In Rising Tide, the first book in the Maura DeLuca trilogy by Claudette Melanson, sixteen-year-old Maura (whose name, she'll tell you, means Sea of Bitterness), is about to move all the way from her small town in Pennsylvania to Vancouver in Canada. She doesn't mind the move at first, she’s pretty much a loner, and with summer approaching going to Vancouver means a lot less sunlight for her to be allergic to. She's fine with the move until she meets Ron. Handsome, nice, and good, he saves her from a humiliating experience with people she thought were her friends. He's someone she wants to learn more about, but with the move to Vancouver looming in the near future and strange and mysterious things happening to her body, the two love birds might not have as much time together as Maura would like.

I thought Rising Tide by Claudette Melanson had a great premise and I was drawn in by the gorgeously rendered cover. I love vampire books and I love seeing all the different things done and created within the genre from the romantic to the horrifying. Even though Rising Tide is described as a vampire book, nothing vampiric really happens until more than halfway through the book. Rising Tide focuses more on the romance side of this paranormal romance with Maura slowly coming out of her shell as she dates Ron, who plays the perfect boyfriend throughout. He enjoys all the same things she does, and is super concerned and caring. He's the guy pre-teen girls dream about and he's very adept at ignoring all the weird things that Maura does like crying tears of blood and munching on a guy at one of his gigs. Sometimes I wondered if he even noticed the changes Maura was going through, but I guess in Rising Tide Melanson wanted to show that love conquers all. How Melanson dealt with the vampire lore was interesting and fans of Twilight might enjoy Rising Tide. The cliff-hanger definitely leaves you wondering what's going to happen next.

This rip-roaring blend of romance and mystery will have readers enthralled from the very start and keep them turning the pages until the satisfying denouement. Rising Tide: Dark Innocence by Claudette Melanson is a stunning opening in the Maura DeLuca Trilogy, a story that follows the life of Maura, a lonely girl abandoned by her father since childhood. Her mother is there, but she is like a stranger who wants to have nothing much to do with her. She seems to keep everyone away from Maura, as if she were a pestilence.

Maura knows she is different, and it’s not only because of her pale skin. Her classmates make her feel that way, too, because they keep their distance from her. When she gets the chance to meet the only person who seems to accept her as she is — the handsome and insanely attractive Ron — her mother, Caelyn, decides to take her away to Vancouver. Follow this incredible story of love and loss and a young woman’s search for her identity; it’s dark and heartbreaking, entertaining and absorbing.

Rising Tide: Dark Innocence is expertly written, a story that features compelling characters and excellent prose with descriptions that create powerful images in the reader’s mind. Told from the perspective of the protagonist, the pathos comes out clearly, one of the elements readers want to see in this kind of novel. The author has a unique gift for great settings — social, cultural, and physical — and the reader is transported to the world of the protagonist and the inner workings of her heart. Claudette Melanson's book is a page-turner; rip-roaring, and utterly compelling.

Maura DeLuca has never been a normal teenager. A mysterious illness that causes intense nausea when she spends too long in the sun and sickly pale skin have ensured that her school mates consider her a freak. She didn’t think she’d be leaving anything behind when her overprotective mother first announced that they’d be moving from Maura’s childhood home in Pennsylvania to Vancouver, Canada. All of that changes in the last weeks before the move. Unfortunate incidents lead Maura to meet and become involved with Ron and befriend his best friend’s girlfriend. Suddenly moving to Canada seems like the end of the world. But it isn’t just her social life that changes: Maura’s hair is growing at an abnormal rate, her dentist believes her canine teeth are rotting from the inside out, and she’s developed a craving for blood.

I generally abhor vampire fiction but Rising Tide tempted me with what sounded like a distinctly different approach to the genre. I wasn’t disappointed. Claudette Melanson’s portrayal of Maura’s changes is refreshing and well written. While the reader can easily interpret what Maura’s physical changes imply, I thought the character’s reaction was accurate. There are several deviations from the canon regarding vampires, but I believe they’ll be acceptable to fans of the genre when one keeps in mind that Maura is in a state of transition. The romance between Maura and Ron is the perfect balance between sweet and realistic. This book does end on a cliff-hanger, but its mitigated by a sneak peek at the first chapter of the second book in this series. Rising Tide is a must-read for vampire fans.

It’s about vampires, coming of age, a mother-daughter relationship and romance. And it’s good. Rising Tide: Dark Innocence (Book 1 of The Maura DeLuca Trilogy) by Claudette Melanson centers on an awkward 16-year-old Maura. She has a complex and sometimes hollow relationship with her mother Caelyn, who’s heartbroken due to the absence of Maura’s father. I admire Maura’s maturity and resilience in trying to make her mother happy by being a good daughter who helps with chores (in fact, she mainly handles the housework) and being a straight-A student.

As readers would definitely know right away what Maura really is, the protagonist herself doesn’t. Her sensitivity to the sun is regarded as a ‘condition’ that she was born with. She’s embarrassed about her very pale skin and baffled by her super hearing ability. Then it progresses to some mind control and intense craving for blood, making her more confused.

To be frank, there is no unpredictable twist with the plot, if there is a twist at all. This definitely affects the pace of the story as we know where the story is heading. That said, it is fun to read and follow Maura’s vampiric transition and the things that she has to go through because of it, including how it affects her relationship with her boyfriend Ron. The prose is straightforward and it is a light read that is well-targeted for the YA fans. I also love the cover art; kudos to the cover designer, Rachel Montreuil. All in all, this is an enjoyable page-turner.

This is an Awesome book/series.I love everything about it. Maura the main character in the series is a young Vampire girl, who is like any teenage girl, That falls in Love,with a boy named Ron, and through the changes she faces.She's not sure if through love will survive. At the end of the book, It leaves you wanting or craving more! I'm one of those reviewers that don't tell everything in the book, because I would rather read the story myself than hear it from a review. Claudette Melanson is an Amazing Author! I can't wait to see what she has in store for us next!

This rip-roaring blend of romance and mystery will have readers enthralled from the very start and keep them turning the pages until the satisfying denouement. Rising Tide: Dark Innocence by Claudette Melanson is a stunning opening in the Maura DeLuca Trilogy, a story that follows the life of Maura, a lonely girl abandoned by her father since childhood. Her mother is there, but she is like a stranger who wants to have nothing much to do with her. She seems to keep everyone away from Maura, as if she were a pestilence.

Maura knows she is different, and it’s not only because of her pale skin. Her classmates make her feel that way, too, because they keep their distance from her. When she gets the chance to meet the only person who seems to accept her as she is — the handsome and insanely attractive Ron — her mother, Caelyn, decides to take her away to Vancouver. Follow this incredible story of love and loss and a young woman’s search for her identity; it’s dark and heartbreaking, entertaining and absorbing.

Rising Tide: Dark Innocence is expertly written, a story that features compelling characters and excellent prose with descriptions that create powerful images in the reader’s mind. Told from the perspective of the protagonist, the pathos comes out clearly, one of the elements readers want to see in this kind of novel. The author has a unique gift for great settings — social, cultural, and physical — and the reader is transported to the world of the protagonist and the inner workings of her heart. Claudette Melanson's book is a page-turner; rip-roaring, and utterly compelling.

Maura DeLuca has never been a normal teenager. A mysterious illness that causes intense nausea when she spends too long in the sun and sickly pale skin have ensured that her school mates consider her a freak. She didn’t think she’d be leaving anything behind when her overprotective mother first announced that they’d be moving from Maura’s childhood home in Pennsylvania to Vancouver, Canada. All of that changes in the last weeks before the move. Unfortunate incidents lead Maura to meet and become involved with Ron and befriend his best friend’s girlfriend. Suddenly moving to Canada seems like the end of the world. But it isn’t just her social life that changes: Maura’s hair is growing at an abnormal rate, her dentist believes her canine teeth are rotting from the inside out, and she’s developed a craving for blood.

I generally abhor vampire fiction but Rising Tide tempted me with what sounded like a distinctly different approach to the genre. I wasn’t disappointed. Claudette Melanson’s portrayal of Maura’s changes is refreshing and well written. While the reader can easily interpret what Maura’s physical changes imply, I thought the character’s reaction was accurate. There are several deviations from the canon regarding vampires, but I believe they’ll be acceptable to fans of the genre when one keeps in mind that Maura is in a state of transition. The romance between Maura and Ron is the perfect balance between sweet and realistic. This book does end on a cliff-hanger, but its mitigated by a sneak peek at the first chapter of the second book in this series. Rising Tide is a must-read for vampire fans.

In Rising Tide, the first book in the Maura DeLuca trilogy by Claudette Melanson, sixteen-year-old Maura (whose name, she'll tell you, means Sea of Bitterness), is about to move all the way from her small town in Pennsylvania to Vancouver in Canada. She doesn't mind the move at first, she’s pretty much a loner, and with summer approaching going to Vancouver means a lot less sunlight for her to be allergic to. She's fine with the move until she meets Ron. Handsome, nice, and good, he saves her from a humiliating experience with people she thought were her friends. He's someone she wants to learn more about, but with the move to Vancouver looming in the near future and strange and mysterious things happening to her body, the two love birds might not have as much time together as Maura would like.

I thought Rising Tide by Claudette Melanson had a great premise and I was drawn in by the gorgeously rendered cover. I love vampire books and I love seeing all the different things done and created within the genre from the romantic to the horrifying. Even though Rising Tide is described as a vampire book, nothing vampiric really happens until more than halfway through the book. Rising Tide focuses more on the romance side of this paranormal romance with Maura slowly coming out of her shell as she dates Ron, who plays the perfect boyfriend throughout. He enjoys all the same things she does, and is super concerned and caring. He's the guy pre-teen girls dream about and he's very adept at ignoring all the weird things that Maura does like crying tears of blood and munching on a guy at one of his gigs. Sometimes I wondered if he even noticed the changes Maura was going through, but I guess in Rising Tide Melanson wanted to show that love conquers all. How Melanson dealt with the vampire lore was interesting and fans of Twilight might enjoy Rising Tide. The cliff-hanger definitely leaves you wondering what's going to happen next.