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Book Review of Once Burned (Night Prince, Bk 1)

Once Burned (Night Prince, Bk 1)
ophelia99 avatar reviewed on + 2527 more book reviews


This is the first book in the Night Prince series by Jeaniene Frost. Last I read there were two books planned for this series with the second book, Twice Tempted, scheduled for a March 2013 release. This book is in the same universe as the Night Huntress series but tells Vlads story. While not as excellent as the Night Huntress books it was still a very good read.

I listened to this on audiobook and the audiobook was exceedingly well done. Tavia Gilbert (who has narrated all of Frosts audiobooks) is the narrator again and she does an excellent job. This is a series I can recommend listening to on audiobook if you are a fan of audiobooks.

Leila was hit by lightening when she was younger and it left her with the ability to channel electricity and learn a persons darkest secrets with a single touch. Her inability to control her electrical shocking ability has lead her to a life of solitude as a circus performer. When she is kidnapped by vampires seeking revenge on Vlad Tepish, she is forced to call out to Vlad for help. Of course Vlad is more dangerous (in many ways) than Leila expected.

Leila is an interesting character. The whole thing about her gaining her abilities by being hit by lightening is un-creative and a bit corny...but lets be honest here thats just the back story to get Leila isolated so that Vlad and her can connect. So I am willing to be a bit lenient on the crazy unbelievable back story. That being said Leilas past as an Olympic worthy gymnast and circus performer are interesting and make her a character with an interesting history of experiences to draw upon. I enjoyed Leila, she is more light-hearted and fun than Cat and yet is still one tough cookie.

Vlad is well...hes Vlad. I love him, he is one of my favorite characters of the Night Huntress series and I was thrilled to learn more about him. We do get to learn a lot about Vlads past and what makes him tick. It is an intriguing read. I love Vlads cockiness and love reading about how he controls fire; its an interesting power and watching it mix with Leilas electrical abilities was fun.

The biggest disappointment for me with this book was that the whole book is told from Leilas point of view. Leila is fine and fun to read about but I am more interested in Vlad...and we never get to hear what he thinks. I wish that viewpoints had switched between the two...or even better that the story had been told from Vlads point of view.

The back story is pretty good; basically Vlad and Leila have to figure out who is trying to take out Vlad and why they are using Leila to do it. There are some awesome fighting scenes, torture is referenced, and there is lots of burning and zapping people. The book is fast paced and engaging.

Lets face it though this is mainly a paranormal romance, even more so than the Night Huntress series. The plot is mainly a vehicle to get Leila and Vlad togehter. Most of the story is focused around Leila and Vlad getting to know and trust each other...oh yeah, and have some really steamy scenes together. Frost does an excellent job writing high tension steamy scenes and that holds true for this book as well. The scenes are always very well done, never too much described but always enough. The chemistry between Vlad and Leila crackles and was fun to read about.

The book ends with a couple large issues unresolved and I am eager to read the next book in this series.

Overall a fun read. This is more paranormal romance than urban fantasy. The back story for Leila is a bit corny and the surrounding plot is mainly focused on getting Leila and Vlad together. I was disappointed that none of the story was told from Vlads point of view. Frost writes paranormal romance very well and the chemistry between Vlad and Leila is awesome, as are the sensual scenes between them. I definitely recommend to fans of Frosts Night Huntress series as well as to fans of vampire paranormal romance. I am looking forward to reading Twice Tempted when it releases next year.