The first book in a series about a vampire hunter who is created by a secret government project because she dies in a car crash. She's in Alaska where apparently vampires are gathering, she's there to hunt the more violent ones but her life is complicated when she falls for one.
It's a fun romp of a book and I found it interesting, I found myself wanting to know more about things going on in the world which were skipped and it seemed to thrown her in the deep end without much warning or warmup. ( )

Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter Book 1
by Nikki Jefford
I’d give this novel 3.5 bites out of 5. (There’s some blood left)
Like many people, I’ve always enjoyed a good vampire tale. That said, I’ve wanted to read this book ever since I saw the wonderful cover.
The key to a good vampire story is, first of all, to try and not repeat one of the many, tired and over-used themes or plots that have been beaten to death by vampire popularity over the years. Most everything has already been done.
Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter felt mostly fresh, and I liked that. In short, Aurora is a teenager that gets in a terrible car accident. Really, she should have died–and would have, had it not been for a government agency that saved her.
They gave her vampire blood.
There’s a catch, though. In order to save her life, Aurora’s mother had to sign it away. See, the government needs “hunters,” or “agents” and they find people that are virtually dead because of car accidents or other similiar scenarios, and make the guardian a deal that can’t be refused. They have nothing to lose, when they’ve already lost their loved one, right?
The government has figured out how to use vampire blood to heal these otherwise dead victims. Why don’ t they turn into vampires as a result of the vampire blood? Well, the answer to that question would require a level of government clearnce that I don’t currently have. Suffice it to say that the new “agent” has to come in to the office every so often to take their medicine—a cure that keeps the vampire blood that saved their life from turning them fully into a vampire. So, in their current state, with the government’s help, they have semi-super human field agents that are tasked with finding and destroying the undead. As long as they come in for their check-up and get their dose, they don’t have to worry about becoming the very thing they are hunting and killing.
That’s a semi-new twist on things. I could run with that.
How do they fight the vampires, you might be wondering? This is where I was also a little intrigued, but perhaps a little disappointed on one level, too—they let themselves get bitten. If a real vampire bites a hunter that has the government’s formula running through their veins, they die. Kind of a strange way to empower your main character. “Go ahead, bite me!.”
And there it is. Add some teenage angst (or a lot,) some language and some upper teen/adult themes every here and there, and you have Aurora Sky book 1.
The author’s writing style was pretty good. I’d read her again, I think. The story line was solid, and fresh enough. I do have to say that I think some of what were intended to be plot twists were really easy to figure out, while there were a few that weren’t, and the twist at the end was pretty cool.
Good hunting! ( )

Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter. Aurora had plans for the future, the opportunity to leave her home town of Anchorage, Alaska and start her life. A car accident took that away from her when she was revived and recruited as a vampire hunter.
Aurora is a kick ass character and her reactions to what happened are believable. I couldn't put the book down once I started and loved that Aurora turned into a bad girl after the accident. With a great array of memorable characters, I look forward to the sequel. ( )

Aurora Sky (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #1) by Nikki Jefford is a different kind of vampire story. Aurora is a teen that dies in a car crash and is brought back by a group (government?) that changed her blood that made her blood poison to vampires. She has to be a vampire hunter or she doesn't get the shot a month to keep her alive. Too bad the guy she meets and falls in love with is a vampire. Fun read. ( )

4.5 "A New Bite on Life" Stars for the story and narration!

Move over Buffy, there is a new teenage vampire huntress in town! Given that YA vampire romance is how I became hooked on audiobooks (yes, you know which series I'm talking about: )) and that I watched nearly every episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer way back in the day, I'm ecstatic to say that I have found a new vampire series to dig my teeth into: Aurora Sky! Book 1 in the series does a fabulous job of setting up this creative take on vampire lore with a YA audience in mind. Moreover, Em Eldridge's smooth narration makes this a perfect choice to experience in audio format!

When Aurora Sky wakes up from a car accident, on a secret military base, as a different person (literally--or at least a highly engineered version of herself--think the teenage huntress equivalent of the Bionic Woman), Aurora knows that her life will never be the same again. Injected with a virus that makes her blood similar, and yet highly toxic, to vampires; the military agents inform Aurora that if she wants to continue receiving the frequent antidotes that she will need to keep her alive, she must work with them to kill vampires. Aurora who has never been particularly athletic, is perplexed by this request, until she learns that her secret weapon requires no prior or unique combat skills: its her blood--one bite renders a vampire immobile allowing her to easily finish him or her off.

But Alaska resident and 18 year-old, high-school senior, Aurora, is still a teenager with typical teenage problems, as can be best demonstrated by a list of resolutions she compiles shortly after her transformation:

1. Kill first vampire,
2. Get drunk,
2. Kiss a boy, and
3. Lose virginity

"With the first done, everything else should be easy!" Famous last words?

Book 1 also introduces us to a number of potential love interests. From Aurora's vampire hunting partner, Dante, to a boy from school, called Fane, who turns out to be so much more than just a boy, Aurora has her hands full with both her personal life as well as her nocturnal activities. But will she actually get to cross all the items off her list before she finds a vampire who hunts her down instead?

Having listened to, and thoroughly enjoyed Em Eldridge's narrations before (in her narrations of several books of Penny Reid's Knitting in Clay series), I knew I was in for a treat from a narration perspective. I'm happy to say that Ms. Eldridge didn't disappoint. From her perfect rendition of Aurora, who I can picture just from her intonation, to even her perfect British accented intonation for Fane's roommate, Ms. Eldridge spares no detail in making her narration exactly adapted to the story that Nikki Jefford has penned! Moreover, Ms. Eldridge's pacing and smooth voice make listening to this title seamless, so that you can just sit back and enjoy the story.

All in all, Aurora Sky is a great debut to a YA PNR/UF romance series that I will no doubt want to explore in much greater detail. Now I can't wait to start book 2 in the Vampire Hunter Series, Northern Bites!

Source: Review copy provided for review purposes. ( )