A psychic vampire, Ashling could harvest the energy she needed to live through dreamwalking and by siphoning it off groups of people. Real vampires, the bloodsucking kind, only existed in books. She was human, just different. She had a boyfriend, good friends and a bartending job she loved. Life was good. Then she met Devlin in an Internet chat room.

All Ash wanted was to meet and talk face-to-face with the man who'd spent the last year becoming her friend. Never mind that she'd been secretly infatuated with him since he'd sent her his picture. What could possibly happen between them in a crowded café? The better question would have been...what could possibly happen to them. The last thing she had expected was a vampire hunter coming at them in a killing fury and Devlin slaughtering him in such a grisly way that Ash questioned what kind of vampire he really was. He was definitely more than the psychic vamp he claimed to be. But what?

Ash had no idea that meeting Devlin would pull her irrevocably into the world of sanguine vampires and the deadly obsessive hunters who stalked them. Finding out that Devlin wasn't the man he claimed to be and then meeting his sire Markus, who delivers his own surprises, Ash's heart was broken. Confused and with no desire to become a bloodsucking vamp, she finds herself alone in a new city, with a new name and a bank account that would choke a horse. Trying to convince herself that all she wanted now was a life free of vampires and hunters, she meets Herod and is dragged back into the vampiric world, where she doesn't know who to trust or who to fear. When familiar faces begin showing up and Sotiris, the evil hunter leader, finds her again, can she count on Markus' help? Will he even want to see her again?

Complete with hunters more blood-thirsty than the vamps and a traumatic twist that's emotional enough to wrench tears from a rock, Turning Ash is a great vampire story. Told entirely through Ashling's experiences, you find yourself completely caught up in her doubts and fears. She's strong enough to take care of herself, but smart enough to know when she's facing more than she can handle alone. Unfortunately, Markus left me a bit cold. There was very little sexual intensity about him, while Devlin comes across as one hot stud. It should have been the other way around.

Nevertheless, if you like a good vampire story and don't mind a little less than expected romance and sex, pick this book up today. You won't regret it. There's little drag in the action and enough dangling threads at the end for at least two sequels. I'd like to see Devlin redeem himself and something good come Herod's way. There are a lot of unanswered questions about who Markus really is and whether or not Ash will willingly take that final step into bona fide vampirism.

Reviewed by: Merrylee