This book is a fun and fast paced take on the vampire romance trope + murder mystery. The universe is engaging and kept me reading, because I just wanted to learn more about the vampires and other creatures and how they fit into society in this book! The protagonist is naive, but strong, and she has some really funny moments. The Louisiana setting makes this extra fun for me as a Southerner. (The romance is not what kept me reading- it's so-so to be honest.)

Warnings:

Confederate sympathy: Characters in this book are either casually or actively supportive of the Confederacy. Since the book is so lighthearted, I honestly read this as comedic because Confederate history organizations, for example, are quite real, and the vampire being an ex Confederate soldier is just kind of funny to me, but if this is something that will bother you, be aware that there is no condemnation of Confederate sympathy in this book.

Consent issues: There are two romantic interests in this book and each of them violate our protagonist's consent, though this behavior is not condemned (or it is, but very lightly). I actually read this book in high school and didn't notice the consent issues then, but they were glaring to me now. I attribute this a little bit to changing ideas around consent and I can sort of get past it since I am more interested in the lore and murder mystery. Maybe there are better vampire books out there without consent issues; I think nostalgia is part of what draws me to this series specifically.