Loved is the second book in the Vampire Journals series, which takes up where Turned left off. Caitlin, at eighteen years old, has discovered she is possibly half vampire and might actually be The One, the person destined to find the lost sword which could stop the upcoming vampire/human war. She and Caleb, a vampire who has lived thousands of years, undertake a quest to discover her ancestry in hopes of discovering the location of the sword. Caitlin’s fifteen year old brother, Sam, is on a quest of his own to find their father, whom they never knew. Along the way, both Caitlin and Sam will encounter situations and people that will test their belief in their own inner strengths as well as their physical limits.

Loved reminded me a bit of a younger version of an Indiana Jones type tale as Caitlin and Caleb are led on a trail from one clue to another, each leading them a little closer to their goal of finding the sword. Each clue leads to a historical destination where we are given a different explanation of the historical facts that we learned as children. The author gives us a different twist on vampire lore, with two distinct covens of vampires. There is good versus evil, where the good are trying to live their lives amongst humans peacefully and cause no harm, the evil are truly evil beings with nothing but distain for both their vampire counterparts and the humans they must hide from. There are three different plot lines in the book, all of which are leading toward the same goal. Caitlin and Caleb’s quest is the main plot, Sam’s search for their father factors in and yet another plot plays out with a truly evil being in the search as well. Amidst everything else, the attraction between Caitlin and Caleb continues to grow adding just another twist to the story.

I did not read the first book, yet had no problem catching up with what was happening and following the plot. While the underlying story was a good one, I did have a few issues. There were a number of editing errors that should have been caught. Caitlin is written as very insecure, often wondering what, if anything, Caleb feels for her and marveling at his wonderfulness. Yet each time a clue is found Caleb comes up with “oh yea, that’s an important part of vampire history” while Caitlin is the one figuring out the clues. I was a little confused as to who the audience was for the story. It is written in a style that would appeal more to the younger adult or even tweens, yet there are scenes with casual underage drug use and sex (though only mentioned and not explicit) as well as some pretty intense violence that might make some younger people uncomfortable and would most certainly make parents think twice.

Even with the issues above, the book is a good read that ends with the cliffhanger that will make you want to read the next one to find out what happens.