Not as good as I was expecting from Kerr, more of a paranormal romance than urban fantasy. The basic premise is quite good, but somehow Kerr ends up assuming more than is warranted for how the characters are introduced.

Maya is a young art student with a problem - not just the usual of being desperately poor, but also that her strange anemia is actually caused by a vampire virus, and so she can only feel well when she's stolen some elan or chi energy from others. She's basically been well brought up even if her parents are now dead, and so she feels very guilty doing so and tries to avoid it as long as possible. She is practising her portrait skills at a town fair when a mysterious stranger offers her a job - she couldn't draw what her eyes saw of him and he was impressed at her ability to see through his illusions. It turns out he's a runemancer, from the Nordic tradition, but he's managed to pick up a form of lycanthropy, and turns into bear at the full moon. The job he offered was to live in his rich mansion, and each month lock him into a secure area so that he doesn't hurt anyone while transformed. Maya despite her heritage is somewhat disbelieving, but any chance to escape her current prospects and pay off some bills seems like a rsik worth taking.

Instead of working forward from this status of slightly naive practitioners still learning their talents, the moment there's trouble (family) all of sudden Tor can do and cast all sorts of things with or without preparation (why does only some working require extensive rituals?) and Maya goes immediately from being all concerned about spending Tor's money, to possessing all the normal things - hiking boots, meals out with friends, endless art supplies et al without any concern about how she acquired them. It's these little world-building contradictions and failures that through the reader out of the world. Kerr is normally better than this. I also wasn't convinced that the copous sex was really necessary or that Maya would just melt into his arms, even if she otherwise did manage to retain agency and voice.

Not one of her best, nor the best of urban fantasy either, without actually being bad. Apparently there's a sequel, but this covered as much as I was interested in, even though Maya's vampirism is barely explored. ( )