Genre:
Fantasy Romance, Vampires, Young Adult
Length: 431 pages
Buy Link:
https://amzn.to/4psQG7NPublication Date:
October 1, 2025
Book Blurb:
Relationships bite!Jane Dela Cruz's life is anything but normal. By day, she's your average honor student, the girl next door who's dating the guy on the football team. By night, she hunts vampires with her family. She hates what she's been called to do, the gifts she inherited from her family bloodline. At the same time, she craves revenge and closure for past emotional scars.
Andy Santiago is the new kid in the swanky suburb of Sugar Land, Texas. Haunted by nightmares of red eyes and fangs, he hunts down vampires and attracts his share of trouble along the way. He keeps his life of vampire hunting a secret from his mother and finds himself in hot water when he finds out his new girlfriend is a fangirl for romantic vampires, which only exist in fiction.
When Jane's boyfriend and Andy's girlfriend get taken by the local vampire court and turned into vampires, they have to team up and figure out how to take down their exes. What they don't realize is that they will unravel a darker conspiracy that will change their lives forever.
Rating: Four out of Five Stars
“Strength in numbers. Watch
my back!”
The hunt is dangerous, but they’ll do it
together.
This story should be on your shelf if you enjoy
YA urban fantasy with a strong, capable female lead,
a
supportive found-family vibe, and a touch of romance and horror. It
is a page-turner with a fun premise: a vampire watch party that
becomes a real hunt in
a college town with a secret vampire scene.
Jane
is by no means a Mary Sue. She is a practical, competent, but
flawed heroine with quirky allies (Susi, Mrs. Dela Cruz). She screws
up, learns from her mistakes, and her actions have real
consequences.
Fans of action sequences must not miss the
fight scenes in chapters 2 and 4 and during the reveal in
the
bookstore (Ch. 5).The story has plenty of amusing
moments. I laughed at lines like “You should be more worried about
your game. That guy you just hit on is gone.”
The
relationships are balanced. Jane and her mom are a solid team. Andy
and Susi’s relationship is based on collaborative dynamics rather
than toxic romance. Andy and Susi are good foils: Andy is
earnest, awkwardly brave, and Susi is sharp and competent. Mrs.
Dela Cruz is a delight as the competent parent/mentor. Gabby is sweet
and energetic and Lenore adds her own special charm. The
Vocati/fairy elements and the mom-as-sidekick subplot work
nicely too.
The character voices are mostly
distinct, though Andy and Jane’s banter can blur at times. Overall
the
stakes feel personal and immediate.
The central
conflict is clear: a hunt to find and neutralize the Lieutenant. The
plot progression is logical
and gives a sense of escalation. The
family/dojo/fairy twist layers keep things
interesting.
Worldbuilding is a strong point: Vocati
heritage, fairies with real power, and family-run vampire
hunting. Settings are vivid: the watch party, the dojo, and
the bookstore cafe all
feel realistic.
The story smoothly blends snarky YA humor
with tense action and a dash of horror. Some scenes
incorporate
both sit-com coziness and brutal monster fights. The overarching tone
for YA urban fantasy is on target. Some transitions (end of
watch party to outside fight) jump fast. Slowing them down a
little could provide clarity as
to who moves where and
does what.
Favorite moments:
Jane's mom showing
up with escrima sticks.
The dojo introduction and the
kamiza shrine moment provides great atmosphere.
The reveal
that there are other hunters (Susi & family) broadened the world
in a satisfying way.
Connor’s jealousy occasionally read
as possessive rather than protective or simply insecure. This
risks
sliding into toxic relationship
dynamics.
The
story’s conclusion is satisfying,
although I did have a few lingering questions.
What
are the limits of daylight/indoor vampire activity?
What
is the Lieutenant’s background?
Why target in
daylight areas (theater, mall)?
In the end, I had a
really good time and want to see where the Lieutenant subplot
leads.
Teenage me would have been absolutely obsessed with
this story.
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