Tami

It had a great protag, well-rounded and interesting characters all around, a solid plot and very good writing. I would assume that quality-wise it comes close or even matches the "Kate Daniels" series or "Mercy Thompson" series. There are other reasons why I didn't like it as much.

Amber is really an asset, no question. But those mentioned two series are so captivating because the heroine has a great counterpart in their respective Alpha guy.

Amber meets a hunky wolf as well - but it dissolves in insta-attraction and not much else. He is described as hunky, but that's it. 

Unfortunately also minor pet peeve for me: The Rachel-Ivy-Memorial-Lesbian-attraction. I don't like this. At all. I felt that Jen would be a candidate for the lost sister/BFF area. But why drag sexual tension into this??? It's clear already that nothing will come out of it, as the hunky shifter guy is already in place. I disliked that in the Rachel-Morgan-Series, and I don't like it here.

There is another Lesbian couple in the story, but why make the supposedly straight protag bi-curious? The story and the many characters were complex enough - no need to include another brewing conflict here! 

What was less than original: The vampire part. This was absolutely run of the mill. The blood drinking, the connection between sex and blood. The houses, the master vampire, the way vampires are made. All not new. Used over and over in a lot of books in this genre. To say "It's not a virus, it's a prion" doesn't help at all. 

So this was not a fantastic read for me, but I liked Amber and will definitely continue with the series, because it does have strong plots and is very well written.