Review: Gifts of the Blood (Gifted Blood Trilogy #1) by Vicki Keire

Title: Gifts of the Blood
Author: Vicki Keire
Release Date: 12-30-10
Publisher: Indie
Source: Author

Description from Goodreads:

Caspia Chastain, art student and barista, is gifted (or plagued, if you ask her) with the ability to draw the future, usually at the worst possible times. Her parents are four years dead; everyday she watches her brother Logan fight his cancer diagnosis. School, double shifts at work, art, and even her usually vibrant small town can't keep reality at bay.




Things get worse the day she draws an angry stranger surrounded by brilliant light and violent, bloody images. That exact same stranger walks up to her knowing all about her, including her name, her brother's illness, and her strange ability. When Caspia discovers that her hometown is a refuge for supernatural beings both Light and Dark, she and her brother find themselves caught up in a war between the two that predates their very birth. For protection, she turns to the man who walked out of her sketchbook calling himself Ethan.


But Ethan has his own agenda, Logan's getting sicker fast, and Caspia finds that drawing the future isn't the only strange thing she can do. Meanwhile, someone really wants all of them dead. In a town where Dark doesn't equal Evil and Light isn't always Good, Caspia and Ethan find themselves making strange alliances and even stranger sacrifices in order to protect those they love.
 

 
My Thoughts:
 
  Caspia and Logan Chastain lost their parents four years ago.  Now Caspia is working at the Whitfield Coffee Shop to help with bills and rent since her older brother is dying of cancer.  She has a gift of drawing the future.  When her  teacher, Dr. Christian, assigns them to sketch the St. Clare River, Caspia has another drawing in mind.
  She ends up drawing a strange, angry man with a dark cloud surrounding him with symbols drawn into it such as:  a hand with nails like talons with dripping blood, a shattered knife, a tattered book, and a smashed hear shaped box.  Caspia is visiting Mrs. Alice in a local New Age shop when she realizes that the stranger she drew hours before is appearing before her.  His name is Ethan.
  She later learns about her gift.  She is a Nephilim (human with Fallen Angel's blood) and Ethan is a newly Fallen Angel.  He informs her about the gift of her bloodline and the special things she can do with it.  There are also other dark Fallen Angels that can sense her and will try to harm her and her brother.  Ethan will risk his own life and immortality to save them and Caspia will learn that those around her may be more that they seem.  Who can she trust and will she be able to come out of this with her and Logan's souls intact?
 
I really enjoyed this story.  The plot was creative and unlike any I've read before.  The emotion that Caspia shows towards Ethan and Logan was truly believable.  I was able to understand her grief and fear of losing those she loved along with the love she felt so strongly for them.  Overall, this book was filled with romance, mystery, adventure, and even some sorrow so whatever you are looking for- it's in there and you're sure to be satisfied after finishing it.
 
4 1/2 Stars