Love & War by Jennifer Malone Wright

Today, I finished Love & War by Jennifer Malone Wright. Love & War is the first book in the Arcadia Falls Chronicles begins a bit after The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter leaves off.

Chloe, Luke, Drew, Alice, and Oscar had been visited by Sostrate near the end of The Vampire Hunter’s Daughter, and she warned them of an oncoming war between the hunters and the vampires. Chloe is itching to prepare, while the council doesn’t even believe Sostrate ever came. She tries to convince Drew and the others that they need to strike now, before the vampires seek them out, but they’re all a bit hesitant to initiate the war.

They soon find that a mysterious man has been helping victims of vampire attacks, and go in search of him. Who is this guy and where did he come from?

I loved that we got a slightly bigger picture of who Alice and Oscar are as characters. I love watching Alice slowly heal from her life with Trevor and learn a bit about who she is and what she can do. I really can’t wait to see how much she accomplishes in the future.

Naturally there’s still a bit of a love triangle, and I’m curious to see how that works out, as well. Drew is Chloe’s current boyfriend, but Gavin still just hasn’t given up. However, Gavin left to go work on some mysterious assignment. I’m curious to know where he went and what that means for Chloe’s confusion about him. I could see it working out either way.

One of the things the author does really well is personalities. Especially Chloe’s. Sure, Chloe has all these new powers and can do all these awesome things. However, the author never lets us forget that she is still just a teenager. She has typical teenage thoughts. She has typical teenage wishes. She has typical teenage impulses.