Tantalize

Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith starts with a murder, seemingly done by a werewolf. The chef at Quincie’s family’s restaurant is the victim, and this leaves Quincie with a huge problem. Who will be able to take over the kitchen of their vampire-themed Italian restaurant before it reopens?

There’s also a problem with Quincie’s best friend Kieren, who’s a werewolf and appears to be the primary suspect of the murder.

Once the new chef – Henry Johnson – is hired, things seem to be getting better, and the restaurant is coming together. But as murders keep happening and a love triangle ensues, Quincie starts to wonder if the mysterious Henry Johnson is too good to be true…

I got this book because it has a review from Libba Bray on the back cover (And I quote: “Looking for something to read that will make your TV jealous?”), and I was not disappointed. Tantalize is the perfect vampire-meets-werewolf book, full of excitement and mystery. It kept me guessing until the last page. The only bad part is that the descriptions of Italian food made me incredibly hungry. However, don’t think that this book is like Twilight. It’s much more literal and not as romantic. If you like vampire books in general, you’ll like Tantalize. But if you only like vampire books like Twilight, you may not like this one. Either way, I thought it was a great book, and I hope Cynthia Leitich Smith writes dark fantasy again.

5 out of 5

~ by Leslie on May 23, 2008.