Forbidden Nights with a Vampire

I don’t know why I keep letting so much time pass between my reading of these Love at Stake books, because they’re nearly always perfect reads for me. Forbidden Nights with a Vampire was no exception. This one pairs Vanda and Phil, two characters I’m pretty sure have been on the canvas since the series began. Vanda is a former member of the Coven Master’s harem, while Phil works for MacKay Security and Investigation as a daytime guard, looking out for the vampires while they’re in their death sleep. These two have been attracted to one another for as long they’ve known each other, but Phil never would have dared break trust either with Vanda or his employer by giving in to her flirtation during those years. Now things are show more different, and he’s more than ready to pursue her. However, when he agrees to be her anger management sponsor, it throws another potential “forbidden” aspect into their relationship. But that’s nothing compared to them finding out that the evil Casimir has a list of Vamps he intends to kill and that Vanda is on it. Not to mention, things really start heating up with an escalation in the conflict with Casimir and the Malcontents. There’s a lot going on in this book to keep the reader engaged, and I loved every minute I spent reading it.

Vanda was born in Poland during the early part of the 20th century, which meant that when WWII started, she was right in the thick of things. After losing her entire family, being turned into a vampire, and fighting in the war, she was exhausted and sought out the peace and quiet offered by the harem of the Coven Master for the East Coast of the US. She spent decades there, but when Roman released all of the women in his harem, she started a new life as the owner of a male vampire strip club. While she was still in the harem, though, she met Phil, one of her guards, who definitely caught her eye, so she spent many nights flirting with him even though nothing ever came of it at the time. Now she finds herself the object of several lawsuits by her former employees alleging that she can’t control her temper. As a result, Roman rules that she must attend anger management classes, but no one will step up to sponsor her except Phil. Vanda doesn’t want a sponsor or classes, but Phil can be surprisingly persuasive and not easily driven away. He also saves her life more than once when one of the vindictive ex-employees comes after her. But the biggest threat comes from Casimir, the leader of the Malcontents, who will stop at nothing to see Vanda dead for her role in the killing of another high-ranking Malcontent. Prickly heroines like Vanda often don’t resonate with me, but Kerrelyn Sparks does an excellent job of showing how Vanda’s anger is a shield that protects her vulnerable heart. She lost everyone she ever cared about in the war, including a former love who was mortal, and since she believes that Phil, too, is mortal, she fears losing him as well if she allows herself to truly care about him. She also fears that if he finds out what she really did during the war, he’ll think she’s a monster. But Phil patiently chips away at that wall, showing her that they’re perfect for each other and that nothing need stand in their way. I ended up really liking Vanda, because she’s the perfect mix of a spunky heroine who doesn’t take crap from anyone and one who has sympathetic flaws and weaknesses that are easy to relate to.

After being banished from his pack for not falling into lock-step with his father’s demands, Phil went to work for MacKay S & I. While he was her guard, Vanda presented a delicious temptation, but one he was determined to resist. Now they’re both at different places in their lives. She’s no longer a harem girl, and he’s just returned to New York after a longterm assignment in Texas. When he witnesses Roman’s ruling and sees that nobody is stepping up to sponsor Vanda, he offers to support her, but it takes a lot of patience and persuasive skills to get her on board with it, two things that he possesses in abundance. As she slowly reveals bits and pieces of her past, Phil intuitively realizes why she is the way she is. But when she still tries to keep her heart locked up tight, he’s determined to break through, because he knows she’s his mate and he’s not going to let her get away this time. However, in addition to all the death threats against Vanda, she’s terrified of wolves. The Nazis sent them to chase her down during the war, so he isn’t quite sure how she’s going to react when she finds out that he’s no mere mortal. Phil is one of the most scrumptious romance heroes I’ve read in a while. He’s an alpha werewolf, who exerts his dominance when necessary, but at the same time, he’s kind, compassionate, and tender, the proverbial alpha with a heart of gold, which is my favorite kind. He’s also a delicious lover, always taking his time, even when he’s ostensibly giving the beast in him free-reign. I love how he’s so patient with Vanda, giving her time to come to terms with things, but not letting her hide from him. He also has an interesting backstory of his own and must come to terms with certain things related to his heritage. Phil was just an all-around dreamy hero who’s definitely earned a spot on my favorite heroes list.

When reading these books, I never cease to be amazed by how Kerrelyn Sparks manages to wrangle such a huge cast of characters and give them all a moment in the spotlight or at least a mention. Most of the past and future characters who have their own books are present in one way or another including: Roman and Shanna (How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire), the fearless leaders of the East Coast coven, and their adorable little ones, Constantine and Sophia; Austin and Darcy (Vamps in the City); Maggie, one of Vanda’s former harem sisters, and her husband, Pierce (A Very Vampy Christmas); Angus, owner of MacKay S & I, and his wife, Emma (Be Still My Vampire Heart); Jean-Luc and Heather (The Undead Next Door); Ian and Toni (All I Want for Christmas Is a Vampire); Jack and Lara (Secret Life of a Vampire), who celebrate their engagement with a big party; were-panther Carlos (Eat, Prey, Love); Connor (Vampire Mine); Gregori (Sexiest Vampire Alive); were-bear Howard (Wild about You); Vanda’s friend, business partner, and former harem member, Pamela (V Is for VampWoman); Dougal (The Vampire with the Dragon Tattoo), who loses something very important in this book; and Zoltan (How to Seduce a Vampire (Without Really Trying)). As a friend of Phil’s and a fellow employee of MacKay S & I, Phineas (aka Dr. Phang) plays a significant role and as always makes me laugh. In Wanted: Undead or Alive, he’ll be paired with Phil’s sister, Brynley, who we meet for the first time. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about Brynley. She helps in a lot of positive ways, but at the same time, she’s pretty prejudiced toward Vanda because she’s a vampire. I guess she’ll be getting some sort of awakening since she’ll be falling in love with one in the future. Last, but certainly not least is Robby, who goes through an ordeal in this book, so I’m very happy that he’ll be the hero of the next one, The Vampire and the Virgin. And that’s not even all of the supporting characters. We also get a visit with the colorful New Orleans coven, a group of misfit, teenage werewolves, the villainous Malcontents, and more. It would be easy to be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of characters present in this story, and yet, the author somehow manages to weave them all seamlessly into the narrative and also writes their dialogue in such a way that I can hear all of their different accents in my head as I’m reading, which is some masterful writing skills.

Overall, Forbidden Nights with a Vampire was another awesome read in this series. Vanda and Phil were both great characters who fit together perfectly like two pieces of a puzzle. Their romance is by turns emotional, tender, sweet, and smokin’ hot. The supporting characters added all the herbs and spices to create a flavorful story. Then there are the death threats against Vanda, which give the reader plenty of suspense and excitement. We also get some development to the series story arc with the escalation of the conflict with the Malcontents slowly turning into all-out war that I’m sure will play out over the books yet to come. I’m totally energized to pick up the next book, so I’ll have to remind myself not to wait so long next time around. I’m really looking forward to Robby’s story and all the rest, as well as seeing how things play out with the Malcontents. It all promises to be very exciting. show less

4.25 Stars

This one got more into the Vamp war and had less humor than the ones before it.
There is more suspense, twists & turns in this one.
The story flows fluidly, so it is fun and easy to read. I felt it got just a smidgen bogged in Vanda's past, but that is the only negative thing I can say about it.
Both Vanda & Phil where a lot of fun to get to know.
The romance parts were adult & steamy, but not overdone.
A great series I intend to continue to follow and read.

Kerrelyn Sprarks' seventh "Love At Stake" novel "Forbidden Nights with A Vampire" may just be the best since the debut installment. Sparks breaks slightly from her usual male vamp/female human pairing and offers up a delightful and engrossing tale of a female vamp, Vanda (who has anger issues) and is forced into anger management counseling. The only one to volunteer to sponsor Vanda is Phil, a werewolf who is employeed as a vampire security guard. Adding to the drama, Phil can't tell Vanda about his werewolf nature because she has a troubled past involving werewolves. The story has great moments of humor, including a couple of giggle out loud scenes. Vanda's vampire male-strip club and her legal woes provide some of the best comedic show more moments. Phil's security firm co-worker, Phineas "the love doctor" McKinney is always a charming, offbeat character but he provides stellar supporting entertainment as well. I hope Sparks continues to shine the spotlight on this guy. Paranormal Romance is a fun, but overdone genre and its hard to find something or someone truly original but Sparks has that here in Phineas. Vanda and Phil's back stories are well done and do a good job of making the readers know and care about the characters, both individually and as a couple. The Malcontent continuing sotry arc wasn't as strong as in the previous offering. All these 'near misses' with the leader, Casimir are getting predictable and tiresome. There needs to be a real resolution soon. The story also has some effective heart tugging feel good moments and I especially enjoyed the wonderful Epilogue. Some things happen throughout the book that appears random, but I am thinking we shall get an explanation in the follow ups. I also have to point out that I didn't care for the main cover, but I thought the 'cover' underneath with the picture of the girl and the rose was gorgeous. I wish that had been the main cover. Overall Sparks has done a great job keeping the series this much fun seven books in show less

Book 7
This book did not seem to make me laugh like the other books did. I guess it is because the books are getting more serious as the tension between the good vampires and the bad vampires builds but I miss the humor.
Vanda Barkowski has anger management issues and currently has three lawsuits pending in vampire court. They all get dropped as long as she goes through some anger management therapy. This is her second time going through it. When nobody else volunteers to be her anger management sponsor, Phil Jones decides to give it a try.
Phil has had feelings for Vanda for years but because she was a member of Roman Draganesti’s harem and one of the people he was in charge of guarding, he could never act on those feelings. Now, show more Vanda is no longer part of the harem since it disbanded and she is part owner of a Vamp male strip club. She loves her job and the freedom it gives her over her own life. She does not want help with her anger control because she knows it will dredge up old memories that she would rather keep buried.
Phil is an alpha werewolf but very few know about his secret. He doesn’t know the details but he knows Vanda hates wolves. When things heat up between him and Vanda, he knows he has to tell her the truth about himself but worries that it will ruin their relationship.
I liked these two together. They had chemistry and Phil was so patient with some of Vanda’s tantrums. I do have to admit something though. In previous books, I thought of Vanda as kind of a mule-headed woman with not much depth to her and I kept picturing her looking like Nicki Minaj with purple hair because of her cat suits.
Meanwhile, the war is on between the Vamps and the Malcontents. Casimir, the leader of the Malcontents bombed some of the Romatechs in the United States to try to curb the production of synthetic blood and force the Vamps to start feeding off mortals again. He thinks that Vamps will remember how much they liked it and come to his side. Someone in the book, I can’t remember who, says that the Malcontents like feeding off humans and are made up of evil beings who were evil even before they turned into vampires. The Vamps or good vampires are made up of peace loving beings so they have a bunch of wimps on their side.
There is a lot going on in the background stories and that is what makes these books so interesting. I am so devoted to the characters that I want to see what happens to them all.
I’ve already started reading the next book, The Vampire and the Virgin.

Book Cover – Who the heck are those two people on the front cover? Vanda has purple hair. The woman on the front has red. It looks like they just had a picture laying around and said, “Oh, let’s just slap this one on the cover. No one will notice.” The least they could have done was make the background or typography purple to somehow tie it to the book.
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The tone for this story was entirely different than the others. It could be because we are starting to get into some of the shifters stories but I just could not get into this book. I tried for half of it. I will try the next one just because I love this series and this author and I am hoping this one was just a fluke for me.

What a great book. This might be one of my favorites of the series so far. I love Vanda and her inner struggles. I've always loved Phil, even before I knew he was a shifter. As we go through the book and see Vanda cope with her anger and move forward I couldn't help but be proud of her as if she were a dear friend or relative. And I was SO happy for Phil when she gave in to him at last. The end brought tears to my eyes, what a great way to end her story.

I really like this series full of humor, exciting action and steamy scenes. I especially like it when the male falls in love first and has to overcome females resistance ... and she had a lot. Night club owner vampire Vanda is forced to go to anger management class and werewolf Phil volunteers as her sponsor.