The Life and Death of Lily Drake!

Kudos go out to my friend, Hope, who told me about this book I just finished reading:  The Life and Death of Lily Drake by T. Michelle Nelson.  It was honestly a fun read!

Lily is a down-to-earth character that a reader can really relate to.  As a mother myself, I connected with her "mom on the go" exhaustion, especially with an older child.  How she found the strength to juggle parenting, dating a vampire, being a vampire killer, all while holding down a full-time job...wow, is all I can say.  Many of the vampire characters introduced are colorful, and a never-ending source of entertainment.  Mathias and Val, I had an alternating love/hate relationship with.  At one point, I even told them both to quit being a butthead, as if yelling at my Kindle Fire accomplished anything.

Now...as a (temporarily displaced) Mt. Vernon resident, I'll admit to having some reservations.  A vampire story in Mt. Vernon?  Is Mt. Vernon capable of living up to all that?  It's a pretty small town, and I suppose being there for the last couple decades had left me jaded to its small town charm.  Reading about my hometown from a different perspective opened my eyes to just what the area has to offer! It's also funny that the school Lily mentions in the beginning-- I went there for elementary school.  Coincidentally, we all used to sit on the playground and look at that mansion (yes, the mansion exists!) and scare everyone else by saying it was either haunted...or full of vampires!  It's a very, very fitting residence for Mathias and Val!

Speaking of vampires, it's refreshing to read a book about vampires that doesn't either fall into old and tired stereotypes of coffins, or the new age stretch of sparkling in the daylight.  They're regular people, working regular jobs-- who knew? 


The plot moves very quickly, I don't think there was ever a lull in the storyline from beginning to end.  I'm looking forward to the second book in the series now, I can't wait to see what's next!  I would definitely recommend snagging this book!


Here is the link for the book at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Death-Lily-Drake-ebook/dp/B009LX8P3Q/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1363994856&sr=1-1&keywords=t.+michelle+nelson