Release Day Review: The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

Broken Destiny #1

In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate.

Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her.

Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between…

I feel like I should start off with a bit of a disclaimer, this is not a Cat & Bones replacement. It has a completely different feel and pacing. While I enjoyed The Beautiful Ashes, I have to admit that the tone confused me. The genre is listed as a New Adult, and while the character fits that age numerically, the tone seems much younger. Granted I haven't read very many New Adults, but I just was expecting something a bit different, older feeling perhaps. I guess I just wasn't expecting Ivy to sound and seem like every other YA aged character. Don't get me wrong, I read a lot of YA, but for this to be labeled something different, I was expecting to see that. This confusion plus my lingering attachment and hope for a Cat & Bones replacement, it did take me longer than I had hoped to get attached to the story and characters, but luckily that was only temporary. 

So, once I was able to put my preconceptions aside, I fell into the story and this new world. The world building was pretty incredible, and complex. Everything happened in a whirlwind, almost too fast, but it never tipped over that scale, which I loved. Once I fell into the story I was hooked, and I loved both the world and Ivy. She's both strong and yet so vulnerable at the same times. She makes the right choices over and over, and while they may not always be for the reasons the others want, she still grows and moves forward with each new step. Considering how much was thrown at her in such a short time, it's impressive that she wasn't a crumbling mess to be honest. That being said, she was dealing with so much, so I did appreciate how the romance was much more of a slow build. It just seemed more realistic that way. Even so, I really look forward to seeing more from her and Adrian in the next book.

The Beautiful Ashes is a whirlwind of a start to this new series from Jeaniene Frost. All indications point to this being one heck of a ride. I can't wait to see more of this world and how things will unfurl. If you enjoy a unique paranormal story with strong characters, then this one is for you. 

(Received a copy from the publisher)

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Other Reviews:
     Gizmo's Reviews
     The Nocturnal Library
 

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Book Feature: The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

Title: The Beautiful Ashes

Author: Jeaniene Frost

Expected Publication: August 26th, 2014

  About The Beautiful Ashes In a world of shadows, anything is possible. Except escaping your fate. Ever since she was a child, Ivy has been gripped by visions of strange realms just beyond her own. But when her sister goes missing, Ivy discovers the truth is far worse—her hallucinations are real, and her sister is trapped in a parallel realm. And the one person who believes her is the dangerously attractive guy who's bound by an ancient legacy to betray her. Adrian might have turned his back on those who raised him, but that doesn't mean he can change his fate…no matter how strong a pull he feels toward Ivy. Together they search for the powerful relic that can save her sister, but Adrian knows what Ivy doesn't: that every step brings Ivy closer to the truth about her own destiny, and a war that could doom the world. Sooner or later, it will be Ivy on one side and Adrian on the other. And nothing but ashes in between…

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Check out my review here:

The Beautiful Ashes by Jeaniene Frost

  About Jeaniene Frost: Jeaniene Frost is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, and the upcoming Broken Destiny series. To date, foreign rights for her novels have sold to twenty different countries. Jeaniene lives in North Carolina with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. Aside from writing, Jeaniene enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her. For information on Jeaniene's books, reading the first 20% of each book free, book trailers, deleted scenes, creature mythology, and more, please visit: www.jeanienefrost.com

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Excerpt: 

A familiar song was playing, but I couldn’t remember the name. That bugged me enough to open my eyes. A wall of black met my gaze, slick and smooth like glass. I reached up to see what it was, and that’s when I realized my hands were tied.

“Silent Lucidity” by Queensryche, my mind supplied, followed immediately by, I’m in the backseat of a car. One that was well taken care of, going by that flawless, shiny roof. With those details filled in, I also remembered what had happened right before I’d passed out. And who I was with.

“Why are my hands tied?” I said, heaving myself into an upright position.

For some reason Adrian didn’t have a rear view mirror, which was why he had to glance over his shoulder to look at me.

“Does anything make you panic?” he asked, sounding amused. “You’re tied up in the backseat of a cop-killer’s car, but I’ve seen people get more upset when Starbucks runs out of pumpkin spice flavor.”

Anyone normal would panic, not that it would do any good. Besides, I ran out of “normal” a long time ago, when I realized I saw things no one else did.

Speaking of which, why wasn’t I in pain? The lump where Mrs. Paulson had whacked me was gone, and my shirt was red from blood, but aside from a mild kink in my neck, I felt fine. When I pushed my shirt up, somehow, I wasn’t surprised to see smooth, unbroken skin on my abdomen. Well, that and a bunch of crumbs, like I’d eaten a dessert too messily.

“Why does it look like I have angel food cake on my stomach?” I wondered aloud.

Adrian snorted. “Close. It’s medicine. You were injured.”

“You can tell me how I’m not anymore,” I said, holding out my bound hands, “after you untie me.”

Another backwards glance, this one challenging.

“You may be the calmest person I’ve ever been sent to retrieve, but if I tell you now what you want to know, that will change. So pick—the truth, or being untied?”

“Truth,” I said instantly.

He let out a laugh. “Another first. You’re full of surprises.”

So was he. He’d just admitted that he regularly kidnapped people—which was how I translated “retrieve”—so I should be trying my damnedest to get free. But more than anything, I needed answers. Besides, I still wasn’t afraid of him, and somehow, that had nothing to do with him magically healing me.

“Truth, Adrian,” I repeated.

He turned once again and his gaze locked with mine, those odd blue eyes startling me with their intensity. For a moment, I could only stare, all thought frozen in my mind. I don’t know why I reached out, awkwardly touching his arm to feel the hard muscles beneath that bulky jacket. If I’d thought about it, I wouldn’t have done it. Yet I couldn’t make myself pull away.

Then I gasped when his hand covered mine. At some point, he’d taken off his gloves, and the feel of his warm, bare skin sent a shock wave through me. The touch seemed to affect Adrian, too. His lips parted and he edged over the back of the seats—

He yanked on the steering wheel, narrowly avoiding another car. A horn blared, and when the driver passed us, an extended middle finger shook angrily in our direction. I leaned back, my heart pounding from the near collision. At least, that’s what I told myself it was from.

“Dyate,” Adrian muttered.

I didn’t recognize the word, and I was at a loss to place his accent. It had a musical cadence like Italian, but beneath that was a harsher, darker edge.

“What’s that language?” I asked, trying to mask the sudden shakiness in my voice.

This time, he didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Nothing you’ve heard of.”

“I picked truth, remember?” I said, holding up my bound hands for emphasis.

That earned me a quick glance. “That is the truth, but you don’t get more until you meet Zach. Then we can skip all the ‘this isn’t possible’ arguments.”

I let out a short laugh. “After what I saw on Detective Kroger’s face, my definition of ‘impossible’ has changed.”

Adrian swerved again, but this time, no other car was near.

“What did you see?”

I tensed. How did I explain without sounding insane? No way to, so I chose to go on the attack instead.

“Why were you in my hotel room? And how did you heal me? There isn’t even a mark—”

“What did you see on his face, Ivy?”

Despite his hard tone, when my name crossed his lips, something thrummed inside me, like he’d yanked on a tie I hadn’t known was there. Feeling it was as disturbing as my inexplicable reaction to his clasping my hands.

“Shadows,” I said quickly, to distract from that. “He had snakelike shadows all over his face.”

I expected Adrian to tell me I’d imagined it, a response I was used to hearing. Instead, he pulled over, putting the car in park but keeping the engine running. Then he turned to stare at me.

“Was that the only strange thing you saw?”

I swallowed. I knew better than to talk about these things. Still, I’d demanded the truth from Adrian. It didn’t seem fair to lie in return.

“I saw two versions of the same B and B earlier. One was pretty, but the other was old and rotted, and my sister was trapped inside it.”

Adrian said nothing, though he continued to pin me with that hard stare. When he finally spoke, his question was so bizarre I thought I’d misheard him.

“What do I look like to you?”

“Huh?”
“My appearance.” He drew out the words like I was slow. “Describe me.”

All of a sudden, he wanted compliments? I might have finally met someone crazier than me.

“This is ridiculous,” I muttered, but started with the obvious. “Six-six, early twenties, built like Thor, golden brown hair with blond highlights, silvery blue eyes…you want me to go on?”

He began to laugh, a deep, rich baritone that would’ve been sensual except for how angry it made me.

“Now I know why they came after you,” he said, still chuckling. “They must’ve realized you were different, but if they’d known what you could see, you never would’ve made it out of that B and B.”

“You can stop laughing,” I said sharply. “I get that it’s crazy to see the things I do.”
Lots of kids had imaginary friends growing up. I had imaginary places, though at first, I didn’t know I was the only one who could see them. Once my parents had realized that what I kept describing went far beyond childhood fancifulness, the endless doctor visits and tests began. One by one, diseases and psychoses had been crossed off until I was diagnosed with a non-monoamine-cholinergic imbalance in my temporal cortex.

In other words, I saw shit that wasn’t there for reasons no one could figure out. The pills I took helped a little, though I lied and said they got rid of all my hallucinations. I was sick of doctors poking at me. So whenever I saw something that no one else did, I forced myself to ignore it—until Mrs. Paulson and Detective Kroger had tried to kill me, of course.

Adrian did stop laughing, and that unblinking intensity was back in his gaze.

“Well, Ivy, I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is, you’re not crazy. The bad news is, everything you’ve seen is real, and now, it’ll be coming for you.”     

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Release Day Review: Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Night Huntress #7

There’s always one more grave to dig.

Lately, life has been unnaturally calm for vampires Cat Crawfield and her husband Bones. They should have known better than to relax their guard, because a shocking revelation sends them back into action to stop an all-out war…

A rogue CIA agent is involved in horrifying secret activities that threaten to raise tensions between humans and the undead to dangerous heights. Now Cat and Bones are in a race against time to save their friends from a fate worse than death…because the more secrets they unravel, the deadlier the consequences. And if they fail, their lives—and those of everyone they hold dear— will be hovering on the edge of the grave.

After finishing Up From the Grave, my first thought was absolute contentment. The second thought was how in the world am I going to review this book? It was just absolutely everything I could have possibly hoped for in the series ender. While I am more than a little sad to be saying goodbye to my all time favorite character couple, I'm very happy with how things ended up. I have to admit that since this series had these two awesome characters together throughout the entire series, I wasn't really sure what kind of "Happy Ending" there would be that would feel any more finished than we've already seen. Plus of course, Cat and Bones could never lead a simple life, so again, I just didn't know where that finished feeling would come from. While I won't spoil things, I have to say that I'm incredibly impressed with how things turned out. I never could have predicted the outcome, but that made it all the more enjoyable.

The twists and turns in this book were so incredible there were times I felt like I was getting whiplash from being yanked back and forth. There was one action by a character that just floored me. I mean I understand why this person did what they did, but oh my goodness, you cannot imagine my shock and heart-wrenching incredulity at what was happening. Of course now that I'm a bit separated from that event, I realize that despite the shocking nature of it, it was very true to the characters, and honestly that is one of the most impressive things about this series. There has been absolute consistency in how the characters react to things, be they good or bad. Sure there's been plenty of character growth, I mean just look at Cat now vs the start of the series. But when it comes down to it at their core they're still the same people with the same flaws and strengths, and I just really appreciated how true Jeaniene stayed to them. She really held no punches throughout this entire series, but I have to say that UP FROM THE GRAVE might just take the knockout.

I really hope that I have done this absolutely fabulous book and series the justice it deserves in this book. I honestly think this may be the hardest one I've had to say goodbye to, and that's saying something as I've finished a lot of pretty darn good series. Every Cat and Bones lover MUST read this book. There's just no getting around it. From emotions, to danger, to love, to betrayal, loyalty and heartache, this book is an insane roller coaster from start to finish. You'll want to carve out a solid block of time to read this one as once you start, you will not be able to put it down. Run, do not walk to your nearest bookstore and snatch this puppy up. Trust me you'll be glad that you did.

(Received a copy from the publisher)

Rating:

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Other Reviews:
     Fangs, Wands, and Fairy Dust
     Head Stuck in a Book
     Books-n-Kisses

Previous Books:
     1. Halfway to the Grave
     2. One Foot in the Grave
     3. At Grave's End
     4. Destined for an Early Grave
     5. This Side of the Grave
     6. One Grave at a Time

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This Side of the Grave (Early Review)

This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Night Huntress #5

Danger waits on both sides of the grave. Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance . . .
With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally"—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war . . . to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

Cat and Bones have had a very rough time of it lately and while they have come out on top in the last few battles, there still were loved ones lost and irreparable consequences. In this latest installment, Cat is still coming to terms with her new, mostly pulse-less status. She was unique as a half vampire, so it makes sense she wouldn't be a normal full one either. However, this spells trouble as a nasty Ghoul is using the threat of the "Red Reaper" to incite a war between the Vampires and Ghouls. They must scramble to round up their allies as well as try and find away to stop the war that could destroy them all. They seek out the help of Majestic, the Queen of New Orleans. The biggest question is not whether or not they will get her support, but if they will survive her "help" if she gives it, because one never knows just what the VooDoo Queen may have up her sleeve.

Cat has really had just about all she can take of dangers and threats to herself and her loved ones. So when her "borrowed" powers start causing her problems she scrambles to find a way to tone them down. She tells Bones that she isn't meant to handle them since she isn't a master vampire. This may be true, but when push comes to shove, she will do whatever it takes when her loved ones are at risk, even if it means using powers that wreak havoc and completely overwhelm her. However, I think most of her problems with the powers is that when she tries to use them, she over thinks it, as well as refuses to accept them as her own. Granted, they are only borrowed, but until they wear off, they belong to her, and I think if she could learn to accept them, she just might surprise herself.

I was so thrilled to see Cat and Bones fully together in this book. Their separation in the previous book was very hard to bear and they are by far my favorite fictional couple. In this book it seems they are closer than ever, and Cat is really trying to not repeat the mistakes of her past. Every time she has the inclination to run off on her own to try and save the day, she stops and takes a moment to talk herself out of it. She finally has come to terms with the fact that where she goes, Bones will, and no matter how much she may want to protect him, he will always be there at her side whenever danger strikes. Bones has even made some major strides in accepting that she will always have to be hip deep in the action and that he can't keep her on the sidelines either. I'm sure there will always be some tension between them as they are both extremely strong willed, but in the end they could not be more perfect for one another.

Since this is my favorite series, there always is the fear that the latest book will not live up to my admittedly high expectations. However, after reading this book I realized my fear was completely unnecessary, as this book was every bit as good as its predecessors. Be prepared for plenty of high stakes, heart pounding action, and plenty of steaminess. The book was jammed packed with emotions, and the ending will leave a smile on your face. Fans of the series will not be disappointed. If you haven't checked out this series yet, you don't know what you are missing.

Received copy from the Publisher

Rating:

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This Side of the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 5)

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Eternal Kiss of Darkness

Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost

Night Huntress World #2

An Ancient Egyptian vampire named Mencheres has grown weary of life. After losing his visions of the future, he has been convinced his time on this earth must be coming to an end, as all he can see is darkness in store for him. The last thing he expects however is Kira, a private detective, who at risk to her own life tries to save him from an assault. What she didn't know was the vampire didn't really need her help; or does he? Kira may be the one thing that could truly save him, but at what cost? Another ancient covets Mencheres' powers and will do anything to see his ultimate destruction. Mencheres must tread carefully to prevent the ancient from gaining his powers even if it means giving up his heart's desire.

Contrary to Cat's (from The Night Huntress series) view of Mencheres being only a methodical manipulator, in this book he is shown in a whole new light. We see real emotion and regret for the things he has done. Regardless of the good intentions and reasons for his actions in the past he still feels tremendous guilt and that guilt is crippling him. In all the times we have seen him in previous novels he is very careful to hide his feelings behind a impenetrable emotional mask. I really enjoyed seeing behind the mask and the real emotions proving there is more to him than meets the eye.

Kira, unlike Mencheres, proves to be very strong without hiding her emotions away. Her moral fiber is amazing as is her devotion to uphold her mentor's motto to "save one life." Even with everything that is thrown at her in such a short time she holds steady. I do not think any other character could be more perfect for Mencheres. The heat between the two is smoldering and will not disappoint.

While Kira and Mencheres are the main focus of the book some of my favorite characters from The Night huntress series make appearances. Many unanswered questions from prior books are also revealed. This book will only suck you further into The Night Huntress World and its characters. Eternal Kiss of Darkness is truly a must read.

Buy now at Amazon:
Eternal Kiss of Darkness (Night Huntress World, Book 2)

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