Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Total: Three stars (One of the best)

Okay. I know. Another vampire book. What can I say? I'm addicted. Even though you're probably still half-deaf from the screaming, flailing fangirls at whatever screening of Twilight you went to, you can probably still read, so here's another Vampire Book Review.

(Summary from back of the book)

Quincie Morris has never felt more alone. Her parents are dead, and her hybrid-werewolf first love is threatening to embark on a rite of passage that will separate them forever.

Then, as she and her uncle are about to unveil their hot vampire-themed restaurant, a brutal murder leaves them scrambling for a chef. Can Quincie transform their new hire into a culinary Dark Lord before opening night? Can he wow the crowd in his fake fangs, cheap cape, and red contact lenses — or is there more to this earnest face than meets the eye? As human and preternatural forces clash, a deadly love triangle forms, and the line between predator and prey begins to blur. Who’s playing whom? And how long can Quincie play along before she loses everything?

I'm going to start this review off a little differently. With a story. That pretty much sums up what I thought about Smith's debut.

"One day, Gabbi, a jovial teen reviewer, was ambling through the hallways. A pretty little book called Tantalize atop her toppling-over piles of notebooks, binders, and a pencil case. She was on her way to her next class of the day.

"'Hey, is that Twilight* you're reading?' asked one of her classmates innocently.

"'No!' She flipped around the cover of the book properly so her peer could see it.

"Said peer narrowed her eyes. 'That looks a lot like Twilight, doesn't it?' she asked a friend, walking beside her. That friend nodded.

"'Well, it's not!' Gabbi exclaimed. She drew her finger along the title.

"'Tantalize," the classmate pronounced. To her friend, she added, 'Even the title is like Twilight.'

"'So, what's it about?' the girl's friend wanted to know. Gabbi passed the book over to her, mumbling something about 'werewolves' and 'vampires' under her breath.

"Both girls snickered over the book. 'It's about vampires! And werewolves!'"

The End.

To clear things up: I thought this book was pretty good, but it was kind of like a more sensual version of Stephenie Meyer's novel. Vampires, werewolves, confusing lore. A beautiful girl who caught caught in it all. One of her main struggles, is, in fact, deciding between the vampires and the werewolves.

There's a little murder mystery thrown in, but the murderer was obvious to me, even from the very start.

Pick it up if you're not sick of Bella, Edward, and Jacob.

*I'm sure you're aware of The Epic Twilight Movie that came out on Friday. During the week before, everyone - particularly the girls who don't read much - were engrossed in the love story of Bella and Edward. I can't count the amount of times I overhead, "When you can live forever, what do you live for?" said in an ominous voice.