Jeaniene Frost

Up From the Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Night Huntress series #7. Final full length novel of the series. Vampire paranormal. Best read in series order. The two newer books listed (2022 and 2023) are from Bones POV and could be considered 1.5 and 2.5 instead of 8 and 9.
Cat and Bones deal with a rogue CIA agent that threaten their existence. It’s finally time to deal with mad scientist Madigan and his experiments on vampires and ghouls. The vampire Queen gives permission and it’s on them to solve the problem.

Cat and her determination and Bones and his protective nature add angst and twists in this novel that are explosive. A fantastic conclusion to the series.
“We were never properly introduced” I said in a vicious purr. “I’m the Red Reaper. And you’re dead.”… (lisätietoja)

This was a re-read from years and years ago. *sigh* I totally forgot how good it was, even now I'm like... I HAVE TO READ MORE!
That's what Cat and Bones do to you ;)

Worldbuilding:
A rich (and volatile) present-day urban fantasy, what more do you want? We have sentient ghosts, English vampires and who knows what else out there.
While Cat is part of the supernatural scene, she doesn't know much about it, so we get all the info alongside her. There never is an information dump, but we slowly and steadily get to know what's going on in the vampire world and how close it is tied to our own.
Scenes and environments were very well described and detailed enough to stay fully immersed in the story.

Character development:
Our cast is amazing, seriously. Prepare to get emotionally invested and enjoy the wild ride.
Catherine, but call her Cat, is a hybrid: half-human and half-vampire. She has been hunting and killing vampires for the last 6 years until one fateful night she met Bones. Ahhhh where to start... I really like that he's so different from the usual vampire stock (as in not dark and broody). I mean, he's English! :D
Both of our main characters are well fleshed out, with a colourful past, their own fears, hopes and dreams for the future.
I don't know, but Cat and Bones just make such an awesome pair. Yes, they kick ass and protect each other, but it goes way deeper and that just makes me sigh with a grin on my face.

Pacing and flow:
As I've said before, it's a wild ride, but sooooo worth it! There is a lot of action going on but perfectly balanced by the conversations that drive the story forward.
There wasn't any part that I felt took too long or felt rushed. The story was told at its own pace and that was perfect.

The book:
The book itself was well written with no (noticeable) errors. There is sex described (if that is important to you).
It's 358 pages long, spread over 27 chapters and told from Cat's point of view.

Final thoughts:
To hell with it, I'm reading the next book immediately afterwards! I can't recommend this series often enough, even if you're not sure, read a sample and you'll be as hooked as I am ;) That just leaves me with one more thing to say: enjoy ;)… (lisätietoja)

This book was ok, but seriously? The editing and spelling was atrocious. Amelia LeFay needs to invest in some beta readers to catch those spelling and punctuation mistakes. Sometimes they were bad enough to make me question what the sentence was reading. Many times spelling mistakes don't cause the word and therefore the sentences to change meanings. The mistakes in this book did. Honestly, I can't remember a specific one, but I remember coming across them enough to find frustration.

The story ran hot and cold for me. The heroine and the heroes were hotter than sin. I loved the chemistry between them all. I love a good MMF story where they get creative in the sack. We have Jane who is a down on her luck, orphaned, but plucky, honest snowflake trying to make ends meet by working as a maid.

Maxwell, is the only son of a philandering multi-billionaire business tycoon and a soon to run for President mother. His only worth to the family seems to be his ability to round out the family portrait. He tries his best to avoid his parents and they do their best to convince him to get married and make the family look better.

Wesley is a cocky celebrity chef with multiple restaurants and 3-Miechelin stars. He is British with two "Mums" living back in England. He reads like a young Gordon Ramsey.

Maxwell works in media as an investigative reporter running a respected and highly rated tv news channel that is part of his parents "empire".

Wesley and Max are in a secret relationship for four years. Max lives in a Penthouse apartment with Wesley. Wesley rents the apartment on the floor below for appearances. They are not "out". They are bi-sexual, but have yet to be with anyone else while together.

Jane becomes their maid. After a month of cleaning their home (after signing an NDA) and never seeing her employers, she walks in to see these two sexy guys going at it vigorously in the living room. She gets hot, but runs out the door. Wesley decides he wants her. Max doesn't care since they haven't agreed to be exclusive (despite never having been with others) Max isn't jealous. They are both Bi-sexual so it isn't a problem.

They manage to get Jane into bed and they immediately start a relationship.

The sex scenes were plentiful, descriptive, and not just the usual MMF fare. These scenes were better written than the story.

There were parts of the story that had the characters behaving oddly out of line with the situation. Jane had an over the top reaction to how Max's mother wanted to use her to drive a wedge between Max and Wesley. Although I did enjoy how Jane wasn't one of those types who couldn't allow the guys who are richer than Midas to spend money on her. Finally, a Heroine whose pride didn't get in the way. Of course she isn't being "bought" if they spend what is not a lot for them but a ton of money on her. No there aren't big shopping sprees, but she did need to get some new clothes to fit in with the family.

I had some problems with major/minor parts of the story.

In the beginning of the relatinship when the three of them sit down to discuss "rules" the Heroine decides that this is a closed relationship, and the guys could be together without her being in the scene because they were together before they met her. However, she wouldn't allow them to be alone with her one-on-one. She considered this as cheating. WTF? First, I didn't understand why she would consider it cheating when it was obvious that they were in a relationship all together. Having a one-on-one with the guys is so integral in a menage relationship. What kind of relationship would this work with? It was even carried over when one of the guys took her to meet his Mums in England. They slept separately (him on the floor, her on the bed). Earlier one of the guys came home and was worried what he would find when he opened up the bedroom door after realizing the other two were alone in the room without him.

This really messed with the story line and caused all kinds of questions in my mind. Really? Cheating? Why? How did this enhance their relationship? How is the reader expected to believe that these three could have something lasting when it was hobbled in such a way. Never in any MMF books have I seen such a stupid, sabotaging "rule". Yes, its a book, but the entire basis of a true menage relationship is that each member has a relationship with each member. Not this BS.

Another critique, I didn't care for the plot point that started the book. Jane is working in a strip club as a bartender/manager/seamstress with a guy Allan, whom she considered a brother type because they came from the same group home. Allan had unknowing to Jane listed her as the c0-owner of the club and then managed to run up a $210,000 debt with some mafia-types. We learn this when in the opening pages Jane is out the door because Allan is not paying her enough to even eat. Jane has been going over the books as part of her job and has discovered places where money could be saved and then given to her to keep her from having to choose between utility bills and food.

This is were we learn that Allan has listed Jane as co-owner in the club and also has somehow incurred a $210,000 debt with some mafia-types due to his poor money management and possibly stealing. Now Jane is on the hook right along with him. She just tells him to figure it out, and leaves. This is last we read of Allan and the strippers.

Jane goes to a former stripper friend who managed to get out and start a maid business. Jane becomes a maid to the two heroes. A chapter or two later Jane comes home to someone roughing her up over the debt. Jane then much later confesses the debt to the heroes. This confession consists of a single line at the end of the chapter "I owe $210,000". A chapter later Jane calls Allan and tells him to let the mafia-types know they are getting their money.

That's the extent of the extent of the arc, and no there is no later plot point involving them in some other way. No further contact. What was the point of this? It didn't push the story further - maybe it could be said that because Jane was roughed up and scared to go home it pushed her into living with the Heroes quicker, and gave her a reason to agree to marry one of them (to satisfy his mother's need of him to be in a relationship).

Another problem I had was the fact that Max's mother was supposedly going to be running for President in the next year, but said mother had no problem with her son marrying this woman with a very questionable background, which had been investigated. No care that she was the throwaway child of a drug addict, no care that she worked in a strip club, and then as a maid. No care at all, just the care that this mother wanted her son to marry a woman so he wouldn't be with the other hero that he had secretly spent the last four years with. The fact that at the beginning of the book it was mentioned that she (the mother) was for the LBGTQ community was forgotten when she couldn't live with her son being with another guy so much that she had no problems with him out of the blue getting engaged with a woman he only knew for a few weeks with such a questionable background. Yeah, like this would fly in real life.

Because of these critiques, I question the validity of the reviews on Goodreads. These glaring oversights were not mentioned in the long list of reviews. Why not? Why are the only reviews being shown all 4 and 5 stars? Did I read a different book than the other readers? Am I being overly harsh? I read and purchased this book based on the reviews. I have noticed over time that books that are Kindle Unlimited and thus "free" to read are given more accurate reviews. This book cost money - albeit a $.99, but still, It is now in my library forever until I delete it. Is it possible that books being sold for a dollar amount are being biased reviewed? Is it possible that this book was given a pass because the author is well liked under her other name ( I just learned that Amelia LeFay is another name and JJ McAvoy is the author's other nome de plum).

I have spent enough time writing this. I have other things to do than tear apart a book that I am reading the sequel to.… (lisätietoja)

This was mostly a decent 3 star read for me but there is something at the very end I found so infuriating I subtracted a star and never even considered reading the second volume for a long time.
The entire forced break-up (I guess you can't really call it that) made no sense. There was not a shread of logic behind it. The only reason it was there was as enticement to read the second book. It was incredibly blatant and cheap. I am still mad about it a year later. If you deftly craft your first book to end in a place which lures the reader to continue by leaving something unresolved that will be relevant in the next book that is fine. But just blatantly adding something that makes no sense and goes against the characters personality just to force such a situation that is a huge no-go for me.… (lisätietoja)