First Drop of Crimson by Jeaniene Frost Series: Night Huntress World #1
Published by HarperCollins e-books on February 9, 2010
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 388
Format: eBook
Source: Library
Goodreads
The night is not safe for mortals.
Denise MacGregor knows all too well what lurks in the shadows – her best friend is half-vampire Cat Crawfield – and she has already lost more than the average human could bear. But her family’s dark past is wrapped in secrets and shrouded in darkness – and a demon shapeshifter has marked Denise as prey. Now her survival depends on an immortal who craves a taste of her.
He is Spade, a powerful, mysterious vampire who has walked the earth for centuries and is now duty-bound to protect this endangered, alluring human – even if it means destroying his own kind. Denise may arouse his deepest hungers, but Spade knows he must fight his urge to have her as they face the demon nightmare together…
Because once the first drop of crimson falls, they will both be lost.
My top thoughts:
As we make our way through our Readalong, it was gratifying to be reading a book that I hadn’t simply forgotten but had actually never read. My first time through, I only read the Cat and Bones books, so this was a step away from that and I have to say I’m thrilled Anne put together the readalong to include the entire world. Brandee and I buddy read this one and she loved it too.
What I liked/didn’t like:
The characters really made this book. Spade and Denise – who we already know and love from the Cat & Bones series – are very different in tone from what we’ve grown accustomed too. They are both very serious, carry the world on their backs, type of people. They’ve both suffered a lot of loss, but I think it’s also worth noting that they’ve also both experienced true, deep love (that they lost). I think that made them uniquely suited to know and understand each other, which made this a really enjoyable read. It wasn’t AS funny as Cat and Bones – but thankfully we do see some of the characters that we’ve grown to expect to bring the humor… and they do liven things up when they arrive 🙂
These books are different from Cat and Bones, in that we actually get both POVs, which made for a richer experience and greater knowledge of the world through Spade’s eyes. While I have been partial in the past to first person POV, I really enjoyed this vantage point and I think we would have lost a lot not getting Spade’s perspective.
There was a lot of action in this book and some really interesting developments for the overall Night Huntress world – ones that I’ll be interested to see develop both in this series and in Cat and Bones. I was definitely MORE compelled by the characters, but I did enjoy the world building and some really great action scenes, for sure!
Excellent review! You have said many things I believe. Thanks for joining in the Read-along.
You know, I’d already forgotten you hadn’t read this one previously! LOL I’m still not believing that I barely remembered anything from this one even though I’d read it. I loved it though, as you know. And all the coming spinoffs will be truly new for me. Can’t wait to buddy read them all. 🙂 I’m jealous you’re reading The Other Half of the Grave though. I decided to wait until I finish the readalong. *gasp*
Its been a while since I read this, but I do remember having the same impression that both characters felt different once I got to their own book. Glad you both loved it.
I remembering reading this one and really liking it. I love her books though.
Spade! 😍😍😍 I’m reading The Other Half of the Grave and he just made an appearance!
I’m reading it right now too! I listened to the part where Bones called him 😂 love spade!!