Bite Club by Rachel Caine

I got seriously "sucked" into this series (couldn't help the pun). I have been patiently awaiting the arrival of this book from my library hold list, and have been trying to get my teenage vampire fix elsewhere. That attempt has been dissatisfying and I am so glad I finally got to read this book! There is so much character development in this series, added to a fantastic and complicated plot, and TONS of action and adventure! I just ate it right up.

A little bit of background for those of you that might be unfamiliar with the series:

Claire Danvers is an exceptionally intelligent teenager with a passion for science. She could attend college at M.I.T, but her parents don't think it's a good idea for her to go so far away at the ripe young age of 16. So instead they enroll her at TPU, Texas Prairie University, which is only a couple of hours from home. Upon her arrival at TPU, Claire knows this has been a bad match. Claire narrowly escapes a murder attempt by a gaggle of mean girls who throw her down a flight of stairs. Too afraid to continue living in the dorms, Claire sets out to find an alternative place to live: The Glass House. After much persuasion, Claire becomes a housemate and fast friend to Eve (Goth Girl), Michael (Ghost Boy), and Shane (seriously hot and angry boy). But things don't settle down for Claire. She manages to get herself mixed up with the town's vampires, leading her and her friends into all sorts of hairy trouble.

So, in this book (#10 in the series), Claire finds herself trying to save her boyfriend Shane from self-destruction. The town's Founder's evil father has escaped imprisonment and returned to seek revenge on his daughter and the town's humans. But first he needs an army and funding, and Shane sort of unwillingly becomes a participant in this mad scheme to destroy the town. The old man orchestrates a version of Fight Club that involves humans versus vampires, and streams the fights over the internet. Claire and her friends discover Shane's secret and set out to convince him to ditch it before the Founder finds out and orders him and all other participants killed.

All this before the book's halfway point.

I read this in less than 6 hours because I couldn't bear to put it down. This series has very little dull moments. Things are always moving at a break-neck pace and I find myself reading voraciously and flipping pages feverishly to discover what happens next. If you're looking for an entertaining series, this one's a shoo-in.

Ghost Town (The Morganville Vampires) by Rachel Caine

Well, I have finally finished reading all the books from this series that I can get my hands on. There is one more on hold at the library, and I think the author has another one coming out in November. I was really captivated by this series, especially the earlier books. I love Claire - she is brainy and attractive, has a devoted hunky boyfriend, has parents that love her immensely, and she is crucial to keeping Morganville running. Much of the time the cards are in her hands, even though her life is constantly being threatened. She has way too many close calls...

Caine has artfully created a world in which vampires and humans live together, but under forced and regulated (mostly) conditions. Humans are free to roam during the day, but once dusk arrives they shut themselves in for fear of the vampires who roam at night. Each human citizen pays taxes, but not in the form of money. Instead, each person must donate blood once a month at the blood bank, and that blood becomes meal replacements for the vampires. But there are always some less-than-cautious humans who allow themselves to be bitten, and it usually works out o.k., except when a vampire can't stop. Many people hate living in Morganville, but unfortunately can't leave due to the town's strict border control and mind-altering effects. Those that do leave never come back, except for Claire's boyfriend Shane and his father who seek to avenge relatives' deaths. What will happen when the system breaks down and Claire is commissioned to help fix it? And what if things go terribly wrong once the machine is up and running? Who will save the town from Myrnin's psychotic grasp?

Just when I thought she couldn't possibly come up with any more unique ideas to keep the series going, I was surprised! Each book presents a new, seemingly impossible problem that Claire somehow is needed to help with.

As a devoted Twilight fan, I highly recommend this series as a contender at least, but maybe better? It's just different, so hard to compare. A quick, entertaining read of adventure, action, risk, love, and survival.