Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Seen True Blood on HBO? Read the book that started it all!

Dead Until Dark is the first of the Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is telepathic and lives in Bon Temps, a small town in Louisiana. Since vampires made themselves known two years ago, she's been hoping one would stop in town. She gets her wish when Bill shows up at Merlotte's one night. She can't believe it. Not only is there a vampire in the bar, but she can't hear his thoughts either! She's not the only one that notices the vampire, and before the night is over, she's rescued him from the Rattrays, a couple determined to drain his blood.

Sookie and Bill start dating, much to the joy of her grandmother and the dismay of everyone else in town, including Sam, Sookie's boss. So many things happen at once that Sookie isn't sure what to think or believe. Women known to go around with vampires start showing up dead and while Bill isn't a main suspect, yet, other vampires are. Sookie's life might be in danger, and in more ways than one.

A fantastic novel! If you've read Twilight you'll see some parallels (but this book came out first). The HBO show doesn't quite do justice to the book, but the story lines are close. I loved the book and enjoyed reading about Sookie's strange abilities and her romance with Bill.