Thursday, May 20, 2010

Tainted: Blood Lily Chronicles Book 1 by Julie Kenner

Tainted  by Julie Kenner  --  --Product Description from Amazon:

Lily Carlyle has lied, cheated, and stolen her way through life.
But in death, she'll really get to be bad...
When her little sister is brutalized, a vengeful Lily determines to exact her own justice. She succeeds at the cost of her own life, but as she lies dying, she is given a second chance. Lily can earn her way into Paradise by becoming an assassin for the forces of good.  It's the job Lily believes she can really get into-but she doesn't realize that she may not be able to get out.

First - before I tell you my thoughts about the story: 
I have to admit that I have started choosing my reads a bit differently than in the past - challenges, it's suddenly all about the challenges.  I have commited to so many challenges, thinking that it wouldn't be that hard because I truly love to read - but find I haven't enough time to read everything, so I now choose by challenges.  So on that note, I am currently working my way through the Read Your Name Challenge which you can find here and read Tainted because it was one of the T's for my challenge.  WOW am I glad that I needed a T! 

So - - The story begins with this line, "Can I just say that dying sucks?" 
     I was already hooked on the first page.  This story is filled with action, demons, the fight against good and evil, the ordeal of deciding who and what is good and/or evil, and one girl's struggle to save the world.  I love strong and independent women battling for the good of mankind, so this story is right up my alley.  I have always been a take-charge kind of person and I found it easy to connect with Lily/Alice.  Deacon being the incredible man that the author portrays him to be would make any woman with a pulse short of breath. 
     All-in-all this was a great story!  No spoiler, but it's a cliffhanger!  I read it on the Kindle and went to Amazon and ordered all three of these books in paperback before I started this review.  (Luckily, all three are on the Kindle too - so I am planning to veer off the challenge path to finish this series right away, thank goodness for the Kindle or I would be in the car instead of on my computer because I have to know what happens next!