Review: This Side of the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Danger waits on both sides of the grave.
Half-vampire Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones have fought for their lives, as well as for their relationship. But just when they've triumphed over the latest battle, Cat's new and unexpected abilities threaten to upset a long-standing balance . .
With the mysterious disappearance of vampires, rumors abound that a species war is brewing. A zealot is inciting tensions between the vampires and ghouls, and if these two powerful groups clash, innocent mortals could become collateral damage. Now Cat and Bones are forced to seek help from a dangerous "ally"—the ghoul queen of New Orleans herself. But the price of her assistance may prove more treacherous than even the threat of a supernatural war . . . to say nothing of the repercussions Cat never imagined.

Review:
It’s been a really long wait for This Side of the Grave. While we waited we’ve gotten further glimpses into the Night Huntress world and learned more about Spade and Mencheres with their books, which was great - but really, there is no one like Cat & Bones.
I had a few expectations for this installment. I wanted more of Cat & Bones working together, I wanted to see what happened to past characters, I wanted a sexy scene or two. I got all that and more but somehow it still fell flat for me. I don’t even know why.
Cat is a full vampire now, but Cat being Cat, it’s never that simple. She is a different sort of vampire that of course makes everyone in the supernatural world very nervous. There is no shortage of enemies who want to eliminate her.
I have always wanted Cat & Bones working together, kicking ass, but now that they are I was kind of bored. That electricity and spark wasn’t there IMO. I wanted to see what happened to Mencheres/Kira, Spade/Denise, her former crew, Justine etc but then I felt they were crowding up the plot. But then I missed Ian and Annette! I feel like one of those readers that you’ll never please while I read this.
It did start a little slow and then gained momentum but I was never at the edge of my seat stressing over what would happen.

So were there things I liked? Yes.
*Cat has grown up a lot. While she bordered on whiny and self-absorbed when it came to her new powers, she has finally fully surrendered to Bones and their relationship. Can I have a Halleluiah on that one??!! She also thinks more before she speaks and acts. A very welcome development.
*I had never liked Mencheres before his book (Eternal Kiss of Darkness) but he’s moving up my list of favorites and I enjoyed seeing his playful side that lurks behind his cool exterior.
*Tate. Oh poor annoying Tate. I actually felt bad for him in TSOTG. I’m hoping he gets his HEA soon.
*There was a flying scene between Cat & Bones that harked back to their good old snarky days. We needed more of those type of exchanges in this book.
*I LOVED Marie. She scared the sh*t out of me. This chick knows Bones & Cat. Their strengths, their weaknesses, and how to use their devotion to each other against them. There aren’t many people who can get this dynamic duo to bend to their will, but Marie can and I loved that.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 So, overall not my favorite in the series but hey, it was nice to see C&B again and the next book comes out this fall so no long wait! This is still one of my favorite all-time series and Jeaniene Frost is one of my favorite authors so I’m not giving up on it anytime soon.