**Review** Descended by Blood by Angeline Kace

Release Date:  August 22, 2011
Published By:  Accendo Press
Length: 252 pages
Review Copy: Kindle, purchased

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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.

  Firstly I have no clue why I did not read this sooner.  Second I will admit to the oddest thing pulled me right in... A crooked pinky finger.  The odd thing about this is the fact that my daughter happens to have this little "defect" and I really wanted to see where it was going.  Turned out it was not going where I has expected but the nifty little fact made sense and made me worry about the changes my child could be facing.  All funny business aside, I liked the twist and the options that were throughout.  The little things that were placed throughout to keep a steady pace and insure that things remained interesting, were spectacularly done.

  Brooke is just a normal girl, minus the fact that she has to constantly worry where her mother will move her.  However, this move has been different and they have stayed in one place long enough for her to have a best friend and now a boyfriend, but it's when things are at their best that they can turn to the worst.  Before she can even really enjoy everything being as perfect as she had hoped it could be, it turns out that she stayed in one place for too long and now they have found her.  I found that this part of the book, the "pre-contact" was set in place to give Brooke some normal before her like hit the fan.  After the quick false sense of happiness everything just blew up and became a non stop race for not only her life but also that of the ones she loves.  Not to mention she has to figure out exactly what it is her heart wants out of all of this and save humanity while she is at it.  No pressure... Ya know?

  As far as kick butt characters, I was not sure at first if poor Brooke had it in her.  Not the she was a wimp but she was most defiantly passive and avoided confrontation at all costs.  Well, at least she did before she found out exactly what she was, or most specifically that life was not always as it seemed.  Apparently when your life is in danger and same with those that are around you, you tend to step up your game.  When she finally trained and let what she was being told/taught sink in, she developed at an amazing rate, exceeding what even I thought she would be capable of.  My only peeve with her was her indecision with guys.  I felt that she was stronger, better than that and I honestly just wanted her to make the call and decide.  I understand to a point being torn but you are better than that.

  You get to the boys and that is where everything goes kind of blurred.  Jaren is the boy that Brooke fell in love with after moving to town and has waited for.  This guy is sweet and basically everything that she needed but his problem is, his freak out.  When he is there to witness and then find out what exactly is going on with Brooke, he flakes, he breaks her heart.  I wanted to smack him in the back of his head and tell him to smarten up.  However, Mirko pushed this process along himself.  It's hard to deny you have feelings about someone no matter what is in their blood, when another guy starts playing for her.  Not Brooke is not a new shiny toy but the way these boys wanted her, you would think that she was.  Who was I pulling for?  I would have to say Jaren but my attraction pulled towards Mirko and his all around hotness.

  I am so glad that Enemy Within is out because this book had one of those endings that left you needing more.  Also Kace's writing was great and I look forward to sinking my teeth into more work by her.  Yes, there is a love triangle in this book but you know what it was easy to understand why it happened, this did not frustrate me any less at times but it made it a little easier to swallow at times.  I also think the majority of people are not going to hate this one because of the guys and the rotating circumstances.  If you are ready for a great read that's fast, Descended by Blood is something you should consider picking up.

   I wanted to defend her, but I didn't have the guts.  I could stand against a wild mountain lion, but I folded when it came to teenagers.  What did that say about me?  Or better yet, about my peers?

I put my hands up to my face because there was no way I could hold back the tears.  The hardest part was that I felt like I loved him, too, and he had just tarnished it.

If he thought he could shun me because my blood contained only half of what hers did and then get all excited like a dog in heat when she came around, he had another thing coming.

He joined streching with me.  "There's always a crisis going on, Slatki.  You'd do well to start enjoying the small things when they're given to you."

She was right.  Things were going to change for me whether I wanted them to or not, like fall giving way to winter.  And apparently, I was going to have a major roll in this change.  I could sit back and let others decide what role I would take, or I could carve it out for myself.