Damn you, Jeaniene Frost! I have a shelf in my bookcase full of books that are part of series that I need to catch up on, and now you've hooked me on yet another!
Ok, I know, its really my own fault, because when I picked up Halfway to the Grave, I knew it was the first book in a series. But I'd read a couple of reviews about it some time back and, despite my resolve to not start any new series until I finish the ones (or at least one of the ones) that have piled up on me, I really wanted to read this book. So I caved. And it so lived up to my expectations!
There are a lot of vampire fiction/romance series out there. Some I've avoided like the plague (yes, Twilight, I'm referring to you), some I've wearied of and I have to space them out (sorry, Anita Blake, I like sex in a story but I like some story in between the sexual encounters, and lately you are all about nothing but sex sex sex), some I'm eager to continue with (Argeneau clan! Call me!), and some I've only gotten a little way into and haven't really decided on (Lil Marchette, you kinda get on my nerves, but damn, I want more Ty Bonner!).
So here we have Catherine "Cat" Crawfield, who learned when she was a teenager that her rapist father was a vampire. She's human, but she's half vampire, with enhanced strength, senses, and eyes that glow green when she's pissed. She's always been a loner, never had any close friends, and her first boyfriend coerced her into sex and then dumped her. She and her mother share a room in her grandparents house, and it's a house, not a home, at least not for Cat. On the weekend, she trawls the local bars, looking for vampires to lure out, get alone, and then kill. Her mother has taught her that all vampires are evil and should die, and she's devoted her life to this mission, hoping to eventually find and kill her father.
Then her latest conquest-to-be turns the tables on her, and she wakes up in a cave, stripped to her underwear and chained to the wall. She's been kidnapped by Bones, a gorgeous vampire with a cool accent - I pictured/heard Chase from House in my head (is that weird?). Bones is a bounty hunter - like Cat, he kills vampires, when someone has offered a bounty for one. But he's also trying to take down a mysterious ring of vamps who are preying on young girls, and he thinks Cat is working for the enemy. Once she convinces him she's only working for herself, he decides she might be useful to him, and blackmails her into training with and then working for him. She'll still get to kill vampires, but he will choose the targets. The inevitable happens of course, and romance blossoms. But as with all romances, there are complications, and Cat is not sure they can be overcome.
Cat is an awesome heroine, bright and sarcastic. She's a ruthless killer when it comes to vampires, not so much with humans unless they are working for or with the vampires. Bones is a violent hero, also a ruthless killer but with fewer scruples than Cat. A couple of times I felt a little squeamish at some of his actions, but not so much that I didn't adore him regardless. I so want them to be able to be together, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
(I received this book through BookCrossing.)
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