Once Burned

by Jeaniene Frost

Published by: Avon

Heather’s Rating: 

She’s a mortal with dark powers…

After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude…until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire…

He’s the Prince of Night…

Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all—but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him—a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.

Book Savvy Babe’s Review:

I am a huge Night-Huntress series fan.  I have read each of the Cat and Bones books, as well as the Night-Huntress world books, and I am hooked.  I was so excited for Vlad’s series, and overall, I really did love Once Burned.

Leila is a great heroine, she has abilities that make her a human with “extra’s,” if you will.  Because of her abilities, she is fairly isolated and lonely.  However, when enemies of Vlad Tepesh kidnap her, Leila’s world get turned topsy-turvy and she learns that the sexy, pyrotechnic vampire can take all she can dish out.  Leila is a good counter to Vlad, she is not wowed by his history or wealth.  Her abilities give her insight into people’s hearts and true selves, so she knows that there is more to Vlad than the deadly vampire.  However, Vlad has a dark, vicious side that Leila struggles to come to grips with.  What’s more, as Leila is put in more and more dangerous situations, she finds that she, herself, has a bit of a dark side as well.

As for Vlad, he showed a caring side of his personality with Cat in the Night Huntress series, so I knew it was there.  But, I loved learning more about Vlad, he is such an intriguing, complex character.  He begins to open up with Leila, but he never allows himself to get too close.  Vlad and Leila’s story is not wrapped up all nice and tidy by the end of the book.  Their story is open-ended, with the promise of much more to come.

I listened to the audio version of Once Burned, and here is where I struggled.  There are a lot of accents in Once Burned, and I was not feeling the accents from the narrator.  I was distracted by the accents, and the narration for the characters did not match the narration in my head.  This may be, in part, because I read the actual books from the Night Huntress world, so the characters already sounded their own way in my head.  My versions did not match the narration, especially Bones (for the brief cameo he made in Once Burned).  So, I don’t believe that I will be listening to the audio in the future, I will be sticking to my e-books.

Despite my distraction by the narration, I loved the story in Once Burned.  I am excited to see what comes next for Leila, and how both Leila and Vlad will move forward (or not).  I am eagerly looking forward to the next installment in the Night Prince series, Twice Tempted.  If you are a paranormal romance fan, you really can not pass up Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress series and world, including the Night Prince series.

This book counts towards my 2013 Audiobook Challenge!  This is my second audiobook to finish this year