A Book Obsession..: Once Bitten, Twice Shy

Once Bitten, Twice Shy

, by Kt Clapsadl

Once Bitten, Twice Shy by Jennifer Rardin

Jaz Parks #1

I’m Jaz Parks. My boss is Vayl, born in Romania in 1744. Died there too, at the hand of his vampire wife, Liliana. But that’s ancient history. For the moment Vayl works for the C.I.A. doing what he does best– assassination. And I help. You could say I’m an Assistant Assassin. But then I’d have to kick your ass.

Our current assignment seemed easy. Get close to a Miami plastic surgeon named Assan, a charmer with ties to terrorism that run deeper than a buried body. Find out what he’s meeting with that can help him and his comrades bring America to her knees. And then close his beady little eyes forever. Why is it that nothing’s ever as easy as it seems?

Meet Jaz Parks, a kick butt covert operations assassin that has been partnered with the agency's top assassin, who just happens to be a vampire. She's not sure why she's partnered with him as he really doesn't need the help, but like all good mysteries, there is a reason behind it all. Their latest assignment is a plastic surgeon, and it was supposed to be a simple job. Drag out all the intel they can from him, and then silence him forever. However, nothing is as it seems with this case, and they find themselves in the middle of a nefarious plot to destroy the world as they know it.

For a lot of this book, the reader is kept in the dark, both from the outside sources and from Jaz, the narrator, hiding thing as well. We know from the start that Jaz went through some kind of horrific trauma that has left her scarred, and that she is hiding things from her boss/partner. Yet we have no idea what those things are for most of the book. I'm used to books that keep both the narrator and the reader in the dark, but this one was a little excessive. This lack of information made me feel like I was a step behind and scrambling to keep up. I wish things on Jaz's end would have become a little more clear sooner, as that would have really let me relax a little and pay more attention to what was going on at the time rather then trying to figure out the past.

I absolutely love the dynamic between Jaz and Vayl. While they both seem to be trying to maintain a professional relationship between them, it quickly became clear there was so much more going on beneath the surface. Although I'm not entirely sure what exactly that is, I have a feeling in the future things just might start to heat up between them. However, one thing did bother me about the book. The introduction showed Jaz getting the assignment to be partnered with Vayl, and then it fast forwarded six months, skipping all the awkwardness of figuring out how they will fit together, and then the progression into how they are today. I just wish we could have gotten to see a little bit of that foundation to help solidify things. I'm hoping in the next book things will continue to progress as they just seem to mesh well, making for a really great potential.

All in all this was a pretty good book, that definitely held my interest despite some annoyances. I'm looking forward to reading the next book to see where things are heading; both in Jaz and Vayl's relationship as well as Jaz's developing powers. The ending events of this book are sure to have some fallout and repercussions that must be dealt with. I would recommend this book to fans of the Urban Fantasy genre, and perhaps the Paranormal Romance ones as well. Just keep in mind that there isn't any real romance in this book, just a huge potential for the future.

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