Katie Hayoz, author, reader

First things first. I have to say I'm so happy that I decided to participate in the Clean Out Your E-Reader Challenge hosted by Fantasy is More Fun and Because Reading is Better than Real Life . True of Blood is book three of a stack of e-books that I probably would not have read for a while otherwise -- which would have been a shame.

Xandra lives with her, uh, ghost parents, her aunt and her little brother in a secluded place in the mountains.  She rarely sees other people and rarely goes down to the city.  But then a walk in the woods shows footprints in the snow and her parents freak.  Apparently, her mom had been keeping a rather large secret from Xandra.  Namely, that she's half-fairy half-witch and that some major people want her dead.

The premise was pretty awesome, but I found it took a while for the book to gain speed.  This is not unique in the first novel of a series where there is a lot of set up for the following books.  But Lamer manages to get the story going when the relationship between Xandra and the fairy Kallen takes over.  It's a love/hate thing that keeps the reader on her toes.

FYI: Young adult novels where the main love interest is insulting and manipulative are often on my black list.  And the prevalence in which this sort of relationship occurs in these books (and how popular they are) turns my stomach.  I feel girls have enough self-esteem issues nowadays, that they don't need that kind of relationship to seem like something good.  And Kallen was insulting and manipulative.  There's even an undercurrent of violence in some of his attempts to kiss Xandra that grates on me (see my post is what we're reading hurting women)...

And yet...

And yet Lamer kept me reading.  She ramped up the romantic tension to such a high, she got me to like Kallen enough that I was sitting there going, "Come on! Kiss her!" despite my regular standpoints and beliefs.  In short, she got me turning pages, wanting more.

There are some things I question -- the mother's motivation for many things, Xandra's attitude at times.  But overall, I found this book a fun read.  It's FREE on Amazon so I suggest you grab it and decide for yourself.  If you do like it, it's the first in a series, so you'll have more to look forward to.