Frost, Jeaniene: First Drop of Crimson
First Drop of Crimson (2010)
Written by: Jeaniene Frost
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 372 (Mass Market Paperback)
Anyone who's read this blog for any length of time knows that Jeaniene Frost is one of my favorites. I'd resisted her Night Huntress series for when it initially came out, and when I finally gave in, I ended up going to the store to get the rest of the series, and have since been reading everything she's written as it's released. So really, it was a no-brainer that I'd pick up her Night Huntress spin-off the moment it came out, and despite my reading lists that I follow (unless delayed by challenges), that I'd be reading it soon too.
The premise: ganked from BN.com: 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 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 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 nightmare together . . .
Because once the first crimson drop falls, they will both be lost.
Review Style: I'm going to make a better effort to keep spoilers OUT of the main review, so we'll see how this effort goes. For this review, I want to talk about the differences between this spin-off and the Night Huntress series, why you SHOULD NOT read this book without having read the first (and so far only) four books of the Night Huntress series, how this book feels more yet less like paranormal romance than the Night Huntress series, and lastly why the characters are a miss for me. Clear as mud? No spoilers, except for the Night Huntress series, particularly, Destined for an Early Grave. So if you're caught up on Night Huntress, don't be afraid of spoilers. If you aren't, however, wait to read this review until you are.
One of the things I was curious about regarding the spin-off was just how necessary the Night Huntress books are to the enjoyment of this one. And for my buck, they're pretty necessary. First Drop of Crimson takes place after Destined for an Early Grave, and trust me, if you haven't read that book, you're going to be spoiled out your ears. I'd forgotten a LOT about the events in Destined for an Early Grave, and I was reminded of them in this book. Such reminders are treated in such a way that's it's kind of like a bomb of info. Not an info-dump, mind you, but there's one point where Denise learns that Cat is now a vampire, and it kind of comes out of nowhere for the reader, if the reader hadn't already read the book where it happened. Hell, I had already read the book where it happened, and I was like, "Wait, what?" Of course, my inability to remember such important details says more about my liking of that last Night Huntress book more than how the info is handled here, but I think there's a lot that's taken for granted. I already know and love Cat and Bones: I know their characters and quirks, so I don't need any sort of background info to flesh out this particular story. However, someone coming to this book without that background is going to feel a little left out, wondering what's so important about Cat and Bones that Denise and Spade are so intent on at first keeping them out of the loop and then just accepting their help without a second thought.
But enough of that. The point is that if you don't have Cat and Bones fleshed out in your head already, you're going to be missing something and you're going to know it. That's not going to be a problem for readers of the Night Huntress series, but if you're not one of them, I suspect you'll have issues, so I don't recommend this title as an introduction to Frost's work.
Back to comparisons, there are some real technical differences between this and the Night Huntress series. At least, that I can remember, so forgive me if I've forgotten. But generally speaking, the Night Huntress books are told through the first person POV of Cat, which not only provides the books with a stronger voice and a sharper sense of humor, but it also tends to tighten the plots, because if it can't happen while Cat's not around, what's the point if happening in the book unless it's going to affect Cat directly? With First Drop of Crimson, we get the third person narration of both Denise and Spade. This, my friends, is a traditional choice in romance. You get the heroine's thoughts, then the hero's, and so on and so forth.
Honestly, I can't say I'm fond of this. I know it's a style that's been around LONG before I started reading, but it rarely does anything for me. For readers are consider themselves better read in the romance genre, they can problem understand and appreciate the appeal: not only do we see the hero through the heroine's eyes (and therefore experience the hero as though the reader were the heroine), but we get to see the heroine (aka, the "reader") through the eyes of the hero, and we learn that what the heroine thinks about herself isn't so bad in the hero's eyes. In fact, it's downright sexy in most cases. Is this analysis of mine suggesting that romance is nothing but wish-fulfillment? Yes and no. Yes because let's face it: why do readers read romance of any kind unless it's to fall in love all over again, unless it's to swoon, unless it's to be turned on by the impossibly perfect man? No because to say that ALL romance is wish-fulfillment is a gross generalization, and I've got friends who'll kick my ass for saying that. BUT. There's something to be said for wish-fulfillment.
Getting back to the POV, it just doesn't work for me, and I think that's because I'm really not into the characters. I can't say either character stood out in the Night Huntress series, and that kind of shows in this book. Sure, Spade has an interesting back story, but as a romantic lead, he comes off pretty creepy. All that talk about seduction and how Denise WILL be his and how he wants to make sure he'll NEVER lose her is all very . . . ugh. I can't put my finger on it. Let's say two-dimensional. It's almost like Frost is trying to write him as an Alpha without Spade truly being an Alpha (I know, that's a werewolf term and Spade's a vamp, but still!). Putting it another way, given Spade's past, I'd rather see him as the dark, brooding, and very hurt hero, who needs the strength of a woman to fully realize his potential and power as a man. His past indicates such, yet he's portrayed as kind of a sleaze. It's not sexy.
And then there's Denise. I'll give Frost kudos for trying to flesh Denise out with panic attacks (though she labels it as post-traumatic stress disorder, and I can't quite swallow that), and her determination that no one else she loves should be hurt because of a decision that she makes, but . . . really? There's a certain lack of conviction. Maybe it's Denise's constant harping about paying Spade back for his services, her inability to recognize that Spade isn't playacting (though part of that problem is that we're in his head too, so we know how he really feels), and her constantly wanting to back out. Seriously, how does she think she's going to survive? She never thinks it through, which is frustrating. I would've like to seen a real plan, something she could honestly put into action, instead of half-assed protests that were easy to squash.
But the real issue is that I don't buy the romance. Which is sad, because it has all the hallmarks of a paranormal romance with the altering POVs and the fact they obviously want to jump each other's bones, but frankly, I never understood what attracted them to each other. I hate using that excuse as well, because any time I hear that critique of a relationship in books, I want to ask the critic: "Why does ANYONE fall in love with someone else?" Sometimes it just happens, but here, the question begs asking: Frost tries to use this instant pull the two of them felt toward each other when they first met, but I'm not buying it here. And to be honest, I'm not sure what Frost could've done FOR me to buy that pull, short of having Denise remind Spade very much of his long-lost love (how cool would that have been, if Denise were his long-lost love reincarnated?). So having the relationship start from that inexplainable attraction is too weak for me to latch on to, and while there were moments between them I very much enjoyed, I just never really felt it with them like I did Cat and Bones.
Okay, yeah, Cat and Bones have had four books. But I was rooting for Cat and Bones from the start, because they had CHEMISTRY, you know? Not so here. Also, part of the problem is that Denise and Spade already know each other when the book starts, already have a kind of non-romantic history, so we don't get the whole strangers-falling-in-love scenario, and unfortunately, Denise and Spade weren't close enough from the start to be the friends-falling-in-love scenario. It's rushed, not organic, and I just couldn't get into it.
The epilogue is a little odd too. I liked that Frost ended it on a hopeful note, sharing that our past loves are a part of who we are and they're something we should cherish, but the resolution of Denise and Spade is a helluva lot faster than I expected, and I'm not sure it was necessary.
I will say, though, that there are enjoyable moments in this book: I like when Denise grows a backbone and stands on her own two feet instead of cowering in a corner, particularly her plan at the end. That was genius, and I really like how the shape-shifting magic worked. At times, it made me laugh. And the resolution of all of that leaves some available tension for later Night Huntress and/or Spade/Denise books because, well, let's just say that Denise is still a VERY valuable commodity. :)
My Rating
Give It Away: I'm not sure that readers who aren't caught up on the Night Huntress books will get a lot of mileage out of this one, so I'll say this: unless you've read Frost's first four Night Huntress books, don't read this one. And if you ARE caught up, you may find yourself kind of disappointed anyway. But it all depends on how the characters of Spade and Denise impacted you when you read the Night Huntress series: if you liked them, or liked one of them, you'll have fun with this. If they passed under your radar, you might find this book lacking like I did. That said, it's a fast read that's got some enjoyable moments, and I'll certainly read the next spin-off, which features Mencheres. I just hope that Mencheres is more fascinating to read than Spade and Denise, because I never fully bought them as characters, and as a result, I never fully bought the romance. That might not have been a problem if this book were urban fantasy first and paranormal romance second, but the point of this book is getting its hero and heroine together, and the plot only serves to make sure that happens. So me not really buying the romance, even though I enjoyed some parts of it, isn't really a ringing endorsement. But then again, the only reason I read this book was because Frost wrote it, not because I was dying to see what Denise and Spade's story was, you know? So depending on how much you enjoy those characters in the Night Huntress series, you'll find your enjoyment of this spin-off might likely correlate. But like I said, I'll read the next spin-off. Of course I will: it's a Frost book! But I hope the romance is something I can sink my teeth into (pun intended).
Cover Commentary: Honestly? I hate it. There's nothing about Spade that looks attractive. In fact, he looks downright frightening. You know those horror movie trailers where they show some human scuttling around on the floor on all fours and all of a sudden, their head starts rotating? Not around the neck either, like The Exorcist, but rather like it's the hands of a clock? THAT direction! That's what Spade's head looks like it's the start of, because frankly, there's just nothing natural about that angle. He really looks more monster than hero, and that even the shadows from his fingers evoke the image of claws. That's just not sexy, and since this is a paranormal romance? *shudders*