Red-Headed Stepchild by Jaye Wells

Looking thorough my pile of unread books for the next “good one”, I was immediately intrigued by the title of the book Red Headed Step Child by Jaye Wells. Since I was getting into the bath, I took it with me and got so into it, my bath turned into a two hour soak because I could not put it down. Great book! The story is fun and full of mythical creatures like fairies, vampires, mages, nymphs, and demons who have all been living on Earth undetected since the Garden of Eden. This book does an excellent job of explaining the origin of vampires and the author makes it easy to see how these creatures could not possibly get along without a few problems.

The main character, Sabine Kane, is a mixed-blood, magical vampire assassin. She was raised by her grandmother after her mother, a vampire, and her father, a mage, fell into a tragic love affair that ends in their deaths. Her grandmother, a cold, hard woman who is the leader of the vampires, has always treated Sabine as an outcast. So Sabine, wanting to fit in, will do anything to please her grandmother – including even killing close friends when ordered.

In Red Headed Step Child Sabine is assigned a mission by her grandmother to infiltrate a cult that is threatening the vampire community. The problem for Sabine is that this assignment is not going to be easy. She learns that the cult leader, the charismatic Clovis Trakiya, is preaching love and harmony between the human and supernatural races.

Sabine’s grandmother demands that she kill Trakiya, and Sabine, not one to question her grandmother’s orders, begins putting a plan into action. This particular job is made more difficult because she must endure a cult initiation ceremony in order to get close to Clovis; this requires letting him feed from her. In Sabine’s world, no self-respecting vampire would ever allow themselves to be forcibly fed from. On top of that, she has to try and get rid of a hairless cat demon that some mystery enemy has sent to kill her!

To add to the mix, she meets a handsome, mysterious mage who wants to show her the unknown universe that comprises the realm of magic. The problem: he’s got a hidden agenda.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable debut novel. With a lot of light humor that draws you in, it gives you non-stop fantasy action and amusing character interactions that keep you reading – I read and read until I finished it in one sitting: proof positive that it’s a great find. I had the distinct impression that the author had a lot of fun writing it. It is definitely a page-turner and if you are looking for an action-packed book that’s a good read and has a distinctive female lead; this is the book for you. And I’m quite pleased to see that there is a sequel coming out titled “The Mage In Black”. I plan to be the first in line to buy it. Jaye Wells has me hooked!

Red-Headed Stepchild can be purchased from online retailers like Amazon and Barnes and Noble.