which neither of them were, in any way.

Overall First Drop of Crimson is of the same calibre, and fits perfectly into the Night Huntress world. The romance was beautiful, the characters were a scream and the storyline was unique. I have to undoubtedly play favourites and say that I still love Cat and Bones more (probably because they have four books), but that Spade and Denise’s story is not one to be missed. FDOC would definitely work as a standalone novel if one hasn’t previously read the Night Huntress series.

Content Warning: First Drop of Crimson does contain sexually explicit material and some swearing.

Others in this series:
Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Others who reviewed this:
Obsessed!

Available at:
Amazon
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Book Review: Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

Review: Moon Called

Author: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson – Book 1

No. Of Pages: 288

Release Date: 1^st February 2006

Werewolves can be dangerous if you get in their way, but they’ll leave you alone if you are careful. They are very good at hiding their natures from the human population, but I am not human. I know them when I meet them, and they know me, too.

Mercy Thompson’s sexy next door neighbour is a werewolf.

She’s tinkering with a VW bus at her mechanic shop that happens to belong to a vampire.

But then, Mercy Thompson is not exactly normal herself...and her connection to the world of things that go bump in the night is about to get her into a whole lot of trouble.

My Thoughts: