At Grave's End by Jeaniene Frost

AT GRAVE'S END
A Night Huntress Novel #3
Author: Jeaniene Frost
Source: Personal Purchase

Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Avon (December 30, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061583073
ISBN-13: 978-0061583070

SUMMARY: 

It should be the best time of half-vampire Cat Crawfield's life. With her undead lover Bones at her side, she's successfully protected mortals from the rogue undead. But though Cat's worn disguise after disguise to keep her true identity a secret from the brazen bloodsuckers, her cover's finally been blown, placing her in terrible danger. 

As if that wasn't enough, a woman from Bones's past is determined to bury him once and for all. Caught in the crosshairs of a vengeful vamp, yet determined to help Bones stop a lethal magic from being unleashed, Cat's about to learn the true meaning of bad blood. And the tricks she's learned as a special agent won't help her. She will need to fully embrace her vampire instincts in order to save herself—and Bones—from a fate worse than the grave. 

MY THOUGHTS:

The third book in the series started off as a slow read for me.  In my opinion, the first half of this book seemed to drag on.  Yes, it had action and romance, but it felt repetitive.  It felt like it was the same stuff we read about in the previous two books with a slight change here and there.  Then when we get to chapter 21, the book took off!

I cried and wept reading chapter 21.  My heart was literally breaking along side Cat's.  I couldn't believe the author had done this and couldn't imagine how she was going to fix it.  Even with the sadness and despair I felt, I continued on in the journey with Cat and her friends.  I gained new respect for previous characters and enjoyed them even more than I had in the past.  I felt their pain and I wanted to reach into the pages and comfort them all.

Then along came chapter 24 and the author put our hearts from unbelievable sadness into heart racing joy!  The arc in the story was pulled off wonderfully and I loved every sentence, every word, and every letter the author wrote.  Those climatic and suspenseful chapters was just what the book needed to revive the lull and bring us back to the feel we had from the previous books.

When the action picks up yet again towards the end of the book, there was amazing angst, drama and again loss that will sadden your heart.  I can't believe that the author took a risk in killing off certain characters that I had grown to love, yet it played out wonderfully and enhanced the book even more.

The characters have grown, unappealing characters have turned into people I would stand by in death, and my love for this authors writing has become immense.  I can't wait to see what she has in store for the characters in the next book!

MY RATING:

Very Good! I would recommend this book! 4 STARS