Series: Night Huntress #1
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Genre: Paranormal Romance, Supernatural Fiction
Elements: Vampires, Ghosts, Ghouls
Publisher: Avon Books, Harper Collins
Format: Mass Market Paperback, 358 Pages
ISBN: 9780061245084
Release Date: November 2007
Source: Borrowed from Wentworth Library
Rating: 5/5
Rating: 5/5
Purchase Here: Kindle // Mass Market Paperback
Tagline(s): Sometimes you have to fight the undead with the half-dead... / Flirting with the grave...
Tagline(s): Sometimes you have to fight the undead with the half-dead... / Flirting with the grave...
Summary: 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:
Cat has been told that all vampires are evil. After all, her mother was sexually assaulted by one, resulting in Cat's birth. Being a half-vampire gives her abilities perfect for seeking revenge against the creatures that once hurt her mother. So every night Cat goes out hunting...and on one such night she meets a vampire that changes everything she thought she knew about the undead she's been killing.
You would think right away that any relationship between Cat and Bones would be doomed from the start. Although she's half-vampire, Cat hates vampires with a passion. There isn't a vampire she's met that she hasn't tried staking before anything else, and that includes Bones. But being a Master vampire, Bones is a lot stronger than any of the others Cat has met before him. Cat's attempted staking of Bones is how their working and personal relationships began.
Though their working relationship starts before their personal one, I'll talk about their personal relationship first. We know that Cat hates vampires, so how could she possibly fall in love with one, right? Well, it definitely wasn't simple or easy. As Cat and Bones work together and she learns more about vampires, Cat comes to respect and admire Bones. That respect and admiration--slowly--becomes more. But there are namely three things driving a wedge between them--Bones being a vampire, Cat's own half-undead state, and her mother. While Cat comes to terms and accepts the first two, her mother is not so easily won over (in fact, she can't and won't be won over). Cat and Bones's relationship definitely has its bittersweet moments. "If you run from me, I'll chase you. And I'll find you."
Now back to their working relationship. When Cat tried to stake Bones, being the Master vampire that he is, he knocks her about the noggin and chains her up at him place. At first he doesn't believe her claims of being a half-vampire, but then she flashes her green eyes, a trait all vampires have, and after they tussle a bit, a partnership is struck. In exchange for helping Cat find her father, Bones wants her help with a bounty he's currently hunting. Being a half-vampire has given Cat a natural beauty that humans have to work hard for and the strength to take on the undead. Her human side gives her the beating heart and pulse to fool vampires into complacency. In other words, she's the perfect bait, while Bones is the extra muscle.
Which brings us to our villain. Bones has been tracking a vampire named Hennessey that he believes is behind hundreds of girls going missing--from Maine to Mexico, the Great Lakes area to now Ohio. He's running a kind of Meals on Wheels operation and he's got help in high places among the humans. Cat feels a personal need to take Hennessey down since she almost became one of those missing girls, and he took her mother hostage. "We're going to get him. We're going to stand over him on the ground, and every greedy bastard on his team, too, and then they'll know they were taken down by you...and your little Grim Reaper, who hasn't met a vampire she didn't try to kill first." Cat was amazingly awesome during their assault on Hennessey's hideout. Those vampires (and some humans) were just dropping like flies!
While the first battle against the "bad" vampires was a success, the war is just beginning.
Cat is approached by a special branch of the FBI called the Paranormal Behavior Division. Don William, the head of the division, claims that they've been looking for someone like Cat, and offers her a job. She knows that taking the job is the best way to protect both her mother and Bones. But accepting the job offer comes with sacrifices.
I loved everything about this book and I can't wait to read the next one!
Quotes:
"You're not a woman. You're the Grim Reaper with red hair!"
"I want you to know that despite everything, I'm so glad I met you. It was the luckiest day of my life. If I hadn't, I never would have known what it was like for someone to love me, all of me, even the parts I hated. I would have gone through life empty and guilt-ridden, but you showed me a whole new world, Bones. I'll never be able to thank you for all you've done for me, but I will love you every day until I die."
About this Author:
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