First Drop of Crimson

Denise MacGregor has an immense fear of the paranormal after the murder of her husband by zombies over a year ago in a war between vampires and zombies. Despite that, her best friend Cat is a half-vampire, and Cat’s husband Bones is a vampire. When some members of Denise’s family die, she’s confronted by the demon that killed them. Raum brands her arms and gives her an ultimatum; she must find her ancestor Nathanial who had backed out of a bargain with him or she will turn into a demon just like him. The only person she feels that she can call for help is Spade, a master vampire she’d met when her husband died.

Let me start out by saying that this is the first book by Jeaniene Frost that I’ve read, and I wish I would have started sooner! I loved this book. It had everything that I could have asked for in a paranormal romance. It had its suspenseful moments, funny moments, sad moments and sexy moments. I’m raring to read the next book in the series.

Although Denise is scared of Spade because of her past, she feels a connection with him that she feels guilty about. And Spade lost someone in his past as well and has promised himself he will never fall in love with a human again, but his attraction to Denise is stronger than anything he’s ever felt before. Spade is fully committed to helping Denise find Nathanial, whatever it takes.

Spade inadvertently learns something about Denise that can help him locate Nathanial but also puts Denise in extreme danger. I won’t say what that is, but I found that to be a very interesting twist in a vampire story. There was just so much that I really enjoyed about the story that I didn’t want to put the book down.

Because this was the first book of Jeaniene Frost’s that I’d read, I wasn’t aware that this book, although book one of a series, is a spin-off of her Night Huntress series. So there were some small things about various characters, like Cat and Bones, that I didn’t understand right away. I felt a tad bit confused or lost because of it at times, but none of that was integral to the story though. But I definitely recommend reading the Night Huntress series first, if possible.

I am really looking forward to reading more of Jeaniene’s work. I just feel that First Drop of Crimson was so well written that it sucked me right into the story.

I have always loved Jeaniene’s books but this was my first audiobook and I am in love. Tavia does another amazing job narrating.

I had a great time with this book the second time around. If you had asked me what I remembered about this book before I started this re-read, I would have told you next to nothing. It turns out that a lot of this story was so familiar that I am pretty sure that I remembered a whole lot more than I thought I did. I think that I might have actually liked the book a little more on this re-read.

Denise has kept her distance from the vampire community after the losses she has suffered. I don’t blame her at all for that decision. When she finds herself needing help with a demon after her family, she calls Charles, or Spade, for help. The problem ends up being a lot bigger than either of them expected but they are determined to bring things to an end.

I really liked Denise and Spade and thought it was nice to get to see both of these characters take center stage. I thought that they had fabulous chemistry from the very start which only grew stronger over the course of the story. I thought that they worked really well together and I was eager to see them work together to make it happen. They really did make a good team.

Tavia Gilbert does a great job with this series. I love how consistent she has been with the voice of the characters in this series. I almost jumped for joy when Bones and Cat made an appearance because I was looking forward to hearing them speak. I thought that she added a lot of emotion into the story and added to the excitement.

I would recommend this series to others. This is the first book in the Night Huntress World series or the fifth book in the Night Huntress Universe. I would recommend reading the earlier books in the Night Huntress Universe before this one since those events and characters are discussed and play a role. I can’t wait for more from Jeaniene Frost!

I was duped. Tricked. Swindled. Bamboozled. Fooled. Pick one. Any of them fits. I’ll be honest, I feel just a little bit violated……but I’m kind of glad I did it.
At the end of last week, I purchased a handful of audio books from Audible. I cruised around until I found titles that were appealing. One of those titles was First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost. I have never heard read anything by Jeaniene Frost but I was relatively familiar with the name and I had heard of The Night Huntress series. Well, this book is book one of The Night Huntress World series – a different series by her. So I grabbed it. The synopsis sounded interesting and it was labeled as urban fantasy so I was game.
Well, I think the label ‘urban fantasy’ is a bit misleading. This book was most definitely a romance wearing urban fantasy clothes! A romance with urban fantasy themes would have been a much more appropriate categorization for this book. Now, with that being said, I am incredibly happy that I picked it up. Had I known that this book was traditionally labeled as romance, I probably never would have picked it up. I have only read one read bodice ripper in my life and it was awful. It put a bit of a sour taste in my mouth for the genre as a whole. I have had sex. Things just don’t happen the way they describe in bodice rippers.
The only issue that I found with this book was a stumbled a little bit at the beginning because I wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. As I said, this is a bit of a “spin-off” series so the beginning of it sort of throws you into a situation. There’s not much introduction for the characters and what they do or have been through. However, that feeling quickly passes as the story line picks up pace.
About 2 hours into the audio book, I decided to pause and do a little research. Although this book is labeled as Book 1 of The Night Huntress World series, it really isn’t where you should start. If you pop on over to the authors website, she has compiled a wonderful list giving you the optimal order in which to read the books so that you are not missing any pieces of the plot. Although I normally refuse to read books out of order, I was already hooked on the story and decided to keep going.
Our main characters do not fit the norm for what you think of in traditional romance novels. This book takes place in a dark world with all the little nasties that go bump in the night. Due to this, the characters are much harder than what you would think of in romance. They’re fighters. Denise survived a rather traumatic event in her life concerning the supernatural and when we are first introduced to her in this book, she’s still kind of rattled from that experience. She doesn’t want much to do with the supes and would rather just hide in a whole. Unfortunately, the situation that she is thrust into does not allow her that freedom. Forced to get the help of an old vamp acquaintance (Spade), they set off in search of the answer to the big mystery to save the day. In the meantime, there’s a little boning.
Here’s the funny part: When you don’t know you’re reading a romance novel and everything is trucking along in the story and them BAM there’s groping and grinding and moaning and sweating and pulling and…..well, you get the picture….. When you’re not expecting that, it comes as a rather startling surprise. So be warned, all of the previously listed actions appear in this book….and then some.
To this book’s credit, there’s more action of the supernatural kind than the bedroom kind. If you’re into romance, it’s a good story. If you’re into urban fantasy, it’s a great story. There are two rather graphic sex scenes and a little case of the Peeping Tom’s but other than that, this is just a very well written mystery with a supernatural twist.
Aside from the main characters, there is a whole cast of fantastic personalities in this book. Most of them would be great subjects for their own novel. I was particularly fond of Bones. He made me laugh pretty good on a few occasions.

The biggest thing that stood out to me was the ending. Recently, I have been incredibly disappointed with the end of quite a few books. Some are rushed. Some wrap things up but not in a way that makes sense. Some don’t wrap things up at all – they just abruptly end. The ending of this book was perfectly orchestrated. It didn’t feel rushed. It didn’t feel like there were any issues left unresolved. It was a wonderfully written ending! I was very impressed.

Another note – as audio books go, this one was great. The narrator, Tavia Gilbert, is awesome for this genre. The cast of this book is at least 10 recurring characters, some of which are from other countries and she does an amazing job with creating an individual voice for each one. I didn’t have to stop the audio book at all to escape the narrator (something that I have had to do a LOT of lately). She was a great choice and a perfect fit for this book!

Overall, I give First Drop of Crimson 4 stars. A good solid urban fantasy novel with a few lemons thrown in. If you can get over the fact that you’re going to be a spectator to two rather hot and steamy love scenes, I think you’d love this book!

This series is a fun, witty and exciting one!

Not what you’d expect from a good blood sucker read. But it really added a totally different twist to the story.

I love this author.

I really dislike books that end with a cliffhanger. I will NOT be forced to buy the next book

Read every one of this author’s books or you’ll be missing out

I always enjoy her books, whimsical, creative and romantic