Bookanistas: Buzzing About BLESSED

Happy Bookanista Thursday! It's been a couple of weeks since I've done one of these, and it's entirely possible that you might have contracted amnesia during that time (or you're new here, in which case, HI! I THINK YOU'RE NICE!). So for those of you who might need a quick update on this whole Bookanista thing, here goes. We're a group of authors who post about books we love every Thursday. Sometimes we give things away. Often, we fling sparkles at each other.

Simple, eh?

So my feature for today is a book I devoured on the plane back from Hawaii despite the fact that I was oh so freaking tired--BLESSED by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Here's the blurbity-blurb blurb:

Quincie P. Morris, teen restaurateuse and neophyte vampire, is in the fight of her life -- or undeath. Even as she adjusts to her new appetites, she must clear her best friend and true love, the hybrid werewolf Kieren, of murder charges; thwart the apocalyptic ambitions of Bradley Sanguini, the seductive vampire-chef who "blessed" her; and keep her dead parents’ restaurant up and running. She hires a more homespun chef and adds the preternaturally beautiful Zachary to her wait staff. But with hundreds of new vampires on the rise and Bradley off assuming the powers of Dracula Prime, Zachary soon reveals his true nature -- and a flaming sword -- and they hit the road to staunch the bloodshed before it’s too late. Even if they save the world, will there be time left to salvage Quincie’s soul?

In a word: frawesome.

Five things I loved about it:

1. This is one of those sequels where it definitely helps to have read the first two books (TANTALIZE and ETERNAL), but it isn't absolutely necessary. It picks up where TANTALIZE left off, but the threads are explained so well that I'd classify it as a good BOOK instead of a good SEQUEL. I'd argue that those are two different things.
   
2. All the Dracula references! I've seen a lot of attempts to modernize Dracula, and for me, this is one of the few that worked. I wish I was a teacher, so I could teach this with Dracula. While we're wishing for things, I'd really like a glow-in-the-dark werewolf too, because how cool is THAT.
   
3. The instrument of destruction in this book is chilled baby squirrels. I laughed every time that came up, because talk about unexpected! How many other books do you know of where the bad guy says, "I will take over the world! WITH CHILLED BABY SQUIRRELS!!!!!" I rest my case.
   
4. I've heard some people complain that there isn't as much romance in this book as there is in the others, and if you're looking for a lot of swooning, I agree that it's better to pick something else up. But I liked that we got a chance to see Quincie in action while her studly werewolf (but not glow-in-the-dark) boyfriend was elsewhere. I'd classify this as a lot of action with a little romance, and that balance was perfect for me.
   
5. I would like to work at Sanguinis. I know the vampire-restaurant-really-run-by-a-vampire has been done before, but this was campy and over the top and just plain fun. Seriously, I'd work there. The menus made me salivate, but then again, I'm one of those adventurous eater types.

Have you read this one? I'd love to hear what you thought!

And if you're looking for more great books to read, check out the other Bookanistas!

• Elana Johnson shines a light on Clarity
  
• LiLa Roecker raves over The Rendering
  
• Shannon Messenger loves 13 Reasons Why - with a signed book giveaway!
  
• Shelli Johannes Wells enjoys the view of Sean Griswold's Head
  
• Scott Tracey is amazed by The Iron Thorn
  
• Kirsten Hubbard raves over these March releases
  
• Michelle Hodkin introduces some marvelous March books
  
• Myra McEntire invites Kim Harrington into the fort
  
• Beth Revis is mad for Matched
  
• Carolina Valdez Miller delights in Delirium
  
• Jessica Kirby adores Across the Universe
  
• Megan Miranda peers into Sean Griswold's Head
  
• Bethany Wiggins marvels at Matched
  
• Shana Silver is a super stop on The Liar Society blog tour
  
• Gretchen McNeil celebrates The Liar Society
  
• Rosemary Clement-Moore falls for Falling Under
  
• Katie Anderson shows cover love for Possess
  
• Matt Blackstone is ecstatic over Edges
  
• Stasia Ward Kehoe is wild for What Happened to Goodbye