I won't really describe the happenings in this book, because it felt like mostly filler. It was like Charlaine was just preparing us for upcoming books. I enjoyed this only because I love all of the characters, I love the town, and Sookie is a great lead. There were some problems resolved and new problems brought to the surface. These have obviously opened new doors for future books. Lets see, Alcide is finally head of the Were's. Sookie and Quinn solved their relationship dilemma. Sookie is introduced to one of her ancestors. Eric now remembers his past with Sookie. I was hoping more would come out of that last one, but I was left disappointed. The book ends kind of awkwardly, and I'm not really sure what she was trying to tell us or make us feel at the end. All I know is I felt kind of empty about the whole thing.

I have a feeling that the next book will much better. This book set up a lot of new storylines for the future. I can only hope this series keeps trucking along, because I'm in love with the lighthearted small town charm that it has.

I agree with everyone who has said that there is no central plot to pull the book together and the reader along. The first 60 pages were a snooze fest followed by a very compelling novella of about 100 pages whose plot line was neatly concluded. Sadly the book plodded along for another couple of hundred pages. There were some interesting bits of information revealed, but I doubt Harris could have sucked any more life from their presentation if she tried. If this was a TV show you would say all of the actors had phoned in their performances. There was no mystery, no romance, no character drama, no character growth, just a few action sequences and a lot of dull uninspired narration about Sookie's daily life. This read like a rough first draft, with a bunch of potentially interesting stuff that had not yet been shaped into a decent novel. It appears that Harris is spreading herself too thin in trying to keep up with her various series and is not taking the time to a good job. I'm just surprised that this book is still averaging such a high rating, because it is the dullest thing I have read in a long time. This is the first time I have been completely disappointed with the author and I'm not going to be too eager to chance her again.

I was a bit disappointed at the end of the 7th novel (left hanging) and felt this one really helped tie up a lot of loose ends. I just found this series and have read all 8 books in the last 3 weeks and was worried I'd feel like I was on verge of a cliff waiting for #9 (based on the end of 7) but was pleasantly surprised by this. I thought more of all of the character's emotions were shared in this one and now I can wait with bated breath to see where Sookie takes us next time, without feeling like it was a season finale!