Once Burned: A Night Prince Novel (Night Prince, #1)

by Jeaniene Frost

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...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.

• ISBN10: 006178320X
• ISBN13: 9780061783203
• Publish Date: 5 July 2012 (first published 26 June 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Avon Books
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Proceed With Caution:

This book contains blood, death, gore, violence, torture, discussions of suicide and attempted murder.

The Basics:

Once Burned is narrated by twenty-six-year-old Leila, a woman with unusual abilities. After an accident, she now has electricity coursing through her which makes her skin deadly. Not only that, but she can see your past, present, or future with just one touch. AND she can get impressions from objects. Needless to say, this is a coveted ability and soon Leila is kidnapped by vampires but rescued by another.

My Thoughts:

It took me way too long to finally get to Once Burned, and now I've read it twice. I wished I had read it earlier, because I really enjoyed it! Despite that cover, this is not a Paranormal Romance. Yes, it's paranormal, and there is some romance, but it's heavily plot driven. In fact, Leila and Vlad are not in love by the end (sorry!), although they do have plenty of sex during lulls in the action.

There were a couple of things that kept me from loving Once Burned though. The first is Leila's ability. It's described two different ways throughout, and I was never sure which is actually accurate. Her touch picks up the essence of a person from objects they've touched, or just from direct contact with their skin, and she sees them in the past, but can also track them in the present, and occasionally catch glimpses of their future. Other times, she describes her gift as seeing that person's worst sin.

It's a bit confusing as to what her actual ability is, but for the plot's purpose, it's used for tracking. It does become more clear as the series goes on, since we get to see the true extent of her abilities. I think for this first book, it just wasn't clear because Leila herself doesn't know all that she's capable of, and really has very little control over what she sees. She's essentially overpowered but doesn't know what to do with it.

The second problem I had was why Leila was kidnapped in the first place. The vampires who grab her work for another, more powerful vampire, whom we don't meet until later. Of course, this vampire had to have connections to Vlad for plot purposes. However, Leila was first kidnapped to track Vlad, but he rescues her and uses her himself. But then the evil mastermind still wants her later, but it turned out that he doesn't even need her to track Vlad. So...I'm confused. It was a convoluted mess to get Leila and Vlad together and fighting against the same enemy, I guess.

Despite those issues, I had a lot of fun reading Once Burned. Leila was great. She's not some helpless damsel, but she's also not totally all powerful and badass. Things definitely go very wrong for her at times and she has to get rescued. Vlad was great, as always, and it's nice to get to know him on a more personal level. I did miss some of his humor that we've seen in previous books though.

[Berls]

3.5 stars

I was SO EXCITED to read Vlad's books. He's been a standout character for me since I met him in the Cat and Bones series, so I was ready to get to know him better and spend some time really in his world. I'm sorry to say that while I did enjoy Once Burned, I was disappointed.

Okay so let me just get the disappointments out of the way. First of all, unlike the books where we get to know Mencheres and Charles better thanks to getting their POV, Once Burned only gives us Leila's POV. And it's a great one (more on that later) but it resulted in my second major disappointment -- I do not feel like I learned ANYTHING about Vlad in this book. Like there was literally no character development for him. He's the same guy I knew him to be before going in. And yeah, if I hadn't read Cat and Bones already there's plenty of character development. But if you've read Cat and Bones (which I imagine most readers drawn to this book would have), you know him better already than Leila does by the end of the book... huge disappointment.

But it is still a 3.5 star read because while I was disappointed about Vlad, I was thrilled with Leila. She's a really complicated, fascinating character. Her abilities are unique -- I don't think I've ever encountered someone with quite her skillset in my UF reading -- and she is a very spunky character, loyal and fierce. And that's exactly the kind of woman Vlad needs. I'm looking forward to seeing their relationship develop (because they are far from at their HEA thus far) and I have a feeling future books will be exceptionally better on the Vlad front as their relationship unfolds.

The plot was also really great. Lots of action and mystery, with some fun twists and turns. Again, I didn't really learn anything knew here but it kept my attention and was a fun read. I buddy read with Anne and Lillian (Brandee was supposed to join me but I think I left her in the dust, sorry Brandee!). Anne gave it 4 stars and Lillian 5... so we were all over the place with our impressions!

I listened to this -- something I've tried not to do with the Cat and Bones series -- because I do not enjoy Tavia Gilbert's narration for Bones. I had heard her voice Vlad in a previous book though and thought it was pretty good, so I decided to give it a go and yeah, it was fine. She's not my favorite narrator for accents, but her voice works for Leila and Vlad. There was a couple of lines with Bones talking that made me cringe a little, but thankfully he wasn't in the book much so it worked out. And I was able to comfortably listen at my 2x speed.

[stressedrach]

I do love a good paranormal romance and having read one of Jeaniene Frost’s books before I put this on my wish list a while ago hoping that it would be as good as the other book. I went into the book with an open mind as it is the first of a series. I was hooked from Chapter one and I had only ‘met’ Leila at that point, because of an accident she had as a teenager she can’t touch people. One touch and they are practically fried, unless she has drained herself beforehand, which means Leila has been very lonely on the romance front. She has a great friend called Marty, he is like a father to her and he can tolerate her electric shocks as he is a vampire. Leila also has another ability, which is quite horrifying for her, if she touches someone she can find out their darkest sin like she is living it.

She is kidnapped because of this ability by a bunch of vampires, they want her to use her abilities to track down Vladimir Tepesh which she does eventually but she knows she will be killed once they have what they want and then the real story begins.

Wow just wow, Leila is such a strong woman which given what she has been through is no surprise but Vlad is just something else, he is hot! He is someone you know is totally bad for you but you cannot help but want more.

The book was written from Leila’s point of view and as it is an adult read there is sexual content as well as some gore?! But it was all in place and not just thrown in to the book as filler.

I think Jeaniene done a fabulous job of describing every scene, especially when Leila was looking to the past, present and future but the way Vlad’s home, how big, the decor everything. Even travelling towards Vlad’s home was very well described.

This book kept me hooked, I felt like I was inside it and there were many times I would gasp or fear for what might happen next. And yes there was even the famous neck biting!

Who doesn’t love a good vampire read?

I want to say that after reading this book I did a search about the real Vlad and found out that a lot of what was written in the book is factually correct with some little twists as well.

I cannot wait to read the second book in the series.

[blackbibliophile]

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!! This is the series I've been searching for since I finished the Sookie Stackhouse novels!

[stacey_is_sassy]

Really enjoyed this story. Vlad's character was very interesting in Cat and Bones's books and I didn't know what sort of woman would suit him. I love Leila and couldn't have picked a more perfect match.

Leila is human with some very special powers and baddies want to use her. Vlad and Leila meet under difficult circumstances and there is an instant draw to each other.

Some things made me chuckle and some made me gasp but the connection between the two of them was the best part of the story.

The two of them work well together...most of the time, and I can't wait to read more of their adventures.

[mitabird]

Re-read: 4 stars

Original: 4.5 stars

[ellieroth]

El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Otra de mis escritoras que se demora centurias entre cada libro publicado, lo bueno es que la mayoría de las veces merece el tiempo de espera.

El principio me decepcionó un poco. PERO no porque el inicio fuera malo, es sólo que pensé sería una historia contada por dos narradores, como pasó en algunos de los otros libros de Night Huntress World. Adoro a Vlad, su frío sentido del humor, su manera cínica y personalidad egocéntrica lo convierte en un personaje completamente deseable.

[...]

Quiero el siguiente pero ¡ya!

Reseña Completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Being the huge Jeaniene Frost fan I am, I had to get this book when it was released. I was especially looking forward to reading it not only because it's another Frost book, but because it's Vlad's story! Vlad is one of my favourite characters from the Night Huntress series, but we never saw enough of him for my liking, so I was so happy that he now has his own book. And it's amazing!

What I was surprised about, although this is Vlad's story, it's told entirely from Leila's perspective. This may not be that surprising considering the Night Huntress series is told entirely from Cat's perspective, but I assumed, as all the other spin off novels - those in the Night Huntress World series - had dual narration, that Once Burned would too. I guess that as it will be a series in it's own right, and we'll have more books about Vlad and Leila, it's going back to one narration. I was slightly disappointed as I was so looking forward to getting into Vlad's head, but really, once you're engrossed in the story, it hardly matters.

Leila kind of reminded me of Cat when we first met her in Halfway to the Grave. She's not a vampire, she's completely human, but after an accident with a downed cable line, she can now channel electricity, tell a person's darkest sin just by touching them, and sometimes see their future - not only that, but she can also see memories left on objects. Trying to make the most of a life where she has to always be on alert so as not to touch anyone, everything goes wrong when she is kidnapped. Having heard of what she can do, someone wants her to find out where a certain dangerous vampire is, and where he will be in the future.

Despite the crap she's had to deal with, and her horror over being kidnapped, she's quite gutsy. No, she's not automatically a badass, but she's smart, and she knows her power more than anyone else. What's a few lies about what she can or can't do if it's going to keep her alive and useful? Not only that, but she's not afraid to stand up to one of the most dangerous vampires going, and not cowering just because of who he is - like she forgets she's talking to Vlad the Impaler!

Vlad! Oh, Vlad! He drove me bloody mad! He is just as amusing as he is in the Night Huntress series, but my god, is he arrogant. Most of the time, it's just funny, but the rest of the time? God, I wanted to slap him! Of course Leila is interested in him, of course she wants him, of course he will have her. It's like he can't comprehend any other option. He's not just arrogant when it comes to Leila, but that's what made me so mad. Yet... he can be surprisingly lovely. In his own way, he genuinely cares, and he has the moments where he is the most sweetest, most perfect guy (even if slightly old fashioned)! He's just so brilliant! In lots of ways, Vlad is a mass of contradictions. When it comes to his enemies, or anyone who displeases him, event his own people, he is ruthless. His idea of punishment for something that wasn't exactly someone's fault is just horrific. Yet, when no-one's done anything to displease him, he's a nice, normal guy. And when it comes to Leila, he's sweet and lovely, very protective, says he's selective with who he sleeps with, and seems to be quite sensitive, and then goes and says he will never love her. And how he acts at the end of the book! Oh my god! I still love him, but sometimes he disgusted me and infuriated me - but what can you do, when he's the most powerful vamp in history? But I think this all shows just how awesome a story this is and how Frost is such a brilliant a writer, that I went through so many emotions. I do think Leila will be able to take him down a peg or two, though. And the chemistry between the two of them is just amazing! I'm really looking forward to seeing how their relationship progresses in the second book.

Once Burned is just as actioned packed as we've come to expect, and in some instances, possibly even more so. There's a whole new level of twisted when it comes to the violence, but it's just so exciting! And the cliffhanger ending! The mystery of this story did seem slightly similar to that of Eternal Kiss of Darkness, but in the very basics, and on the whole is quite different. Once Burned is a fantastic addition to the stories set in this world, and I am so looking forward to the sequel in the Night Prince series, Twice Tempted.

[Linda]

This and other reviews can also be found on my blog (un)Conventional Bookviews.

Leila started out as just a weird young woman with a strange power, but she quickly grew to become a very strong opponent, even against powerful vampires!

[Cocktails and Books]

my only complaint about Vlad's story is the fact that we have to wait until next spring!! review to come