What a Mighty Fine Man

Fangirl Friday: Bones from Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress Series

Collage by Olga Daniels

It's no secret that I have a favorite urban fantasy hero, one that stands head-and-shoulders above all others. Crispin Phillip Arthur Russell III, more commonly known as Bones, is without a doubt the perfect man. At least in my head. When I first picked up Halfway to the Grave, nearly three years ago, I had no idea that by the end of that week (yep, I read all available books in the matter of a week!) I would be completely ruined for all other fictional men. And I am. Bones is now the measuring stick I use to compare all other heroes. Most are found lacking, while a few come close, but none can even share that pedestal with Bones, much less best him for the top spot. He remains the very best.

Click through, and I'll do my best to tell you why without devolving into shrill fangirling, babbling, or drooling. Although there will probably be a little of all of those. It is Bones after all.

On our way!

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Let's start with the shallowest reason to love Bones. He's gorgeous. Cat constantly tells us about how beautiful her husband is, how awed she still is that such a stunning creature belongs to her, lamenting that so many women see him as "such a damn bowl of eye candy". But, let's face it, we're human, and humans like pretty things. Sure, there are plenty of gorgeous heroes out there, but while Bones knows what he looks like, and how people respond to his looks, he doesn't take his looks for granted and he uses all available tools at his disposal, including his beauty. He's gorgeous and he knows it, but that's only the smallest part of who he is. 

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Only slightly less shallow than loving Bones for his beauty, is loving him because he is a master lover. But, again, we are human, and we are Saucy, so we are regularly rendered speechless and weak-kneed at Bones's sexual prowess. Having been a human gigolo and then a very promiscuous vampire, Bones's sexual history should repel us (so says our culture) but it taught him skills that make him an unparallelled lover. His joy in pleasing Cat is stunning, and sparks our naughtiest imaginings. From detailing all of the nasty things he wants to do to Cat in HTTG to the *shivers* famous Chapter 32 in OFITG to airborne sex in OGAAT and everything in between, Bones is the ultimate lover, one that no other man could ever live up to outside of our imaginations. 


For me, one of the sexiest qualities a person can possess is confidence, and Bones has it unmistakably. He knows exactly who he is, his strengths (many) and his weaknesses (few), and he refuses to apologize for either. Early in their relationship he tells Cat that he is much more powerful than she realizes, but he's not boasting. He proved that she had no idea how powerful he was when he stopped the motorcade that was trying to whisk her away from him, without even flinching. He did so again when he flew her out of harm's way, and so many more times throughout their journey. What's amazing is that he continued to grow more and more powerful, while owning every bit of that power.

One of my favorite qualities in a person, real or fictional, is honesty, so Bones is a perfect addition to the list of some of my favorite people. He never lies to others or to himself, which is a challenging thing for most people. And he also never bluffs, a quality that Cat tells us about many times, often with hilarious results. So many times in literature characters try to pretend, or convince themselves that they don't, in fact, feel the way that they do: they aren't in love with that person, that situation is not their responsibility, there is only one way to resolve this. But Bones does not lie to himself or try to convince himself that things are anything but what they are. His honesty about his feelings for Cat is something that hooked me from the very beginning. He knew very quickly that he loved her, something he hadn't thought himself capable of, and went about making her see that she loved him, too. And when she left him he knew that he couldn't live without her, so he chased her for four long years, rather than trying to convince himself that he could move on. I adore that he not only refuses to lie to others, but he doesn't lie to himself either. That is rare and precious, indeed.

Bones's devotion to the people he loves, is often staggering. From Cat to his oldest friends to his co-ruler to the people who are his, Bones puts himself on the line constantly. I adore the fact that Bones never has a single qualm about expressing his feelings for Cat, no matter what they are doing or who is around. And the way he expresses his love, through the most beautiful words and the most thoughtful actions, is breathtaking for the reader, so I can only imagine how devastating it must be for Cat. Another remarkable illustration of Bones's devotion is the fact that he takes on the things and people that Cat loves as if they were his own, even people who hate him. He could so easily eliminate Justina, Tate, and Don, with Cat being none the wiser about their fates, but knowing how that would hurt his wife, he would never be the cause of that kind of pain for her. The ability to love that deeply it simply remarkable.

I have to say that I adore Bones for his darker side, too. I love that he's imperfect, that he's ruthless, cold, manipulative, and a "mean bastard" whenever necessary. In fiction I find purely good or purely bad characters flat, dull, and boring. So the fact that Bones possesses all of the wonderful qualities I've already discussed, but he can also kill and torture without any compunctions whenever necessary, just makes him all the more interesting. And I find that I'm perfectly fine with the darker aspects of him, because they are there for good reasons. He was a pickpocket and a gigolo as a human, but that was because his circumstances wouldn't allow for a respectable "career". He was a highly successful vampire hitman and bounty hunter, but he only took contracts on people who were preying on others. After retiring from tracking people down, Bones only gets involved with eliminating people when they harm or threaten people he loves. Who can't relate to that? I also find it very easy to remember that vampire culture is not the same a human culture, so it would be ethnocentric to judge Bones's actions based on what is acceptable human behavior. 

Now that Bones and Cat's saga has wrapped up, I'm working on letting go, or at least distracting myself from missing him them.  But while I distract myself with other worlds, other heroes, I have no illusions that another hero will come along and replace my beloved Bones as the top alpha in my heart and mind. There will never be another as perfect as Crispin "Bones" Russell. But I'm going to keep looking. Just in case.

So Saucy Reader, do you love Bones as much as I do? Have I discussed your favorite Bones quality or did I miss something? Do you know a hero or anti-hero who could challenge Bones as the very best? Share your thoughts below!