(Review) How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying) ★★★☆☆

Author: Kerrelyn Sparks
Series: Love at Stake
Genre: Paranormal Romance
374 pages



Vampire Zoltan Czakvar is on the hunt for the truth about his father's death. He's been searching for a very long time—since 1241, in fact. And he is not about to give up, even when he's attacked by a woman with striking blue eyes and a hell of a right hook!

Neona is also on the hunt. She's looking for a mate, and she thinks muscled Zoltan will work just fine. After all, men are good for only one thing. Soon, though, she realizes there's more to this handsome vampire than just sexual prowess. But she's keeping a secret from Zoltan, something so big that it will rock the vampire world.

Can their newfound love survive . . . even if their passion means the destruction of her world?



I have to admit it took me awhile to get through this book. I actually started it months ago and quit reading and just started back last week. It's a lot different than any of the other Love at Stake books. It has it's funny moments but it's a lot more serious than I'm used to from Kerrelyn Sparks. So much was revealed near the end of the book and there were so many loose ends that I expect the story to pick up with the next book right where it left off in this one.


I never paid much attention to Zoltan in the previous books. He's a vampire that lives as a count in Transylvania. That's about all I can remember of him. How to Seduce a Vampire goes into his past and his character. I really got to like him. He's just an all around nice guy. He meets Neona while investigating the murder of his father. Neona had to grow on me. She's like a warrior princess, literally. She lives in the jungle with a group of warrior women. I didn't know what to think of her at first. She's not your usual Love at Stake heroine. But by the end I liked her too.


It's hard to do a review of this book because so many things happen and there are so many secrets that I don't want to ruin for anyone reading this. Let me just say that if you have a hard time getting into it at the beginning like I did it does get better and it gets really good about halfway through. It's worth the read if anything just to keep up with the series because there's no way you could skip this book.

(Review) Nice Girls Don't Have Fangs ★★★★★

Author: Molly Harper
Series: Nice Girls Don't...
Genre: Paranormal Romance
355 pages

Maybe it was the Shenanigans gift certificate that put her over the edge. When children's librarian and self-professed nice girl Jane Jameson is fired by her beastly boss and handed twenty-five dollars in potato skins instead of a severance check, she goes on a bender that's sure to become Half Moon Hollow legend. On her way home, she's mistaken for a deer, shot, and left for dead. And thanks to the mysterious stranger she met while chugging neon-colored cocktails, she wakes up with a decidedly unladylike thirst for blood.


Jane is now the latest recipient of a gift basket from the Newly Undead Welcoming Committee, and her life-after-lifestyle is taking some getting used to. Her recently deceased favorite aunt is now her ghostly roommate. She has to fake breathing and endure daytime hours to avoid coming out of the coffin to her family. She's forced to forgo her favorite down-home Southern cooking for bags of O negative. Her relationship with her sexy, mercurial vampire sire keeps running hot and cold. And if all that wasn't enough, it looks like someone in Half Moon Hollow is trying to frame her for a series of vampire murders. What's a nice undead girl to do?

Ok this is my first real review after a 5 month hiatus so be easy on me. I picked this book to re-read because I remembered it as one of my favorites. I spent a lot of time trying to think of a favorite book but couldn't think of one particular book. Instead I had several book series that topped the list in my mind. Nice Girls Don't was on that list. This is the first book I have been able to start and finish since May so I think it was a good choice. I might just re-read the whole series. We'll see. And now on to the actual book review.


Jane Jameson is on of my all time favorite characters. She is hilarious for one. Second she's just this down to earth, don't care what anybody thinks of me type of person. I really like her. I like Gabriel, her sire as well. Hell, I like all of the characters in this book. Zeb and his girlfriend and Andrea and even Dick. They all grow on you and make you love them!


This book has it all. A bit of romance, suspense and mystery. Most of all it has humor in spades. I laughed so hard through the whole book. The romance between Jane and Gabriel is even funny. My favorite is when they break the glass coffee table and have shards of it digging into them as they make out. All in all it's a great book and I highly recommend it. If you like humor in your romance than this book is definitely for you.


Favorite Quote:


"What are you doing here?" Gabriel demanded.
Dick squeezed my shoulder in a chummy gesture. "We're writing a vampire children's book, See Dick and Jane Bite. What do you think?"

I'm Dreaming of an Undead Christmas ★★★★★

Audiobook
Author: Molly Harper
Genre: Paranormal
3hrs 43mins

It's Christmas in Half-Moon Hollow and newly turned vampire Iris Scanlon-Calix wants to make Gigi's first visit home from college as normal and special as possible. It's taken months for Iris to work up the nerve to spend time around her baby sister after her vampire transition, so she enlists help from Jane Jameson and Company to keep her blood-thirst under control and assure Gigi's safety.

Gigi, on the other hand, has problems of her own, including the demise of her relationship with high school sweetheart, Ben, and a looming job interview with Ophelia Lambert, the scariest potential employer in the Hollow. And then there's the small matter of the handsome, frustrating vampire who keeps appearing in Gigi's peripheral vision, then disappearing before she can talk to him.

Can the Scanlon sisters negotiate romantic problems, vampire politics, and Christmas cookie disasters and enjoy a relatively normal holiday?

Love Bites (Argeneau Series #2) ★★★★★

Author: Lynsay Sands

     I was looking for something to read the other day and wanted something like the Argeneau series.  When I couldn't find anything similar that I hadn't already read I decided to re-read some of my favorite books from the series.    

     This book is about Etienne Argeneau and Rachel Garrett.  Etienne is the youngest son of Marguerite Argeneau.  He makes video games.  Rachel works at a morgue.  Someone is trying to kill Etienne and he gets sent to the morgue... twice.  As with most of the Argeneau books this one is humorous and fun to read.  I always feel bad for the immortal when they are trying to figure out how to get their lifemate to accept them but it's usually pretty funny along the way.  Especially when Thomas slips them some sweet ecstasy drinks.

My favorite part is when at Lissianna's wedding Etienne tries to impress Rachel by repeating all of the big words he knows because she says she likes intelligent men.  I'd quote it as my favorite but it'd be more of an excerpt since it's like a page long.  My other favorite is when Rachel thinks she must be dreaming and decides to make Etienne star in her "wet" dream.  Hehe

Favorite Quotes:
"You are the most gorgeous corpse I've worked with."
"Really?" Etienne smiled.  No one had ever told him he was a gorgeous corpse before.

"If I had taken the time to imagine what the man I loved looked like and the qualities he would have, you would have been who I dreamed of."

A Quick Bite (Argeneau #1) ★★★★★

Author: Lynsay Sands

     I am a huge fan of the Argeneau series.  I love the uniqueness of Lynsay Sand's version of vampires.  I have this thing for authors that use different ways of depicting vampirism.  The Argeneau series is fun and always easy to read.  As many of the books that I have read it hasn't gotten old yet.  It is one of the few series that I usually purchase the day that it comes out.  That's saying a lot if you ask me.  So if I'm such a huge fan why on earth am I reviewing book 1?  Because I felt like reading something like the Argeneau series and after failing to find something recommended that I haven't read already I decided hell I'll just re-read this one!

     What shocked me almost from the start is that I barely remember this book.  I originally read it almost exactly 2 years ago.  This story is about Lissianna and Greg.  It's sort of an introduction to the Argeneau.  There are some things not included in this book that must have evolved some to the series in later books.  It features my favorite matchmaker Marguerite Argeneau.  She is the mother of Lissianna and she kidnaps Greg to help Lissi with her phobia.  Lissi is a vampire that faints and the sight of blood.  Just that premise lets you see how comical these books are.  But they are also very romantic as well.  It was really fun reading about characters from later books such as Thomas, Mirabeau and Jean Louis.

     Although this is a good introduction to the Argeneau's I wouldn't rate it as my favorite book in the series.  I would have to say that award would go to Marguerite's book.  It's still a great book and I love Lissi and Greg.  So if you like vamp books and are looking for something different than this might be for you!  Just keep in mind it is meant to be humorous.  I get sick of reading reviews for this series giving it a hard time.  If you like the Love at Stake series you will love the Argeneau.

Favorite Quote:

“Have you ever noticed how when you're happy, time seems to pass by fast, while when you're miserable it goes real slow?  Life would have been a blink with you whether it lasted a millennium or a month. ”

Dark Lycan (Dark Carpathians #24) ★★☆☆☆

Dark Lycan by Christine Feehan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book was 85% fighting, 5% arguing and 10% sex. The Dark/Carpathian series used to be one of my favorites. After the last book and then this one I am loosing faith in it. On the bright side there were some updates on some of the previous characters. Mikail, Gregory and their families. There were a few parts with some of the kids that I enjoyed too. Mostly I was interested in Dimitri and Skylar, which despite my disappointment I will read that book.

This book is about Tatijana and Fenris. Tatijana is one of the dragons that was frozen in ice by the evil mage Xavier in a previous book. She's decided to explore the world for the first time ever. Fenris is Dimitri's brother who has never been mentioned in any of the other books. This is because Fenris shared blood with a lycan, so he is part lycan and part Carpathian. He has this whole hissy fit thinking the Carpathian's will kill him for his lycan blood. He won't mate Tatijana because of it. My favorite part of the book is when Fen sings to Tatijana at a party.

The rest of the book was fighting between the vampire/lycan hybrids and their lycan counterparts. Don't get me wrong, I love a good fight but it just seemed to drag on and on! It felt like the publisher said we need more pages and so she threw 5 more fights in as filler. Some of it was really cool like when the Carpathians posed as livestock to trick the bad lycans. Other than that the fights were too long. There was too much angst for me. Also, the end is a cliffhanger so if you hate them as much as I do... wait for the next book. Hopefully it is Dimitri's!



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Wicked as They Come (Blud #1) ★★★★☆

Wicked as They Come by Delilah S. Dawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tish says it perfectly: "Amazing, the weird mix of technology and anachronism in this world." I love steampunk so I found the clockwork pets and all the doodads in Sang enchanting. I'm also big on authors that do vampires different from the norm. Well, in Sang vamps are very different. They're actually considered bludmen. But it doesn't stop there! There's also bludbunnies, bludmares, bludstags, ect. I could go on and on about how much I loved Sang. But I'll let you decide for yourself instead of giving everything away.

If you read the Carniepunk anthology you are at least familiar with Criminy and the traveling sideshow. He does actually mention the locket in that short story "The Three Lives of Lydia." Charlie Dreggs is in this book but his short love affair with Lydia is not mentioned in the book.

The story is about Tish and Criminy. Tish finds a locket at an estate sale, wears the locket to bed and wakes up in Sang. Criminy claims to have called her from her world and is in love with her from the get go. Although I loved the world I found the relationship between them a bit taxing. Will she or won't she? What will she do? Meanwhile Criminy falls all over her constantly. I loved Criminy and highlighted a lot of his lines in the book. While I understand Tish's issues love is not easy to come by and when someone like Criminy falls at your feet you go for it! But alas, it all ends well I suppose. There were some surprises I didn't expect near the end.

I thought it ended the way it did to leave room for a second book with Tish and yet when I looked it is actually Casper's book. That's an awesome surprise! There are also a couple short stories that I will definitely read. If you like steampunk, vampires, or stories where the herione is whisked off to another world you'll love Blud.



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One Lucky Vampire (Argeneau #19) ★★★★☆

One Lucky Vampire by Lynsay Sands
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For those of you who have read previous Argeneau books and are now thinking "who on earth is Jake Colson?"... Think back to book 5 A Bite to Remember when Vincent Argeneau used his one turn on his mortal cousin that had been stabbed. Stephano Notte is Jake Colson or vice versa? If you are worried that you need to re-read book 5 again, no fear, Lynsay Sands fills in all the blanks quite nicely. I really enjoyed this book. I am a bit biased as the Argeneau series in one of my favorites. I love reading about characters in previous books and I especially love Marguerite. My only complaint is the book seemed a bit short. I am disappointed that it's over already. Now I have to wait and wait for the next book!

The cool thing about this book was it was a bit of a mystery as well as a romance. That was a nice surprise. Kind of a "who done it". Trust me, you'll think you have it all figured out but you won't. I loved Nicole, she was very sweet. Jake was great too. Also in this book quite a bit are Jake's cousins Dante and Tomasso Notte. I'm hoping they get the next book. I believe they are twins. I thought they were funny. Especially when they kept calling Jake Pinocchio. The romance was a whirlwind as usual with the Argeneau books. I never mind because there are always obstacles and they make it interesting. All in all in was what I have come to expect and why I love these books so much.

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Xander's Chance (Damian Eternal #1) "War of Gods" saga ★★☆☆☆

Xander's Chance by Lizzy Ford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

First of all let me make sure you understand this book is not the first book in a series as you might think by looking at the Goodreads page. It is a spinoff of another series. A series I did not read and would highly recommend that you read before you read this book. I ended up reading reviews for the other books trying to understand who people were and what was going on but even with that I was so confused for most of the first part of the book. The reviewers who have read the other series seemed very pleased with the way things turned out in this book.

I would say I enjoyed 20% of this book. I liked the by-play between Xander and Jessie. Other than that I didn't like Jessie much. Her decisions didn't make sense to me. I was angry at her through the whole last part of the book. I didn't understand why Xander was an actor and how it really fit into the rest of everything. Yes, Xander the vampire is a famous actor. That plot actually sounds like something I'd really enjoy. Famous actor and temp assistant who doesn't know he's an actor who he cannot sense with his vamp powers. But it didn't fit with the rest of everything going on. I really wanted to like this book but other than the short courtship between Jessie and Xander I had to force myself to read.

Despite this review I do plan to read the other series because I think I would have liked this book a whole of a lot better had I read that.

**Book provided for review from NetGALLEY**

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