As the only known half vampire/half human born to a vampire mother, Kristina Calder is more than a century old and until she meets the human Max, she never expected to fall in love. Kristina Calder's existence is somewhat unusual, due to the fact that her conception and birth should have been impossible. Her mother, Maeve was a vampire for more than 200 years, when she met and married Calder Holbrook, a brilliant scientist. Before he chose to become a vampire, they miraculously conceived Kristina. Although she has a few of her parent's supernatural abilities, including immortality and changing items from one form to another, she functions primarily as a human. She eats, drinks and sleeps normally, but even though she is well past the century mark, she looks no older than 30.
Click here to see the rest of this review...
She runs a successful antique store and has enough knowledge of magic to take care of herself Unfortunately, she rarely practices the craft, so her skills are often a bit rusty. One day, a man shops in her store, with the goal of finding the ugliest item possible as a gag gift for his sister. He is interested in a heinous door stop, but she cannot sell it to him. The door stop began its existence as a thief who wanted to rob her store and she turned him into the door stop as punishment. Unfortunately, because her skills have not been honed, he eventually resumes his human form and wants revenge.Soon, he is no longer a problem, as the result of both human and supernatural intervention.
Max loved his wife deeply and mourns her death, while raising their daughters and working as a coach for the local school. There is an immediate attraction between the two but neither pursue it very much at first. They keep running into one another. However, but there are many who believe they should not be together. That leads to trouble from vampires and angels alike. Even a family of vampires, whose daughters were turned as children and are therefore doomed to never grow up, make their presence known by interacting with Max's children. Valerian, Kristina's honorary uncle who is more than 700 years old, first advises against the relationship and eventually helps the two develop a relationship.
There are several key aspects of being a female human that Kristina, due to her unique status, has never experienced. For instance, although she was about 30 when she quit aging, and physically looks like any other woman her age, she has never experienced menstruation. When she does, she runs to her parents and after refusing to allow her mother to change her into a vampire, her father's blood tests establish that she is aging again. Despite their concerns, she is happy at the unexpected development.
As a human, she and Max become closer and admit that they are in love. They get married and as the novel ends, their baby is in the nursery and demonstrates a surprising magical ability.
Best part of story, including ending:
It was written on an aspect of supernatural lore that is not often considered. It was unique and therefore its characters were more fascinating than the cookie cutter vampires that are more commonly seen. It was also accurate on supernatural events without being offensive or gory.
Best scene in story:
When Kristina has her first cycle, she is in some pain and has no idea what she should do. She calls her friend,Daisy who is the wife of Valerian and cannot believe that most women experience the pain every months for most of their lives. It was hysterical watching her experience the same problem that many 12 year old girls handle each year.
Opinion about the main character:
I loved that Kristina had a complex relationship with her parents and that Valerian, who was mentioned in the other novels in this series was such a big part of her life. He seemed like an uncle with whom you could get in trouble with at any time, but would always be there to back you up if you got in over your head.