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Tainted Blood is the follow-up to Melanie Lee Bonnefoux's first novel Blood and Mind. We are once again immersed in the world of our empathic heroine, Holly-Anne Feather.

Holly-Anne and her human boyfriend Ryan have decided to take a trip to Charlotte to visit Ryan's cousin Drew. As usual, strange creatures and events seem to look for Holly and anyone with her. Michele, the Vampire Holder of Charlotte and a male, embroils Holly in a dispute with the Elves of the Shamorah. This dispute threatens to destroy Charlotte and many people that Holly holds dear.

In Tainted Blood, Holly is forced to find a way to come to terms with her abilities and her status as the Companion of Lucien, Vampire Holder of Edwards. This is not easy for such an independent, feisty character as Holly. She finds herself drawn into the vampire world of Lucien and Michele and is not happy about it.

Tainted Blood introduces us to many interesting characters. Ryan's cousin Drew is an over-the-top neurotic metaphysical spiritualist. We meet various different elves; Pern, King Tashae, Queen Aisling, and Princess Saeling. Holly even picks up a bodyguard named Leigh who is a Nymph. Last, but not least, is the vampire Ted who befriends Holly.

Tainted Blood is interesting to read, but does have some problems. It is too bad this book was not picked up by a major publisher. What it is needs is to be very thoroughly edited by professionals. It is written in a first person narrative that works for the most part. Unfortunately, the narrative reads as Holly thinks. The result is many run on sentences and grammatical errors. The book contained a continuity error that made one section of the book frustrating to read. Tainted Blood is a vast improvement over Bonnefoux's first novel, Blood and Mind, but still needs more attention.

The story line and the characters are all very interesting and entertaining. Comparisons can be made to Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series and Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. This is a series and author to look out for. I am certain a major publisher will take notice in the near future.

Alisa discovered science fiction at the tender age of eight. She devoured The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and never looked back. She lives in Chicago with her husband, cat, and 5000 books. For more information please visit her website at alisaandmike.com.