Book 44, 2022

[chez_jae]

Fanged & Fabulous by Michelle Rowen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I finished the book Fanged & Fabulous during my lunch break yesterday. It's the second installment in the "Immortality Bites" series by Michelle Rowan. The main character is Sarah Dearly, newly-turned vampire. I read the first installment, once upon a time, but it's been so long ago that it took a bit to get into this one.

Sarah is still trying to come to terms with being a vampire, but she has bigger issues to contend with. After she killed a vampire hunter who was trying to murder her, Sarah seems to have been credited with the deaths of other vamp hunters, earning her the nickname and reputation as 'Slayer of Slayers'. As a result, one of the most feared vampire hunters in the world is coming for her. Sarah's kinda-sorta boyfriend, 600-year old Thierry, seems to be distancing himself from her, she now has bodyguards, someone torched her apartment, and there's still the minor detail of informing her parents that she's now a vampire. It's a good thing Sarah is both resilient and resourceful, because it's going to take everything she has to keep herself and those she loves alive.

I'd label this as more paranormal-lite than a paranormal romance. There just wasn't that much 'romantic' about it. Thierry doesn't treat Sarah very well, and everyone keeps telling her they're all wrong for one another, but she's in love. Blah. Her near-childish infatuation with Thierry was rather tedious, in my opinion, but then I'm old enough to be Sarah's mother. Thierry refuses to acknowledge Sarah as a romantic partner, he's "too busy" to spend any time with her, and he's still married! But hey, he's so haaaaandsome. Good grief. Quinn, another new vampire, was a better match for Sarah. He dotes on her, and he's handsome, too. Frankly, it was maddening how the author created such a perfect match for Sarah yet had her ignore him in favor of Methuselah. In spite of how irksome the 'romance' portion of the book was, the story was fun and humorous.

Favorite lines:
♦ Jogging is great exercise. Running for your life--even better.
♦ I didn't need hunters. I could probably kill myself by accident before too long. I could hear the hunters discussing it over a beer. "Yeah, she fell on a sharp pencil while doing a crossword puzzle. It was spectacular!"
♦ "Wait a minute," Barkley said. "What about me? Who's going to take me out for a walk later?" // I glanced at him. "Seriously?" // He shrugged. "It's okay. George is here. He'll take care of me." // George looked at him. "You're not gay, are you?" // "Not the last time I checked." // "I hate my life."
♦ "I'm a sucker for big and brawny. And you can take that sentence any way you want to."

I wish I could award 3 1/2 stars. Hm...I'll be kind and round up to a four.