seriously romantic: relentless by karen lynch

i know relentless published in 2013, but i've only just discovered the series and i need to tell you all about how good it is. if you like the shadowhunters series by cassandra clare then you'll definitely like this. there might not be angels, but there are all sorts of supernatural beings and sara grey is pretty badass even as she learns the supernatural world is even more complicated and dangerous than she thought. sara has known about the "real" world since she was a child and realized that she had the gift to heal animals. even though her healing abilities weren't able to save her father after he was killed by what she believes are vampires, she never stops sharing her gift of healing with those in need. while trying to find the truth about her father's death, sara has the misfortune of capturing the attention of a vampire. she also captures the attention of nikolas danshov, who turns out to be a mohiri warrior, part of a race of vampire hunters.

nikolas saves her from the vampire, but he realizes that there is something special about sara. he believes she is mohiri too. the scuffle with the vampire also reveals that some of sara's closest friends have been keeping their fair share of secrets too. all at once sara's world changes, and she struggles to stay true to herself and her friends. she wants to resist the pull of the mohiri, but it is an undeniable part of her. but sara is special in other ways too. and i'm not going to spoil how it is that she is special, but that twist turns out to be pretty cool.

this isn't just another supernatural romance, sara spends way more time with other characters than nikolas, who is obviously her romantic counterpart. and that's okay, but it can also be a little frustrating, because she doesn't let him and is often at cross-purposes with him, but he also isn't wrong to worry about her. she dismisses his care and attention as part of his job, but it's so obvious to everyone else that there is more to his feelings than that. and sometimes you wonder how it is possible that she is so dense about this, when she is so attuned to everything else.

i'm in the middle of refuge, which is the sequel. the nice thing about relentless is that it doesn't end on some crazy cliffhanger. but there is still obviously more to the story and i'm enjoying watching it unfold so far. also, relentless is currently for sale on amazon, it's free for your kindle. you can't lose by trying out the series at no cost to you!