When my oldest was born, I gave up reading for a bit because who has the time? Twilight is what brought me back to my old passion. Paranormal romance was pretty much all I read for years. When I reread Twilight before the last movie, I suddenly realized there were much better-written vampire books with much stronger heroines, but it still holds a special place in my heart.
Over time, I got vampire-d out and broadened my reading horizons. I didn’t realize how much I missed my vampires until I picked up Crave.
You can definitely feel the Twilight influence in this one, but it’s taken the serious issues with creepy, unhealthy relationship boundaries and a submissive heroine and fixed them. And it’s definitely not just a retelling of that book. It is its own thing, but it will fit well with that audience, or anyone you want to recommend it to today but think it might be outdated for.
Essentially, Grace moves up to a boarding school in Alaska where her uncle is the headmaster shortly after the sudden death of her parents. It turns out to be full of paranormal beasties, but Grace doesn’t know that. She just knows something is very weird and she keeps almost dying.
Crave has all of my favorite things: vampires, dragons, heroine who thinks she’s not anything special but definitely is even if we don’t know how but still manages to have decent self-esteem, flirty hot guy in the friendzone, no parental oversight, human sacrifice, sass, and So. Much. Steam.
Also, the hero is very, very flawed. I hesitate to even call him the hero. The male love interest? I love that. I love when the guy doesn’t come in and make everything right.
This one is definitely for fans of Marked, Twilight, and You Slay Me. Crave is due to publish April 7, 2020, and Tracy Wolff will be signing it at Katy Budget Books on April 9.
Disclosure: Links are Bookshop affiliate links. I was given an ARC of this title to review in my job as a bookseller.
3 Boys 3 Billion Books 