Review--First Drop of Crimson

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 already has lost more than the average human could bear. But her family's 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 lusts for the 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 nightmare together...

**Some spoilers for the Night Huntress series books, mostly At Grave's End**

The first book in the new spinoff from the Night Huntress series, First Drop of Crimson, book 1 in the Night Huntress World series, was fabulous! Yeah, that sentence is a little weird, but oh well. I want to get the whole title out and its series title and mention that it's a spinoff series from another.

Moving on...This was a fan-tab-u-lous book!! I loved it! Took me a week or so to read since I had to read the Great Gatsby for school. But MAN, was this book good! It was incredible to get an insight into some of the Night Huntress secondary characters. Spade was always pretty intriguing ever since Halfway to the Grave--really wish I had more time to re-read those--and Denise was interesting too. We didn't get to see much of these characters because they were only the "friends" and they were secondary and their stories didn't matter, but their story was very entertaining.

As the BOC says, Denise is in danger because she has been marked by a demon, a relative of hers made a deal with a demon years ago and now the demon has come to collect his due, but the relative is missing, hiding. So the demon starts taking out her family members--distant at first--and then he comes to her. Worried about her family, such as her parents, she agrees to find this relative of hers and bring him to the demon. The demon then marks her and says when she brings him the relative, he'd take the marks off.

Denise knows she's in deep water, but she doesn't want to risk her friends'--Cat and Bones--lives. Plus she hadn't spoken to them too much after Randy's demise, back in At Grave's End. So she turns to one vampire that she remembers from the ordeal and prior to, she goes to Spade and asks for his help. After much hashing out the details between their arrangement, he agrees to find her relative for her.

Now since this is a paranormal romance more so than urban fantasy, unless you think it's more UF. I don't know...I just know that I LOVE Jeaniene's work!! Anyway, you can expect a romance to develop between the two star characters. They both have a long battle ahead of them, both personal ones and the one concerning finding this relative, because the demon is an impatient fellow who makes their journey very difficult.

Denise still mourns for Randy, but she soon can no longer contain the feelings that have developed for Spade and Spade still mourns for his long-dead human wife, which is why he has "sworn off" human woman, until Denise comes along. Their romance development is a lot different that Cat and Bones, which was still great, but there seems to be something more real about the love developing between Denise and Spade. For you know what happens when a vampire loves a human...

Which is where the problem lies between them.

Denise was fabulous, it was great to see her as the kick butt heroine this time. Yes, she still has her flaws, but who doesn't? She suffers from PTSD and constantly blames herself about her husband's death, but Spade is similar in that manner as well in regards to his wife. Both are in their own mourning, but still manage to find solace in each other.

There are a few surprise characters that come in the end, maybe not so much a surprise when you think about it, but I won't say any more. I am really-really curious to see where this new series goes. The next book in the Night Huntress World series comes out July 27, Eternal Kiss of Darkness and this one stars Mencheres and a completely new heroine, for real this time. We haven't met her yet. At the end of the novel Jeaniene writes a letter to the readers and gives a short description about the book and boy does it sound good!!

Fans of the Night Huntress series will love this book, because it has all the aspects of Cat's world. There's action, romance--obviously, and of course some violence! Yea violence! Hee-hee. The "monsters" that appear are interesting as well, really the demon that is hounding for Denise and her relative. There is a lot of tension throughout the book as well after certain events, because you wonder what so-and-so will think or react, that you want so-and-so to just do X.

I personally, personally HOPE that Jeaniene writes a Night Huntress World book that has Ian as the leading male character. He is very interesting...an ass, sure, but interesting all the same. I bet he has an interesting history/story that needs to be told. We know some of his past a little through Bones and Spade, but I think we miss something more...really hope Jeaniene has a story for him!

**And technically as of now, 10am, I am not reading Shift just yet, because it still has not arrived. I expect it to be in the mail today. You can expect a quick ranting post tonight if it's not. It was like 10-15 minutes away at another mailing location at 1am today, so it SHOULD come with today's mail.