Because Your Vampire Said So

A human Paranormal investigator finds herself caught in the middle of a paranormal battle saved by a vampire and kissed by a dragon lady before her death. *That was only the first day. She is taken by the "others" to be studied, she seems to have collected some of the dragons powers and her vampire savior did as well. There is an extreme lust going on between the two, it flaming things up in smoke. She remains a captive, while danger surrounds the compound. One dragon wants her powers, and another dragon carries an evil ancient who wants the Queen dead. Yes, a whole lot of wanting people dead going on. The two lust birds keep lusting and everything marches on to a torched ending.
I did not enjoy this one as much as the previous books. It show more just was too easy of a love match for me. I like more strife and struggle. I did find myself chuckling again, which it what I love about this series. show less

Michelle Bardsley's Because Your Vampire Said So is the third book in a series about Broken Heart, Oklahoma: new center of paranormal activity and home to a ton of vampires and lycanthropes.

Patsy is all that's best about 'white trash'. She lives in a double-wide trailer behind her salon. She's haunted by the ghosts of chain-smoking Dottie and her own grandma (who died with one hand clutching the arm of a slot machine). When scared she's more likely to sass back than whimper in fear. And when it comes to her son Wilson, she's a mama bear ready to rip the head off of anyone who hurts him---including him.

This book has flaws. The chemistry between the heroine and her opposite takes too long to develop (though at least it does develop), and show more the book doesn't stand alone as well as most such series books do. The character that shows up to teach Patsy about her powers is really nothing more than a passing plot device, which is jarring.

Normally I'd give a lower rating to a book with this many flaws, but the truth is that there's so much hilarity in this book, so much delightful, imaginative fun, that I couldn't bring myself to do so this time.

For a longer version of this review, visit Errant Dreams. show less

Because Your Vampire Said So features Patsy, a single mother, and newly turned vampire that is the town hair dresser. But even though she is part of the undead crowd, she still has to deal with her teenage son that is growing further and further apart from her. And there is an evil ancient vampire that is causing trouble for all of the Broken Heart residents. Before Patsy knows it she is being targeted by that ancient vampire and her savior comes in the form of a shapeshifter named Gabriel. It looks like there is going to be a huge supernatural showdown.

I'm going to state once more how much I enjoyed the first two books in this series. I feel that it is important to say because I don't want my review of this book to come off as too show more negative. So let's start off with my dislikes. I disliked Patsy. Immensely. To be quite honest it seemed to me that the author created a stereotypical character and in the worst way. Patsy was a "country loving" hairdresser who lives in a trailer, has an alcoholic ex, and comes across as uneducated as she doesn't like to read. I mean, really? Could you throw any more stereotypes into one character? Oh but you can if you listen to the way Patsy talks with "Whoo-wees" and crap like that. She never once believed in herself and her character didn't have much depth which is unfortunate as she is the main character. The storyline itself had potential but fell flat. I think (and of course this is my opinion) that this was because the author didn't flesh it out enough. There were a few times that I was reading where all of a sudden I would feel like I missed something so I would go back and reread. I didn't miss anything...the details just weren't there. I wanted more about the Ancients, more about the prophecy, just more in general that would have made the story better. My final dislike was the relationship between Patsy and Gabriel. They were just thrown together with no actual building of their relationship. It was more of attraction, sex, and we're in love forever. Seriously? The whole point of a romance is to root for the couple and I didn't care about this couple getting together at all. The sex scene itself was just shoved into the story and I had to stop and say WTF? It didn't fit for me at all.

Wow, after reading all of that back it makes it seem like I hated this book but I really didn't. I flew through it in just two short days which doesn't happen all that often. I really thought the story itself had a lot of potential but it just didn't get there. And I was glad to see the characters from previous books included within this story as well. I was just disappointed to not have enjoyed this one more. All in all, a read that was ok but I would definitely recommend starting with the first book in this series instead of this one. show less

Having never read Ms. Bardsley before, I picked this title up in a local thrift store. I had run out of things to read by my favorite authors and thought I'd give her a shot. I was pleasantly surprised! Not only did I read the book cover to cover, but I immediately wanted to read all of her other books. Within a week, I had finished the series (or at least what she's written of it so far).

If you're into vampire romance and into humor, you should definitely give this series a try. I laughed until I cried, wanted to strangle a character or two, and ended the book with a satisfied feeling. What more can you ask for?

This was humorous and the plot hung together mostly. The written histories of the ancients are interesting and help the story along. The "banishment to the place between" came out of nowhere and was never explained unless I seriously missed it, and it thoroughly bugged me that it hadn't been given a theoretical base in the story. Blew the credibility way off! I wasn't a big fan of the heroine, she had a warm heart but was more than a bit cliche. I haven't read the first book yet, only the 2nd and this one, so maybe I'll understand her better after reading the first book, but I kind of doubt it.

Addendum: The banishment was explained in the first book. I still think it a weakness that it wasn't mentioned again in this one before putting show more it to use. And it seems like an awfully big hammer to get characters out of trouble with all the time. show less

I enjoyed this book. However, if you haven't read "Don't Talk Back to Your Vampire" and "I'm The Vampire, That's Why", you won't find it quite as funny. This series of vampire novels are hilarious. They feature the stories of working single mothers whose town of Broken Heart, Oklahoma suffered an attack by rogue vampires. The Consortium (good vamps) came in on the heels of the rogues and saved those they could. Now Broken Heart is the first ever paranormal town.

I find these hilarious because they deal in situations that all Moms face, single parents or no. If you become a vampire, who takes your kids to school? If your teenager wants to become a vamp, do you let them? What's the right 'turning age'? What supernatural creature would show more want to work at the grocery store that you still need for the kids' food? What do you do if your daughter wants to date a real wolf, well...werewolf, that is?

You see what I mean? Reading about these Moms as they try to carry on is like "I Love Lucy" meets "Dracula". How can you not love that? show less

What I Loved: I am really digging this world setup in Broken Heart. While these books are definitely fun and campy, they do manage to bring light to some very important topics: 1rs book-infidelity, 2nd book-teenage pregnancy, and this one Drug/Alcohol addiction. Michele has done a wonderful job of mixing the humor, vamp/werewolf/hybrid goodness, and some awareness in her books. Plus, she mentions the show Supernatural in this book (great taste there LOL)

What I Liked: I really enjoyed all the secondary characters in this book! They were well rounded and a joy to read. I also adored seeing the characters that we have come to love and the continuation of the storyline of Broken Heart, OK.

Complaints? I really wish that either Patsy or show more Gabriel would have been introduced a little more in the first two books. I enjoyed their love story but it wasn't as catching as the first two romances in the series.

Why I gave it a 3: I really enjoyed this book but it was my least favorite of the first 3. In the beginning, I just couldn't warm up to Patsy/Gabriel, I though she had a bigger connection to D. That being said by the end I loved them together.

Who I would recommend this too: Fans of the first 2, PNR readers that can handle a little lightness, and Chick-Lit readers that can handle a little PNR. show less