THE AVON AFFAIR IS A 14-DAY AVON BOOKS REVIEW EVENT
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THE AVON ADDICTS.
Dating the Prince of Darkness has its challenges . . .
Leila’s psychic abilities have been failing her,and now she isn’t sure what the future holds. If that weren’t enough, her lover Vlad has been acting distant. Though Leila is a mere mortal, she’s also a modern woman who refuses to accept the cold shoulder treatment forever–especially from the darkly handsome vampire who still won’t admit that he loves her.
Like choosing between eternal love and a loveless eternity . . .
Soon circumstances send Leila back to the carnival circuit, where tragedy strikes. And when she finds herself in the crosshairs of a killer who may be closer than she realizes, Leila must decide who to trust–the fiery vampire who arouses her passions like no other, or the tortured knight who longs to be more than a friend? With danger stalking her every step of the way, all it takes is one wrong move to damn her for eternity . . .
This review was written on February 6, 2013.
At the beginning of every year, I sit down and make a list of all that years releases that I would LOVE to read for a release day review and I contact the publisher to see if I can get an unfinished advanced review copy (ARC). For 2013, Jeaniene Frost’s Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2) was at the top of that list! It was also the first ARC request I sent out.
Well, I also happen to be a part of a group of folks called the Avon Addicts. Avon Books (Jeaniene’s publisher) put together a “club” for diehard Avon Books fans (totally me!) and I was lucky enough to get selected for the current class of members. I checked with the awesome publicists we work with through Avon Addicts and asked if they knew anything of ARC’s being available for Twice Tempted and was informed that there would more than likely not be ARC’s for that title. Well, I had already submitted my formal request for the ARC and I was bummed but what are you gonna do, you know? Not a big deal. I was just going to have to run out and get it on release day and burn through it then. *smile*
That brings me to this past Friday night. I come home from work to find a publisher envelope and a box waiting for me. The box contained my brand new shoes that I bought for my upcoming Las Vegas trip. The envelope got tossed on my bed to open one I got my tea brewed (nightly ritual = hot tea in the teapot, PJ’s and publisher communications). While I was waiting for the tea pot whistle, I decided to tear the envelop open…….AND PROCEEDED TO START BOUNCING AROUND MY ROOM SQUEALING. Yes, SQUEALING.
My daughter sat there looking at me like I had 12 heads until I calmed down enough to explain to her that I have been DYING for this book to come out and that I wasn’t expecting to see it until March 26th. The surprise TOTALLY made my day!!!
Unfortunately, I was right in the middle of reading 2 other books, one of which I had a release day review scheduled for just a few days later so I vowed I would not crack the book until I was done reading the other. I put it on my headboard bookshelf….yes, I have a bookshelf on my headboard….and inwardly freaked out every time I looked up and remembered it was there.
I went to bed that night reading the book I had a prior commitment to (Hunting Daylight by Piper Maitland – fantastic book!) and eventually dozed off. When I awoke to the sound of my 3 year old son screaming at the top of his lungs (thank you night terrors), I dragged my ass out of bed, went to his room to calm him down and by the time I was done, I was wide awake. I was about to head down to my woodstove to sit and read for a bit when I glanced at the copy of Twice Tempted on my bookshelf. I swear to you, Vlad looked at me from the cover and WINKED. I said “a few pages won’t hurt”, grabbed Twice Tempted and headed for the fireside warmth.
60 pages later, I made my way back to my bedroom, never once taking my eyes off of the pages. I climbed into the covers and kept on reading. Sometime after page 100, I decided to take a look at my phone to check my messages. That’s when I saw the time – 3:32AM. I have no idea what time I actually woke up with the screaming baby but in my half asleep haze, I assumed he was awake because it was morning. Not so much. As I stared at my phone dumbfounded by the time, I decided to keep going for just a little bit and then take a “nap” before the baby was up for the day.
I ended up reading the rest of the book….
And I LOVED it! It was just awesome!!!!
I have been waiting for this book to come out since about 2.3 seconds after I finished reading Once Burned (Night Prince #1). Once Burned didn’t exactly wrap up with a traditional happily ever after and I NEEDED to know what was going to happen with Vlad and Leila. Well…….
If you were like me and obsessively crazed over where their love story was going, you are going to just die when you read this book. Twice Tempted is filled with love, rage, heartache and smiles. Jeaniene Frost takes our beloved characters on a merciless rollercoaster ride in this installment in the Night Prince series. And MAN does it hurt to watch!
I was hooked from the first page. These two characters are so much fun together and the fact that they are polar-opposite personalities only seems to fuel that fire. Although Vlad isn’t the villain of the story, he isn’t exactly Mr. Rogers either and living with him proves to be so far beyond difficult that it’s hard to see the way back. I spent the entire length of this book cheering Leila on in all of her decisions.
The thing I love about all of Jeaniene Frost’s spinoff books (First Drop of Crimson, Eternal Kiss of Darkness and Once Burned) is the Night Huntress cameos! There were a small handful of them in Twice Tempted and every time I read a spinoff with one of the cameos, it’s like being reunited with family you haven’t seen in a long time. It tends to make me smile. I won’t tell you exactly WHO we see in Twice Tempted. I will let that stay a surprise. *wink wink*
Jeaniene Frost can always be counted on to write a damn good mystery and she’s done it again with Twice Tempted. One of the best (and most frustrating) things about this book was the fact that there are so many twists and turns that I felt like I never knew who was on my side. I became suspicious of every single character in the book. Oh, and the bad guy? Yeah, the identity of who is behind the hijinx in Twice Tempted is going to come out of left field and slap you upside the head.
Twice Tempted is a wild ride. Suspense, drama, comedy, romance, love, hate, shock and awe. It has it all. There were moments that brought tears to my eyes. There were moments where I yelled “Yeeaaaaaah! Take that mother <bleeeeeeeeeep>!” at the book. There were moments that made me giggle (which resulted in my daughter asking me what I was laughing at and I had to explain that I would let her read the books when she is older….much older…..like, 42 years old older).
Twice Tempted (Night Prince #2) gets 5 shiny stars from me! I couldn’t put it down! Seriously. By noon time on Saturday, I looked like zombie that got set on fire after the Mack truck hit it directly following the train wreck it was involved in. Have a few spare hours ready when you pick up Twice Tempted because you won’t want to move until you reach the last page.
OH!!!!!!!! AND!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know if this was just for the ARC copies or if it will be there in the production copies BUT there was a long excerpt from Up From the Grave (Night Huntress #7) at the back of the book!! Can’t wait for that to come out!!
ONCE BURNED
Night Prince #1
CLICK HERE TO READ JENA’S REVIEW
TWICE TEMPTED
Night Prince #2
Be sure to check in with these sites as some of my fellow Avon Addicts are also participating in The Avon Affair:
A Tasty Read
Rusticating In The Tropics
Toot’s Book Reviews
S.O.S. Aloha
The Book Queen’s Personal Book Palace
Romancing The Readers
The Book Cellar
Blithely Bookish
The Romance Reviews
Tempting Reads
CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR ANOTHER REVIEW FOR THE AVON AFFAIR!
I just bought it..great review!
Jena, it’s almost like we’re twins when we review the same book. We make the same points, although (tip of my hat), you are way more eloquent. Great review!