Sex and the Single Vampire by Katie MacAlister

Despite years of trying, Allie Telford hasn’t managed to summon a single spirit, so she traveled to England, famous for its haunted buildings, to try one last time. When she visits a haunted inn looking for a ghost, she stumbles across a man bleeding to death from a hundred stab wounds and when she turns around for a moment, he disappears. Later she attends a book signing to get an autograph for a friend and meets Christian J. Dante for the second time, this time without the blood. Soon she learns that Christian is a Dark One without a soul and only she can save him. With Dante is deeply involved in an elemental battle between good and evil and needing the support that only his Believed can give him, will Allie be able summon her powers to save him before it’s too late.

This story is set in the same world as A Girl’s Guide to Vampires and features many of its key characters. There’s a lot of action as Christian’s quest is revealed as well as giving a bigger glimpse of Katie’s mystical world. If you love dark vampire books with a touch of humor, you should definitely add this one to your list.

Details: Dorchester, March 2004

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

A Girl’s Guide to Vampires by Katie MacAlister

While on vacation in Europe, Joy Randall decided to accompany her best friend, Roxy on a side trip to the Czech Republic to meet her favorite author. There she met someone with whom she could spent the rest of her life. Then she learned she was the Beloved of a creature she never believed existed – a vampire. To complicate matters, the vampire is accused of a murder he didn’t commit. Now while Joy races to save the innocent Dark One, she finds herself forced to choose between a life with a man who makes her feel complete or an immortal life with a vampire.

While a little dark for my tastes, humorous situations abound making this book a worthwhile read. I loved the characters in this book, especially the two men vying for Joy’s attention. I also loved the way that Katie managed to keep Joy confused about the men in her life, right up until the very end of the story. All in all a great read and one that I think you’ll enjoy.

Details: Dorchester, November 2003

Excellence Rating: Great

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Calamity Jayne Goes To College by Kathleen Bacus

Tressa Jayne Turner’s boss agrees to make her a full-time reporter, but only if she goes back to college and study journalism. But there’s more to Tressa’s life than just college classes. Things like shedding those last few pounds to fit into her maid of honor dress and dealing with a grandmother who’s love life is out of control. But these pale in comparison to following a campus crime spree that's following the lecture notes for an Introduction to Criminal Justice. As the crimes escalate from littering to assault, can Tressa find the guilty party before the professor starts teaching about murder?

This book is missing some of the charm of Kathleen’s earlier stories. Gone were most of the blonde jokes along with most of the sexual tension between her and the two officers of the law that are vying for her attention. However, Kathleen did bring back many of the characters from per previous books and I loved the humor in the campus crimes. So if you’re a fan of Tressa “Calamity” Jayne, you need to read this book, but I hope Kathleen will go back to the style she used in her earlier books.

Details: Dorchester, April 2007

Excellence Rating: Pretty Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Learning Curves by Gemma Townley

While Jennifer Bell’s mother is a champion of the environment, her father helps big businesses destroy the planet. This difference eventually lead to their divorce years ago. Now Jen’s mother wants Jen to infiltrate her father’s business to uncover his latest plot by posing as a student in the MBA program sponsored by her father’s business. At first, Jen feels out of place with all the future ruthless business leaders, but then she meets Daniel Peterson. With the help of Daniel, Jen slowly realizes that not all businesses are bad and finally speaks with her father for the first time since the divorce. Now can Jen bring an end to the war between her parents or will Jen find herself consumed by her parents hatred for each other.

While there is a lot of romance for a chick-lit novel, main story revolves around Jen’s relationship with her parents and how it evolves over the course of the book. Her romance with Daniel is relatively independent of the main story, but it does make the book a lot more interesting. I loved the humor that Gemma used throughout the book and found it a very good read. If you’re into chick-lit and romance, then you really should read this book.

Details: Ballantine Books, April 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Animal Instincts by Gena Showalter

After escaping a particularly nasty divorce, Naomi Delacroix is working hard to establish her new party planning business when she gets a call from the multi-millionaire Royce Powell. Royce hopes his scheme to hire Naomi to plan a surprise party for his mother will give him the opportunity to learn more about the woman he fell in love with at first sight. While Naomi hasn’t met Royce before, she’s flattered by his attention. But she can’t fathom why Royce’s mother is running ads for a bride for her son and doesn’t want to compete with the hundreds of women who are filling out applications by the hundreds. To make matters worse, Royce is a controlling person just like her ex which leaves Naomi uncertain about any long term relationships with the man. Now can Naomi overcome her fears or will Royce have to settle for one of the hundreds of other women vying for his attention?

Unlike Gena’s other books, this one is well grounded in reality – or maybe I should just state that this one doesn’t have a paranormal aspect. It’s a very cute story, filled with conflict within Naomi that she needs to resolve before she can accept another man into her life. I loved the way she painted some of the scenes in the book. For instance, early in the book there was a line of women waiting to apply for a role as Royce’s wife and Naomi remained completely clueless about what was going on. The rest of the book is filled with the same sort of quirky humor. So if you're looking for something a little different, I think this story is sure to bring a smile to your face.

Details: HQN, April 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy

Be Still My Vampire Heart by Kerrelyn Sparks

By day, Emma Wallace locates vampires for CIA’s Stake-Out team, but by night Emma pretends to be a juicy snack to lure vampires into her clutches and then kill them. But when Emma actions pose a threat to the Romatech Industries and their efforts to fight the malcontents who refused to feed from bagged blood, it becomes Angus MacKay’s to stop her. At first, Emma is impressed by the sexy Highland warrior, but when she learns that Angus is really a vampire, she knows that he needs to die. For the first time in hundreds of years, Angus is attracted to a woman and refuses to do anything that might harm Emma. Now can Angus convince Emma that all vampires are not created equal or will Angus wake up early one evening with a stake in his heart.

This is the third story in Kerrelyn’s vampire universe and just as good as the previous ones. Unfortunately, many of the characters carry over from the previous stories so you may want to read them before jumping into this story. While this story is a bit darker than her previous stories, Kerrelyn managed to prevent Avon from stripping all of the humor from the story. So while this one isn’t a good as the original How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire, it’s still worth reading.

Details: Avon, April 2007

Excellence Rating: Very Good

Steaminess Factor: Yummy