First Drop of Crimson

First Drop of Crimson (2010) Jeaniene Frost

I actually really like Jeaniene Frost’s writing, and loved all of the Night Huntress books I’ve read so far, even the ones I picked up in trepidation, thinking, “this can’t possibly be anywhere nears as good as I’m remembering the earlier books in the series to be.” However, the cover on this book is SO gawdawful I just couldn’t bring myself to buy the book. But with a gift card, I figured, well, maybe it’s worth the price of an ebook, so I decided to go for it.

First things first, DAMN can Jeaniene Frost write smokin’ hot books. Yes, there is boinking. Lots of over the top boinking. But she also writes excellent characters who I immediately want to be happy, and a nice fun romp with lots of danger and butt kicking. OK, Denise isn’t so much with the butt-kicking, but that’s perfectly OK.

Denise had her life shattered on New Years Eve a year before, when her husband was brutally killed in an attack on Cat and Bones, and she soon after miscarried their baby, wrenching her even further into guilt and despair. Now, she’s lost and aunt and a cousin and the last member of that family is convinced his mother and sister were murdered, and someone is after him as well.

Surprise! Someone is after him. And it turns out he isn’t going to want good things for Denise either. She tries to call Cat and Bones, but their numbers are disconnected (this must have been before the portability of cell phone numbers) and the only person she can contact is their friend Spade, who she calls to ask for contact information for Cat or Bones. Since neither of the two is available, and Spade is in the states, he says he’ll come himself to check on Denise and see if he can help her resolve her problem.

And then things really take off.

As I said, DAMN Jeaniene Frost is good at writing characters with awesome chemistry. But more than that, she’s good at writing characters in general. Cat and Bones make an appearance, as does Ian, and although one enjoys spending time with them, it never becomes their story, yet they also aren’t thrown in simply to draw fans of the Night Huntress series. In fact, for awhile, I didn’t think they’d make an appearance at all. But they did, and she did a good job of working them into the story without allowing them to take over.

If you have not read the Night Huntress series, you should be able to read this story without an prior knowledge. If you have, then you’ll certainly enjoy this addition to the world. In either case, don’t be put off by the horrific cover.
Rating: 8/10

Published by Harper Collins

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