A Girl's Guide to Vampires

Joy Randall is a little on edge. Her Wiccan friend Miranda has foretold that Joy will meet two men, and that choosing the wrong one will result in her eternal doom. Not that she believes in that sort of thing, but still it's pretty creepy. So is the claim that she may meet a vampire on her travels - which her buddy Roxy is completely excited about. Joy's skepticism soon gets a heavy blow when she starts seeing visions from a vampire - the first step of Joining. And while she's not really a fan of the idea of vampires, when one of her suspects is the extremely sexy security expert Raphael St. John...

Joy is feisty, funny and stubborn. While occasionally irrational (and aren't we all), she never crossed the line into Too Stupid To Live show more territory. I found her escapades hilarious, especially when she was describing her attraction to Raphael. The metaphor with the cheerleaders in her crotch holding a carwash to raise funds for a fieldtrip to his comes to mind. In case you couldn't tell from that, this novel never takes itself terribly seriously. I love that. It's clever and witty, and the chemistry between Raphael and Joy is completely smokin'.

While I personally am a big fan of humor during sex, it's not everybody's cup of tea. And this doesn't even take itself seriously during the love scenes. Not that they aren't sexy, but they definitely aren't serious and tender. My emotional stake in the outcome wasn't particularly high, but for light fun (yes, even with Dark Ones) plus a ton of plot twists, Girl's Guide is the way to go!

Also posted at my blog show less

The thing is, I don't like this series. I don't, I swear I don't. I think the premise is stupid, that each Dark One has a Beloved and only she can save him.

But, damn it, Katie MacAlister, I like your characters. I like your humor. And I like the found family trope that you work like you're Nora Roberts.

Check out my other listens at Eargasms Audiobook Reviews

Holy Hannah, that was a steamy fun read! It had plenty of laugh out loud light and funny moments mixed in with a fair amount of mystery.

I really enjoyed the story for the most part but was a touch disappointed by some of the events. I was also not always in love with the lead guy Raphael. He had some definite jerk moments I had a hard time getting past.

Loved, loved, loved Joy and Roxy! The dynamic between these two best friends is what really carries the story. Almost every interaction between the two will induce giggles if not out right guffaws! They were engaging and fun but not cartoony. They really were delightful!

The whole side story mystery was a touch on the dull side. I show more could have used a little more action there but it served it's purpose of holding the book together and making it more than just a romance.

Steamy!!!! Oh heck yes!! Once the two leads get together they kind of go at it like bunnies whenever they get a free moment!! Hot and heavy about covers it!!

I listened to the audiobook on this one and the narrator did a great job. I liked the voices and felt she did a fantastic job of giving distinct changes to each character's voice. I never had a moment when I doubted who was speaking. She also did a great job of conveying the emotions, enhancing the storytelling.

This is the first book in the series and while it doesn't have me hooked I am intrigued enough to try the next one. show less

This book reminded me a lot of backpacking through Europe. Random encounters, focusing on the other people you meet and kind of ignoring the sights, feeling thrilled by things that would bore you at home, looking for adventure in all the wrong places, not having enough changes of clothes.

However, the book ended up being kinda cheesy.

It opens with this Goddess summoning ceremony where a witch is helping Joy and Roxanne find true love. Roxanne is obsessed with a series of vampire novels and she is constantly making an ass of herself about them - first going to Hungary to hunt down the so-called "Dark Ones" and mooning over their tormented, romantic natures, and trying to explain the books and how true they are to everyone she meets... show more

She is also the reason why they end up spending the better part of their vacation in Hungary at a Goth Fair. This involves fighting off the attentions of a hammy faux-vampire and a whitefaced shrew, night after night.

At the beginning, during the summoning, Joy is warned that she'll have to pick between two men - one will lead her to happiness, the other to damnation. As long as I was curious about who that would be, I was glued to the book. When I figured it out, the book lost most of its thrills - at that point, it's just a matter of cleaning house, all the cards are on the table and there's still a third of the book left to go. I kind of had to trudge through the last bit.

This is not a very dark book. The vampires don't seem to do much other than search for their "Beloved" and there is a prescribed order in which the relationship between a vampire and his Beloved must progress. The thing is, what is the difference between a vampire who is totally absorbed in the search for his Beloved and a moony, generic romantic hero who is desperately longing for true love? Not much. Which may be fine - but if you are in the mood for vampire fiction, this may be a little unsatisfying.

I wavered on Joy too. Sometimes I liked that she was spunky and sarcastic. Other times I wondered if she knew how to have sex without talking about cheerleaders in her pants, and thought that she took her Informal American Charm a little too far, and slid into Ugly American territory - brash, a little thoughtless, pushy.

This is my second Kate Macalister book - the first was You Slay Me, the first Aisling Grey novel, and it was wonderful. Which is to say - a whole lot better. show less

This book is about a women and her friend traveling to a foreign country in search of the soul mates their witch friend predicted they would find. MacAlister's writing is smooth, witty, and freaking hilarious. I laughed out loud on so much of the dialogue and especially some of the monologue of the main character. The plot was strong, the romance was extra steamy, and the characters were wonderful. MacAlister has a strong command over vocabulary either, I loved the fact that she has written a romance that I didn't feel stupid reading. There is a reference to Christine Feehan's Carpathians in it as well which also made me laugh out loud. This book is definitely worth the read, as most likely the second one will be also. She will have you show more laughing and sighing through the book, I certainly was. show less

A refreshing blend of an ordinary realistic female who mixes up with a too-good-to-be-true mystery guy, a famous author, a closet-vampire, and a masquerading sexy vampire wannabe. This book has charm, sex appeal, plenty of humor that'll keep you rolling over and bursting out in chuckles when you don't expect it (don't read in a public place! ;D ) and biting your fingernails from the climactic finish. It'll keep you guessing from start to finish, whether its wonder in who is real, who is fake, and who is this mysterious man who seduces dreams?

There's an undertone of magic that plays between the lines, keeping you hoping that vampires exist, and some parts that just make you wonder if maybe someone is just completely insane.... 5/5!

The Good: The book has a light, chick lit like feel. It's an easy read and a decent mystery. While the romance grates, the sexy times are vividly described.

The Bad: Joy as a main character is just, ugh, disgraceful. She's not in control of her own mind, She believes something completely, then changes her mind on a whim - for whatever would work more t her favor. She doesn't believe in the true love summoning, yet does it anyway. She changes her vacation to join her friend searching for vampires to date even though she doesn't believe in vampires. Until she conveniently decides to believe in both vampires and true love summoning, because she wants Raphael to be her true love and a vampire to boot. She's wishy-washy, and I have no idea show more how she survives in the world at all. Plus, the insta-love? For real? At her age? C'mon man. show less