Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

I love the Sookie Stackhouse series--my only complaint is that the books aren't long enough & I have to wait another year to read the next one!

There's trouble brewing in Bon Temps and Sookie finds herself in the middle of it all.  Her past has come back to haunt her in a most unpleasant way, her relationship with Eric is severely strained and something is definitely up with the fairies.  And, in the midst of all this, she nearly forgot that she's hosting a baby shower for her best friend Tara.

Sookie has come a long way from the waitress who never dated, due to her unique abilities, to the wife of a vampire sheriff.  She finds herself in a world surrounded by supernatural beings, some of whom are her relatives, and caught up in the politics of these worlds.  She's dealing with weres/shifters, vampires and fey in this story--which has a return visit from Bubba, one of my favorite characters in the series :)  She feels a growing separation with Eric and believes it is due to the current regent of the area, Victor, who is doing everything in his considerable power to find a reason to justify killing Eric.  Victor is a problem, but there is more going on beneath the surface than she knows.  She is still living with Claude and Devlin, although she finds out that what has drawn them to live with her is more than just her fae blood.  The mysterious Mr. Cataliades makes an appearance, revealing more to Sookie about her fae heritage and also managing to save her skin, albeit indirectly. 

Overall, the book has a lot going on.  Sookie seems to have a lot of balls in the air while juggling all the intrigue and politics surrounding her.  Throw in a visit from an old friend and things get almost chaotic.  My only disappointment in this book, and indeed in some of the more recent books in the series, is regarding Sookie's relationship with Eric.  I understand that the characters will have problems, particularly since Sookie is a fairly independent woman who enjoys taking care of herself and Eric is still, in many ways, a Viking warrior.  However, I feel like the relationship is only given consideration when it is relevant to a separate plot point instead of being relevant for it's own sake.  I know this isn't a romance series, but I keep feeling teased at the end of each book.  It's like:  come on already!  Things start to look happy and then something else happens to drive a wedge between them!  I hope that this relationship either blossoms or ends soon because I'm seriously craving some progress on this point.  Otherwise, I really liked the book.  I hope I didn't include any true spoilers in this little rant of mine because I would hate to ruin the book for anyone, but I really needed to share :)

So, for all you Southern Vampires fans, go and read the book!  If you haven't read the series, go start now with Dead until Dark.