Blessed is the third book in Cynthia Leitich Smith's trilogy, beginning with Tantalized and Eternal. True to her word, the characters from books one and two cross over into what I believe is the best of the three. Although it mainly picks up where Tantalize left off with Quincie, towards the middle, Zachary and the rest of Miranda's staff join in and tie up any loose ends and questions the reader could have ever had. The ending was absolutely perfect, but I will not ruin it for you here. All I will say is that I could not have imagined any other way to end it so perfectly and so fairly to all readers hoping for a specific outcome. I found that during reading I kept trying to guess what would happen. When I thought I had the plot figured out, something new and unexpected would happen, adding more meat and depth to the story. So, in short, READ IT! If you didn't really enjoy the first or second, or thought something was missing from those stories, give this one a chance. It will be well worth your time, and you will be very glad you did. By far, one of the best books I have read so far this year! Well done!

I was first introduced to Cynthia Leitich Smith's writings this year through the anthology Geektastic. That anthology was so good I have tracked down and read books by most of the authors in it. Cynthia is one of my new favorites. This book ties together characters from two of her other stories from both Tantalize and Eternal and brings them together in a wonderful new story. I did not read these stories in order, and though the three books form a kind of trilogy, they are strong enough to be read by themselves. This story is one of my favorites of over 275 read so far this year.

Our cast of characters is a little overwhelming when looks at together:

Quincie Morris - A neophyte vampire, and heir of her family's restaurant Sanguini's .
Henry Johnson - AKA Bradley Sanguini, the vampire that turned Quincie and who seeks to obtain the powers of Dracula Prime.
Zachary - a guardian angel whose new assignment is Quincie, the first vampire to have a GA.
Kieren - Quincie's best friend and true love, also a werewolf hybrid who has left to join a pack.
Nora - former chef to the Vampire Prince, now head chef at Sanguini's, and ally of Zachary and Quincie.
Freddy - raised to be a servant of vampire royalty, now allied with Nora and Zachary.

And that is just a few of the characters in this story.

This book, and the whole trilogy was written in part as homage to Bram Stoker's Dracula, but also as a dialogue with him and the mythology he created in his story about Dracula Prime. The way she weaves her narrative in and out of these dual intentions is amazing. She has created a world and stories that are compelling and real, and yet she manages to humbly nod her hat to the original. The characters are believable and some endearing; the plot has many unique twists and turns that keeps the reader addicted and turning the pages. In a recent interview the author indicated there is a fourth and possibly fifth book to be written in this work, and they will be much anticipated after this amazing story.