How To Marry a Millionaire Vampire (Love at Stake, Book 1) (edition 2005)

Good story, funny vampire universe, but very close-minded human hunters in this one. I can never understand when characters in books will think that ALL *insert species or ethnicity here* are bad. There are good and bad people everywhere, but that's not an excuse to want to get rid of ALL people belonging to one group.

I loved Shanna, and felt very bad for Roman, he's had to deal with his guilt for so very long.

Shanna's father is the very close-minded hunter, who thinks that Shanna is strong enough to join his team who are not able to be mind-controlled by vampires, but he still feels that Roman must have somehow been able to control her anyway, since she loves him and wants to marry him... double standard is his middle name.

I think there's good groundwork for a good series, and I look forward to reading more Love at Stake books. ( )

Nothing very special. Maybe I will read next book in series, but I do not have that yearning that stays after good book that you have to find out what happens to the characters right now.
I liked the glimpses of vampire world. Like different kinds of blood or vampire television. When Roman confused name of that tv reporter with fake breasts, was one of the only scenes that was really funny to me.
Also some side characters were very interesting to me. Scottish bodyguards are very cute. And Roman's harem has some interesting characters, I am interested to learn their stories. Probably they will be told in some next book.
All in all, everything seems more interesting than main characters and their love story. Roman is somehow not very attractive too me. Whole tortured ex-monk thing was just annoying me... ( )

Transferred from my spreadsheet to Goodreads

Roman was a sixteenth century monk before he became a vampire. In the ensuing five hundred years, he has remained pretty monkish: trying to make the world a better place, and dedicating himself to the science of healing. Which is how he came to invent synthetic blood, which is how he became a corporate magnate, which is how he became filthy rich. Yes, he is kind of a broody, despairing vampire; but he is broody like a monk with a hairshirt. There's no actual bad behavior, just lots and lots of hating himself.

The synthetic blood was invented 18 years before the opening of "How to Marry..." and since then, Roman hasn't bitten a single living thing. He loses his tooth when he tests out a blood-filled suck-toy (in the form of a naked woman); it's been so long since he used his fangs that one just falls out.

Shanna is pretty uptight. She's in the witness protection program because she witnessed a mob hit and testified against the killers. She accepts Roman's help because it's better than being knocked off by the Russian mafia, but she hates it every step of the way. Shanna is constantly finding reasons to accuse this painfully moral vampire of aiding her for various nefarious purposes; and then, once she can't keep believing that he is evil, she moans and groans about how a relationship with a vampire will never work. In the process, she helps reinforce all of Roman's self-loathing issues.

Shanna insists from the beginning that what she wants is a normal life - a normal job, a normal husband, a big house with a white picket fence, and a dog. And she is unwilling to deviate from this image, or reconsider it. She can honestly be standing right in front of Roman (nice, hunky, madly in love with her, a scientific genius, a CEO) and complain that he is not a normal man who lives in a suburban detached home.

Frankly, I hated Shanna. I thought she was awful. She is selfish, inconsiderate, and hurtful. She is prissy and moralizing. She makes Roman beg for her attention, and it was painful to read scene after scene where she makes him grovel and abase himself in order to win her good graces.

I don't have any opinion on whether this book is objectively good or bad. My personal reaction to it was much too negative. ( )

Read for Fun! (kindle)
Overall Rating 4.25
Character Rating: 4.50
Story Rating: 4.00

Quick Review (Holiday Break Read): This was a fun beginning to the series. I think Kerrelyn did a great job of introducing her world (fun, fiesty, and misunderstood good vamps) without beating us over the head with too much information. I laughed quite a bit!