Amish 18-year-old Hannah mourns the loss of her beloved, Jacob, who died under mysterious circumstances two years earlier. Jacob's brother, Levi, in love with Hannah, watches over her as she visits Jacob's grave every night. In New Orleans, ex-cop Roc Girouard mourns the murder of his wife; when an Amish woman is murdered in a similar fashion, he heads to Pennsylvania to investigate.
With Roc's arrival, another stranger appears: Akiva. Hannah finds herself attracted to him, but even she doesn't recognize Akiva is actually Jacob--turned vampire. Now, she must choose not only between two brothers but between salvation and damnation.
Leanna Ellis, who won the National Readers Choice Award, handles the details of Amish faith well, but she never takes the genre too seriously, often making jokes about "other" vampire books. What sets this title apart from the current bandwagon of bloodsuckers is the Amish setting. It's interesting to see how the "plain people" live, what they think of the outside world and the doubts teenagers stumble over, regardless of creed.
Ellis creates characters with depth. Will Hannah's love for Jacob override her moral impasse; will she end up a vampire? The story keeps you enthralled from page one. There is always another mystery to be solved, another scripture to be quoted and, yes, a sequel to be written. --Sara Dobie, blogger at Wordpress