Forbidden Sea by Sheila Nielson

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Summary: A young girl must sacrifice herself to save her town from the wrath of a mermaid.

Adrianne is always rescuing people. She ran the house after her father died, because her mother couldn't make any decisions. Unfortunately, Adrianne led them into poverty. She rescued dogs, horses and homeless children, often giving them the food from her own table. And when her sister Cecily goes missing, Adrianne climbs out on the rocks to save Cecily from the storm. A hand grabs onto Adrianne's arm and pulls her into water.

A mermaid? Is the Windwaithe Mermaid trying to kill Adrianne or drag her down to the depths of the sea to marry a merman?  Adrianne resists the mermaid's call as long as she can, until finally she is dragged into the ocean.

Once she is under, Adrianne's panic resides a bit. She can breathe underwater and the mermaid, Jendayi, informs her that she is chosen to be the bride of the merpeople's prince. Where the story goes from here is surprising and I raced through the last chapters despite a slow middle section. Creative, unique and well-written. I enjoyed this more and would gladly welcome any sequel or spin-off.

Book of Shadows (Sweep, No. 1) by Cate Tiernan

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Summary: A teenage girl meets the new student in her high school and is drawn to him before she discovers he's a Wiccan. Her attraction to Cal grows, despite of, or perhaps because of witchcraft.

My book club was lucky enough to have Young Adult author Loretta Ellsworth come speak to our book club after we read her book In a Heartbeat. After we discussed her book, we talked about upcoming trends in YA fiction.

Loretta Ellsworth mentioned that vampires are a waning plot device, at least in the YA market. She mentioned that werewolves seem to be popular, and talked about Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, which I hated. But I'm here to tell you that I can't get enough of the Sweep series by Cate Tiernan.

Morgan describes herself as plain and boring. And she seems like it. She's responsible, she helps fellow students with math problems and seems a little self-conscious when her best friend Bree tries to include her in Bree's clique of popular friends. Morgan's much more comfortable hanging back.

But Morgan is assigned to show new transfer student Cal around their school and can hardly function because Cal is so cute. I totally identified with Morgan, as whenever I encountered a gorgeous male, I can't stop giggling, even today. Cal is very laid back and at ease with all the different groups of people, the popular kids, the brains, the athletes, the stoners, the artists. When he invites all of them to a campfire in the woods, everyone is excited to attend a cool party. But Cal suggests that they hold hands in a circle and thank Mother Nature. Cal "comes out" as a witch (male Wiccans are still witches, apparently). Morgan is intrigued by the ceremony but her best friend Bree is more intrigued by Cal.

Bree starts exploring witchcraft as a way to get closer to Cal, and shares her books and enthusiasm with Morgan. Morgan starts exploring witchcraft on her own, but she also finds herself strangely drawn to Cal as well, but of course doesn't say anything to anyone since Bree is actively pursuing Cal. 

Morgan's mother finds her books and bans all witchcraft books and forbids Morgan to be involved in any of the Wiccan holidays and ceremonies. Morgan is torn between her typical reaction to obey her parents and her curiosity about a gentle philosophy that really seems to speak to her. Morgan starts "practicing" on her own, and creates a potion that clears up her friend's horrible acne. Morgan is astonished that her potion worked but gets scolded by Cal for practicing magick without the recipient's consent. Bree also thinks that Morgan is practicing magick to get closer to Cal and makes Morgan choose between their friendship and magick.

Morgan chooses magick, but recognizes that her pull toward magick will eventually cause problems in her whole life - with her family, her church and even her friendships. I am so hooked on this series. It has humor, teen angst, a cute guy and lots of potential problems. Delicious!

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

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Summary: An angel-blood teenager fights her destiny and her attraction to a human.

What's your purpose in life? I'm 34 and I'm still figuring it out. But as an angel blood, sixteen-year-old Clara Gardner knows that she must fufill her purpose. It's why she exists. Talk about pressure.

And of top of that, you have high school, prom, college, and a mom who still expects you to get good grades.

Happy and talented California teen Clara is slowly coming into her powers as a Quartarius, a quarter-angel. Her half-angel single mother reluctantly shares details about being an angel, only emphasizing that Clara's purpose, whatever it is, is the most important event of her life (I thought college admission was crucial.).  Together, they identify details in Clara's frequent visions about her purpose. The clues include a forest fire, a license plate, and boy in a black fleece jacket. This leads the entire family (Mom, Clara and younger brother Jeffrey) to up and move to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. (Before you say it, yes, it is reminiscent of Twilight in some spots.)

"Clara, listen to me." Mom leans forward and takes my hands in hers. "You aren't being sent on a mission that you don't have the power to accomplish. You have to find that power inside you somewhere and you have to refine it. ... There is a reason, for all of this."

On Clara's first day of school, she meets her destiny: a handsome football player named Christian, the boy of her dreams - literally. She also slowly befriends two other girls: easygoing, horse-obsessed Wendy, and intense loner Angela. Clara thinks she's finally on her way to her purpose when Christian asks her to prom, until he stands her up at prom to tend to his ex-girlfriend. It's a typical teen angst book for about halfway through.

The book didn't really get great until Clara and Wendy's twin brother, Tucker, start spending their summer after junior year together. With Wendy, Christian and Angela all away for the summer, the two start spending time together alone in the woods. They have a lot of fun together in a wholesome way with underlying sexual tension. The scenes are a thrill to read.

I don't know what to say. This summer hasn't turned out at all the way I planned. I'm not supposed to be standing in the middle of a barn with a blue-eyed cowboy who's looking at me like he's about to kiss me. I shouldn't be wanting him to kiss me.

The romance develops quickly but organically, until one day, Tucker and Clara kiss. This kiss is so magical and intense that Clara starts to glow, her glory showing through and freaking Tucker out a little.

The day of the fire, however, Clara is forced to decide who she must save - Christian; her whole purpose, or Tucker; her love.

This was an enjoyable teen fantasy fiction romance. My biggest complaint though is how the angel wings work with American clothes. Do they rip through the cloth? Do they go around the sleeves? This was never really explained and I wanted to know. The lack of detail was a niggling little worm that kept me from giving this book 5 stars.

Clarity by Kim Harrington

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Summary: A teen psychic tries to solve a murder in her tourist town. 

This book felt very much like my beloved television show Veronica Mars. You have a sassy, mature/precocious teen who is ostracized by her peers, yet one boy takes the time to get to know her, which eases her social life and brings her a bit of happiness before it's ripped away. Only instead of being a girl detective, Clarity (or Clare) Fern is a psychic.

This was an enjoyable teen thriller. Clarity and her brother and mother make their living giving accurate psychic readings. They are ostracized by the townies, but he tourists love them. Perry also dates the vacationing girls while Clare has no friends her age.

A young tourist is murdered in Clarity's tourist town. The hot son of the big city detective asks for her help in solving the murder, as does her hot ex-boyfriend, who is the son of the mayor running for re-election in a tense race. But what's really worrisome is that Clare's brother Perry was very likely the last person to see the murdered girl alive. In fact, he had sex with her.

Clare doubts her brother for just an instant, but the evidence is quickly mounting against him. Soon Clare becomes a target, as the murders keep happening. An easy quick read with a fun plot and characters.

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers, Book 3) by Kelley Armstrong

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Summary: Specially gifted magical teens finally escape from the lab who genetically modified their powers. 

The Reckoning is the final book in the series that should have a Twilight-like following. Teens with special powers on the run? Hot teen werewolf? Sign me up! Much better written than the Twilight series, too.

I thought I was picking up the first book in this series, but actually I got the third book and jumped right into supernatural action and romance. Chloe is a necromancer with power to not only raise but also summon, and banish, the dead. Her powers have been altered by the Edison Group, a supernatural evil think tank and laboratory that has been harvesting and modifying children of sorcerers (magical males) and witches (magical females).

Chloe and her friends - Derek, a werewolf; Simon, a sorcerer and Derek's foster brother; and Tori, a powerful adept witch - are hiding in the safe house of Andrew, a former member of the Edison Group, who is now working against the unchecked powers of the Edison Group. Chloe and Simon have always been considered a couple, but Chloe is uncannily aware of Derek, even though he scolds her for risking herself. The sexual tension between Derek and Chloe is perfectly balanced, and they do make a good couple, once Simon gracefully bows out of the picture. Once safe, Andrew brings in a few talented adults to help train the teens in their magical skills area.

Chloe is so powerful that she can raise the dead just by thinking about it. Tori only needs to hear a spell and she knows it. Derek has finally made the transition to full werewolf and only Simon's powers are weak. Once the adults who are supposed to be helping them hide from the Edison Group fully comprehend their powers, they change their minds and agree that the teens should be killed, because that much power, uncontrolled, is dangerous.

The teens are dragged back to the Edison Group, where Tori confronts her witch of a mother and Chloe and Simon are about to be sent to a group home for more training and indoctrination. Chloe uses her power to raise the dead and summons a half-demon who helps her destroy the building. In the ensuing final (?) escape from the Edison Group, Tori's mother and the evil Dr. Davidoff are killed. Chloe and her Aunt Lauren, Simon, Simon's father, Derek and Tori escape and regroup to fight.

This was a well-written, fast-paced supernatural young adult novel. It doesn't hurt that Kelley Armstrong is one of my favorite authors as well.

Insatiable by Meg Cabot

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Summary: Soap opera writer Meena Harper is sick of vampires, especially when they become an integral part of the plot of her series Insatiable. And when Meena meets a real life vampire who makes all her other dreams come true, Meena is torn. 

Author Meg Cabot, best known for her Princess Diaries, is an underrated writer.  Insatiable has humor, romance, danger and is bitingly appropriate. It's also thoroughly researched and well-written. But I absolutely hated the ending. It made me sick.

My Nook digital reader came with Bram Stoker's Dracula novel, which I immediately archived, since I have no interest in reading that. But Meg Cabot pays chick-lit homage to the novel, recognizing and altering the classic characters and with plot points "ripped from the headlines." It's enough to make me add Dracula back on so I can read it and compare.

Cabot's heroine Meena Harper is a tribute to Mina Harker, wife of Jonathan Harker, from the original Dracula novel. In Insatiable, Jon Harper is Meena's brother, although they do share the same apartment after Jon lost his job. Dracula's Jonathan and Mina Harker try to rescue Lucy, but in 2010 New York, Jon and Meena try to rescue Meena's best friend Leisha. There are other clever wordplays and references to Dracula and the story is linguistically accurate as well. The word Dracul translates to the word dragon.

Meena Harper is psychic. She can tell when someone is going to die. But after years of being ostracized for her gruesome talent, she's isolated herself, living a fulfilling but sometimes frustrating life as head writer for the popular soap opera Insatiable. (Think Liz Lemon writing drama.) Then orders come from on high, telling Meena to introduce vampires to the show or lose her job. Vampires it is.

While Meena is out walking her dog one night (goofily named Jack Bauer), she is attacked by bats and saved by a handsome man. Stunned and scared, Meena hurries back home. The next day at a dinner party, she meets her neighbor's cousin, a Romanian prince named Lucien. And the prince is none other than the man who rescued her the night before.

The romance between Meena and Lucien is hot (Meg Cabot writes sexy well) and both Lucien and Meena are excited beyond belief to find someone who accepts them for who they are. The night after their passion, Lucien even send Meena the Marc Jacobs dragon tote she's been eyeing for months. How did he understand her so completely? (I checked, there is no real dragon tote.) Until Meena discovers that Lucien is a vampire. Okay, not only is she surrounded by vampires (which deeply offends feminist Meena), but now her brother and some strange vampire hunter named Alaric are trying to break them up.

Danger and hilarity ensue.

And then we get to the end, which I will NOT reveal. I felt betrayed as a reader and disappointed in Meg Cabot.

The Passage by Justin Cronin

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Summary: An apocalyptic vision of the future after a government plan to manufacture vampires goes terribly wrong. 

The Passage was unlike any book I've ever read before, yet it reminded me of many books I've read before. And I almost didn't make it past page 30.

The book opens with a depressing story of a single mother who loses her home to poverty and turns to prostitution to feed herself and her daughter Amy, set in 2016. Mood-wise, the writing reminded me of Robert Goolrick's A Reliable Wife, since it was a casual stream of consciousness writing with tender terrible moments just tossed in. The sadness was so disturbing I almost didn't keep reading, especially when six-year-old Amy is abandoned at a convent without a goodbye from her mother.

Then a new section opens with one-sided e-mails from a scientist working in the jungles of Bolivia. This seem ripped from Michael Crichton's Congo. Lots of mystery, strange noises and disappearances and the natives won't go any further, but the crew, which now is taken over by the U.S. Army, continues on to the jungle despite all their instincts. I despise epistolary books, and I resented that the vague e-mail hints are supposed to keep us readers intrigued. I was determined to give this book my mandatory 50 pages.

And then before the 50 pages were up, we meet Special Agent Brad Wolgast. Since I do love law enforcement characters, I kept reading about the tired, resigned, lonely man who is searching for a cause to make his life meaningful again. Unfortunately, Agent Wolgast is assigned to ask death row inmates with no family to sign up for a secret government medical experiment.

Can you guess the experiment? Vampires!

Yes, somehow the government has been injecting death row inmates (who are murderers and rapists) with a serum that makes them age slowly, lose their minds and humanity, and crave human blood.  The scientist who wrote those earlier e-mails has figured out a way to inject people with the same blood that caused a massacre in the Bolivian jungle.

And Agent Wolgast has to bring six-year-old Amy (who also now has no family) to a hidden medical lab in the mountains of Colorado for a treatment that has affected grown men in disturbing ways. During a bloody shoot-out, Amy and Special Agent Wolgast escape and hide in the mountains of Montana as the now-free and enraged vampires savage the rest of the United States.  The sparseness will remind readers of Cormac McCarthy's The Road.

In yet another section, we have diary entries from a child who describes the isolation trains and the process of quarantining cities. She also notes that California has seceded from the United States.  This part of the book seemed very Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.

And all of this plot takes up only a third of the book.

The rest of the book focuses on a community of settlers who live in isolation in California, fending off daily attacks by the now dominant vampires, nearly 100 years after the vampires first escape. They have only known the strict and insular life inside the fort. But the batteries that power the lights and their community are dying and they must journey to find either a rumored colony of other survivors or unused batteries. It's better to die in the attempt to prolong life than stay waiting. Their journey is more about the mental challenges than physical dangers though there are both. And you make it through a 766-page hard cover book only to have an enraging, frustrating ending.

I recognize that Justin Cronin is not a new author, however, this book felt like a creative writing class assignment. Okay, Class. The topic is vampires. Now write a book written from the perspective of these 4 random authors you pick from my bag. The plot had a few holes, and the writing needed a strong editor and a distinctive style. But this indeed was one of the most unique books I've read.

Blue Diablo: A Corine Solomon Novel by Ann Aguirre

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Summary: A psychic tracks down her ex’s missing mother.

Corine Solomon has a gift. Or maybe it’s a curse. She can tell the history of an object by holding it in her palm. That’s the reason why her hands are so scarred and burnt and also why she’s been hiding in Mexico for the past two years.

But when her ex-boyfriend Chance tracks her down and begs her to save his mother, who was the primary mother figure in Corine’s short, rough life, Corine knows it will hurt her both physically and emotionally. She agrees to use her powers as long as Chance helps her hunt down the people who killed her mother. A spell cast at the moment of Corine’s mother’s death actually gave Corrine her powers. Corine grew up in isolation and loneliness until Chance and his mother became the closest thing Corine had to a family, after years of abuse in foster care.

Chance and Corine once made a great psychic team, but Corine left after feeling used by Chance’s greed. He would take lucrative cases using their talents, but Corine would be traumatized physically and emotionally. After one particularly tough case (where they didn’t find the missing girl’s body), Corine runs away. She’s made a pretty nice, if boring, life for herself in Mexico. Until Chance comes walking back in. When he offers her revenge, Corine can’t refuse.

The writing in this book was sometimes laugh out loud funny and sometimes just quirky and crude:

“What he would have said, I’ll never know because his cell rang. Looking apologetic, he answered (he’d once taken a call while receiving a particularly artful blow job). That too was vintage Chance and I scurried like a nervous gerbil back to the kitchen, where I occupied myself washing up the few dishes I dirtied."

or

“Nice face, I decided, if scruffy and unshaven. Frosting the hunk cake was a tousled mess of tawny sun streaked hair.”

I just like the sound of a frosted hunk cake.

During the investigation, Corine starts to meet people with extra talents and you’ll feel encouraged when you feel like she won’t be alone anymore. But when their friends’ bodies are taken over by some mind control trick and they are helped by a wheel-chair bound psychic in Britain, I just lost interest.

Jane Bites Back by Michael Thomas Ford

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Summary: Jane Austen has been quietly living as a vampire and trying to get published again.

It is a truth universally acknowledges that Jane Austen is still alive today… as a vampire.

Oh, yes.

What a fun read. It met needs I didn’t even know I had. It meets my enthusiasm for Jane Austen and enhances my appreciation for her flawed, proud and tender characters. It’s not as good as Pride and Prejudice, but it’s a fun read, with a great blend of a few of my favorite subjects.

Jane Austen? Check.
A book store? Check.
Vampires? Check!

And it’s funny, too.

During a clandestine trip to the English lake district, Lord Byron (yes, the poet) seduces Jane Austen and then bites her, making her into a vampire. Jane stages her death in her time period and then runs away to America where she’s been quietly living all this time.

Jane’s also been struggling in modern-day America to publish what she thinks is her best book yet. She has been rejected by 116 editors. Jane Austen – arguably the most popular female writer of all time – keeps getting rejected. The real irony is that Jane Austen now is the owner of a bookstore in New England and suffers little pangs of agony when she sees another Jane Austen-themed book fly off her shelves. The royalties! The gimmicks! The dolls!? And why does every moron and her sister get a book deal but not Jane?

And one day, Jane’s life changes. A publisher wants her book. A tall, dark handsome publisher who thinks Jane is brilliant and can’t wait to publish more of her books. Jane’s finally getting to realize her dream. And in walks Lord Byron, renamed Brian. He’s finally decided that he and Jane should be a vampire power couple, and he’ll use his considerable charms to ensure Jane complies. The banter between two world-famous writers is delightful.

'"I don’t love you,” she said firmly.

Once more Byron laughed at her. “Who said anything about love?” he replied. We’re both far too old to believe in happily ever after, Jane.”

Perhaps you don’t,” said Jane.

Byron smiled. “Man’s love is of man’s life a thing apart. ‘Tis a woman’s whole existence.”

“Stop quoting yourself,” Jane said. “It’s vain even for you."'

You don’t have to be a Jane Austin fan to enjoy this book, but it certainly helps. And wait until you find out about Charlotte Bronte.

Descent into Dust by Jacqueline Lepore

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Summary: Widowed Emma Andrews fears she is going mad but instead discovers she was born to be a vampire hunter in Victorian England.

The original Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Charles Dickens.

Widowed Emma Andrews is at a house party with her sister and cousin. After visiting her niece Henrietta, she thinks she sees a man in the room. All of Emma’s life has been spent guarding against the madness that drove her mother to her death, so Emma tells no one, fearing that she too is going mad. She hears voices, and sees things and is terrified of losing her mind or hurting her family.

Valerian Fox, also a visitor to Emma’s cousin’s house, follows Emma and Henrietta on their walks around the country estate. Emma believes he is stalking them, but finds out he is actually protecting them. There’s a secret that he won’t share with her, but perhaps Emma is not mad after all. When Emma is caught alone in the stable, she killed six snakes with three jabs of a pitchfork, surprising herself.

Mr. Fox finally tells Emma she is a Dhampir, a Vampire Hunter, given extraordinary ability to fight vampires. Together, Emma and Mr. Fox kill the vampire’s minions. Emma is caught in her niece’s room late at night and tells the truth – that a vampire has been stalking Henrietta. Emma is believed mad and is kicked out and instead goes to France to study all she can about vampires.

Emma secretly returns to fight for Henrietta’s soul and instead finds herself fighting a greater evil than she can imagine. Emma is welcomed back into the bosom of her family. When she presses her uncle for more information about her mother, Emma discovers that her mother was not mad, but instead was the victim of a vampire, fighting her bloodlust while trying to raise a child. Her mother is not actually dead, but ran away long ago in order to keep Emma safe. Emma’s next novel, and next adventure, will focus on her search for her mother.

The writing style is Gothic, but it fit the mood and the theme. An enjoyable read.

One Foot in the Grave (Night Huntress, Book 2) by Jeaniene Frost

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Summary: A half-human/half-vampire is employed with Department of Homeland Security.

The premise is promising, exciting even. A half-human/half-vampire named Christine (her alias) who was formerly known as Cat, is employed with Department of Homeland Security, carrying out midnight raids against vampires who break the law.

Just to clarify, since I was curious how one can be a half-human and half vampire – Cat/Christine’s mother was raped by a newly turned vampire and somehow his sperm was both human and vampire at the time of the rape, so Cat’s mom was impregnated. I know, right? But if you’re going to believe in the existence of vampires, and that they work for Homeland Security, little details like infertility in vampires requires only a minor suspension of disbelief.

Cat is tough and brutal, but haunted by her separation from her vampire lover, nicknamed “Bones.” It was Bones’ tutoring that trained her as a fighter and she can still hear his voice in her head, encouraging her during her fights.

I felt like the writing and Cat’s action were deliberately bold and shocking.

“Ruthlessly I kicked the cadaver to send more blood downward, and Juan forced Dave to swallow.”

Ugh.

But the way the plot unfolded was weak. Bones comes back into Cat’s life, because someone has taken a contract out on her life (she’s a vampire hunter, remember?) and together they will uncover the plot against her.

But Cat/Christine seems tough and disconnected to her life. I couldn’t feel her pain or her passion. She just seemed grumpy.

“Felicty took one look at the half-empty pilsner glass of gin I returned with and gasped.

“Christine, can’t you keep a lid on your drinking? This is my cousin’s wedding for heaven’s sake!”

Her prim tone made me squeeze my glass so hard to avoid slamming it over her head that it shattered. Gin spilled on the front of me, and my palm started to bleed.

“Motherfucker!” I shouted.”

I stopped reading when her vampire ex-boyfriend Bones keeps calling her “Kitten.” It sounded so close to “sex kitten” and Cat (Yes, I do get the Cat/Kitten reference) is not the cuddly delicate type.

I think Laurell K. Hamilton is to blame for creating ass-kicking female vampire hunters who have extreme violent sex.

I recommend Blood Oath if you're looking for government vampires. Can this really be a category now? Vampires who work for Homeland Security?

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

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Summary: A teenager meets the human version of the werewolf who's been stalking/guarding her during her adolescent years.

Shiver should have been titled “Shudder.” It’s pretty weak, and encompasses most of what I don’t like about YA adult fiction. And I think the writing is terrible. But maybe the author is fourteen years old.

Grace – not-quite a high school loner, but one of a trio of barely-connected girls - is obsessed with the wolves who surround her house. Ever since Grace was attacked as a young girl, she’s been haunted by the wolf with yellow eyes and the howls she often hears at night.
Sam-the-wolf has loved Grace ever since he saved her life.

“I was a leaking womb bulging with the promise of conscious thoughts: the frozen woods far behind me, the girl on the tire swing, the sound of fingers on metal strings. The future and the past, both the same, snow and then summer and then snow again.

A shattered spider’s web of many colors, cracked in ice, immeasurably sad.”

(You went to school right? Did your teacher ever instruct you: Show, not tell.”? )

Turns out it’s not the moon that causes wolves to change, it’s the temperature. If it stays cold enough, they are wolves. When it warms up, they’re human. Except that it doesn’t work in warm weather – in Texas and Florida, they just become werewolves when the weather becomes a little cooler. But because Minnesota has such extreme hot and cold, it’s a perfect breeding ground (if you’ll pardon the joke) for werewolves.

And even though Grace was bitten as a child, her father left her in a hot car in a Minnesota summer and she got a raging high temperature, which caused her NOT to be a werewolf. This extreme heat experience, which has been making all the parenting magazines lately as an example of what NOT to do, is actually the cure for were-wolf-ism, which Grace and her friends discover and then implement.

So when a high-school classmate is bitten, the whole town goes a little crazy and starts shooting the wolves in the woods behind Grace’s house. They shoot Sam, and he comes to Grace’s house for help.

“My breath caught painfully in my throat as I moved still closer, hesitant. His beautiful ruff was gone and he was naked but I knew it was my wolf even before he opened his eyes. His pale yellow eyes, so familiar, flicked open at the sound of my approach, but didn’t move. Red was smeared from his ear to his desperately human shoulders – deadly war paint.”

And so Sam ends up living in Grace’s house while her parents totally don’t even notice. An entire person living in a house and two people don’t notice? How come I can believe in werewolves, but not oblivious parents? That’s what ruins many YA novels for me.

After Grace lands in the hospital after being attacked by a jealous ex-girlfriend werewolf, her Mom finally notices and thinks she shouldn’t date Sam anymore.

My voice was brittle. “I would say that by virtue of your not acting parental up to this point, you’ve relinquished your ability to wield any power now. Sam and I are together. It’s not an option.”

Mom threw up her hands as if trying to stop the Grace-tank from running over her. “Okay. Fine. Just be careful, okay? Whatever. I’m going to go get a drink.”

And just like that, her parental energies were expended. She had played Mom by driving us to the hospital, watching the nurse attend to my wounds, and warning me off my psychotic boyfriend and now she was done. It was obvious I was going to live, so she was off duty.” 

This book has been called The Jacob-and-Bella story, since it's about a boring teenage girl adored by a werewolf. But Twilight is much better written, which makes this book pitiful.

Lover Avenged (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 7) by J.R. Ward

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Summary: Half-sympath/Half-vampire Rehvenge is caught in the middle of vampire politics while wooing Ehlena, a struggling vampire nurse.

Lover Avenged feels like a place holder book to me. The story moves the plot of the Black Dagger Brotherhood along, but the primary romance between Ehlena and Rehvenge does not have the seemingly insurmountable problems that the other Brothers did.  My favorite story is that of Zhadist and Bella, likely because it was the first book I read of the series, as I read them completely out of order.

Author J.R. Ward thoughtfully provides a glossary of terms in the beginning of each book, so the vampire world and the relevant rules of the world she's created are spelled out before you even meet the characters.

Without sharing too much of the current vampire world, let me sum up the plot: Rehvenge is summoned to carry out the assassination of Wrath, the vampire king, head of the Black Dagger Brotherhood. Why in the world anyone with half a brain would think Rehvenge would kill the king, I don't know. On top of that, Rehvenge must seek monthly medical treatment for a chronic (sexual) poisoning he gets every month, but must keep secret from the world. The only nurse at the clinic who can handle Rehvenge's cold, calculating and leering gaze is Ehlena.

Ehlena has struggles of her own. Her father has schizophrenia (yes, apparently vampires can get schizophrenia) and she leaves her father to the care of a nurse while she serves the public. She tells herself that when she is seeing Rehvenge outside of the clinic, it's because she's doing her nursely duty, just like she'd like someone to take care of her father, but she soon realizes it's something more.

The love story developed quickly, because this book was more used to establish that: Lash, a former Vampire, is a successful son of the Omega; that John Matthew and Xhex have a connection that neither of them can admit without losing face; that Wrath is now officially blind and can serve his people best by administrative purposes instead of fighting lessers; that Tohrment has snapped out of his grief; and that the Black Dagger Brotherhood needs more fighters. There was only one mention of Marissa, and I wasn't even sure if she and Butch were still an item.

I'll be waiting for the next book, which I hope features Payne, and develops the story between John Matthew and Xhex.

Glass House (Morganville Vampires, Book 1) by Rachel Caine

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Summary: A college student and her housemates deal with vampire politics and death threats in a small Texas town.


There's a phrase in the romance review world called TSTL. It translates as Too Stupid To Live. It often refers to the heroine who keeps running into danger and then expects the hero to rescue her, although why anyone could be attracted to anyone so stupid, no one knows. I didn't expect the teen heroine of a vampire novel to fall into the TSTL category, but she does.


Child prodigy Claire Danvers (great name, by the way) simply must go to college because she lives to study. She'd rather be studying than anything. So Claire's parents send their sixteen-year-old daughter to get her associate's degree in the small Texas town of Morganville. But Claire doesn't fit in at TPU and is too scared by her classmate Monica to go to class. But when nasty Monica and her hangers-on carry their malicious pranks too far, Claire is scared for her life.


Instead of transferring, or leaving the college, or going to any faculty or administrator, or telling her parents, sixteen-year-old Claire decides to just move off campus. 


Claire doesn't know that if she moves off campus, she's considered available for any vampire to control or drain. Her roommate's a ghost (he was incompletely killed by a vampire and became a ghost instead of a vampire), one roommate's a Goth girl, and one roommate is her new crush, but he's haunted because the vampires killed his mother. 


If the writing wasn't so good, I would have stopped reading long ago. The writing is clear, expressive, and realistic, even if the plot is not. 

She always wondered how in the hell anybody could be stupid enough to open up a door to the scary bad thing in the movies, but now she knew. She absolutely knew.

Sometimes, you didn’t have a choice.

Eve was gasping for breath and crying furiously in between. “I hate this,” she said, and slammed her hand into the hard plastic steering wheel, over and over. “I hate this town! I hate them!”

So leave already!

Great writing, but this book was too full of stupid people who make choices only to move the plot along instead of acting in a way that makes sense. 

Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs (Glory St. Clair, Book 5) by Gerry Bartlett

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Summary: Vampire Glory St. Clair, in her never-ending quest for beauty, secretly meets with her lover's arch-enemy in order to lose 20 pounds. 


Real Vampires Hate Their Thighs  - funny title, right? Stupid book. 


Glory St. Clair is over 400 years old. She's got a moderately successful vintage clothing business, a gorgeous fake-fiance, a gorgeous authentic and rich vampire lover, and she's still obsessed about losing 20 pounds. Seriously? 


She's planning clandestine meetings with her lover's arch-enemy in order to lose 20 pounds that nobody else minds except for her? I couldn't believe it - and I read plenty of unbelievable books (werewolves, vampires, witches, dystopian fiction with monsters and killer animals). 


A 400-year-old vampire would have been alive in the 1960s. Ever heard of Twiggy? I have. Skinny and famous. Glory would also have been alive in the 1920s, where women bound their breasts to look as flat as possible.  So today's standards of beauty don't seem any more onerous that in previous eras. But suddenly living in LA requires that Glory lose 20 pounds. The vampire weight loss expert also promises that Glory can target her weight loss to focus only on the areas she wants to lose - and Glory believes it. How could a vampire this stupid live for 400 years without being staked by now?


And the writing was just weak. 

"I was sure my blonde hair had been blown into a fright wig by the change for my bat flight. Then he checked out my snug jeans in a size twelve (oh, how I wished for a six!). Hmm. Back up north again, he lingered on my double Ds which I'd love to slip into a C cup. I could only imagine the joys of having to shop for new bras and to actually buy colorful pretty ones."

And Jerry, also known as Angus Jeremiah Campbell III, thinks Glory is perfect. In fact, he'd willingly marry Glory and support her. He could even use his millions to buy Glory sexy, colorful bras to hold those double Ds. 


I couldn't finish this book. There are so many good funny chick-lit vampire books out there, you don't need to waste your time with Glory St Clair. Try Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs (Jane Jameson, Book 1) by Molly Harper.

Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, Book 18) by Laurell K. Hamilton

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Summary: After Anita refuses to raise the dead, her family of lovers is held hostage until she does.


What made the Anita Blake series so good in the beginning was Anita's moral dilemmas. How can a necromancer date a vampire? And how should her powers be used? Anita also has a specific rules about sex, blood and death.


Lately, Laurell K. Hamilton has been all about the gore, with people digging in open sucking wounds, or multiple partner sex with strangers that leaves people dazed.


It's a pleasure to have a nice super natural story with a little bit of violence and vengeance, and a little bit of monster sex, and a mystery and a scene where Anita learns how to flirt. Well, I predict that many of the people who were disappointed in Hamilton will come back.  This was one of her shorter novels, but maybe she has a new editor she respects. Cheers to that!

Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth

Please note: Links pointing to Amazon contain my affiliate ID. Sales resulting from clicks on those links will earn me a percentage of the purchase price. So buy and read now!


Summary: A vampire sworn to protect the President of the United States battles enemies, both foreign and domestic. 


I was given a copy of this book by the publisher.


At this moment, there are eight separate conspiracy groups plotting to destroy the U.S. government. And Nathaniel Cade, the President’s Vampire, is working against the non-humans who would bring us down. 

This book was awesome! From the very first page, when Zach Barrows, a self-titled “young Karl Rove,” is reassigned as the presidential liaison to the President’s Vampire, I read with accelerated heartbeat and eager anticipation. His new job: “Forget the War on Terror, Zach. This is the War on Horror. And you’ve just been drafted.” Cheese ball line, I know, but it totally works. 

Cade is a newly-formed vampire about to be executed when President Andrew Johnson pardons him. Johnson hired voodoo priestess Marie Laveau (yes, that Marie Laveau) to bind Cade to protect and serve whomever is the President of the United States. What a premise, and one that leaves me begging for the next in what I hope is a long series of books about the President’s Vampire. 

I love political thrillers and this has black ops, treason, betrayal and vampires. Books written by journalists always tend to be better written, because they know how to tell a story efficiently without falling in love with their own words. There is just enough plausibility about real threats that you almost wonder… “Could there really be…? Nah! Right? No!… But maybe…” 

The back of the book reads: Enough action to out-Bourne Jason Bourne and out-Bauer Jack Bauer. I loved most of the Jason Bourne books, and the movies as well. Never quite got into “24” but I know that Jack Bauer does torture. So I chuckled when Cade says with no irony, “The United States doesn’t torture.” 

There are some other bits of humor scattered throughout this action-packed political thriller. Certain lines will have you racing to Google and then laughing once you realize what it really means.

If you like any David Baldacci, any Brad Meltzer, any Dan Brown, any Tom Clancy, any James Rollins, you will devour this book. (Sorry, couldn’t resist a little vampire humor.)


My minor criticism:
As the monsters rampage through the White House, “Bits of human flesh and blood spread out over the wallpaper selected by Jackie Kennedy.” Poor Mrs. Kennedy. Don’t we have enough visions of her covered in the bits of human flesh and blood belonging to her husband? It was a gruesome reference that wouldn’t have been so distracting had it been any other first lady (with the exception of Mary Todd Lincoln, of course).

I could also see almost every scene in my head as I read along, so clear and descriptive was the writing. We could spend hours discussing the casting for when this is made into a movie – and I do hope it is made into a movie. Once you read it yourself, I hope you’ll chime in with your casting suggestions.

Bottom line: Sink your teeth into this one, with relish!