Merry meet, fledgling. Welcome to a new life, a new world, and a new you. Welcome to the House of Night!

This might seem like a scary time, Fledgling, but never fear!

As you start your journey through the ancient halls of the House of Night, this indispensable handbook will aid you in your transition from human to fledgling. Within these pages you will find invaluable information about the history of vampyres. You will also come to a better understanding of your body’s transformation, as well as read words of hope from great vampyres of the past and learn essential foundations of rituals and lore.

Now, Fledgling, read on. A new life awaits you; your path to that magickal future begins here! [more info and prices]

The story centers around a teenage girl named Xoe, who’s your typical teenager: she’s not the happiest kid on the block, she’s loyal to her friends and she finds many people annoying and irritating. Come on, that’s a typical teenager for sure!

Life seems pretty dull hanging out with her friends until a new boy moves to the area named Dan. Although he’s handsome she immediately takes a disliking to him however all of her friends are clamoring to get to know him better. Xoe doesn’t have a logical reason to tell them to leave him alone; she just senses something odd about him. Since her best friend, Lucy, finds him fascinating and Dan seems to feel the same way about her, she decides to keep her feelings to herself.

The first time Xoe and her friends go to the movies with Dan, he grabs Xoe, telling her that he knows she’s different and demands that she explain who she is. Speechless, Xoe doesn’t know what to say or how to respond. At the end of the movie, she reluctantly leaves Lucy and Dan to finish their date. Fast forward to later that night and we find Lucy at Zoe’s house crying in pain. She explains that for some inexplicable reason, Dan scratched her arm and then ran off. Xoe knows something is terribly wrong but is unable to figure out what to do.

But it doesn’t take long for Xoe to figure out that Dan is a werewolf that wants to claim Lucy as his mate. Things seem pretty desperate when suddenly, another new boy arrives in town. He’s also a supernatural creature but unlike Dan, he’s one of the good guys. He’s there to put a stop to the harm Dan’s trying to cause.

As the story progresses we learn that the city of Shelby, Oregon is a regular hotbed of supernatural activity and Xoe is about to learn more than she ever wanted to know. Not just about her friends, but about herself as well.

As stated earlier, although this book was written for the teenage reader adults will enjoy it as well. Filled with emotion and attitude, I found this book to be fun and engaging. The author seems to have a real knack for understanding how teenagers feel, showing it in Xoe’s character and how she relates to the world. Roethe sucks the reader right into a new supernatural world and when you are finished, you’re ready for the next installment in Xoe’s adventures. This is an entertaining story that centers on the relationships between teens, the importance of friendship and how to develop and maintain trust.

Life lessons we can all use.

This year, because vampires are so darn popular, I’m getting my friends gifts that are vampire-themed. If you have friends that love the undead, check out these cool stocking stuffers:

	Amazon Kindle. Read your vampire books on the Kindle. Now ON SALE!
	True Blood DVD: The Complete First Season (HBO Series). Give the True Blood DVD to friends who don’t have HBO! They’ll definitely get hooked!
	Twilight (Twilight Saga Book #1). This is the first Twilight book that started it all.
	Sookie Stackhouse Box Set (Books 1-8). Get your True Blood fix – the books and the TV show are VERY different!
	Twilight The Movie DVD, 2-Disc Special. The Bella and Edward craze started with this movie.
	J.R. Ward Box Set (Black Dagger Brotherhood Series) (Books 1-6). These books have smokin’ hot vampires and a great fantasy storyline!
	New Moon (Twilight Saga Book #2). This is the book that the current movie is based on.  Hot werewolves!
	True Blood 2010 Wall Calendar . Each month showcases a scene from the show!
	A Touch Of Dead by Charlaine Harris. This book is a compilation of Sookie Stackhouse short stories.
	Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle (Books 1-2 ). This is a great young adult vampire series.

NOTE: most items on this list qualifies for free shipping. That means no tax, no shipping costs and it gets delivered right to your doorstep!

Beth has some problems. She thinks her gorgeous boyfriend is trying to kill her, and suspects that the hot college guy is a vampire hunter. She has to try and solve the secret to the formula that will allow a vampire to become a daywalker. And, on top of everything else, she has to kill her maker so she can return to her human form. You see she really wants her humanity back; who can live without hamburgers and fries?

You’d think this list of problems would be overwhelming for your average teenager – even a teen vampire – but Beth is smart and she has her best friend Jenny to help her. Oh, and did I mention that Beth had to turn Clayton, her high school boyfriend, into a vampire to save his life?

This means that if Clayton wants to be human again he has to kill his maker, Beth; not a good scenario when arrows and stakes keep appearing to be aimed at Beth. Very troublesome. Problems keep piling on for Beth but the biggest one is perhaps the most challenging: she has two dates to the Winter Dance and no dress to wear to the special event!

Despite the many issues Beth is working through, she’s funny and sarcastic through it all. It’s clear from reading the book that there’s a whole lot more in store for her in upcoming books. Having not read The Good Ghouls’ Guide to Getting Even, the first book in Julie Kenner’s series, I was concerned that there would be a learning curve to understanding the characters. But this was absolutely not the case. You don’t need to read the first book to understand Good Ghouls Do because it gives plenty of information to help the reader understand what has happened before. Although, since I enjoyed this one so much, my plan now is to go back and get the first one in the series, while waiting for the 3rd one to show up in the book store!

Good Ghouls Do is completely appropriate for both teen and adult readers. It’s one of those great crossover fantasy books that’s funny, suspenseful, full of mystery, and thoroughly entertaining. As such it gets my full recommendation.

Here are the lucky winners of this contest:

-Dawn M.
-Bailey
-Ashley
-Jessica S.
-Shannah

Please check your inboxes for an email from me. You have until midnight (EST) Wednesday, September 2nd to respond!

And thanks to the great folks at St. Martin’s Press for providing the books for this contest!

The Vampire Librarian

Night Runner by Max Turner

Here’s a description of the book: ”For Zack Thomson, living in the Nicholls Ward isn’t so bad. After his parents died, he developed strange and severe allergies, and the mental institution was the only place where he could be properly looked after. As strange as it was, it was home. He could watch as much television as he wanted; his best friend Charlie visited him often enough; and Nurse Ophelia–the prettiest no-nonsense nurse ever–sometimes took him bowling. It never once crossed Zack’s mind to leave…until the night someone crashed through the front doors and told him to run. Now he’s on a race for answers–about his past, his parents, and his strange sickness–even as every step takes him closer to the darkest of truths.”

It’s Easy to Enter

1. Leave a comment at the bottom of this post.   That’s it, you’re in!

Only one comment entry per person please. Open to residents of U.S. and Canada. The contest ends next Sunday, August 30th at 12:00 midnight (EST). The 5 winners will be randomly chosen Monday, August 31st using the Random Integer Generator software program.

Good luck!

Zoey’s first day at the House of Night starts out fairly well. She meets Nefret, a beautiful and extremely kind teacher (and High Priestess) at the school who decides to be Zoey’s mentor. Nefret, although a vampire, also has special intuitive powers. She immediately recognizes that Zoey is a special vampire fledgling and decides to take her under her wing.

Zoey quickly makes friends with several students. However, she soon meets Aphrodite, another student at the school who’s part of the “in” crowd. Do you remember the movies “The Heathers” or “Jawbreaker”? Aphrodite is like the leader of those girl groups. She’s beautiful but extremely cruel to her fellow students. She’s also the president of The Dark Daughters, an elitist group of female vampire fledglings at the school who engage in acts that aren’t completely ethical. Aphrodite initially shows some interest in being Zoey’s friend but eventually turns against her when she thinks a former boyfriend is interested in Zoey. Zoey doesn’t let Aphrodite get to her but she makes it her mission to expose Aphrodite’s actions to the school.

Meanwhile, Zoey quickly adjusts to her new life, classes, and her teachers. She makes new friends, is “chosen” by a temperamental cat to be its new master, and meets a handsome young guy who seems genuinely interested in Zoey as a person. Sure, it seems odd sleeping during the day and attending classes at night but after awhile it becomes second nature.

It’s important to note that not every teen that’s Marked actually becomes a vampire. Some kids don’t survive The Change and die.

Or do they?

I really liked this fantasy book, which is the first installment in the House of Night series. The storyline as written by P.C. and Kristin Cast (mother and daughter respectively) is nicely paced and thoroughly engrossing. It’s clear early on that Zoey is developing unusual powers. We’re not entirely certain what they are, but that’s part of the attraction of this book. It makes us want to learn more about Zoey and what lies ahead for her.

This is very much a young adult, coming of age fantasy book but it written such that it works well for both young and older adults. Because of a graphic scene near the start of the book it’s probably not appropriate for teens younger than 16 but it’s a great read for the older crowd. While reading the book I couldn’t help but think of the Harry Potter series (which also centers around a strong character at a boarding school with special powers, whose fate isn’t entirely known during the first books) however that’s where the similarities end. The book stands alone as a solid new addition to the young adult vampire book category and is sure to appeal to fantasy book lovers at large. Check prices

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Book 4) by Patricia Briggs
Mercy is preparing to marry alpha werewolf Adam Hauptman when an old friend asks her to help fend off a nasty ghost. It’s a good time for Mercy to leave Portland, Oregon because vampire queen Marsilia is after her and her vampire friend Stefan for successfully hunting down a monster that should have killed them. Mercy leaves Adam to negotiate peace with Marsilia and heads to Spokane, Washington to investigate the ghost, an unexpectedly complicated task. Though action supersedes characterization, the preternatural culture of vampire seethes and wolf pack politics is deeply intriguing. Briggs provides plenty of detail about Mercy’s complex world without boring info dumps, satisfying both new and longtime readers.

The Thirteenth (Vampire Huntress Legends) by L.A. Banks
The final story in the now cult favorite Vampire Huntress series.  The entire Neteru Guardian team is on the run, having now been labeled as America’s most-wanted terrorists following the gruesome demon battle that felled the Washington Monument and crashed the front doors of the White House.  The powers of darkness have released the pale horse of the apocalypse and half the Neteru team is pregnant.  Plagues from hell that ravage the country are being cited as stemming from bio-terrorism.  The nation is under martial law.  The Neterus and their team are underground.  If things weren’t bad enough… the Dark Realm breaks the sixth Biblical seal, which plunges the world into perpetual darkness and irrevocably into the Armageddon.

Deader Still by Anton Strout, author of Dead to Me and contributor to The League of Reluctant Adults website.
It’s hard to defeat evil on a budget. Just ask Simon Canderous. It’s been 737 days since the Department of Extraordinary Affairs’ last vampire incursion, but that streak appears to have ended when a boat full of dead lawyers is found in the Hudson River. Using the power of psychometry (the ability to divine the history of an object by touching it) agent Simon Canderous discovers that the booze cruise was crashed by something that sucked all the blood out of the litigators. Now, his workday may never end – until his life does.

Darkling (Sisters of the Moon) by Yasmine Galenorn (Audiobook)
In this third entry in Yasmine Galenorn’s bestselling Sisters of the Moon series, the spotlight is on Menolly, who must face the demons haunting her memories when humans begin turning into vampires.

Many Bloody Returns Multiple Authors: Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, Kelley Armstrong, and others. Edited by Toni L. P. Kelner. Now available in paperback.
From cakes to stakes, a celebration of everyone’s favorite bloodsucking subculture by a baker’s dozen of favorite authors. Each of these thirteen original stories offers a fresh and unique take on what birthdays mean to the undead. From Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse attending a birthday party for Dracula to Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden battling bloodsucking party crashers, these suspenseful, surprising, sometimes dark, sometimes humorous stories will ensure paranormal fans will never think of vampires or birthdays quite the same again.

Grave Sins (A Cin Craven Novel) by Jenna Maclaine
The latest in a bold, magical new series that spans the ages, from historical England to modern day America and beyond. Welcome to the legend of Cin Craven—witch, vampire and immortal warrior. In the arms of her lover Michael, Cin Craven has found satisfaction for her most primal longings, reaching heights of pleasure no mere human could ever imagine. She has also found a purpose for her unearthly powers. Cin is a member of The Righteous, a band of slayers that hunts down vampires who inflict evil upon the world. With Michael by her side, Cin’s latest mission brings her face-to-face with Marrakesh, a beautiful, half-mad vampire queen charged with slaughtering humans. If she’s found guilty, Marrakesh will pay with her life. But Cin is convinced that someone (or something) far more ruthless is trying to steal the queen’s throne. It’s a mission that will pit Michael and Cin against each other for the first time, awakening their darkest instincts and testing their love like never before.

Spell Games by T.A. Pratt
Mad sorcerers, psychic vampires, an army of vengeful demons, Marla Mason would rather face them all than a flesh-and-blood ghost from her dysfunctional family past: her con artist brother, Jason. As a chief sorcerer, Marla would ordinarily consider it her duty to protect her town from such an unscrupulous ne’er-do-well. As his sister, things are a lot . . . trickier. Now, as Marla attempts to train an apprentice oracle whose magical wires have gotten crossed, Jason is setting up an elaborate scheme and drawing her ever-so-corruptible partner Rondeau into the ruse. Their patsy is a filthy-rich wannabe mage and their bait is something so valuable, so dangerous, so sought after, it probably doesn’t exist. But now word’s gotten out that it does. It’ll be the mother of all bad trips unless Marla can pull off the ultimate magical switcheroo . . . and somehow live to tell about it.

A Rush of Wings: Book One of The Maker’s Song by Adrian Phoenix
Set in the brooding New Orleans area long established as the best location for all things vampiric, Phoenix’s lively debut has it all: Rogue FBI agents, Bureau-ordered hits, mad-scientist experiments in psychopathology, vampires and fallen angels and a slicing-dicing serial killer. Smart, sexy FBI Special Agent Heather Wallace has been trying to catch the Cross-Country Killer for three years when the trail leads to New Orleans and Club Hell, where Dante Prejean performs with the Inferno, an industrial/goth rock band. Dante is a Cajun and a born vampire whose memories of his terrible past have been erased, leaving him vulnerable to the psychopathic killer, E, who knows all that Dante has forgotten. As E begins targeting Dante’s loved ones, Heather must swallow her skepticism and work with Dante’s vampiric friends and family to save him. Phoenix alternates romantic homages to gothdom and steamy blood-drinking threesomes with enough terse, fast-paced thriller scenes to satisfy even the most jaded fan.

See also: Best Vampire Books of 2008

New Vampire Books for March 2009

Dead and Gone – Sookie Stackhouse Book #9