Review: Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace

Title: Descended by Blood (Vampire Born #1)
Author: Angeline Kace
Publish Date: August 26, 2011 by Accendo Press
Pages: 131 pages, e-book
Reviewed by: Isalys
Reason for Reading: E-book provided by author for review purposes

Brooke Keller is a high school junior who has never spent much time living in one place. She is finally in a town long enough to almost snag the boy of her dreams, until her life is threatened after killing a fanged man in his attempt to kidnap her. Brooke begins a dangerous journey in an effort to find out who is after her and how to stop them. In a world with powerful and prejudiced vampires, Brooke must tap into the side of her that she never knew existed at the risk of losing her life in order to save it.

Brooke hasn't exactly had a very stable life since her mom had a thing for packing up and moving on a whim. It's not until they move to Buena Vista that she finally feels settled. She now has a best friend, Kaitlynn and a crush turn boyfriend, Jaren to make her feel like a happy, normal teenage girl. Sadly, that normalcy comes to a screeching halt when they have an encounter of the fangy kind. When she tells her mom about what's happened, she realizes that mom has some pretty big secrets of her own and those secrets explain why they've had to move around so much.

Brooke is thrown head first into a world of both good and bad vampires when she learns that not only is she half-vampire herself, but she's being hunted because she's an integral part of a very nasty plot involving her lineage. In this new world, she meets kind and nurturing Lijepa who teaches her about power and dangerous, sexy, badass, flirtatious, sexy Mirko who teaches her about strength and self-defense.

This story isn't just about a love triangle, although frankly it's a no brainer since Jaren couldn't seem to accept this new side of Brooke and Mirko helped her to embrace it. This is really a story of acceptance, growth, and good versus evil.

I loved all the characters that Angeline created. Brooke is so endearing and I loved watching her mature and learn to accept this new part of her. Kaitlynn was what every best friend should be: funny and loyal to a fault and Mirko, oh Mirko! I don't think there was a single thing about him that I didn't love! He was so self-assured, strong, and protective but he was also sweet and even a bit vulnerable when it came to Brooke. Brooke's reluctance to move on after Jaren dumped her was understandable since he was really her first love, but it is NO CONTEST when there are lines like these:

"He pulled away from me and cupped my head, stroking my outer ear lobe with his thumb. "Please choose me," he pleaded."
OR
"I'm not going to push you, but I won't back down. You wanna make out, we'll make out. If you allow me to hold you, I'm going to hold you. And don't think I'll hide my feelings for you in front of Jaren."
~Mirko

Yes, Mirko...I choose you! Huh, what? Oh yeah, back to my review...

I was a bit nervous going into this book because after reading what feels like a shit-ton of vampire books, I didn't want to get bored...but I am so glad that Angeline has managed to create a riveting story that is entirely her own! Descended by Blood is chock full 'o action, suspense, comedy and romance. There are some loose ends that need to be tied up but after the "say what?!" moment at the end, you better believe I'll be bugging Angeline for book two, Enemy Within.

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