What's with paranormal fiction being called "urban fantasy"? This story's protagonist lives in a town in Maine small enough that it only has one restaurant and one bar. Should the term be "modern fantasy"? Beside the point, I know.
The first-person narrator, Jane True, is a town weirdo, despised by many for having lured her boyfriend to his death as he attempted to rescue her from a weirdo suicide attempt. Having a weirdo mother who split Rockabill, Maine when Jane was six doesn't help. She's now 26, living with her dad, and working in a bookstore when she encounters another dead body in her secret cove.
Jane quickly gets wrapped up in a supernatural world she never knew existed, much less that she belonged in herself. She immediately hooks up with a hott vampire, because whether or not they're urban, fantasy novels usually involve sex and romance. Like most other books in the genre, you can see the beginnings of a love triangle with a shapeshifter in the works.
Tempest Rising is an enjoyable read, and I'm looking forward to diving into the next one (that's a pun, if you didn't notice). It's published by Orbit, which I'm finding puts out lots of smart, fun SF & fantasy. I noticed that in Peeler's bio she says she "writes for Orbit." I haven't noticed that wording from other authors and wonder if it indicates a different type of relationship between author and publisher than is typical. What would it mean if publishers employed authors, sort of like the old Hollywood studio system? Would it make people safe, and therefore more able to be creative, or stifle them?