Fran lives an unusual life for a teenager. Pretty freaky, in fact. She's traveling with a Gothfaire, doing palm readings and assisting her Wiccan mother with invocations and selling a variety of witch-y things at their booth. And it's not just her job that's odd -- no, Fran also is dating Benedikt, a vampire, and is supposedly his Beloved.

Only Ben's keeping secrets and a strange man tried to buy Fran's horse, and then on top of everything, she accidentally called some Viking ghosts to life, and they're trailing around wreaking havoc. Oh yeah, life is complicated.

In between getting advice from everyone on an upcoming first date with Ben (their life has been too full of adventures for a real date, but they're trying...), Fran reads palms, tries to track down her stolen horse (who disappeared right after the man tried to buy him) and becomes mired in mythological creatures like Odin and Thor and Freya.

CIRCUS OF THE DARNED is a romping good time. It's seriously fun reading, as is everything from Ms. Maxwell. My only concern would be letting a young teenager tackle this book. Maybe I'm living in the wrong age, but there are elements in it that I certainly wouldn't want a 13- or 14-year-old reading about. For instance, in the first few pages, there's a reference to woman supposedly sleeping with two brothers. I do highly recommend this book for some light reading. The more teen fiction I read, the more I find that there's -- apparently -- a little bit of teenager in me. It's a lot of fun.