Runaway Vampire

Like most, Mary's life had been a series of ups and downs. Now a widow, Mary decides to take one last trip in her RV but the memories of the trips that she took with her husband haunt her so much that she decides to return home early, making a stop at friends RV park. Mary had believed that the trip would be uneventful but that immediately changes when she accidentally runs over Dante Notte, who is on the run from kidnappers.

Dante is only looking to find help for himself and his brother Tomasso and doesn't expect when he is run over by Mary's RV that he has met his life mate - the one person who he can let his guard down around and love forever, With the danger closing in around them, Dante must somehow convince Mary that he is an show more immortal and that they are meant to be together, all while keeping her safe from the kidnappers who may target her to get to him.

Those who are new to this series, will have no problem following along with the romance between Dante and Mary because Sands takes care to explain who and what immortals are, along with her concept of life mates. For longtime readers, Sands does take the time to bring back Lucien the leader of the Immortals and since this is Dante's story, it's a return to the Notte twins. I would have liked to have seen more of the Immortals that we have been introduced to this far.

I really liked that fact that Mary is 62 and had lived a full life. It's not often that mature women are presented as sexual beings and Sands left absolutely no doubt what Mary wanted from the moment she spied the very naked Dante. This is the second book in this series in which Sands has gone out of her way to pair her handsome Immortal with an older woman and I love it. Mary is also not a woman to be played with and unfortunately has a very tragic backstory. It is however problematic that Sands heavily implies that had Tomas not entered Mary's life that she was destined to be a lonely old woman living in a one bedroom apartment with her dog. I don't understand why Sands would go to such lengths to make a strong, sexual woman and then turn around and have her being content to just wilt away. It absolutely belies just how vital women can be at all ages.

Runaway Vampire, while focusing on the romance between Mary and Dante also served as a set up for the next book which will clearly feature Tomasso finding his life mate in Venezuela. To some degree, this left the story feeling unfinished. I understand that the point of each book is to bring a couple together but I've always felt that there should be more to even paranormal romance books than the coupling, particularly when they are as long running as the Argeneua series.

One of my long running complaints about this world is that despite the length of the series, we have only recently been introduced to the idea that LGBT immortals exist and until Runaway Vampire, we haven't actually met any of them. One would hope that after waiting so long to introduce gay characters to her series and the homophobia that Sands has engaged in in the past, that inclusion would be a step forward but alas, that was not to be the case.

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Runaway Vampire

The Characters:

Dante Notte
Mary Winslow

The Story:

HOW COULD SHE LEAVE ME ON A CLIFFHANGER!?! Okay so Mary and Dante’s story is complete but the whole Tomasso situation is up in the air and I NEED to know what happens.

It’s no lie I already love this series. Dante has been a gentle giant that has deserved his Happily Ever After for many years and I’m so glad he’s found Mary. Their story was so engrossing that I actually had dreams about being in an RV. I love the overall story arc that we are climbing. This is a solid hit for me from the Argeneau family.

The Random Thoughts:

4 Stars

This was pretty good, plenty of moments to have you laughing out loud and as always tons of fun. However, I felt like the last three books of this series have started to kind of drag along every so slightly. I get the sense that there are some things (particularly the sex scenes) put in the story because they HAVE to be there not because they advance the plot. I don't find them as enjoyable as earlier stories for this reason. Now maybe that's me, but it feels kind of like there is some difficulty coming up with ways of keeping these key elements fresh and unique for each story. As a reader of the series it may be that I've read the "meaning of lifemate" speech so many times that it feels that way to me and it may not come off that way show more to a new reader. All the same I loved the new spin with an older love interest. THAT was definitely fresh and tons of fun! show less

Mary Winslow is on a roadtrip in her RV, probably her last ever road trip, last year her husband died and now she's trying to find some future plans. Her kids are all grown up and moved on with thier lives and she's retired and trying to find a future. She doesn't expect to run over a man, a naked handsome man, who sounds a bit insane but there are people chasing them.

It's a romp of a read, the characters are pretty predictable but it kept me reading well past my bedtime.

I thoroughly enjoyed Runaway Vampire. It was light and funny. Just enough adventure and romance for a fun read. Mary is 62 and a widow, wondering what her future is going to be like all alone. Until she runs into Dante. Literally! With her RV. And that is where the grins, romance and the adventure begins. Dante is hot and sexy and showing way to much skin for Mary's comfort but great for making me laugh. Both characters and their relationship are well represented and even the sex scenes fall prey to humor.
Although Mary is not the first older woman in the Argeneau series that an Immortal has fallen in love with and turned, it is the first book in the series that is entirely about an older woman becoming the Life Mate of an Immortal.

I finished Runaway Vampire, by Lynsay Sands: I absolutely loved it. The storyline fills fresh. I adore Dante & Mary. 5 stars!

It is hard to believe this is the 23rd Argeneau book.

I really enjoyed Runaway Vampire and I have to say it did not hurt that Dante was buck ass naked for quite a bit of the story.

When widower Mary is taking one last trip in her RV from Texas to Canada with her beloved German shepherd she thinks she has hit something possibly a poor animal. She has no idea that a naked wounded Dante has climbed into her RV while escaping from his captors.

I love the interaction between the soon to be couple. It is quite endearing, to see Mary feel like a pervy cougar and that Dante sees past Marys insecurities of an older woman to show more see the life loving possible lifemate.

In the search for the twin Dante had to leave behind and the need to keep his newly found love safe the couple find themselves in quite a few harrowing situations.

The ending left me anticipating the 24th installment which has to be Dantes twin brother Tomassos story who is still in the hands of his captors.

I say bring it!!!

I love hardcover books Runaway Vampire is available in mass-market paperback, Kindle, and hardcover! show less

I've read some of the Argeneau novels by Lynsay Sands and enjoyed a lot of them, but some are just not my cup of tea and Runaway Vampire is in that number.
Mary is an older widow who just isn't that nice or interesting. Dante is great and the only thing that really saves the book. The romance between them was just silly (and uncomfortable to read), and was too conveniently resolved. The cliffhanger ending didn't make me want to read the next book. This book dragged and there was a lot of backstory that has been done over and over in the other books that filled a lot of pages, making the story here even flimsier. Not the best of the series by any means.