One Good Book Deserves Another

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Love at Stake, Book 12
Rating: 1 Star
Length: 374 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle
Disclosure: An ARC of this book was provided to me through the Amazon Vine program. This rating, review, and all included thoughts and comments are my own.




Phineas McKinney has fought the good fight since Malcontents stole his life and turned him into a vampire. He's been rockin' the Love Doctor persona of Dr. Phang since then, making all the undead ladies happy, but after a few years of that, it's gotten kind of old. Phineas wants what so many of his friends have. Love. Family. Commitment.

It doesn't matter that his professional life is super sweet right now, or that all sorts of attention is rolling his way since he started doing the commercials for the vampire's newest fusion drink, Blardonney - half synthetic blood, half Chardonnay. That, on top of his security job, has set him up right. But he's still feeling that emptiness inside him. That need.

Going undercover on a job for MacKay Security and Investigation has him playing turncoat in the hopes of catching Corky Courrant, current leader of the remaining Malcontents. The setup was going well until the self-proclaimed Queen Corky got away from Phineas and the security team sent in to catch her. When fresh intel reaches the vampires about Corky's possible location, Phineas heads to Wyoming to try to track her down.

Problem is, Phineas is a city vamp, born and raised...and killed and raised again, so he's going to need a bit of help in the form of one vampire-hating, prickly werewolf named Brynley Jones. She knows the area, it's where her pack lives. Phineas has some hot memories of Brynley from when they first met. Memories like how strong and proud she is. How her eyes remind him of a cerulean blue sky he can no longer see. How much she loathes vampires in general and him in particular.

Yeah, that last one is a problem. But he needs her help, and if working with the lovely but caustic woman as they spend time in very close quarters ends up leaving his heart feeling like she's taken a stake to his chest, well then...so be it. After all, love hurts.


I haven't read a book in the Love at Stake series since Secret Life of a Vampire, the sixth installment, but I am familiar with the series. I enjoyed several of the earlier books, appreciated that it was lighter in theme than my normal paranormal romance reading, but had some darker elements that appealed, too. Almost nothing about this book appealed to me.

Not only did I find the plot one dimensional and the story absurd, but I thought the main characters...and more than one secondary and ancillary character...had the emotional maturity of average twelve-year-olds. And frankly, while I commend Sparks on writing a romance that crosses racial lines, I would have preferred the characterizations of both Phineas and his brother had they not been limited to sad, overused punchlines in off-color jokes. It would have been very nice had they been defined by something more than a mess of egregious racial stereotypes.

I felt the dialogue was adolescent and unrealistic and the relationship evolution between Phineas and Bryn raced from contentious to lusty to love with such alacrity that it gave me whiplash. The humor, a strength in other books of the series, was juvenile in this one...though I have to admit, one scene with Phin and a particular item of Bryn's did make me laugh out loud. Character actions and reactions lacked logic and I struggled to find any sense at all in some places.

Why does Phin need to stock up the cabin and sleep in the basement in Wyoming? He can teleport (and does) back and forth between there and New York any time he wants, with no apparent drain on his energy. Why does Bryn care about her father's feelings about her being with Phin? She banished herself from her pack five years ago with no intention of ever going back, and sacrificed her relationship with her sister for her freedom. For that matter, what does she fear her father would do about it that she hasn't already done to herself? Illogical stuff like that, prevalent in the book, drives me bonkers, even when it doesn't have a large impact on the overall story.

I know this series is wildly popular and my opinion is in the minority. I had fun reading several of the earlier books, too. Hell, I still chuckle to myself when I think about Angus MacKay checking under his kilt every time he teleports just to make sure all his bits made the trip. That's still funny to me. After this installment, though, I think my reading tastes and preferences have diverged a bit too far from where this series is now to consider reading any more of it.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Love at Stake, Book 6
Rating: 3 Stars
Length: 384 Pages
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle


The illegitimate son of Cassonova and ever-so-burdened by his father's legacy, vampire Jack de Venezia is hosting a bachelor party for the soon-to-be-wed Ian and Toni (All I Want for Christmas Is a Vampire) at an exclusive hotel. As it turns out, vamps can't hold their blood fusion drinks and the party gets raucous enough that hotel security calls the cops. Unfortunately for Jack one of the cops that arrives on scene is Lara Boucher, former beauty queen, former car crash survivor, and totally immune to his mind mojo. She's tenacious, relentless, inquisitive, and the most gorgeous female Jack's ever seen, but he's lost loves to the truth of his existence before and he's not willing to risk trusting another, not even the woman who quickly steals his heart.

When Lara, trying so hard to be a detective, stumbles across the case of disappearing college girls and all the witnesses have that same sort of vagueness that she'd seen Jack force onto others, she suspects the handsome...if bizarrely powerful...man is up to the sort of no good that ends in blood and death. Or he's an alien. Possibly a superhero, though. She's not entirely sure. He's either the sexiest good guy she's ever seen...or the sexiest evil guy she's ever met. Can either one of them ever learn that to love is to trust and not trusting...could end in death?

I've read all but one of Sparks' Love at Stake series and have to admit, this one wasn't my favorite. I enjoy the series and think they're usually fun, romantic reads without a whole lot of darkness in it, despite the vampires. This one fell short for me.

I had a hard time with Lara's character in this one. I liked her in the beginning, but by the time she finds out what Jack's deal is, her ideas and thoughts about it had become preposterous and her reaction really disappointing. For a woman trying to be a police detective, she didn't strike me as very mature or intelligent. I also didn't find Jack to be as appealing as some of the other lead males in this series. I didn't have any real complaints about his character, but there just wasn't anything all that compelling about him. And all the 'bellissima's and 'cara mia's and 'merde's got old sooner than halfway through the book. It was like the man couldn't start a single sentence without an Italian word at the head of it. That was a little too Gomez Adams for my tastes.

Despite my issues with them as individuals, though, or those minor annoyances, I could have forgiven most, if not all of it had the pair had some good chemistry between them, but while it was okay, it lacked a lot of the passion and sense of fun, along with the fiery heat that others in the series shared. That aspect was particularly disappointing. More so because it is that chemistry and the combination of sizzle and endearing humor between the lead characters that has kept me interested in this series.

The series has never been a heavy hitter in regards to plot, overall it's more romance brain candy than complex plot-driven romance. That's not a complaint - I love a good light romantic read...with fangs. In this one though, the plot and even the dialogue seemed a bit too unsophisticated and unrealistic (relative to the genre) to really impress me. Again, nothing horrible...except maybe that whole Greek God thing; that didn't work for me at all. But the relationship in Secret Life of a Vampire wasn't as romantic or sexy as I'd hoped, the plot didn't progress as well and wasn't as well developed as I'd hoped, and the characters...well...sorry, but they weren't as appealing as I'd hoped. I wasn't bored while reading it, and I surely didn't dislike it, but for me, it was just okay.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Love at Stake, Book 4
Formats: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle

3.5 Stars
Another Fun Vamp Romance From Sparks

The fourth book in the Love at Stake series features the parisian designer, Jean-Luc Echarpe - a lonely vamp envious of the warm and loving relationships of his friends and facing a twenty-five year exile to quiet the media's growing rumblings over his lack of aging. He's got a big plan, but best laid plans of vamps and men oft go awry. Jean-Luc's plans go awry quickly and thoroughly when he stumbles across first Heather, a teacher and amateur designer in her own right, who he believes is stealing his designs, then Lui, a vicious killer with a grudge against Jean-Luc centuries long. 

The combination of Jean-Luc's sense of honor and yearning for love and Heather's wounded self esteem after a stifling marriage and painful divorce that she's willfully trying to triumph over as she raises her daughter mix very well. It's a warm and satisfying read, and I always enjoy how Sparks shows the progression of the relationships from previous books. 

This series is classic light vampire romance with a heart and a bit of intrigue and danger as a growing war between the vamps and the malcontents - though that story arc is not as prevalent in this installment. 

3.5 Stars for The Undead Next Door - fun, light, and enjoyable.

Genre: Paranormal Romance
Series: Love at Stake, Book 3
Format: Mass Market Paperback, Kindle

3.5 Stars
Quirky and Fun, This One's Got Bite

Sparks makes great strides in this third installment of her Love at Stake series. Witty dialogue and an absolutely endearing Angus McKay (I mean, come ON, he checks under his kilt every time he teleports just to make sure! How cute is that?!) paired with an emotionally damaged but plucky Emma Watson make this book shine. How does a woman who's psychic abilities allowed her to witness the brutal slayings of her parents at the hands and fangs of vampires with a whispered, "Avenge Us," as a moment-of-death plea deal with the fact that she's attracted to the very sort of monster responsible? Good question! And Angus doesn't have the answer, though the fact that he's in love with her motivates him to try really hard to find one.

Overall the Love at Stake series is a bit lighter in tone and content than some of the darker paranormal romance series out there, and there are some aspects that grate on my nerves - like the leader of the Stake Out team, Sean Whelan, who's the father of Roman's wife Shanna (How to Marry a Millionaire Vampire (Love at Stake, Book 1)), and his vitriolic rhetoric gets tiresome quickly - but it's a charming, quirky series full of feel-good romance and very individual secondary characters that are nicely three dimensional. It also seems to be building in more complexity with the Malcontents and other dangerous, old foes. The series has a lot of potential. Bring on The Undead Next Door (Love at Stake, Book 4)!