Ashes (Book 2 The Kindred Series) by Erica Stevens

Having bought the other four books in the series as soon as I finished book one, I was anxious to dig into this one. Ashes picked up where Kindred left off, with Devon rushing Cassie to the hospital. The intensity was ramped up right from the beginning and didn't disappoint. In his stress for her to survive, Devon healed the worst of Cassie's injuries before they got to the emergency room. Now faced with questions from doctors that shouldn't be answered, he has to use powers he'd rather not on unsuspecting humans.

When the rest of her friends arrive, knowledge of what they all are hits each one of them differently. Chris immediately attacks Devon; Luther keeps his opinion to himself while Melissa falls apart. Devon figures out who Luther is not only to Cassie, but to Chris and Melissa as well. Now they each have to come to terms with that knowledge for the sake of their friendship and love for Cassie. (Quite the conundrum she's written here. I love it!)

I can understand why some people might think this is her personal take on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but aside from a few similarities, this is entirely her own work. There's only so many ways a vampire story (or any story for that matter) can be written, only so many ways to write the protagonist. Inspiration must come from somewhere.

Ever wonder where vampire slayers come from? Stevens answers that question in a way that makes complete sense to me. This part of the story really caught my attention. Stevens came up with an original way to answer that question. Kudos for that!

What ultimately brings Cassie's friends around to accepting him in her life is how alive she's become since meeting him. She's no longer going through the motions every day. Backed up by Cassie's grandmother, the teens have no choice but to stay close enough to Devon for him to protect them. Cassie gains a new friend and several new enemies as well as learns more about Devon's past. What she learns explains why he is so unique among vampires.

I bought this book immediately after finishing Kindred, the first book in the series. As soon as I got home from work, I promptly sat down and devoured this one. I had an incredibly difficult time setting it aside for anything; dinner, laundry, supper. Her characters have continued to develop from the first book, as did the plot that took me from one book to the next.

The reality of my reading this series is that I plowed through them like a person needing water in a desert. I just couldn't take time to write the reviews. I absolutely HAD to get to the next book to see what happens. Stevens likes cliff hangers. Me? Not so much. However, I was fortunate in being able to purchase the last four books at one time. So in this case, cliffhangers were no big deal.

I loved this book from start to finish. 4 stars

This book is available from Amazon (US, UK, AU, CA), Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.