One Night Stand: Once Burned by Jeaniene Frost
 |
| AMAZON | KINDLE |
Once Burned: A Night Prince Novel by Jeaniene Frost
Paranormal
2012-06-26 (Avon)
Heroine: Leila – Electricity, Pyschic
Hero: Vlad Tepesh – Fire, Vampire
Setting: Romania
Review:
From the moment Vlad was introduced in The Night Huntress series, I was immediately infatuated with him. So of course, I was eagerly anticipating the release of Once Burned which is book one in the Night Prince series a spin off of The Night Huntress series. I love Cat & Bones. Unfortunately, the last two books were a bit disappointing so I was a little worried. Well, my worries are over...the magic and euphoria I felt while reading the first four Cat & Bones books is back in full force. Once Burned is a magically, delicious story that had my full attention on page one. It's sexy, thrilling, action-packed, and the characters and world are engaging. I couldn't put it down.
Leila is a great pairing for Vlad. She is beautiful, smart, funny, and straight forward. She holds her own when it comes to Vlad. When she was a teenager, she was electrocuted by a power line which left her with a scar that runs from her temple to her right hand. As a result, she possesses the power to retain electricity in her body. She can zap or electrocute someone with her right hand. She also has the ability to see someone's worst sin by touch. She also gained the ability to read a persons past, present, and future through their essence of an object they touched or through her own touch. Growing up with these abilities and her scar left her feeling like an outcast. As an adult, she lives a solitary life as a circus performer and calls herself Frankie. Short for Frankenstein. She has been made aware of Vampires because her partner in her trapeze act is a Vampire. Marty is like a father figure to Leila and loves Leila like a daughter. Marty is a great edition to the cast of characters and plays an important role in Leila's life.
Cleverly, Frost spins a unique love story that depicts Frankenstein and Dracula . Which brings me to Dracula, but don't ever call him that. He might impale you.
Vlad, Vlad, Vlad...
“I’m the only authentic Vlad. Everyone else is merely an envious imitation.”
He lives up to his name, Tepesh The Impaler. He is sexy, ruthless, arrogant, and unapologetic. Being able to wield fire, he is one of the most powerful Vampires in the world. He is known for his possessiveness and loyalty to his people who he has protected for 500 years.
After an incident where Leila is forced to use her abilities in public, she is captured by Vampires who are working for the an unknown powerful Vampire who wants revenge against Vlad and will use any means to find him. In turn, Vlad ends up rescuing Leila from the Vampires and wants to keep Leila around to help find out who is trying to capture him by using her powers.
Vlad is immediately drawn to Leila's abilities and her beauty and claims her as his. He wants her but with no strings attached. No love. He tells her up front that they will be lovers but to never fall in love with him. As the story progresses, you can tell that Vlad struggles with his feelings for Leila. It's obvious he cares but never let's himself come clean and keeps himself distant. Because this story is told from Leila's POV, you only get to see little glimpses of what's inside the powerful Vampire's head through Leila's touch where she sees different flashbacks of his memories and events that take place in the future. In the sneak peaks of his history, we see and learn a little bit about Vlad. He lived a dark life where he was betrayed, turned into a Vampire, tortured, and loses many people in his life. These little sneak peaks were such a tease. I wanted to know more about the mysterious Vlad and what makes him tick.
Besides writing sexy Vampires, one of my favorite reasons for reading a Frost book is her humor. She writes hilarious one liners and humorous situations that have me laughing out loud. Vlad's mind reading ability gives him the advantage to be able to hear Leila's thoughts where she struggles with her attraction to him. And of course, he always let her know he knew what she was thinking which frustrated and embarrassed Leila.
“Two Leilas seemed to be battling it out inside me. The first was outraged that he still considered it a fait accompli that I’d give in to him, and the second...that slutty bitch was wondering what Vlad looked like naked.”
Vlad is so unbelievably sexy in this book. I melted. While I would consider this to be bit a more urban fantasy than PNR, Leila and Vlad's sexual chemistry is electric and heats up the pages.
“If I didn’t want you so much,” he said in a deadly purr, “I’d let you keep fucking me with your gaze, but you make me impatient.”
Vlad has officially become one of my favorite book boyfriends. I adore him.
The ending wasn't a complete resolution for this couple but the build up for the next book, Twice Tempted has me extremely excited.
Side note: If you haven't read The Night Huntress series, I highly recommend starting with Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress) before reading Once Burned.
Thoughts While Reading:
69.0% - "I'm practically drooling on my book...I'm in lust for Vlad."
0 comments:
Comments moderated on posts older than 8 days.