Crave by Melissa Darnell

At recess in the fourth grade, Savannah Colbert pretended to marry Tristan Coleman in a mock ceremony on the school playground. The next day, Tristan and all of the other Clann kids turn their backs on her and refuse to have anything to do with her. For the past five years, Savannah has tried to ignore the bullying by the Clann kids and make new friends. Even though Savannah’s mother and grandmother warn Savannah to stay away from Tristan, she finds herself inexplicitly drawn to him.

Tristan, the son of the ruling head of the Clann, is strictly forbidden to even speak to Savannah. When she becomes ill in their Algebra class, Tristan fights to stay away from her. Savannah’s absence from school for the week nearly drives him insane with worry. When Savannah is well enough to return to school, Tristan finds that he is not the only person to notice the physical changes in her. Boys begin to swarm around her whether she wants them to or not and Tristan cannot help but be near and protect her.

Sick for the first time in her life, Savannah is shocked to awaken after five days of being unconscious to find not only her mother and grandmother standing over her but her father who has been out of the picture most of her life. Even more unsettling to Savannah is when her parents fill her in on her true heritage and why it has been kept a secret from her until now. Her father is a vampire who wasn’t supposed to be able to father children and her mother a witch who use to be a member of the Clann. Savannah realizes she really is a freak and both the Vampire Council and the Clann fear that she will join the opposite side. She will not be trained in magic and must watch for any blood lust she might have.

Nervous about returning to school, Savannah’s physical changes immediately cause problems. When she unwittingly meets the eyes of three boys from her Algebra class, they are struck by her “gaze daze” and become enamored with her. Unfortunately they literally become stalkers. Savannah is no longer able to trust the feelings of any boy she encounters. When Tristan can no longer fight his attraction to her, despite the Clann’s ruling of no contact with Savannah. She is not sure whether or not to trust his feelings. Is he under her “gaze daze” spell like the others or are his feelings genuine?

Which side will win out in Savannah; vampire or witch? Will she be able to trust Tristan’s feelings and finally be able to reciprocate? What is the connection between Savannah and Tristan? What happens when the Clann and Vampire Council discover Savannah and Tristan’s true feelings for one another? And what will happen when Tristan discovers the truth about Savannah?

Told in alternating viewpoints between Savannah and Tristan, readers are not kept in the dark about the true feelings simmering between this Romeo and Juliet pairing. Darnell leaves quite a cliffhanger at the end to set up the next book, Covet, in the trilogy that will wrap up in 2013 with Consume.

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Visit the website for The Clann series.