Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee

"Dhampir" is a vampire novel, the first in a series, and I'm slowly working through the rest! The word "dhampir" designates the child of a vampire and a mortal. Apparently the vampires are able to sire children for a short while after their change. At the beginning of the book Magiere has no idea that she's a dhampir, or that such beings even exist. She doesn't even really believe in vampires, although she and her companion pretend to be vampire slayers to prey on the superstitious villagers through out the land.

Then Magiere crosses paths with her first real vampire, and her world begins to shift. She had been planning on settling down, giving up the vampire hunting scam, and she decides that it's time. Her partner, Leesil, reluctantly goes along with her and they settle down in a small fishing town to run a bar. Magiere try's to forget her strange encounter with a vampire, and that she killed it, but they soon get caught up in the struggle to survive as they realize that there is a nest of vampires in their little village. A nest of vampires that believes she is a real vampire hunter and immediately try's to kill her.

While I've read quite a bit in the fantasy genre, I've never read very many vampire books before. I'll admit it, I do get squeamish! I've been fascinated by them, but I prefer to read the books that aren't absolutely saturated in blood. I really enjoyed this book because, while it does feature vampires in all their blood thirstiness, there is a lot more to the story than merely killing. Magiere and Leesil are both complex characters that struggle and grow through out the story. I've started reading the next book in the series and I'm really curious to see where the author is going to take them as people as they grow and change through the books.