Happily Never After

Happily Never After is a novella in Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress universe, the long running paranormal romance series that started with Halfway to the Grave back in 2007. The main series follows Cat Crawfield and her vampire husband Bones, and Frost has used short fiction over the years to fill in side stories about the wider cast and to give the bigger plot some breathing room between novels.

This novella centers on Isabella, a young woman about to walk down the aisle to marry a man she does not love. Her wedding day is interrupted by Chance, a half human half demon enforcer she barely knows, who tells her that the marriage is a trap set by something much darker than her unfortunate choice of fiance. The plot from there moves at the pace Frost is known for. Quick chapters, sharp dialogue, and just enough heat to remind readers what genre they are in.

Frost has always been good at writing supernatural enforcers who are dangerous without being cardboard. Chance is a believable addition to her gallery of male leads, and Isabella has more spine than her wedding day situation initially suggests. The world building draws on the broader Night Huntress mythology, so readers familiar with the main series will recognize the references to the demon courts and the various enforcement orders, but newcomers will not be lost.

For fans of Cat and Bones who want more time in this universe, Happily Never After is a satisfying short read. For readers new to Frost’s work, novellas like this one are a low commitment way to sample her style before diving into the longer novels. Either way, expect about ninety minutes of pacy paranormal romance with a happily ever after that has to be earned the hard way first.