Tall, Dark, and Vampire by Sara Humphreys
Series: Dead in the City #1
Publication date: August 6th, 2013
Pages: 317
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Synopsis (according to Goodreads):
He's dying to have her...
She always knew Fate was cruel...
The last person Olivia Hollingsworth expected to see at her Greenwich Village vampire club was her one true love, Doug Paxton--whom she believed to be dead for centuries. Olivia thought she had moved on, but when Doug reappears, her heart knows she'd rather die than lose him again.
But this is beyond the pale...
Ever since Doug can remember, a red-haired siren has haunted his dreams. He never thought she could be real until he goes to investigate a murder at Olivia's night club. However, as the bodies keep piling up at her feet, he might fight to prove her innocence--even if it costs him his life...
Available at:
Review:
With my new segment, Random Reads, I don't get much choice out of what books I get to read. I go with what the fates deem I am to read and review at that particular time. Sometimes it works out well, other times... Well... I have never been one of those reviewers to sugar-coat or mince words. I offer constructive criticism and even ways, I feel, would improve on the story or book format. However, those kind of reviews can be draining, I needed something I had a feeling would be a guaranteed winner. A book I could relax into and not have to put my wannabe editor cap on when delving between it's pages. I knew Sara Humphreys could possibly provide that for me in my hour of need with her book Tall, Dark, and Vampire.
Olivia was content in her life as it stood. She had her family of rescued pup vampires, her favorite familiar who was practically her son, and her German Shepherd protector, Van Helsing. She even had a dream lover to keep her warm at night. Forgetting the fact that vampires don't dream, Olivia revels in the fact she is being visited by, who she thinks, is the ghost of her dead lover and accepts that the only steamy nights she will be having are ones where she is unconscious. But one night, she comes face-to-face with her dream lover and his face is all too familiar. How is he here among the living when she knew he had died 300 years ago. And why can't she seem to resist him? Even with a troop of rogue vampires threatening her coven's very existence she can't keep away from the sexy blonde cop. The same cop who is hot on the trail of the serial killer who happens to be savaging club goers and draining every drop of their blood.
Doug has never been able to keep a woman. He always feels a part of them is lacking and finds that committing to them is wrong on some fundamental level. There is only one woman who has held his attention and made his blood boil but she is a figment of his imagination... or so he thought. Olivia was the woman of his dreams, literally. But something is off about this dark temptress. A murderer is on the loose and it seems to frequent her club when selecting it's victims. Could she have a hand in it? Olivia definitely has secrets and Doug is just the cop to pull the confession out of her. Can Doug and Olivia find a way to cut through the sexual tension to save the human race from a pack of bloodthirsty vamps before it's too late?
In many ways I loved some of the originality of the story. With vampire books, almost everyone is doing the same type of thing. It's hard to really add much to it without completely corrupting what vampires are classically depicted as. I liked the vampire society aspect and also the new way of bonding that was at the forefront of the book. It moved at a good pace and was beautifully written. I think my problem is with the drama of the story. I kinda wish there had been more animosity between Olivia and Doug to make their coming together hold a lot more heat. It made the romance sweet but not overtly hot. This is not always a bad thing. It's a matter of preference. That is the only critic I can come up with for the book. It was an A+ across the board otherwise for me.
In conclusion, Sara Humphreys delivers another beautifully sweet story you can really sink your teeth into.
