Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow

"Dru Anderson: Night Hunter. Knife Wielder. Heart Breaker.

Dru can sense evil, which helps when she and her Dad are tracking down ghosts, suckers, wulfen, and the occasional reanimated corpse. It's a dangerous life, but it's the only one she knows. Then Dru's dad turns up dead and she suddenly finds herself in the middle of a deadly game where every move she makes could be her last. Dru is more special than she realizes - and whatever killed her dad could be coming for her next. Can Dru stay alive long enough to fall for one - or both - of the guys hungry for her affections?"

Dru knows about the 'Real World' the one where the things that go bump in the night exist, she's been hunting those things along side her father for years. But now she's on her own in a new town with no one she can turn to and grieving the loss of her father, and trying to deal with the trauma of what happened with him. To her surprise, it's a human boy from her class, Graves, who comes to her aid giving her somewhere to stay and some much needed company. But Graves doesn't know about Dru's world and that's risky. For him and Dru.

While Graves is getting a crash course about the reality of the Real World, Dru is learning that it's far bigger than she imagined and that everything is not exactly what she's been told. The one enlightening her is Christophe, a (very cute) guy who isn't all human. And while he seems to want to help, there's a lot he's not saying. And whilst Dru is busy dealing with her grief, trying to keep Graves alive and deciding if Christophe can really be trusted, she learns that she's been targeted by a very nasty sucker (vampire) and she's going to need more than all the knowledge and skills her father taught her to stay alive.

This is the first YA book from Ms. St. Crow and I love it. It's dark and dangerous with great characters you can relate to. Dru is tough, but she's also very vulnerable, particularly after losing her father, and unlike so many heroines she does scream and run when she's attacked out of the blue. The way her relationship develops Graves is great reading. It's kind of slow, awkward and cute, and realistic. Both Graves and Christophe make excellent secondary characters, with their own history and issues to deal with.

The plot is pretty tight. There is a fair bit of world building in this first book which is necessary although a little slow at times, but despite that the plot moves along quickly with some great twists and turns. I was left wanting a lot more and seriously regretting being unable to buy more books until after Christmas! A fantastic book and I think the series is quickly going to be a favourite of mine. Dru is far from perfect, but she's easy to relate to and despite wanting to slap her a couple of times, I really, really like her. I'm looking forward to much more of her story! 9/10