Overbite by Meg Cabot

". . .delivers a perfect blend of darkness and light!"

Meena Harper is stuck in a very odd world. It used to be semi-normal; being an out-of-work soap opera scriptwriter with a Pomeranian named Jack Bauer who likes to save the world in a day, and the ability to never be able to find that perfect boyfriend. The slightly strange things about Meena include her “gift” – which is her ability to see the future. Which, of course, is why she finds herself in such a strange predicament; sitting beside her ex-boyfriend and trying to find a way to tell him that she has “seen” his death.

This drunken man has already gone through a brain tumor, which Meena helped him with because he’d been married and become a father. But now, there is something much deeper and darker in his path. In fact, when his fangs come out and he goes for Meena’s neck, she soon finds out that her vision was definitely true – except for the fact that her ex is now a vampire and already quite dead.

Knowing that she’s about to die, Meena is furious with herself. After all, she works for the Palatine Guard – a secret demon-hunting unit of the Vatican. You would think she’d be more prepared for an incident such as this. Suddenly, when the door is ripped off and her killer is pulled from the car – only to smash down on the hood minutes later with a broken neck – Meena’s night becomes even worse.

Her savior is Lucien Antonescu – another one of Meena’s ex-boyfriends – who absolutely stole her heart and then broke it. She can’t believe that Lucien has shown up once again, and her heart is going into overdrive. Meena knows that there is good in Lucien and has worked desperately to try to teach him that, even though he’s the son of Dracula and a vampire, that doesn’t mean he has to be evil. In fact, Meena believes that Lucien can change; just because he’s undead doesn’t mean he can’t be one of the “good guys.”

But going up against major demon hunter, Alaric Wulf, who also works for the Palatine Guard, is impossible. Meena has tried and tried to tell Alaric that vampires can be redeemed, and this time it’s no different. Alaric wants nothing more than to kill Lucien and wipe his vampire carcass – and those of his gang, Dracul – from the face of the earth. Add to all this a dark one by the name of Father Henrique who is being transferred to America on a mission all his own; as well as a special “book/diary” that was left behind by a woman who wore an actual halo, and the book goes from zero to sixty in ten seconds.

Meg Cabot has always done a spectacular job when it comes to her books and beloved series that she has “gifted” to the world over time. Overbite is Book II in a two book series that began with Insatiable. Although this is a much smaller book than the first, and will perhaps leave true fans a bit upset at the end, Meg’s characters are still dark, handsome, chilling, and funny all at the same time. The mystery is extremely interesting, with some of it being based on actual historic facts such as the Minetta Stream (A.K.A. The Devil’s Water) that is a part of Lower New York City.

Yes, there are many – MANY – vampire books out there, but Meg Cabot is one who delivers a perfect blend of darkness and light!

Reviewer: Amy E. Lignor