Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost
Narrator: Tavia Gilbert
Published by Avon, Blackstone Audiobooks on October 13, 2008
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
Pages: 357
Format: Audiobook, eBook
Source: Library, Purchased
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Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple 
Since half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her undead lover Bones met six years ago, they've fought against the rogue undead, battled a vengeful Master vampire, and pledged their devotion with a blood bond. Now it's time for a vacation. But their hopes for a perfect Paris holiday are dashed when Cat awakes one night in terror. She's having visions of a vampire named Gregor who's more powerful than Bones and has ties to her past that even Cat herself didn't know about.
Gregor believes Cat is his and he won't stop until he has her. As the battle begins between the vamp who haunts her nightmares and the one who holds her heart, only Cat can break Gregor's hold over her.
The action in Destined for an Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost was jam packed from the minute it started. I was in love with this story. It was my favorite in the series so far. I buddy read this book with Anne, whose blog you are reading this on, and Lillian from Mom with a Reading Problem. Reading with others has really amplified my enjoyment of the series. It is so nice to be able to bounce thoughts off people while reading.
Destined for an Early Grave has so many things that happen during the course of the book. I laughed, I was angry, I cried a little bit, and man did I get frustrated. Cat can really get on my nerves at times. I try to remember that it is so easy to judge from the outside looking in. As the reader of course we know what she should do. Instead of trying to cover everything that happened in the book, I’m going to sum it up by saying that no aspect of the undead world are left untouched.
I missed some of the characters that I’ve gotten used to seeing from the previous books. I just did not get enough page time with them. I also really enjoyed the new characters we met. I loved Fabian! I’m really hoping we get to see more of him in the upcoming stories! Also, I love Vlad. He just makes me laugh and for me that really adds to my appreciation of a character. We saw a lot of relationship development between Cat and Bones. Issues they’d been ignoring for the sake of peace and love finally boiled to the surface in a big way.
>One of the things that I love about the Night Huntress series is that I leave each book with questions. Not burning cliffhanger questions but questions about how the world works in Cat’s story. At the end of this book, I had a lot of questions about what will happen next. The story in Destined for an Early Grave is resolved by the end of the story but there is clearly more that is going to happen and I personally cannot wait to find out what happens to this wonderful group of characters I have come to love.
“The shit’s gonna splatter, start buggin’, you” Mencheres responded instantly.”
“I feel a connection to you, as I once told you. It’s not love, it’s not attraction, and I won’t sacrifice myself for you, but if you needed me, and it was possible for me to help you, like today, I’d come. Whichever side you called me from.” – Vlad to Cat
Games:
Who said (enter the answer in the Rafflecopter, don’t put in the comments)
Who said “I’ve always loved you. Like a son, in fact. ”
There are other options in the rafflecopter for you to enter discussion questions and quotes to share.
The quote for Who said “So both of us used her for our own selfish reasons. That vampire over there has treated her better than her own family.” in At Grave’s End is Justina.
The villain was Patra .
Share your review/ thoughts on Destined for an Early Grave:
I thought it might be fun to link up reviews so we can find them all easily. It can be a link to Goodreads or a blog, or wherever you have a review (short or long).
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Observations and questions you shared from At Grave’s End:
(Thank you so much for sharing!) If you can answer any of these numbered questions, you can do so in a comment.
- There was interest in knowing more about Annette and we talked about it in the live chat. Annette was forced into marriage at 14 and her husband abused her. She had a stillborn child (not sure if it was Bones or her husband’s child) Bones nursed her as she almost died. Bones came back 19 years later and killed her husband and offered to turn her, she was 36 I think. I’m sure she does love Bones.
- I love Vlad. Vlad is such a great character and I love the verbal animosity between Bones and him.
- Even if he didn’t want to kill Patra, it seems like Mencheres could have used his magic to find her and saved a lot of pain and death.
- It seems that most of Cat & Bones friends, family, or allies are all questionable to their loyalty!
- Annette’s baby was NOT Bones’s. He’s a smart bloke and had been prostitute for years to accidentally get someone pregnant.
- Was Tate ever sent to the terrorists like Bones asked Don?
- Why didn’t Patra just use the spell Mencheres used if she really wanted them all dead?
Quotes you readers shared from At Grave’s End:
“My invitation must have been lost in the international mail.”
“This, not being shot twice, was what brought tears to my eyes. All the times I’d thought she didn’t love me, and here my mother was trying to use herself to barter with the vampire she feared the most.”
“Here I was, one of the hosts of a bang-and-bite soirée honoring Bones’s alliance with a mega-Master vampire.”
“What happened to you? You look chewed.”
“Denise clapped her hands. “Oh, it’ll be so cool. I’ve never celebrated a holiday with dead people before!””
“Bones still couldn’t contain his laughter as we drove away at safer speeds. “I’m delighted you didn’t ring her in advance, luv. That was priceless.”
“I’d heard Bones greet him with an “All hail the dragon slayer!” salute.”
“”I was going directly to the kitchen to fall to my knees in awe before Rodney. Lo and behold, he’d managed to give her a sense of humor, and here I’d figured that would take voodoo, several headless chickens, and a lot of gris-gris.”
“Then she startled me by kneeling, her disarrayed head bowed. “Crispin told me he’d name you Master of his line if anything happened to him, so here and now, I pledge my loyalty.” I wasn’t prepared for this. Then the other members of Bones’s line began to follow suit, until even Tate knelt.”
“They’re After Me Lucky Charms! ”
“Yeah, Life is a bitch and then you get stabbed.”
“You always come first for me, Kitten.”
“Oh, Bones! Maybe you should have married a docile girl who didn’t stray too far from the kitchen.”
“Put him down, Bones. There are bigger problems than his attitude.”
“Hell, Bones would dance on your grave, if I quit my job.”
“What, did Anne Rice not return your calls, mate?”
“And he’s going to dearly wish I’d kill him before I’m through with him.”
“Bones smiled. ” Oh grand. Going to make me beat the truth out of you. My favorite way to work.”
“I’d die for you. Why wouldn’t I want to live for you as well?”
“One twitch and you’re beef jerky, asshole. I’d be real still if I were you.”
“Actually, Justina, I didn’t just ring you to chat about what an undead murderer I was…right, degenerate whore as well. Did I ever tell you my mum was one? No? Oh, blimey, I come from a long line of whores, in fact I called to give you the good news. I asked your daughter to marry me. Now, do you want me to call you Mum straightaway, or wait until after the wedding?”
“Let’s hatch a dastardly plan, then.”
“Because, Cat, it’s the feminine persuasion that’s always the deadliest. ”
“You could have cracked your skull like an egg smashing in to the wall. let along the risk of getting shot. Mule-headed woman, at least it appears your stubbornness is well protected by a thick layer of bone. Have I thanked you yet for your reckless disregard of my directions to stay upstairs?”
COYER FB Chat – Sunday April 3
Challenge is adopting our Read-along. You can read about COYER and join that challenge HERE. On the Sunday after the review posts, they will host a FB room (like we do for COYER book club) at 12 PT, 2 CT, 3 ET and 9pm Europe, for a one hour chat. You do not have to join the COYER challenge to participate, only the Facebook group.
If you can’t attend, there is also a Facebook messenger chat which has been fun and active, set up following the live chat.
Here’s your to-do list:
- Find your copies of these books, borrow them from a friend, get them at the library or buy them.
- Read Book 4.5, One for the Money.
- Read Book 5, First Drop of Crimson, by April 29.
- Make note of a favorite quote or two as you read the book.
- If you haven’t read the books before, make a list of questions you have for the discussion. If you have read them, please don’t spoil new readers.
- Think of some great questions for Jeaniene Frost for the Q & A post!
- Link up your review on Goodreads, FB or other site to the post.
- Join the COYER book chat on the Sunday following the post.
- Enter the giveaways!
Schedule:
We are doing one book every 3-4 weeks, posting on Fridays. We will have a review for the books with the team here at Books of My Heart plus some of our friends. We are following the author recommended reading order.
Apr 1: Destined for an Early Grave – Stephanie @ Once Upon a Chapter
Apr 29: First Drop of Crimson – Kai @ Fiction State of Mind
May 20: Eternal Kiss of Darkness – Jen @ That’s What I’m Talkin About
Jun 10: This Side of the Grave – Brandee @Unconventional Bookworms
Jul 8: One Grave at a Time – Lorna
Aug 5: Once Burned – Lexxie @Unconventional Bookworms
Sep 9: Twice Tempted – Angela @ Angel’s Guilty Pleasures
Oct 7: Up from the Grave – Melanie
Nov 4: Bound by Flames – Sophia
Dec 2: Into the Fire – Berls @ Because Reading
Q & A with Jeaniene Frost
Miss a post?
Jan 14: Halfway to the Grave – Melissa @ Tea & Books
Feb 11: One Foot in the Grave – Victoria @ First of All
Mar 11: At Grave’s End – Kimberly @Caffeinated Reviewer
Jeaniene Frost has also been kind enough to commit to a Q & A post. I will collect questions for her through September 19th. I will send your questions to her and she will pick 3-5 questions and send me the response. I will post her answers in the December 2 post. So think up some great questions for her!
Bonus round – Read a Series in a Month January 2023:
Jan 8: Shades of Wicked – Carole @ Carol’s Random Life in Books
Jan 22: Wicked Bite – Robin
Feb 5: Wicked All Night – Anne
These are Sunday noon posts. There will be one COYER FB Chat at the end of the series on Feb 5th.
Be sure to enter the giveaways!!!
Giveaway:
For the US winner, this will be a new print copy of This Side of the Grave. For Intl from Book depository.
Grand-Prize Giveaway:
For a US winner, this will be 12 digital copies ( your choice of her books) generously provided by Jeaniene Frost (US only) but they can be from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Kobo.
For an Intl winner, it will be $50 at Book Depository.
About Tavia Gilbert
Tavia Gilbert (SAG-AFTRA) is an award-winning narrator with more than 150 audiobooks under her belt. Contemporary and literary fiction, biography and memoir, fantasy, romance, children’s literature, science, religion…Tavia’s range of genres is a direct result of her intuitive interpretation, clever diction and pacing, and sensitivity to each author’s or publisher’s needs.
Classically trained in voice and theater, Tavia attended the University of Washington and earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Original Works in Acting from Cornish College of the Arts. She has been singing in choirs since she was 12 years old and has been working full time as a voice actor since 2006.
Tavia is also a producer with nine years experience. After moving to Portland, Maine in 2001, she studied audio documentary production at the Salt Institute. With 11 years of paralegal experience, Tavia has a clear understanding and appreciation for the business side of her world, including contractual language and legal strategy. Her creative eye, vivid personality, and experience and contacts help her cast the highest caliber of artists, including actors, musicians, videographers, and other talent. Her clients hire her again and again, recognizing her exceptional work and the advantage they have in someone with both a creative and business mind.
About Jeaniene Frost
Jeaniene Frost is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy. Her works include the Night Huntress series, the Night Prince series, the Broken Destiny series, and the new Night Rebel series. Jeaniene’s novels have also appeared on the Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal, ABA Indiebound, and international bestseller lists. Foreign rights for Jeaniene’s novels have sold to twenty different countries.
Jeaniene lives in Maryland with her husband Matthew, who long ago accepted that she rarely cooks and always sleeps in on the weekends. In addition to being a writer, Jeaniene also enjoys reading, writing, poetry, watching movies, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking and traveling – by car. Airplanes, children, and cook books frighten her.
About Stephanie at Once Upon a Chapter
I am a reader with an appetite! I am happily in my mid-30s and still learning new things about myself! I married my best friend in 2007. We are happy and so far have decided against having children.
This leaves a lot of time for reading and blogging. ? I will read anything that has words. I have a room dedicated to my books. I have also come to LOVE my Kindle. It is horribly convenient but I have a lot of physical books left to read. I read all of the genres that are reviewed at Once Upon a Chapter. It’s a large span from romance to young adult, middle grade to mystery, and young adult in almost all of their sub-genres. I started Once Upon a Chapter because I couldn’t talk to anyone about the books I loved in real life. I have since made a ton of friends through blogging and continue to meet new and wonderful people everyday.
I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 22-COYER
I never got around to reading this book this past week, but I did read it earlier this year. Can’t remember all the details, though. This was a love-hate book for me. Everything that happened with Gregor was super uncomfortable and I just wanted it to be over. And Bones and Cat sure get put through the ringer in this one. I love Vlad! Mostly I loved how everyone pulled together and how Cat and Bones always end up saving each other no matter how angry they may be for whatever reason.
Yes it’s an exciting story. I don’t think anybody like Gregor in any way.
Fab, fab, fab post. Thank you
Thank you so much for visiting.
Love the quotes from this book
The quotes are always ones shared from the previous book. I think this series has amazing quotable dialogue.
Wow, I’m so glad you enjoyed this book. The quotes are fun and give me a good idea about the book. Terrific review.
Thank you for following on the Read-along. The books have awesome dialogue.
It’s been so long since I have read this series. I don’t remember a lot.
That is me and why I had to do the Read-along.
Stephanie, thank you SO much for joining on the Read-along and sharing your review. I’m so happy you didn’t dislike the series since it is new to you. It’s been fun for me to see your reaction to things.
Thanks for the review! I agree Cat (andBones) very frustrating. I like the last 20% interesting stuff happening!!!
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us in a review. I am glad to see you are still with me on the hate Tate bandwagon. lol
It’s been a while since I read this so I was glad to get your thoughts on it, Stephanie. I got annoyed with Cat many times, too. Vlad was a hoot in these.
That’s why I did the Read-along since it had been too long since I read them. yes Cat can be annoying but she has been through so much I don’t blame her.
I love this book! And I love seeing Bones’s jealousy because it was always Cat lol and that piano scene was soooo dramatic and I love it too 😍
Thank you Jen. I’m happy you are reading with us.
Oh, this brings back great memories💜
I’m having a lot of memories and really I’m surprised at some things I’ve forgotten. The humor is awesome.
I love this series so much! I loved Vlad in this one. I really like his relationship with Kat.
This series was in my top 5 or top 10 favorite series early in my reading. I almost have to do top 10 by genre now that I’ve read so many other great series. I’ve always like Vlad but I haven’t read his books yet so I’m looking forward to it.
This sounds like a fun series. I love all of the quotes you shared!
It is fun Suzanne. That’s why I do the Read-along since then I get to reread an old favorite like this or try a new series with friends either way to debate plot points or share the really good quotes.
I’m way behind BUT great review Stephanie. I agree, I missed some of the old character but loved seeing more of Vlad and OMG Fabian the Ghost is FANTASTIC!
Yes I LOVED Fabian! Thanks so much for reading along and sharing your reviews!