Bad Blood by Ginny Lurcock

 

Bad Blood by Ginny Lurcock

High school senior Victoria “Tori” Reeve has it pretty good. She’s rich, she’s smart, and she’s popular. What more could a girl ask for? Sure, she’s a little lonely, what with being single and her best friend going off to college and all, but she’s got her work at the Spaulding Crisis Center to keep her busy. When she gets a new boss in the very easy on the eyes form of Isaac Larsen, suddenly her volunteer work feels a lot less like work. Even if he does seem to cause Tori to break out into spontaneous fits of foot in mouth disease. Somehow in spite of her blunderitis, Isaac still seems to be interested in her in a more-than-employer or even more-than-friends kind of way.

So really she should have known that things would go sideways.

Trouble comes to Spaulding, and that trouble seems to be centered on Tori and the Crisis Center. Is she really the focus? Or does this all have to do with the new mysterious man in her life? In her efforts to find out, Tori stumbles across some secrets. Skeletons that might have been better off left in the closet. As it turns out, Spaulding is a hot spot for bad blood…

Please Note
I have to admit I was a little apprehensive about reading Bad Blood. You see Ms. Lurcock is the co-owner and editor of http://puretextuality.com, a site that I officially blog for. So, uh, yeah, it was really going to suck (no-pun intended) if I ended up not liking the book. Also, it was a little unnerving that I needed to get a review out on this book before its release date- cuz, again, what if I didn't like it? I mean how awkward would that be.?. Granted Ginny and I live on opposite sides of the continent but still, we do email and collaborate over books and such.  
Anyway, after being sent the book  a few days before its official release I promptly downloaded and began to read. After 2 pages I was hooked! And here is my review :)

My Review
Wow, color me impressed Ms. Lurcock! With so many vampire novels circulating the literary world it’s really difficult to find one that’s unique and captivating. Fortunately, Bad Blood possessed those qualities. I was instantly captivated by the characters and the pacing was spot on. I never got bored or felt there a lull in the story. I was invested, interested and actually cared what happened to these characters.

Speaking of characters our main protagonist Tori is awesome! She is a snarky, witty and sort of a bad ass. However, under the layers of sass she has a kind heart. Right from the beginning of the novel you just want to heart her. Her re-occurring foot in mouth and quirky off-hand comments make this character totally endearing. Then we have the new boss Isaac who is all sorts of yummy with his mystery and old fashioned charm. Combine that with her hot BFF whom she is all conflicted about and you have yourself a  fabulous love triangle thing happening!

I have to say Ms. Lurcock really does know how to write suspense. There were moments in the book where I couldn’t read fast enough and the intensity of it all was fantastic. It’s really difficult to execute a well written action sequence and have the pacing just right through out the whole scene. But not for our author, she delivered the action scenes with the grace a knowledge of a seasoned writer.

The only criticism I have for Bad Blood is I would have loved to have gotten a little more “set-design” in the book. Meaning, I’d like to know a little more about the culture and topography of Spaulding. I felt like there was more to this town and it’s history that could have been flushed out. I think this would have really enriched the story for me a little more.

Oh, and I love the ending. It’s not a total cliff hanger but it does leave it wide open to all sorts of possibilities for the books that will follow in the series.

I give Bad Blood 4.5 stars. An excellent debut novel and a must read for fans of PnR!!!