BevQB’s review of One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2) by Jeaniene Frost
Paranormal romance/urban fantasy released by Avon Books 29 Apr 08
PHEW! If you thought Book 1 in the Night Huntress series, Halfway to the Grave (reviewed here), was a page turner, wait till you read this one!
Warning: mild spoilers ahead, but not much more than the book summary gives away.
It’s been four years since the half-human and half-vampire, Cat, left Bones, an old, very powerful vampire, to protect him from being hunted down and killed. During that time, Cat has assembled and trained a secret government sanctioned vampire hunting team.
Now Bones is back and he’s not leaving. He will do whatever it takes to stay with Cat. The problem right now is that the relationship is one-sided. Bones changes his life, sacrifices and risks much (and does so willingly), but with only a couple of concessions (fans will cheer at one of them), Cat is almost daring him to love her, to prove that he really does care that much for her (wait till you read his “proof” in the bedroom! WOWZER!).
Sooner or later, though, I have to wonder if Cat (or Bones) will realize that she’ll need to give more, to prove to HIM that SHE loves him. One incident near the end of the book would seem to be that declarative proof, but the almost offhand way she mentions it later makes me wonder if it really meant as much to her as it did to him.
We do see a few glimpses of the mature woman Cat may one day be, but for the most part she still wants everything HER way. She barrels into danger with a surprising lack of common sense. And she either possesses a sense of invincibility or possibly suicidal tendencies– I’m never quite sure which and I doubt SHE knows either. No, it doesn’t cross over the TSTL line, but Frost IS edging her toes up to the line where hero/ine crosses over to Superhero/ine and I sincerely hope she stays well away from it.
A LOT happens during the course of this book, the cast of characters is expanded, and… I’m not going to spoil it any further. Just trust me when I tell you that I have a feeling (and a hope), that some of it is going to come back and bite Cat and Bones in the butt. (hee… Vampire humor)
I will say, though, that unlike Halfway to the Grave, One Foot in the Grave ends quite happily for several people, including Cat and Bones. Now, who knows how Frost will end the next one in the series—remember she’s only promised an eventual HEA at the end of the ENTIRE series—but be prepared for an interesting HEA in this one.
Oh, here’s a question for you medical type duckies: Can a regular human (i.e. not Cat) drink a pint of blood without throwing it up? The humans in Cat’s team ramp up their power by drinking vampire blood and, unless there’s some yummy goodness in it that Frost doesn’t mention, I just can’t see how they could swallow it and keep it down.
That appetizing thought notwithstanding, Jeanine Frost has written another highly enjoyable, engrossing story and, while I strongly recommend you read Book 1, Halfway to the Grave, first, I believe One Foot in the Grave CAN be read as a standalone.
Grade: B+
Summary:
You can run from the grave, but you can’t hide…
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield is now Special Agent Cat Crawfield, working for the government to rid the world of the rogue undead. She’s still using everything Bones, her sexy and dangerous ex, taught her, but when Cat is targeted for assassination, the only man who can help her is the vampire she left behind.
Being around Bones awakens all her emotions, from the adrenaline rush of slaying vamps side by side to the reckless passion that consumed them. But a price on her head – wanted: dead or half-alive – means her survival depends on teaming up with Bones. And no matter how hard Cat tries to keep things professional between them, she’ll find that desire lasts forever … and Bones won’t let her get away again.
Author’s summary and excerpt.
Other books in the series:
Read Bev’s review of Book 1.
Read more from Bev on her personal blog Cubie’s Confections.
ACCKKKK!!! I’m so jealous!!! I can’t wait to read this one!
Can’t wait to read it, either, I had a feeling we’d get a bit more of a HEA in this one.
One of these days I will read the first one, which I bought purely for the cover, but have since heard such good things about!
I can’t wait for this one!
I still need to read the first. *guilty* I skipped most of the review to avoid any spoilers.
As for drinking blood:
You can drink about a pint without getting sick (it depends person to person). Many people get sick because of the idea, but it happens because of the process since blood irritates the mucus lining of the stomach. Drinking your own blood is non-toxic, but drinking other’s blood is a bad idea. It’s full of disease and bacteria (including AIDS, Hepatitis, and malaria). However, if you’re stranded at sea, turtle blood is an excellent source of fluid and nutrition.
. . . why do I know this?
AHA! Thank you Laviania! I knew we had medical duckies out there.
So, it IS physically possible to retain up to a pint of blood in the stomach. Now, MENTALLY? That’s a whole ‘nuther thing. YUK!
Danggit – I gotta read these books!
I know, Sybil, I know. I have them. In the ol’ TBR Mountain Range.
I have both of these TBR and I want to read them, but I just haven’t gotten there yet. Someday.
I was wondering the same thing. And then I got excited because that’s a random piece of trivia my husband won’t know, and I can surprise him with it. So thanks. 😉
Liviania, wikipedia? lol.
I think drinking other person’s blood is just asking for a nice, rather nasty disease but about just drinking it in general it depends on how the person feels towards it and if they somehow make it taste good.
Chocolate-flavored blood, anyone?
I am so trying not to read the review because I want to read the book the day it comes out! I am so jealous you got to read it already! LOL.
Hi Bev. Glad you liked the book. I know what you mean about Cat’s sense of invincibility/suicidal tendencies – I want to smack her myself at times ;-).
“Sooner or later, though, I have to wonder if Cat (or Bones) will realize that she’ll need to give more, to prove to HIM that SHE loves him.”
Heh. Since I know what I’m cooking up for book four, this comment made me grin. Can’t elaborate, of course, or that would be spoilering.
Thanks for taking the time to read and review One Foot in the Grave!
Jeaniene
Haha, not wikipedia actually. The turtle thing is from my random survival knowledge (I can survive an avalanche in theory – very useful in TX), the one pint limit is from bio, and I have no clue why I know about stomach lining. As for blood-borne disease: duh.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo_food_and_drink#Blood
Wikipedia’s entry isn’t that interesting. It’s mainly about blood sausage and such, which gives me the willies.
Nah, Wikipedia’s article about it is rather boring (mainly about blood sausage and such – search taboo drink blood).
I just know weird stuff from reading and class. I pick up bizarre trivia, yet still can’t win Trivial Pursuit. (It does make for interesting conversation.)
About the average person drinking blood and blood-borne diseases…in the scene Bev was referring to, the blood drunk was vampire blood, and therefore had no diseases in it (in my world, vampire blood is immune from disease). So there wouldn’t have been a concern about “catching” anything from it – though it didn’t taste good ;).