2.75 stars rounded upI have to say that I'm disappointed with the sequel to [b:Once Burned|7039218|Once Burned (Night Prince, #1)|Jeaniene Frost|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335738276s/7039218.jpg|7288100]. Which is the reason to my (almost) so-so rating.See, the first half of the story (uhm, the first 2/3 more or less) is dealing with the aftermath of Leila leaving Vlad, because he won't say that he loves her. Uhm... excuse me?Leila is a bad ass heroine -- the scene in this book, where she escapes from (another) kidnapping attempt then single-handedly deals with the kidnappers with her power shows that. So, I dislike the idea that all is important for her, is to push Vlad to say those three words. When he won't (although yes, the scene at the dinner party is a total OUCH for Leila!), she decides to leave, along with Maximus, whom she knows is still trying to, you know, get into her pants. I'm sorry, but it's just too much of a shallow plot for me to enjoy. It makes Leila looks like a child with tantrums. NOT the kind of heroine's attitude I want to read in urban fantasy/paranormal romance. This is the genre where I expect the heroines to show more than just "I need you to love me" or "I need a man's love to make me feel complete" plot. I can't even feel any excitement when Vlad and Leila get married; probably because in my mind, all I can think of is ... "Great, so the whole half of this urban fantasy book is only for them getting hitched?! WTF?!?"On top of that, I still feel detached from Vlad -- again, maybe because the book is written from Leila's point of view. It's a downer for me, because I always find Vlad intriguing. I want to know more about him, how he thinks, how he feels ... I can't feel that with how this book is written. I know that in Cat & Bones' books, Bones is also written from Cat's perspective, but I can 'read' him just fine. It's just that Vlad is more guarded than Bones, more ... mysterious. So 'reading' him from Leila's POV is not enough for me.The last 1/3 of this book is slightly better, as Vlad and Leila finally find out who is behind the kidnapping and murder attempts. The ending is sort of cliff-hangery (though both Vlad and Leila are NOT in any trouble or any deadly situation when this book ends). We will know more in the next book, of course, the final of the trilogy... I hope the next one improves. I still rounded up the rating because there are moments here that I enjoyed, like when Leila kicked ass of her kidnappers. However, all in all, this spin-off series doesn't impress me much, despite my high ratings for book #1.