This is a nice quick summer beach read kinda book. It sounds silly, but when I picked out this book I did not know it was a romance book. Anyway, it definitely is. The story is a fun love story complete with vampires who have a governmental system and registered vampire voters. With that said I did not find it too cheesy, I know some of you reading this may think that. I think that if you like vampires and romance books it would be something you may want to pick up for the pool or a light r...more This is a nice quick summer beach read kinda book. It sounds silly, but when I picked out this book I did not know it was a romance book. Anyway, it definitely is. The story is a fun love story complete with vampires who have a governmental system and registered vampire voters. With that said I did not find it too cheesy, I know some of you reading this may think that. I think that if you like vampires and romance books it would be something you may want to pick up for the pool or a light read. ( )

When thirty year old Alexis goes charging into the Ava, a casino owned by Ethan Carrick she could never have imagined that she would be rescuing her baby sister from the most handsome man she has ever met. To bad he thinks he is a vampire, but when a twist of fate as Alexis pretending to be his girlfriend she soon comes to realize that Carrick really is a vampire and maybe that really isn't such a bad thing.

Ms. McCarthy has penned a hilarious novel about the lives of vampires living in Las Vegas. With a laugh on almost every page Ms. McCarthy's High Stakes moves along at a swift pace and never fails to make you laugh out loud. The chaaracters are complex and refreshing in this story about vampire love and it's a love that sizzles right off the page. I am eager to start the next book in this amazing series and ready for all new laughs. ( )

Alexis Baldizzi charges in to rescue her sister Brittany from Ethan Carrick, a vampire politician in Las Vegas. She finds herself attracted to him and finds that she has a very complicated reaction to him and isn't sure what to do about being attracted to a man who is many centuries older than her and survives on a diet of blood.

It's lighthearted and fun. Light but enjoyable. ( )

Oh, is this a fun book. The cover is a tad misleading--as far as I can tell, none of the vampires in High Stakes turns into a bat--but it's eyecatching, and it does let you know that this is a comedy.

Prosecuting attorney Alexis Baldizzi is understandably alarmed when her dentist sister Brittany leaves her practice and moves into Ethan Carrick's casino. So, in true protective big sister fashion, she rides to the rescue.

Turns out that Carrick is a vampire--the vampire president, in fact, and he's running for election. Brittany, as an "impure" (offspring of a vampire and a mortal--she and Alexis have different fathers), will help him cinch the election once he marries her.

The problem is that Carrick's not really interested in sweet, traditionally beautiful Brittany, but he's smitten by Alexis's strength and (to put it nicely) womanly figure. Not to mention that in over 900 years, Alexis is the only woman to stand up to him.

I had a couple of minor problems with the story--at the beginning of the book, Brittany was so ditsy I had doubts she could get through high school, much less dental school. The character improved as the story went along, but that first impression took a while to fade. And the ending left some threads hanging that I wanted tied up.

But other than that, High Stakes is a fun, fast read, in a similar style to MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series. I really enjoyed the idea of democratic vampire politics, a nice change from the usual monarchy or dictatorship. The secondary characters were interesting and unusual--I particularly loved the serious campaign manager, the too-trusting secretary, and the outcast French vampire scientist.

Alexis's and Brittany's differing reactions to the revelation that vampires exist was also well done, I thought. Brittany figured it out on her own, and has decided to stay until she can find a way to save them. Alexis (again, in true big sister fashion) is less credulous, and believes for quite a long time that they're role-playing, or trying to con people like her sister, or dangerously deluded. ( )

I just don't get all the great reviews for this book. Its not a bad book. Its just not at all impressive. Alexis is a lawyer who meets a vampire/casino owner/president of the vampires named Ethan who is holding her sister Brittany. She trades herself for him and in a matter of seconds they go from hating each other, to bed together, to madly in love. The supporting characters too, were fairly unimaginitive. I felt this book boldly took ideas from Lydsay Sand's Argeneau vampire series including the idea of 'diabetic' flavored blood, among other things. Even for a romance it was heavy of the sexual innuendo. At a critical scene where his true love lay dying, all he can think is that he wants to jump her bones! Then the minute she comes too, she teases him for his obvious sexual 'interest' in her. This was just too much for me. I love cute, comical, romantic vampire novels. This just wasn't much of any of those things. The thin mysteries introduced were never in any way concluded and tons of questions are left unanswered. This is not the way to finish a book, even when its a part of a series. A series book should mostly wrap things up to leave the reader satisfied, and leave just a crumb or two of something interesting to keep us eagerly anticipating the next installment. Readable...thats about the best thing I can say for this story. Unfortunately I bought the second book at the same time so eventually I may still read that. ( )