The Undead Heart (#1 in The Blood Thirst Series)
I love this book! From the first page eluding to mysterious "The Man", I could not stop reading it, I was hooked.
This book takes you on a fantastic journey through a woman"s life, making the paranormal and impossible seem like normal everyday life. From time travel, living with a different kind of vampire, and introducing new ideas and "people", this book opens up a new world. A world that feels like our own, including meeting Jack the Ripper (scary). I felt like I was really living her life with her. This book has something for everyone; action, romance, thrills, scares.
The emotional roller coaster is so worth the ride!! I want more.

( )

A semi-outcast high school girl, Beck, falls in love with a vampire, Richard, from the past (sound familiar?). She is convinced to go back in time (under the guise of determining Jack The Ripper's identity) to prevent two-thirds of Richard's clan from being destroyed (why he can't go himself is never made quite clear), as well as prevent her own murder (because her enduring romance with Richard is so special that it would be the end of the world if they were not allowed to remain together to eternity).

A [Twilight] spinoff, down to the ridiculously unrealistic romance. What made the Twilight series interesting was its originality of an old theme. Yet, this story pales in comparison, and often copies the whole Twilight plot. The character buildup was weak and the plot so transparent to be obvious by the fourth chapter. There are huge leaps of faith that the author requires from the reader. For example, this tale occurs roughly in current day America but as far as I am aware, time travel hasn't yet been invented in 2010. Yet the heroine accepts it implicitly, without question or trepidation.

There are story holes and hypocrisy as well. The heroine muddies up her own personal history and returns to current day to find all the "old" experiences she had just never happened. Implausibly, she doesn't have any concern about this. Yet while in the 1800's she is worried sick about altering "greater" history so much that she doesn't prevent multiple well-known murders that took place.

There is angst but no character development, arguments but no real change. Like Bella in Twilight, Beck ends up getting all that she wants and acts like a child to get it.

I also personally dislike story lines that assume they are so wonderfully engaging that they will have sequels before the first book is out. This book intentionally provides a sequel ending, even adding an ellipsis for flourish.

I read this on Kindle to PC. Unfortunately, it was riddled with editing mistakes ("bazaar" when "bizarre" was the correct word, "he's" instead of "he'd") and cut-off sentences that reappeared later down the page. This was my first experience with Kindle to PC so I'm not sure if the poor quality was truly in the technology or the book itself. ( )