Kendra Leigh Castle’s Dark Awakening tells the story of Lily Quinn, a woman orphaned as an infant, who is adopted and reared in ignorance of all things paranormal. Tynan MacGillivray is the vampire/shapeshifter warrior sent to find someone like Lily to save his clan. Before Lily can help she has to be introduced to her own powers and protected when those powers would be used by evil. While these themes may sound familiar, Ms. Castle spins them to a fresher appeal.

In modern-day America, vampire society is divided into several clans. The Ptolemy clan, to which Tynan MacGillivray’s mixed-blood caste is bound, has become the target of a rival clan, and vampires are being killed by the dozens. As a cat-shifter and part Fae to boot, Tynan is the perfect person to hunt down a seer, if there are any left to find, and bring him or her back to his Queen so the seer can ascertain which clan has targeted the Ptolemy. Tynan spends a year away from court visiting areas of paranormal interest all over the US, searching for anyone with the right traits. Near the end of his search and almost certain that it has all been in vain, Tynan runs into Lily. He’s instantly attracted, sensing something other than human about her, so he decides to seduce her and feed. But when he pulls her shirt aside he spies a mark on her collarbone that is similiar to those carried by vampires which denote their clans.

Leaving a ghost hunting event early, Lily is freaked out, trying to find her car in the dark and feeling watched. When she is approached by Tynan, she succumbs to his lure and allows him to embrace her, then is left reeling when he spies her tattoo and disappears practically right before her eyes. Later, Tynan finds her again in another dark parking lot and tries to explain his mission and her possible part in it, when another vampire finds them and Tynan has to let Lily escape in order to protect her. But when she reaches her home, Lily is accosted by yet another vampire who has been paid to kill her so that Tynan doesn’t succeed. She rescues herself when her latent power comes exploding out, and then Tynan arrives and convinces her that unless she comes with him there will be no safety for her anywhere.

The rest of the book covers the mystery of Lily’s heritage, and how she came to have a vampire tattoo unlike any other when she is basically human and mortal. Tynan has to make the huge decision whether or not to take Lily back to the Ptolemy clan as he has agreed, knowing that she will undoubtedly be walking right into treachery, but unwilling to disobey because his caste will suffer if he does not. Seeking sanctuary, Tynan and Lily bring danger to other outcast vampires and various allies.

This book has an interesting cast. Tynan has several issues due to his position of leader of his caste – which has no clan of their own and has been mostly enslaved by the Ptolemy. While the rest of his people are either servants or barely living on the fringes of vampire society, he has earned the tolerance of the Queen of the Ptolemy and tries to balance his slavery against her need for a skilled hunter. As long as the Queen needs him and believes in his loyalty, he can help his people and keep deprivation in check. So, although he knows the Ptolemy court is sick and treacherous, he feels he must give Lily to his Queen or his people will suffer. Jared, Tynan’s brother, has escaped slavery and complicates matters when encountered by Tynan and Lily. Where Jared rebels, Tynan tries to work with the system, no matter how corrupt. Damien, the vampire who has been paid to assassinate Lily, is also an old friend of Tynan’s which further muddies the water.

While predictable in some ways, this book does not fail to entertain. The plot is action-filled and moves swiftly. The love story between Lily and Tynan is angsty, but is not overwhelmed by insecurities. Tynan’s struggle with loyalty and the slave/master mind-set leaves the reader wondering how he is going to justify his actions as he falls in love with and makes love to Lily. The love scenes are warm and appropriate. The mystery of Lily’s origins is engaging and ends well, and the mystery of who is attacking the Ptolemy, while not a huge surprise, is also well handled. I was gratified that the one thing I truly wanted to happen at the end of the book occurs on the last page.

While ostensibly about Lily and saving the Ptolemy, this book also spent a lot of time exploring the slavery of the Cait-Sith, Tynan’s caste. Looked down upon by almost everyone in the paranormal community, called gutterblood by most of them, Tynan’s people have a hard time finding their place in society. His attempts to reach beyond this prejudice and work through adversity are a credit to Tynan, but were a little stressful to read. Lily keeps begging him not to take her to his Queen, his friends keep asking him if he’s really going to go through with such a stupid plan, but Tynan can see no other way out of a terrible situation. A lot of time is spent on Tynan justifying his actions to himself and others.

I’m always happy to see a good new paranormal series and will definitely be keeping my eye on this one.