Once Bitten, Twice Shy (Jaz Parks, #1) in Book Bloggers Anonymous

Dec 12, 2010 NovelReaction added it

Jasmine Parks is one the best vampire hunters in the CIA, but after the death of her entire team she is surprised when the best hunter in the agency requests her to be his partner, the legendary vampire Vayl. Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin follows Jaz and Vayl as they undertake what should have been a routine capture of a rogue vampire. As the two go undercover to stop the leader of the terrorists group ‘Sons of Paradise’ they discover a much more menacing threat to humanity and vampi Jasmine Parks is one the best vampire hunters in the CIA, but after the death of her entire team she is surprised when the best hunter in the agency requests her to be his partner, the legendary vampire Vayl. Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin follows Jaz and Vayl as they undertake what should have been a routine capture of a rogue vampire. As the two go undercover to stop the leader of the terrorists group ‘Sons of Paradise’ they discover a much more menacing threat to humanity and vampire kind alike.

Jasmine is a believable character, struggling to balance her job in the CIA which requires her to travel all the time, a non-existent love life and a diabetic father who continually ignores his doctor’s advice and routinely scares off nurses. Jasmine’s belief in doing what was right for her family, even when she admits that her family relationships are strained at best, is admirable but her approach to tackling them, both with anger and humor made me like her.

Vayl, the mysterious vampire, by the end of the novel you understand more of who he is and some of the things he has gone through but there is still alot that needs to be figured out, including his reasons for doing some of the things he did. There a few supporting characters that really contributed to the story, including Bergman a neurotic, paranoid computer genius. I loved his quirks and super cool techie toys.

This is the first book in a serious of seven (as of November 2010), the story line was left wide open with a lot more back story with each of the characters. I really liked it, there was no sex which seems so prevalent in the paranormal/urban fantasy genre, which is not to say there wasn’t sexual tension in the novel. I enjoyed Rardin’s fine line between the world as we know it with just a little of the paranormal thrown in. Rardin’s ability to introduce a slightly humorous quirk of a character and then incorporate it into a bigger issue later in the novel was incredibly well done and had me second guessing what I had thought earlier in the novel. ...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Anna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: vampires, urban-fantasy, read-2011

Review originally posted at http://bookstobrightenyourmood.blogsp...

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin left me with mixed feelings somehow.I know i wasn't all crazy about this book,but i can't either say that i didn't like it at all.I found myself somewhere in between but with a definite feeling that i expected something more of this book.

The beggining is just amazing.I loved the world,i loved Jaz and i was drawn to Vayl.The writing style was good,the pacing even and until the last page i
Review originally posted at http://bookstobrightenyourmood.blogsp...

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin left me with mixed feelings somehow.I know i wasn't all crazy about this book,but i can't either say that i didn't like it at all.I found myself somewhere in between but with a definite feeling that i expected something more of this book.

The beggining is just amazing.I loved the world,i loved Jaz and i was drawn to Vayl.The writing style was good,the pacing even and until the last page i wasn't bored for a minute.I just kept reading,if not anxious to see how things ended,at least curious.But,i thought that this book,though very good executed indeed,lacked a certain spark especially after the first half.
The world Rardin created was fantastic.Full of spies and missions plus the paranormal element to spice things up!I fell in love with this world immediately and to be honest at points i was a bit reminded of the tv show Alias...I know,the resemblances weren't really there,but in my mind,the way Jaz and Vayl lived just reminded me of that show!Apart from the world,Jaz herself is an amazing character.Independent,smart and born to be a leader.A strong heroine and among the best heroines created in the urban fantasy genre.
Vayl on the other hand,has definitely potential...I didn't "see" much of him in the first book of the series,at least not much in order to regard him as the super sexy alpha male,but the material to become exactly that kind of hero is there.Unlike Cole...I just couldn't connect with him whatsoever and to be honest i can't even regard him as a potential opponent to Vayl,for that all-so-famous triangle to form.I just couldn't see him as a potential lover and that is maybe because of the way he responded to Jaz after just a spontaneous kiss.You kiss someone you barely know for a total of 5 minutes and the next time you meet him you actually believe that something is going on between you?In my world that's not sexy,but quite lame...

Anyway,as i said the first half of the book was really good,but after that, things just got downhill a bit.Rardin spent half of her book to built a mysterious atmosphere around both Jaz's and Vayl's past only to just give rush explanations on the other half.The major turn downs was firstly the way Jaz just sucks up major things concerning herself not demanding explanations even after the book finished and secondly how Jaz talks for the first time about things of her past.I really don't want to say more for fear of spoilers,but if you'll read the book,you'll know exactly what i mean.After those two incidents i just lost half the fun.And although as i said,it's not that i didn't like this book,somehow i feel that it could have delivered much more...Because everything is already in there!

To wrap it up,although the first installment in the Jaz Parks series didn't leave me exactly astonished as i honestly expected,it's not a bad book whatsoever and a series that seems really interesting.So,i will read the next book,and hope that the things that put me off in this one,will be absent in the next! ...more

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Jul 19, 2009 Jai rated it liked it

http://janicu.livejournal.com/78576.html

I'd seen Once Bitten, Twice Shy in the bookstore and I liked the premise from what I could tell it was, but didn't pick it up right away just because of all the series I had already started and haven't finished. But when it was $1 at the onedollarorbit website, the price was right and I downloaded it.

The Premise: Jaz Parks is a CIA agent whose job it is to kill vampires. A few months ago she was assigned a new partner - Vayl, the only assassin who is also http://janicu.livejournal.com/78576.html

I'd seen Once Bitten, Twice Shy in the bookstore and I liked the premise from what I could tell it was, but didn't pick it up right away just because of all the series I had already started and haven't finished. But when it was $1 at the onedollarorbit website, the price was right and I downloaded it.

The Premise: Jaz Parks is a CIA agent whose job it is to kill vampires. A few months ago she was assigned a new partner - Vayl, the only assassin who is also a vampire. No explanation is given but Jaz wonders about it: Vayl has NEVER worked with anyone and he's considered a big deal. She can't imagine someone ordering him to suddenly take a partner like her, so she guesses Vayl asked for her specifically, but doesn't know why. The story begins a few months into their partnership when Jaz and Vayl are in Miami to perform a simple mission to help smoke out their biggest enemy, the Raptor, which soon becomes much more than it seems.

This is the first book in the series:
1) Once Bitten, Twice Shy
2) Another One Bites the Dust
3) Bitting the Bullet
4) Bitten to Death
5) One More Bite
6) Bite Marks

My Thoughts: This book is told in the person person from Jaz Parker's viewpoint. Jaz is a character who seems like the prototypical fantasy heroine. Red hair, wields deadly weapons, drives fast cars, and kicks butt at killing vampires. There's also a bit of a smart mouth, though to me it just seemed like she often shared the first thing she was thinking, no matter how random it was (there were times that Jaz thought she was funny when I did not, but humor is subjective). Jaz also has a dark back story; a recent tragedy hangs over her head, and she doesn't get along very well with the male members of her family when the book begins (her father and twin brother, David). The only one Jaz has no difficulty with is her sweet-tempered sister Evie, but it sounds like a typical family: there is still love even when they don't get along.

Vayl is a tall, dark and mysterious vampire (handsome too, obviously), centuries old who has his own reasons for choosing to work for Jaz. I thought his noticing her at the agency then wanting to work with her, was a little hard to believe, but didn't question it much. The important thing seems to be exactly what she means to him. She's more than just a coworker. And this is where I was a little disappointed at the book. It feels like we're not getting the slow buildup of a relationship as people get to know one another. Instead we've skipped ahead to the "I like you, do you like me?" stage. Frankly, I'm all about the slow build-up and I really don't know why they even have these feelings about each other, I'm just told they do. It wasn't what I was expecting in the romance. Meanwhile even though it's clear we're in that stage, that's pretty much where we stay. It just hovers there between them. I suspect the author is not going to address them for a while, which I don't mind, but if nothing is going to happen, why not show more of why they like each other, and make me believe it?

Most of the characters where like this: a little flat. Jaz and Vayl pick up a team of a private investigator, a psychic, and a tech wizard, and they're pretty quickly sketched out and don't do much more than provide support to let Jaz and Vayl do what they do best. Even the villains seemed like the usual fare: the psycho ex, the evil henchmen, evil doctor, terrorists, cult, and Uber-Villain pulling strings behind the scenes. There is however, plenty there to build from and I'm hoping more fleshing out happens in the next books.

Despite all of this, which I know, I know, I sound a little ranty: I didn't hate it, I enjoyed myself! I didn't find the read annoying, it's only looking back that I see some things, but as I read I did want to see where the story was going, and I did want to know the mysterious back story of both Jaz and Vayl. I think a lot of why I didn't end up disliking the book was the action. There's plenty of it, in a very.. action movie kind of way. Think James Bond meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Jaz and Vayl are a good team, working together to kill the bad guys and save the day, using high tech weapons and gadgetry alongside some supernatural abilities. For the most part this was fun, like watching a spy movie: there are getaways and car chases, tense moments, and civilians in danger. It's easy to follow (although near the end I had that I'm not quite sure where everyone is feeling) and not much thinking is necessary.

Overall: This has several elements of a typical urban fantasy - a strong, kick-ass heroine with mysterious powers she's beginning to learn, lots of action, and a supernatural love interest. I think that if you are at all sick of this type of thing, move on. Otherwise, keep reading. It's kind of like a written version of a high octane Hollywood blockbuster. Lots of entertainment value but only for those in the mood for action and entertainment. I still had a fun and will probably pick up the second book, but your mileage may vary. I'd recommend this book for those who also like Karen Chance. ...more

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Nov 15, 2009 Larissa rated it liked it

Series Rating: 4 out of 5 starts!
This is a Series Review:

A kick-ass heroine, a hot vampire boss, quirky and fun sidekicks and a lot of action and adventure… What else can you ask of an Urban Fantasy series? The Jaz Parks series by Jennifer Rardin definitely has all that and so much more.

Jaz is an assassin’s assistant for the CIA. She works for Vayl, a Vampire who was killed by his Vampire wife almost 300 years ago. From the start we get to see that they have a great working relationship that has ...more

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Nov 13, 2009 Jax O rated it really liked it

AWESOME BOOK, DEFINITE MUST READ. I was engrossed in this book from page one. I love the main characters witty sense of humor, it has me laughing all the way through. Jaz and Vayl romance is one that lacks action, but not suspense. Jennifer Rardin adds just enough interaction that you continue reading craving for more. I will definitely continue through this series.

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