Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1) in Around the World in 80 Books

May 08, 2011 Juliana Philippa rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance-paranormal, 0-own, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form-mass-market, 0-own-avg-rating-3-point-8-plus, library-book, 0-this-is-main-gr-edition, 2017-reads, all-time-best-romance-heroes-ever, 0-read-twice

Halfway to the Grave is my first full-on paranormal romance and I really, really enjoyed it! It was in first person POV, which is not something I usually like in romances, but here it works and didn't bother me too much. I feel like we're told enough about what Bones is feeling through her observations, that he's not closed off or inaccessible by any means. In fact, Bones is one of the most delicious heroes ever!! Though at first I was always torn between picturing Emily Deschanel or walking ske Halfway to the Grave is my first full-on paranormal romance and I really, really enjoyed it! It was in first person POV, which is not something I usually like in romances, but here it works and didn't bother me too much. I feel like we're told enough about what Bones is feeling through her observations, that he's not closed off or inaccessible by any means. In fact, Bones is one of the most delicious heroes ever!! Though at first I was always torn between picturing Emily Deschanel or walking skeleton - got over that quickly enough though ;-).

I'm always a fan of the loner / wallflower / unusual heroines, no matter the romance genre, so Cat delivered on that score. I found her honesty and insecurity refreshing, while also liking the fact that she was open and honest with Bones and that any issues that arose were not turned into Big Misunderstandings or Things Left Unsaid - plot ploys that I hate.

I will say that the ending was ... argh! So not satisfactory. I knew beforehand that this was a series and having read the summary of the next book to come out, knew how far their relationship will get. However I was not expecting the ending to be done as it was and to hear that the next book takes place 4 years later really brought down my excitement. (view spoiler) Honestly, I'm debating whether to change my rating from a 4.5 to 4 just because of this ending and my frustration with what Frost does with Bones and Cat leading up to - and at the beginning of - the next book. (Note: ended up lowering to 4 stars)

Overall the book was wonderful - romantic, funny, and an entertaining plot. I loved Bones and how he acted towards Cat, the things he said to her, etc. So, so sweet. The only thing marring this wonderful reading experience was how it ends and knowing what that leads to. Really put a damper on things, but still a great read and I am definitely buying my own copy of this book! ...more

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Oct 10, 2009 Gaijinmama rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, favorites

This book should come with a warning label: do not read while driving, operating heavy machinery, or on a ten minute break at work! Seriously. When our heroine and her gorgeous vampire beau finally have their big consummation, I was between classes and practically needed a defibrillator before I could face my second-period students.

In fact, that was a problem. Cat and Bones are very endearing, and their passion for each other is contagious. To be blunt (and I usually am!) I wanted a few more Goo ...more

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Apr 28, 2010 Lauren⁷ 💜 rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, favorites, fantasy-sci-fi-romance-romantasy, best-books-read-in-2010, hot-hunky-hero, sexy-sexy-sexy, shelfari-favorites, book-boyfriends

After reading the second book in this series first and utterly loving it, I just had to read the others. So I bought this, and it did not disappoint at all. This book is the perfect mix of Humor, Romance and Action. There's not too much of one or the other. I'll start with the humor. Cat has some of the best one liners and comebacks I've ever come across. I mean, Worm Food? Telling a creep that accosts her that she hopes worms crap on his corpse. Van Helsing wannabe? I laughed so hard when I was After reading the second book in this series first and utterly loving it, I just had to read the others. So I bought this, and it did not disappoint at all. This book is the perfect mix of Humor, Romance and Action. There's not too much of one or the other. I'll start with the humor. Cat has some of the best one liners and comebacks I've ever come across. I mean, Worm Food? Telling a creep that accosts her that she hopes worms crap on his corpse. Van Helsing wannabe? I laughed so hard when I was reading this I had tears coming out of my eyes. The humor is just some of the best in the genre. Onto the romance. The romance was my hands down favorite part of the book. When it comes to heroes in an Urban Fantasy book, Bones is a refreshing change. I have read quite a bit of Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance and one thing that all heroes tend to have in common is that they show no emotion. Basically little short of a nuclear bomb going off in front of their face will make them betray any emotion. Usually because they're really damaged/tortured in some way or other. And while Bones does have some issues, he's not all broody and miserable. And it was refreshing to see him admit his love for Cat fairly early in the book, and keep telling her that he loved her and accepted her no matter what. Usually the hero will admit to himself that he may love the heroine somewhere around the middle of the book, and then spend a good deal of the remainder of the book denying it, until he finally tells her within the last few pages of the book. So I loved that not only did he admit his feelings for her fairly early in the book, but further told her that he'd basically loved her since he first captured her and she was so defiant and brave to him. And he also opened up to her about a pretty painful part of his past, yet another thing that heroes in Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance aren't so inclined to do. Basically they have this whole show-no-weakness-or-pain or she won't love/accept me thing going on or if I admit said weakness or pain, she'll see me as less of a man. And yet another thing that was refreshing is the fact that Bones is romantic, he does sweet little things for Cat and has a really sweet and tender side, that again a lot of Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance heroes either don't really seem to have or it's buried pretty deep. Bones was just all around refreshing as an Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance hero, and goes down as one of my most favorite vampires ever. And when Cat finally tells Bones that she loves him, it just made me sigh, it was so sweet. As for the action, that was just great too. Bones tells you about strengths vamps have (many) and it is just so cool all the things they can do. Jeaniene really brings the action scenes to life, in a way it's like watching a movie, she writes them so vividly. And Cat kicks some serious butt, I love how tough and smart she is. The plot for the action itself was superb, although a little on the creepy side. My sole and only complaint is the ending, but having read book two already, i of course know that Cat and Bones end up back together and all's well. So it's not that much of a complaint, and she doesn't do it to hurt Bones or because she's scared of loving him. She's doing it to keep him safe. In conclusion, this is very well worth reading and if you haven't read this, you're missing out. ...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Kat (A Journey In Reading) rated it really liked it

Shelves: paranormal-romance, read-in-2011

Take a half-vampire/half-human, Master Vampire, an irritating mother, and lots of bad guys and you have a great story with Cat and Bones.

This is my first Jeaniene Frost book and I really enjoyed it. I loved the fact that Cat is a kick-ass heroine and stops at nothing to get the job done...even if it means that she goes against the wishes of Bones.

What do I say about Bones......... One of the best Vampires... put the glitter to the side and see what a real vampire is all about. He's strong, deter ...more

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Dec 14, 2009 Nadine in NY Jones rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormal-romance-and-mystery, forced-proximity-or-one-bed

When I started this book I was annoyed with the writing: in chapter 3 and again in chapter 5, the author used the word "tortuous" when she clearly meant "torturous." Sigh. A writer uses WORDS to communicate - she really ought to know what those words mean. And her editor really ought to catch these mistakes!!! How does this stuff go to print??

Aside from that, I was sufficiently entertained by the plot, characters, and blatant sexual tension between our goody-goody heroine, Cat, and the vampire When I started this book I was annoyed with the writing: in chapter 3 and again in chapter 5, the author used the word "tortuous" when she clearly meant "torturous." Sigh. A writer uses WORDS to communicate - she really ought to know what those words mean. And her editor really ought to catch these mistakes!!! How does this stuff go to print??

Aside from that, I was sufficiently entertained by the plot, characters, and blatant sexual tension between our goody-goody heroine, Cat, and the vampire hero, Bones, so I kept reading. The writing continued to be uneven - sometimes it sucked you right into the story, but other times it spit you right back out again with its clunkiness. But that didn't stop me from putting the next two books in this series on hold at my library! I'm hoping the characters continue to be just as fascinating, and the writing gets better.

**

I guess I liked this book more than my 2-star review might indicate, because I find I keep thinking about it. I keep thinking about how the premise of the half-human and half-vampire heroine doesn't work. She explains that her human mother was date-raped by a vampire and impregnated, and that's how she came to be, and okay a certain suspension of disbelief is necessary for any vampire book so maybe I should just drop it. But I'd like it to make sense.

(1) Early on, Bones explains that when one is vamped, "it takes a few days for some of the human functions to cease completely" and if Cat's vampire father had been vamped only a few days before the rape, he still had sperm. But wouldn't that mean they were HUMAN sperm, and therefore she'd be 100% HUMAN?

So okay, suspending my disbelief on that one ... let's just accept that his human sperm were somehow infected by his vampirism and so she came out half-vampire. Moving on ...

(2) towards the end of the book, Cat drinks Bones' vampire blood to make herself stronger, and after a few sips she feels bloodlust and has a hard time stopping. She asks him how he can stand feeling that all the time without losing control, and he says "You don't [control it:], not for the first few days. You kill anything near you to fill the need ..." So, if her vampire father had been vamped only a few days before the rape, wouldn't he have been filled with bloodlust when he went on his "date" with Cat's mother? Wouldn't he have attacked her and drunk her blood rather than date-raping her? ...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Jenifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: paranormal-romance, urban-fantasy, paranormal, 2013-read

Back in February, I participated in a blog/hop giveaway “Fiery Hot Reads for Icy Cold Nights”. I asked my readers to tell me about their favorite “fiery” author. Comment after comment listed Jeaniene Frost as a favorite author. I’d seen her name on book lists before but have never picked up one of her novels. Since so many readers seemed to love her, I decided to give her a try with Halfway to the Grave.

I loved this book! This is paranormal romance and urban fantasy at its best! Jeaniene Frost’s ...more

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