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Book Review of Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane, Bk 1)

Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane, Bk 1)
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Sabina Kane is an assassin for the Dominae, a powerful vampire leadership council led by her grandmother. Sabina has an inferiority complex however, because she is the product of a forbidden relationship between her vampire mother and a mage father, and consequently is never quite good enough in her grandmother's eyes. When Sabina is sent undercover to infiltrate a group of supernatural beings who are attempting to unite and upsurp the authority of the Dominae, she finds that her blind loyalties to the Dominae may have been misplaced.

Red-Headed Stepchild is an impressive debut by author Jaye Wells, and the first in what promises to be an original and engaging urban fantasy series. Books filled with vampires are a dime a dozen these days, but Wells creates a world full of her own little twists (e.g. the significance of hair color and the possibility that apple cider could be used as a weapon). The story line is full of surprising revelations, and Wells finds a good balance between action, romance and humor. The next book is not scheduled for release until January of 2010 and I cannot wait.