Home for the Holidays= 5 stars, The Gift= 0 stars

I would love to give this a 5 star rating for Jeaniene Frost's part of the book, but The Gift, by Lynsay Sands is awful!

I agree with the other reviewers...Home for the Holidays is well worth the credit for the Cat and Bones fans out there, but don't expect much from the other story.. It was horrible from beginning to end. I ended up skipping over it to get to Jeaniene Frost's story. It was a fantastic short and an important one for the series. I can't wait for her next book!

12 people found this helpful

Wish it was just Jeaniene Frost

I'm sorry I tried to listen to the first story but it just seemed to drag on & on. The narrator was ok but still I couldn't take it. Now in stark contrast was the always delivering Jeaniene Frost. Another great Bones & Cat story & I'm so very glade Tavia Gilbert was used for this joint collaborations.,great story. It's worth buying for

10 people found this helpful

CAT & BONES!!!!

Any additional comments?

I haven't read anything in the past by Lynsay Sands, and didn't really care for the first story, but I was NOT going to pass up Cat and Bones, even if it was a short story. I absolutely love This series and Tavia Gilbert is always a great narrator

8 people found this helpful

Both short stories are worth the listen!

I'm a fan of both authors and the series' these stories come from. Both stories are well worth the listen. When I got this, I had already listened to the Night Huntress series so the Jeaniene Frost story was the original reason for buying it. I was really glad I did because the story is a great addition to the story line and was very enjoyable. I had never read any of the stories from the Argeneau series previous to buying this but the story included here was good enough that it made me want to listen to more. I've since went back to listen to all the books from the Argeneau series.

7 people found this helpful

Weird but then GREAT!!!!

I don't understand why reviewers here hated the first book in this 2 books in one book .
The first book was ok, i kinda liked it, it wasn't a great book, but not a bad one as well, if i had to describe it with one word it will be "Weird" as it was weird .... vamps who are not vamps and so on... it was weird but not bad.. have a listen to it.

But the 2nd book was good.. i liked how it had a good start and the whole book soo goooood . And the most amazing thing in it was the alliance between Cat and...... well can't say who, you have to read it to know.

But if you are a fan of Cat and Bones, then YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS ONE.

Cheers and Enjoy.

P.S. i am giving 5 start for the 2nd book, the first one i'll give it 3 starts.

5 people found this helpful

Good for fans of the series

If you haven't read the Argeneau series or the Night Huntress series, I recommend reading those first before listening to this book. You wouldn't be able to appreciate the stories as much and get spoilers.

Lynsay Sands
The nice understanding town sheriff Teddy who has appeared in the past several Argeneau books gets his own romance in this one. It was short and sweet. I suppose I could complaint it was too short and too sweet and could have had more about him adjusting to becoming a vampire. Despite that I have to say, it is a nice addition to the series.

Jeaniene Frost
The Kat and Bones novella is about an appearance of a surprising visit from a long lost blood relation. The last reveal is a bit too convenient but it's a great addition to Frost sensei's Nighthuntress series. To be honest Ian has been least favorite character in this series, but with this story I have to say I saw him in a better light!

4 people found this helpful

Great short stories!

While I originally purchased this book for Jeaniene Frost's story, I found that I really enjoyed Lynsay Sands' story as well. I've been a huge fan of Cat and Bones since the very beginning and was delighted to find that Tavia Gilbert was narrating this short story. She has done such an amazing job on the other Night Huntress books. I would recommend this book to everyone, they won't be disappointed.

3 people found this helpful

I love these authors and these series!

So both of these are continuations of other series. Probably neither one the best story to start out with if you're a newby. I never liked Teddy all that much on the Argeneau vampire series, but Lynsay Sands really does a great job of bringing his personality out. And Cat and Bones smoke as always. A 'must listen' if you're fans!

3 people found this helpful

Only listened to the Cat and Bones Story

A great read for any night huntress fan, I only listened to that one cause I have not read Lynsay Sands books yet, but it was a awesome but short story, in true cat and Bones style, if your like me and miss your old friends listen up and we all know Tavia Gilbert, is one of the best narrators out there, she makes it real. Give it a try, you wont be disappointed.

2 people found this helpful

Pretty good

I am not familiar with Ms. Sands' or Ms. Christensen's work. I have to say this short was a good introduction to each.
I am very familiar with both Ms. Frost's and Ms. Gilbert's work and must confess that I am a bit of a fan gurl to the squee level with each.

Both of these shorts are mini parts of of long-running series involving worlds that each of the authors have been building for years, yet I did not feel that either would be diminished if listened to by those unfamiliar with their writing/worlds.

There were no glaring info dumps and enough knowledge was woven into the stories for one to get a sense of the relationships and personalities.

Each story didn't seem liked edited out chapters of larger works, as some short stories within a long-established world often do.

Ms. Christensen was quite good. Her "speaking" voice is very pleasant, and the character portrayals were excellent. There were minimal character voices needed, a male and female protag and a couple of very small/short secondary characters so it is hard to know the range of how many "male" and "female" characters she has at her disposal, but the ones displayed were excellent. The male protag is an older male, and Ms. Christensen did a nice job of conveying his age upon his first "spoken" words. It took me a way I wasn't expecting, but I needed to know this character is an older male. The female protag was equally well done, conveying personality and "age" spot on.

Not having read any of Ms. Sands' work, I can't tell if her world building was consistent in this short. The writing was tight and well edited.

Ms. Gilbert, what can I say. I love her narration on the Frost books, so much so I am afraid to listen to her multitude of other works for fear I would be waiting for Cat and Bones to show up. But my, what a fabulous job she does with the characters and "feel" of Cat and Bones and all their strong supporting characters. In the Frost books there are always different accents, different languages thrown in. While I have no idea what ancient Eqyptian sounds like, I would put money on it sounding as Ms. Gilbert permforms it. There are always a large number of characters in Ms. Frost's Cat and Bones books and I never have any problem discerning who is speaking.

Ms. Frost's world building is consistent. I have yet to detect a rewriting of history, as it were, to make a story work. The characters are consistent in their behavior, both in the story and in the interaction within the family of characters. I have read so many of her books that Cat and Bones and Ian and all the others feel like family and I enjoy seeing what is going on in their lives. But Ms. Gilbert's voice is so intrinsic to my Frost experience I find I can't read the books, they must be narrated by Ms. Gilbert. I honestly don't think that is a "good" thing, but she adds so much to my enjoyment of the series I am okay with it.

2 people found this helpful