The Price family has been studying monsters for generations, protecting them from the real world and vice versa. Then along comes Verity Price who would rather ballroom dance than follow in her family's footsteps. Yet she does, and now she's in Manhattan and her quasi-boyfriend Dominic De Luca, who is a member of the monster-hunting Covenant of St. George, tells her that his agency is coming to New York for a possible purge on all of the cryptids. Now she must jump in and do her best to keep the balance, all while trying to discern whom she can and cannot trust. No one said it was going to be easy.

There's so much fun packed into this series that I can't begin to give it justice. There's a cuckoo, an oceanid, a basilisk breeder, a bogeyman, a waheela, a therianthrope, a gorgon and a dragon. That's not to mention the most awesome and adorable group of mice you'll ever see who love to chant hilarious phrases.

Seanan McGuire crafts some of the most interesting characters I have ever read. Their origins are so vastly imagined and just the idea of writing about so many cryptids intrigues me. Worried about keeping up with so many creatures? No worries. Ms. McGuire provides a "Price Family Field Guide" at the end of the novel to help you keep track of their identities (along with their binomial names for us biology nerds). There's also a drawn out Price Family Tree and, yep, an awesome playlist that includes Oingo Boingo (thus sealing my love and devotion for Seanan).

Another thing I adore? The main characters name -- Verity. She is great beyond her name, though, and being a cryptozoologist, and a ballroom dancer, natch, her life is a complex and convoluted journey, which makes for a wonderful, rich character.

MIDNIGHT BLUE-LIGHT SPECIAL is hands-down another favorite of mine. Add it to your collection and see for yourself why I could rave about it all day long.