Bev(QB)’s review of Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 1) by Jeaniene Frost
Paranormal Romance published by Avon 30 October 2007
Halfway to the Grave is a hybrid of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Since I know it’s a flashpoint for romance purists, I’ll tell you up front that it has an urban fantasy ending. But, for those that felt cheated by the ending of Cameron Dean’s Candace Steele trilogy (which I enjoyed immensely), I’ve included a message from Jeaniene Frost’s website:
Author’s note about the Night Huntress series: HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE is the first book in an urban fantasy romance series with half-vampire heroine Cat Crawfield. My heroine and hero have a difficult road ahead of them and they will have to work hard to earn their HEA, so their story isn’t over with the first book. Hope you come along for the ride!
So, is this series worth your investment? OH YEAH! Once I picked it up, there was no putting it down until I finished. The worst thing I can say about it is that book 2, One Foot in the Grave, won’t be released until April 2008!
Cat was conceived when her mother was raped by a vampire. As her odd “differences” became apparent, Cat’s less than affectionate (and possibly not altogether sane) mother insisted she not let anyone find out and refused to talk about them. It wasn’t until Cat was 16 that her mother finally told her the truth and then, with her mother’s encouragement, Cat decided to devote her life to finding and killing vampires. Although she often resents her mother’s pressure to continue the killings, she craves her mother’s approval and doesn’t stop because she’s finally making her Mama proud.
Through trial and error, she becomes a bad-ass vamp executioner. Or so she thinks. Turns out it was her half-vamp abilities combined with the dumb luck of only luring young vamps to their death. Her luck runs out when she meets Bones, an old vamp who hunts other vampires as an occupation. One well placed punch from him takes her out of the game and into his dangerous captivity.
Once he believes she isn’t working for one of his many enemies, Bones realizes that Cat could be very useful as his bounty hunter protege, and offers her a deal– if she’ll let him train her to be his partner, he’ll teach her what she needs to know to kill vamps and help her find the vamp who fathered her.
What follows is the boot camp from hell. Bones pulls no punches, and systematically beats the daylight [hee] out of Cat trying to prepare her for the dangers of hunting the older and truly dangerous vamps that he regularly hunts. But in the process, he finds himself more and more fascinated with her.
To Cat, vampires are evil creatures that must all die. Period. But she’ll let this one live. For now. At least until he teaches her everything she needs to know about vampires.
The gradual development of the relationship between Cat and Bones is fascinating to read. In addition to struggling with her own beliefs about vamps, Cat is also aware that her mother will turn her back on her if she finds out that she not only hasn’t killed Bones, but is working with him! Combine all that with her awkward history with men, and Cat feels torn apart and confused by the sexual tension between her and Bones.
This book was also engrossing because Cat and Bones aren’t perfect. They don’t always win. Things doesn’t always go their way. They make mistakes. People, including those they care about, die. I hope Frost continues that with book 2, because the story has the potential to make them too perfect and that would ruin the appeal of both the characters and the story.
The primary reason I’m not giving this book a higher grade is because I don’t think it will appeal to readers who aren’t already paranormal romance AND urban fantasy fans. (see A Duckie’s Guide to Romance) After all, the hero DOES beat the heroine unconscious… a LOT!
But for you fans of the genre that still aren’t convinced, read the summary and chapter 1 here. No really, GO READ IT!
Grade: B+
I bought this on impulse based purely on the cover. I have seen mostly positive reviews of it. Hopefully I will get to read it soon!
Sounds good. I’m in.
This book was so, so good! One of the best books I have read for 2007. Reminds me of Buffy and Spike, and I love me some Buffy. 🙂
BTW, the Candice Steele series blew major chunks IMO.
I’ll take your word for the Spike/Buffy thing, I watched that show maybe twice. But I appreciate your letting me know you agree about this book. It’s definitely not for everyone- certainly not romance purists- and I wondered whether I’d be vilified for liking it so much.
While I loved the Cameron Dean trilogy and rated it very high, an A- to an A (I even thought the ending added impact to what was already a uniquely written series of books), I am also aware that a whole lot of people felt they’d been cheated and misled by the lack of an HEA. So, that’s why I made a point of including (what I’m interpreting to be) Jeaniene Frost’s assurance of an eventual HEA with this series.
Hey Bev,
I am a true Buffy fan, and if you have the chance I recommend you watch the series. I wonder if Frost had that in mind when she came up with Bones because he reminds me so much of the Spike character- British, arrogant and oh so sexy. And will hit a woman! LOL And with a name like Cat aka Catherine, how can you not like that? *G*
As for Cameron Dean, the ending didn’t change my mind about disliking the series. I hated it from the very beginning. I thought Candice was immature and the writing very bad. Even the sex was dull. The only thing I like was the Las Vegas setting.
Sometimes I like it when an HEA is not the stereotypical white picket fence, a ton of kids and mom and dad still boink like bunnies.
I liked/loved this book…. I know sounds crazy. I am looking forward to the 2nd book in the series to see where she’s going to take Cat’s character. I had some big issues with her cracked out mother which is where my liked/love comes in.
I read the Cameron Dean trilogy and I really liked the books, after I got over the initial shock of the ending and of course locating the books after I threw them about 10 miles down the road I really liked them, it was kinda like reading shock therapy. It was also a great begining to those other series that I now love with open endings or no Hea’s. =) Happy Holiday’s every one!
I enjoyed this book a lot. Can’t wait for the next one.
Hi Bev. So glad you liked the book! You’re right about your interpretation of the disclaimer on my website. I did that to warn readers that Cat and Bones’s story doesn’t get wrapped up in book one (some people don’t like series novels, and I respect that) as well as to reassure romance readers that there *will* be an eventual HEA for my hero/heroine. I agree that my books are a hybrid of PR and UF. It’s ironic they turned out that way, since my heroine doesn’t neatly fit in one category or the other in her world, too.
Hope you like One Foot in the Grave come April. It’s a sexier/more romantic installment in the series, but then I do also have lots of bodies flying around. I can’t seem to do one without the other, lol. I do still try to show Cat as being fallible without her having the dreaded Too Stupid To Live title. You’ll have to let me know how I did with that 🙂
Thanks again for taking the time to read and review Halfway to the Grave!
Halfway to the Grave is in my top books of 2007. I really love the mix of paranormal romance with urban fantasy. And the wit and banter between Cat and Bones added such a fun spark to this story.
OOooo Jeaniene says One Foot in the Grave is “a sexier/more romantic installment of the series…” !?? Like Bones could be any sexier? Can’t wait! 🙂
Jeaniene, I like the idea of of giving them an eventual HEA instead of one at the end of each book. It’s different and gives you (and us) a unique opportunity to really get to know and become involved with the characters. You took a big chance offering us something this different, but as you can see from the comments here, it’s been well received.
And HOO-YAH to the bodies flying around! LOL!
So I forget was this labeled a romance? Or did Avon get that right? Cuz six books to a HEA, a romance, would not make.
Yep, Syb, the spine says Paranormal Romance right on it. Although, note that Jeaniene refers to it more accurately as “urban fantasy romance” but I don’t think that’s a recognized sub-genre yet.
But, you, Sybil, are one of the romance purists that I knew wouldn’t like it because of the lack of an HEA in this first book– egads, how many times have we argued about what is and what is not Romance (infamous Syb quote: “so sez I”). I’m looking forward to seeing how Jeaniene keeps the romance going while still pulling off more books without that HEA, AND keeping us panting for more!
No HEA not a romance. Six books to get to the HEA still not a romance, well the last book is if it ends hea. Say the same thing about the regency vamp thing.
🙂 and I have something else I need to find out how it is labeled. I have the manuscript, comes out in Feb? Sounds like something you or Gwen would like. 1st person, first chapter is very readable. I am just interested first to see this isn’t another trilogy like the DEAN one.
I have NO issue with the author writing the book however they likey. But I think the publisher would be doing the readers and authors a big favor by labeling them correctly. Urban Fantasy Paranormal… something…
Should have the other book sometime in Jan, just need to remind me you want it.
What I wouldn’t give to have the next book in my little hands. I don’t really see an traditional HEA happening right away, but maybe in the future. But if it will be sexier then the first, well I don’t think fans will be disappointed in the romance at all.
The last line of Halfway to the Grave says it all!
Syb, how do you feel about a series like MJD’s Undead series or Katie MacAlister’s Aisling Grey? They are both definitely marketed as romance.
Good question Devon, so glad you asked 😉
I do own the Undead books (or at least the first three or four MM) but haven’t read them. Same for the Aisling Grey. So I went and looked, they are marked as Paranormal Romance. And both are from Penguin, one berkley sensation and one ONYX. I don’t have the Hard cover of MJD so I don’t know if they were first marketed as a romance or if they were marketed as Romance.
I blame Betsy and Aisling for LL Foster. Yup, yup… they crossed over so well with romance readers that it seems to me Sales and Marketing are willing to play that card again. And I think the reader does get screwed. Because if you are one like, oh me, who would be amazingly annoyed over wasting time reading three books to have the author KILL THE HERO. The publisher runs the risk of making the reader never ever ever pay for a book by that author again. And it makes you antsy with the publisher too.
So it can be lose/lose and the person who normally gets the anger from the reader is the author – regardless of if it was their want to be labeled romance. Because it is easier to say I never buy another Dean book than it is to say I will never buy another Ballantine.