Blood Law by Jeannie Holmes

Synopsis: 

A provocative and savvy vampire, Alexandra Sabian moves to the sleepy hamlet of Jefferson, Mississippi--population 6,000, nearly half vampires--to escape the demons lurking in her past. As an enforcer for the Federal Bureau of Preternatural Investigations (FBPI). Alex must maintain the uneasy peace between her kind and humans, including Jefferson's bigoted sheriff, who'd be happy to see all vampires banished from town. Then really dead vamps start turning up--beheaded, crucified, and defanged, the same gruesome manner in which Alex's father was murdered decades ago. For Alex, the professional has become way to personal. 

Things get even more complicated when the FBPI sends in some unnervingly sexy backup: Alex's onetime mentor, lover, and fiance, Varik Baudelaire. Still stinging from the betrayal that ended their short-lived engagement. Alex is determined not to give in to the temptation that soon threatens to short-circuit her investigation. But as the vamp body count grows and the public panic level rises, Varik may be Alex's only hope to stop a relentless killer who's got his own score to settle and his own bloody past to put right. 

Review:

First and foremost, I really enjoyed the book. I thought that it was kind of a great mix of bring procedural, cop type events, into a paranormal setting. I know a lot of UF books do the kind of PI thing, or the main character works for some kind of paranormal government agencies patrolling fellow paranormals, but this book just worked for me, and it didn't feel like it was copying anything else. 

First off, I loved the characters. I loved all of them. I liked the good guys, I liked the bad guys, and I liked the people who fell somewhere in between. I really liked the fact that the author uses more than one POV and did so convincingly. I have a lot of respect for an author who can put themselves into the POV of so many different people all while being convincing as all those people. When I read the bad guy POV I really felt like I was getting into the mind of real deal, it was so convincing. And when we switched back into a different point of view I was just as convinced. 

I think another element that enjoyed about the book was the bigoted aspect, there was a huge line between the vampires and what can only be described as humans in a hate group. It's hard to read about hateful people sometimes, it can be such an intense and sometimes uncomfortable things to experience, even through a book. But I think the author did a good job balancing the hate aspects of it with other character driven events, romance, suspense, etc. 

Speaking of romance, I loved Alex and Varik. They have a lot of history, a lot of history. And it's hard to really tell you guys anything about the two of them without giving anything away. As the book progresses you get more and more information about the two of them, and you get to see them interact with each other, and it's such a good reader experience watching the two of them evolve throughout. So I won't ruin anything for anyone, except to say that I really enjoyed reading them. 

Overall, I highly recommend this book. I am looking forward to reading the second book in the series, which is already out. I wish there was going to be a third book, but it seems like that isn't going to happen through the traditional publisher, so I can only encourage Jeannie to self-publish the third book on her own, because I would love to read it. I think anyone who enjoys UF should read this book as soon as possible.