Crave

Crave
Melissa Darnell
420 pages
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Source: NetGalley
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Here's the thing: Savannah and Tristan were really good friends in fourth grade, but since then The Clann, a group of witches who pretty much rule the town, has kept them apart.  But then, years later, Savannah learns something interesting about herself: she's part-vampire, part-witch, which is why she and her family were kicked out of The Clann when she was born.  Plot twist!  Savannah and Tristan are drawn to each other and fall in love, but their love is obviously completely forbidden by everyone around them.

I was really drawn into this book.  It had that little something special that I can't describe that good books have.  But what I can put into words is this: the characters were great, from Savannah and Tristan right through to Savannah's father and her mother and grandmother.  They were all unique with different perspectives.  The plot was super: who doesn't love a little forbidden romance?  I thought the way Tristan found a way for them to spend time together away from the watchful eye of the vampire community was cute and romantic.

I really loved Savannah - her character was definitely realistic, aside from her supernatural abilities.  She was a high-school girl who just wanted to fit in, had some great friends who missed her when she started hanging out with her new boyfriend; she had extracurricular actives, the whole she-bang.  She was just a lovable, well-rounded character and I'm looking forward to see how she deals with her new life plot-twist in the next book in the series.

Now, I know every book gets compared to Twilight these days, but I really think if you loved the Twilight series, you're also going to love Craved.  Check it out!  Harlequin Teen has another hit on their hands.