TURNED is Book 1 in this author's new Belladonna Agency series. TURNED is filled with vampires (both good and bad), spies, shadowy government agencies, and even a cult thrown into the mix.

The two main characters -- Special Agent Ty Duncan and former gang member Ana -- have so much in common. In spite of the fact that Ty's background is in criminal justice while Ana's experience was being on the wrong side of the law, emotionally they could almost be the same person.

Individually, they both went through an experience in their past which drastically changed their lives. They both feel as though they let down a sibling in a major way and harbor a lot of guilt over that. They also both feel some degree of self-loathing.

That being said, Ana and Ty are both very resilient characters who have become stronger after surviving what they went through. I liked that Ana was such a strong female character. The chemistry between the two was great and made for some very sexy scenes. I liked that, no matter what tough choices they had to make in their lives, at their core, they are both good people.

A lot of the conflict in the story revolves around the fact that Ty is a vampire while Ana is human, and he recruits her for the Belladonna Agency. The period during which Ana is being trained as a spy is interesting, and you learn a little more about Belladonna as well get a better understanding of the main characters.

I enjoyed meeting the other women who will be working with Ana and I look forward to reading future stories about them. There was a lot of action and suspense combined with the romance. I normally don't seek out stories with a lot of action and suspense but the characters kept me interested in the storyline. Virna DePaul put a very different spin on the vampire myth which was intriguing. I look forward to reading about the other Belladonna agents, the vampire Queen, as well as a character in the background who revealed himself toward the end of TURNED.