Kelly Meding's Three Days to Dead

Aside from ten sleepless days I spent with the Twilight series, I've never read fantasy and never considered it something I would be interested in. Well not anymore.

Kelly Meding's debut novel, Three Days to Dead, is exactly the kind of book I love -- I don't want to do anything but read, but I want to read slowly to make it last longer.

Here's the back cover copy:

She’s young, deadly, and hunted—with only three days to solve her own murder…

When Evangeline Stone wakes up naked and bruised on a cold slab at the morgue – in a stranger’s body, with no memory of who she is and how she got there – her troubles are only just beginning. Before that night, she and the other two members of her Triad were star bounty hunters — mercilessly cleansing the city of the murderous creatures living in the shadows, from vampires to shape-shifters to trolls. Then something terrible happened that not only cost all three of them their lives, but also convinced the city’s other Hunters that Evy was a traitor . . . and she can’t even remember what it was.

Now she’s a fugitive, piecing together her memory, trying to deal some serious justice – and discovering that she has only three days to solve her own murder before the reincarnation spell wears off. Because in three days, Evy will die again – but this time, there’s no second chance…

I'm horrible at writing book reviews, but I will tell you this -- Evy is a strong heroine that doesn't take crap from anyone, yet there are hints at the softer woman inside that make her relatable. Three Days isn't listed as a romance, but there's definitely some heat between the, er... pages.

Coming from someone who doesn't read fantasy, Kelly does a wonderful job of creating a world full of vampires, goblins, weres, and elves without confusing us literal folk. She explains each group without dumping pages and pages on the reader -- instead things are explained as Evy races from one scene to the next. Just the way I like it. She also kept me guessing right up to the very end. Even when we know who the bad guy is and what his plans are, we STILL don't know all the details. Kelly does a wonderful job of doling out the bare minimum to keep you reading.

Oh yeah, and Wyatt is HOT.

The coolest part for me was being able to email Kelly as soon as I finished to tell her how much I loved it!