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Stakes & Stilettos by Michelle Rowen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I was on a roll last night, and I also finished reading Stakes & Stilettos by Michelle Rowen. It's the 4th book in her "Immortality Bites" series of lite paranormal, featuring newly-turned vampire Sarah Dearly.

Sarah is still mourning the loss of her normal life, which makes her determined to attend her class reunion. There, she encounters a powerful witch, who curses Sarah for being a mean girl to her back in high school. Sarah is now a nightwalker--the worst kind of vampire there is. Her new incarnation makes her a danger to everyone, even those she loves. Sarah is determined to break the curse, no matter the cost. In the meantime, she has more than one encounter with the Red Devil, a legendary, masked vampire thought dead more than a century ago. Sarah's love interest, Thierry, thinks the Red Devil is an imposter, but Sarah isn't so sure. Nor is she sure what a future with Thierry may look like. He's still married to Veronique, and while Thierry would like to annul the marriage, Veronique is being stubborn. It's all enough to make a fledgling vampire cry.

While I enjoyed this book for the most part, it ended without any resolution. None whatsoever. Absolutely nothing was resolved. Douse me with lemon juice and call me bitter. At least I warmed up a bit to Thierry in this one, and I knew who the Red Devil was all along. Called it!

Favorite lines:
♦ They always talk about love at first sight. They never mention seething dislike at first sight.
♦ "We're still together. Even though everybody and their pet rabbit thinks we're doomed." // "Who thinks we're doomed?" // "Everybody. And their pet rabbit."

Once again, what would have been a rating of four stars is getting knocked down to three for that shoddy ending.

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.

Two weeks ago (eep!) I finished Bitten and Smitten by Michelle Rowan. It was the first book in a series about Sarah Dearly, all-around Girl Friday, who gets bitten by her blind date and turned into a vampire. Unfortunately for Sarah, her Sire is immediately killed by vampire hunters, leaving her clueless about her new lifestyle.

Sarah meets master vampire Thierry, and he steps in to help her. Thierry has issues of his own, however, such as the desire to end his endless existence.

Throughout the book, Sarah tries desperately to cling to her old life even as she must learn to accept and adapt to her new one. Along the way, she must dodge vampire hunters, deal with her growing attraction to Thierry, and oh yes, attend her cousin's wedding.

I do have more of the books in this series, and I am looking forward to reading them.

Four stars