Outtakes From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Cat and Bones fans, sink your teeth into this new outtakes compilation from New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost!

Indulge your love of paranormal super couple Cat and Bones with this ultimate “director’s cut” collection of deleted scenes and alternate versions from the first four novels in the Night Huntress series, complete with author commentary on each selection. Includes: the original beginnings of Halfway to the Grave, One Foot in the Grave, At Grave’s End, and Destined for an Early Grave: a chapter written in Bones’s point of view; alternate versions of sections of Halfway to the Grave, One Foot in the Grave, and Destined for an Early Grave; the “white wedding” scene between Cat and Bones that never made it into the final books…and much more!




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This is an interesting collection of deleted scenes from the first four Night Huntress books. It will, of course, mostly appeal to those who have read the series (and the related series), and really probably wouldn't be very recommended for those who haven't read at least the first four books due to spoilers and potential confusion later with the official published version of events and scenes. Equally interesting are Jeaniene Frost's author's notes introducing each snippet, as they help not only to place the scenes in context but also give insight into why they ended up being cut from the final published versions. Overall it's definitely worth the price of admission as they say.

Bound by Flames by Jeaniene Frost

The climactic third novel in New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost's Night Prince series finds Vlad and his newly turned bride, Leila, at odds with each other—and vulnerable to the one vampire powerful enough to end the Dark Prince's reign . . .

Play with fire, pay the price

Leila's years on the carnie circuit were certainly an education. What she didn't learn: how to be a vampire, or how to be married to the most famous vampire of them all. Adjusting to both has Leila teetering on a knife edge between passion and peril, and now the real danger is about to begin . . .

Vlad must battle with a centuries-old enemy whose reach stretches across continents and whose strength equals his own. It isn't like Vlad to feel fear, but he does . . . for Leila, because his enemy knows she is Vlad's greatest weakness. As friend and foe alike align against him—and his overprotectiveness drives Leila away—Vlad's love for his new bride could be the very thing that dooms them both . . .

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This book blew me away. The energy, and the raw emotions that go into it, not to mention a great deal of edge-of-the-seat action make this a book you won't soon forget. And I have to say that at this point, I think Vlad and Leila have surpassed Cat and Bones as my favorite couple in this universe. Bones may be melt-your-panties sexy, but Vlad is pure raw lust and rugged sexuality that will appeal to your inner bad girl. And while Cat is all kinds of badass rolled into one firey redheaded bundle, Leila's keen intelligence and self-assuredness make up for what she lacks in strength and experience. Together, Vlad and Leila are combustible on so many levels in so many ways that you half expect the book/e-reader/headphones to catch flames in your hands as you read/listen to this book.

Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

There's always one more grave to dig.

Lately, life has been unnaturally calm for vampires Cat Crawfield and her husband, Bones. They should have known better than to relax their guard, because a shocking revelation sends them back into action to stop an all-out war....

A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death...because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences. And if they fail, their lives - and those of everyone they hold dear - will be hovering on the edge of the grave.




 
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I am very conflicted about this book. The writing is Frost's usual stellar quality and the story progression from what has happened before now is understandable and makes sense. In many ways I suppose it could be argued that we should have seen this coming. Still, I can't say I particularly like where she went with the story or how she wrapped up the long, tumultuous saga of Cat and Bones' love story. Despite the fact that much of this had been building for longer than anyone realized, I still think there are other paths that could have been taken with it so that things didn't have to end they way they do here.

Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost

Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges...
Leila's psychic abilities have been failing her, and now she isn't sure what the future holds. If that weren't enough, her lover, Vlad, has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she's also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won't admit that he loves her.

Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity...

Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust– the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity.

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This book sees Vlad and Leila's relationship tested as well as solidified. Also tested are the loyalties of several of Vlad's top men and closest friends. Some pass the test, some don't, but what's clear almost from the beginning that things will never quite be the same again in Vlad's household. For many, the changes they go through make them stronger, and this newfound strength is at times to be seen in unexpected places. Others, however, seem to diminish in character, and rarely is it easy to tell who can and cannot be trusted. By the end, answers to some questions that lingered at the end of the first book have been found, but those answers mostly just give rise to new questions.

Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost

She's a mortal with dark powers...

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person's darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude...until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world's most infamous vampire...

He's the Prince of Night...

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don't call him Dracula. Vlad's ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

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Vlad Tepesh is already well known to readers of the Night Huntress series, but the heroine for his spin-off series is someone we haven't met before. And she's human. She's far from being an ordinary human, however, for as the description tells us, she has some pretty formidable powers of her own. She also has a personality that's capable of standing up to Vlad's formidable ego and presence and is in many ways the perfect complement to his. Watching them butt heads throughout the story is just as entertaining as the story itself, which is as full of action and suspense as one would expect from a book set in this universe.

Home for the Holidays by Jeaniene Frost

Originally appeared in the print anthology The Bite Before Christmas.

'Tis the season to join Cat and Bones for some holiday cheer in this Night Huntress novella by USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost.

They were looking forward to a normal holiday—at least as "normal" as it gets for vampires Cat and Bones and their otherworldly friends and family. But their yuletide plans are shattered when a mysterious stranger shows up and reveals long-buried secrets that threaten to take a bite out of their holiday cheer … and lives.







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Thanksgiving and Christmas seem to be cursed holidays for Cat and Bones. I don't think they've managed to have a quiet, completely normal holiday season yet because their enemies always seem to pick that time to start crap. This time is no different, with the stuff starting to hit the fan even before all of their guests have arrived. What follows is a fun, action-packed story that's fully in the spirit of the earlier Night Huntress novels. Cat is shown at her butt-kicking best, and in a somewhat surprising and interesting turn of events, Ian gets to play the hero helping to pull his friends' fat out of the proverbial fire instead of being the irritating and self-serving jerk we're more used to with him.

One Grave at a Time by Jeaniene Frost

The grave is one wrong step away.

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.

Centuries ago, Heinrich Kramer was a witch hunter. Now, every All Hallows Eve, he takes physical form to torture innocent women before burning them alive. This year, however, a determined Cat and Bones must risk all to send him back to the other side of eternity - forever. But how do you kill a killer who's already long dead?




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** Warning: This review contains some possible mild spoilers, primarily regarding the ending. **

After hitting a lull in This Side of the Grave (in my opinion at least), this series found the energy it had in the first books again in this one. Once again Cat and Bones and their friends are facing a truly evil adversary, and this time their vampire powers won't necessarily help them all that much. True, they do still have a few handy tricks up their sleeves they can use, but how do you catch the wind much less fight and destroy it? It's a question that they don't really have a real answer for up until the very end almost, and the struggle is real as they do their best with trying to beat the clock and outwit Kramer. Add in another serious growing problem with regards to changes with Cat's former team since the game changing event there in the last book, and life is very "interesting" indeed for them now.

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Danger waits on both sides of the grave.

Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance . . .

With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally"—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war . . . to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.



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After the high energy and edge-of-your-seat suspense in the previous novels of this series, this one came as a bit of a disappointment to me. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, or I didn't think it was good, for I did and I do, but it just didn't seem to be quite up to the level I'd come to expect. Overall this one seems to be more about character building and refining some of the relationships more than it is about fighting the bad guy(s). Worthwhile and entertaining reading to be sure, just don't expect to be wow'd as much as with the previous books in the series.

Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

 An immortal war has been brewing in the darkness . . . And now one woman has stumbled into the shadows.

Chicago private investigator Kira Graceling should have just kept on walking. But her sense of duty refused to let her ignore the moans of pain coming from inside a warehouse just before dawn. Suddenly she finds herself in a world she's only imagined in her worst nightmares.

At the center is Mencheres, a breathtaking Master vampire who thought he'd seen it all. Then Kira appears, this fearless, beautiful . . . human who braved death to rescue him. Though he burns for her, keeping Kira in his world means risking her life. Yet sending her away is unthinkable.

But with danger closing in, Mencheres must choose either the woman he craves, or embracing the darkest magic to defeat an enemy bent on his eternal destruction.

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I skimmed over some of my friends' reviews of this while I was listening to it and was somewhat surprised to see how many said they didn't care for this book as much as others in the series. I can see where some of them are coming from on this, I suppose, but in the whole I have to disagree for I found this one to be quite riveting. Perhaps it's that I'm often drawn to very old, insanely powerful characters such as Mencheres, or perhaps it's just that his world-weariness pulls at the heartstrings. Whatever it was, I found myself totally engrossed in this one, not wanting it to end, and yet knowing that the deadly game that Mencheres was playing with Radjedef couldn't go on forever.

First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost

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 dark past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness – and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who craves 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 demon nightmare together…

Because once the first drop of crimson falls, they will both be lost.
 
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Warning: If you haven't read books 1-4 of Night Huntress this review will probably contain a few spoilers of things that happen in them.

This book is the first in a spin-off series from Night Huntress, and as such doesn't focus on Cat and Bones, though they do play a significant part in the latter part of the book. Most all of the characters here should be familiar to readers of Night Huntress though, for we have seen most of them several times in the first few books of that series. Despite the change in lead characters, this book did feel like a continuation of the story playing out in the main series and it proved to be a great way to get to know some of the sideline characters better. If you pay attention, there are some important revelations made about some of the characters and their relationships with one another.

Magic Graves by Jeaniene Frost and Ilona Andrews

New York Times bestselling authors Jeaniene Frost and Ilona Andrews bring you two short stories of paranormal.

Jeaniene Frost's story, One for the Money, features vampires Cat and Bones trying to protect a spoiled heiress with a price on her head and an undead hitman on her trail. Previously published in Death's Excellent Vacation. Also includes the first three chapters from Jeaniene's story in The Bite Before Christmas anthology, as well as a sneak peek at ONCE BURNED, the first novel in the new Night Prince series.

Ilona Andrews' story, A Questionable Client, is a prequel to her award-winning Kate Daniels series. In a world beset by magic waves, Kate Daniels works as a mercenary. She is tired, hungry, and there is foul-smelling blood on her boots. All she wants to do is to go home, but when Mercenary Guild offers her a job she can't refuse, she finds herself protecting a man against Russian wizards. Previously published in Dark and Stormy Knights. Also includes first two chapters of FATE'S EDGE, book 3 in the Edge series, and first two chapters of Magic Grieves, a Kate Daniels novella.

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I picked this book up primarily for the Night Huntress short story in it, so I could read it in order as I work my way through that series. While I enjoyed the short stories that come earlier in the series (chronologically speaking), this one was rather a disappointment. I haven't yet read any of the Kate Daniels books, so I don't really have any frame of reference for that story. Taking it on its own merits, it was ok, I thought. Likely those who are already familiar with that series would get more out of it than I did. Overall I'm not sure this anthology is entirely worth it, but my opinion may change when I get more familiar with the two series in question. Read on past the jump to see my brief individual reviews of the stories.

Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Her deadly dreams leave her in grave danger

Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.

Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her. She'll need all the power she can summon in order to bring down the baddest bloodsucker she's ever faced . . . even if getting that power will result in an early grave.
 

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Wow. That one word fairly well sums up my reaction to this book. I'd thought At Grave's End was an emotional ride, but this one surpassed it and then some. I'm sure there were at least a few scenes here that weren't emotionally loaded in one way or another, but I'm not recalling very many if any offhand right now. There's not even much of a rest at the end, for the intensity keeps driving hard nearly to the last page. By the end, many things have changed, some for the good and some for the bad, and many things remain uncertain and up in the air. All the more incentive to grab the next book and keep going.

Devil to Pay by Jeaniene Frost

Blake Turner had it all—until a demon decided to take residence in his soul. Plagued with constant black outs and a trail of dead bodies in his wake, Blake thinks vampire Elise is his best chance at ending the nightmare. It’s just too bad he’s fallen in love with the gorgeous vamp right before he has to die… Featuring characters from New York Times bestselling author Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress world. (Originally appeared in Four Dukes and a Devil anthology)







 
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This was a very poignant story that will take you through a variety of emotions, though largely various shades of heartbreak, tinged at times with despair. While it doesn't seem to have any direct bearing on the main story of the Night Huntress series, we do see some of the characters from it. Cat and Bones play a significant, if relatively brief, role, and Mencheres features prominently. Even without these known characters, however, the new characters we meet here make it totally worth reading or listening to.